by Linda Conrad
“I think you are running,” he said in a steel-edged tone. “But I’m not sure why. You’ve built a wall around yourself and it’s driving me crazy trying to break it down.”
“What do you want from me, Ty?”
“A little trust,” he began, as a sensual smile spread across his lips. “And another kiss.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she said with a hysterical little laugh. “If that’s what it will take to get you to go away, here…”
Without thinking, she moved close and gave him a quick peck on the mouth. Then…she thought about what she’d done.
Too late.
Ty only took a second to react. He grabbed her shoulders, pulled her close and covered her trembling mouth with his own. It was fast, hot and blood-stirring.
His tongue coaxed her lips open, but she didn’t need much urging to fall into his drugging kiss. Their lips and tongues met as if they were desperate for each other. Desperate to touch, taste and nibble.
Merri became dizzy from the sheer pleasure of it and leaned into Ty’s body to steady herself. He groaned and shoved his groin against her hips as they swayed together.
Ty clasped his muscled arms tightly around her waist, and she felt his hard arousal pressing into her. It sent shivers down her spine. Digging her fingers into his shoulders to keep from turning to pure liquid and melting totally away, she pressed her excruciatingly tender breasts against his rocky, muscular chest and rubbed. Rubbed hard.
Merri felt, more than heard, the moan escaping from somewhere so deep inside her that it must’ve begun at her very center.
The sound of her own desire surprised her—and Ty. He broke the kiss and steadied them both.
“Whoa. That was… That wasn’t…” Ty cleared his raspy voice and took a step back. “Go inside, Merri.”
He looked as stunned by what had happened between them as she was. “It’s late and we’ll be flying up to Austin tomorrow afternoon. I’ll send the dress over whenever it arrives.”
“But…what about…?” she stuttered.
“Not tonight,” he said with a scowl. “I can’t talk about it tonight.” With that he turned, silently stalked back to his truck and took off.
Ah, hell, she thought as she watched him go. That had been all her fault. What an idiot she was.
Ty drove toward his ranch in a daze. Needy, frustrated and more than a little bewildered by his own reactions, he tried to dissect their kiss by looking at it dispassionately. But of course, that was impossible.
Back there in two heartbeats, everything he had promised himself, every reasonable thing he had ever told her, all of it had gone south, along with most of the blood in his body. His every good intention—hell, even most of his mind—had heated, gushed through his veins and finally pooled at the base of his spine, where it throbbed relentlessly, making him reach for her when he knew dang well that he shouldn’t.
There was not one thing about his relationship with Merri that could be classified as dispassionate. Oh, he’d been telling himself they could have a cordial, boss-employee friendship. But, hell, he knew that was a total fabrication.
Ty had to stop lying to himself about his need for her. After all, he hated liars. From the first moment he’d seen Merri, he’d wanted her in his bed. A person might’ve thought that a smart man would just acknowledge the fact and begin moving toward that goal.
But, no. He’d been trying to fool himself—and Merri—into thinking they could just be friends.
Okay. He gave up. He had to have her. And after that kiss tonight, he was positive that despite everything she said, she wanted the same thing.
He roared the truck into his ranch’s yard, slammed it into Park and turned it off. But he didn’t move. Might as well not try to go to bed. There was no possibility for any sleep tonight. Not the way the tension was still humming up and down his spine.
Stepping out of the truck, he quietly closed the door behind him and walked toward the barn. Whenever he wanted peace, he’d always ended up in the foaling barn. There was just something about young creatures that soothed him.
Maybe it was the innocence of youth. Maybe it was the fact that they hadn’t had time yet to learn the dangers and suspicions of the world.
When it came to human babies, he recognized that his fondness for them was because they had not yet learned to lie and still trusted everyone implicitly. It was compelling, all that trust.
He’d told Merri that he wanted her to trust him enough to tell him her secrets. But what he’d meant was that he wanted some reason to trust her with his.
Jewel was the only person in the entire world he trusted even a little bit. And she didn’t know the whole truth of his pain.
Twice in his life he had completely trusted a woman with his heart and his deepest secrets. Twice in his life he had been, not only disappointed, but totally ripped to shreds and betrayed.
Now his brain kept telling him that Merri was keeping something from him and couldn’t be entirely trusted. But his heart and his body were urging him to give her a chance.
Well, he would just have to see about the trust. That was still a maybe. But he’d already made his mind up about giving in to his body. All he had to do was persuade Merri that she was ready, too.
Hmm. His brain started wandering off to images of the ways that he could convince her.
Taking a deep breath of the jasmine-scented night air, Ty realized that those kinds of images were not going to do a damn thing toward allowing him any peace tonight.
But…hey. They would be worth every sleepless minute.
“When you said we’d be flying to Austin this afternoon, I had no idea you meant you would be the pilot,” Merri told him as she fiddled with her safety belt.
“Does it bother you to fly with me?” Mercy, but he would dearly love to find other ways of bothering her.
“No, not at all. You’ve convinced me that you have all the proper licenses and ratings. It’s just surprising.”
“When you get to know me a little better, you’ll find out that I prefer doing most things for myself. I can’t always manage it, of course. For instance, I don’t do the maintenance of the planes or the day-to-day running of my businesses and now the Foundation office. In those cases and a few more I have to turn over the work to others.”
Though he could think of a couple of things that he would never turn over to anyone else. Like pulling all the pins out of her hair, driving his fingers through the finely textured strands and burying his face in all that sensuous silk.
Every time he was this close, Ty got a faint whiff of lavender and vanilla from her hair. It was enough to wipe his mind clean and leave him with nothing but basic animal urges. Something similar to a lobotomy he was sure.
“I didn’t know we would have to stay over in Austin tonight, either,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “Your note to pack an overnight bag was another big surprise.”
“It’s just about two hours door-to-door and I wouldn’t want to feel rushed to leave,” he said as he shook off the urges long enough to begin the regular checklist for takeoff. “I also thought it might be fun to drink a toast to the Lost Children Foundation’s new Director. I couldn’t do that and then get back in the cockpit and fly.”
“What?” She jerked her head around to stare at the side of his head. “You mean me?”
He chuckled at the crack in her voice. “I can’t think of anyone who would be better for the job.”
“But…” Merri couldn’t get her mind to settle.
Seeing Ty in the captain’s seat of this fabulous new single-pilot personal jet had done a number on her nerves. He was so masculine and so in control that she’d been having crazy butterfly flutters in her stomach, that had nothing to do with flying, ever since the moment they had first boarded.
But now… What would being the Director of his foundation mean? Suddenly it hit her. Publicity. Oh no.
Take a breath. Swallow hard. Think of something. Fast.
“That’s quite an honor, but I really haven’t had a chance to earn a promotion yet,” she gushed, trying to think while she was talking. “I like working behind the scenes for now. Give me a few more months on the job before I start speaking for the entire foundation.”
“But you’re perfect for the Director’s job,” Ty argued. “You have that wonderful boarding-school charm and grace. And every donor that has met you loves you. Think about it. You’re so much better at the face-to-face stuff than I am.”
Merri took another breath and prayed she would say the right thing. “Ty, this foundation is your baby. You were the one who gave the idea wings. It was your money and your time that put it together in the first place. And it’s your reputation and contacts that are needed to build a long-term base of donors now.
“No one in Texas knows me at all…” She hesitated over the half truth. Lots of people all over the world knew the face of Merrill Davis-Ross. “Let me stay in the background while we build the Foundation together.”
“Well…” He stopped studying the lighted flight displays for a second and turned to look at her. “I suppose you’re right. It seems like you usually are. But you have to promise not to let me say or do the wrong thing. I’m not great at this PR stuff.”
Merri breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. I’ll be right behind you.”
Ty kept silent as he finished his preflight check, radioed to some faraway control tower and prepared to take off. Merri closed her eyes and leaned back while they taxied down his private runway and lifted to the sky. She seemed to have dodged the bullet for now, but could she manage to stay out of the way of the photographers tonight?
Speaking of tonight…
“Where will we be spending the night?” she asked warily once they were airborne and Ty had slid aside his headset and microphone.
“I have a suite of rooms on permanent reserve at the Hilton, same place as the ball,” he told her. “Normally I keep them for the use of my lawyers and the lobbyists they hire to work on my interests with the state’s legislators. But tonight the suite will be all ours.”
“You don’t do your own lobbying like you do everything else?” she said with a laugh.
“Not good at the face-to-face, remember?”
Merri thought he was fantastic at some face-to-face activities. But she wasn’t about to mention it. He hadn’t.
Hmm. He hadn’t mentioned that incredible kiss—two kisses—either.
“I’m not going to sleep with you tonight, Ty,” she said before she thought it over. “If you had that in the back of your mind, get it out. I presume ‘suite’ means separate bedrooms and you and I will be occupying two of them.”
“Didn’t say any different, did I?” he told her through a grin.
Ty didn’t want to rush her into his bed. Or…at least not in his head he didn’t.
But he had every intention of easing her into it. Tonight would just be another step toward the goal.
Cinderella in reverse, Merri thought as she stood looking at herself in the full-length mirror. The dress that Janie sent was just about the worst thing Merri had ever seen. And she’d seen quite a few catastrophes.
Bits of drab rust and military olive clung as if they were tufts of dandelion seeds along the nondescript beige column of the high-necked, long sleeved gown—and spread out like birthday frosting along the ruffles that flared about her ankles. It was a really good thing she would be the one to wear this dress so that some innocent girl would never accidently try on this monstrosity.
Her reflection in the mirror was almost comical. In fact, when Merri lifted her gaze to study her disguised hair and lack of makeup, she actually chuckled. What a pitiful sight she made. Good old Janie had done her job.
This getup ought to discourage pictures. And hopefully it was bad enough to put a damper on Ty’s passion for her as well.
Lately, every time he looked in her direction she saw the temperature rise in his eyes. His hotter and hotter need was easy to recognize because she felt it, too.
But Merri had to find a way to cool things down. Ty didn’t seem to be the kind of guy to go for one-night stands or short, carefree flings. Everything she had ever heard about him told her that he would be interested in more permanent relationships—if not in marriage.
Which was good and bad news. Good because that made him a decent guy who tried not to hurt anyone. Bad because she was becoming desperate for him and the two of them were not destined for anything permanent. The minute he had any inkling she’d been lying to him it would be all over between them. And that day was coming—sooner or later.
Sighing, Merri turned to put her compact in her purse, hesitated over the lipstick and decided against it. The more washed-out her face looked next to the hideous dress the better. No one here should be able to recognize her face from her pictures, she hoped. And if she got caught by some wayward camera lens tonight, no one would ever recognize her picture.
A knock sounded on the door to her bedroom. “Merri, are you decent?” Ty called out.
Well, maybe her thoughts about him weren’t decent. But if he’d meant to inquire if she was dressed, the answer was ugh…if you wanted to call this costume a dress.
“Yes,” she answered. “Just let me get my…”
He popped his head into the room, caught her eye and let himself in. “I brought you…” He stopped mid-sentence and stared at her.
Ohmigod. If she was the reverse Cinderella, Ty had definitely done a U-turn into Prince Charming. Dressed in a black tuxedo and crisp white shirt, the man just oozed sex appeal and potent masculine attraction.
It embarrassed her to imagine what he must be thinking about the way she looked. She tried telling herself that this was what she’d wanted. He needed to tone down his desire and there was nothing like an ugly dress and drab hair to cool a man’s ardor.
“You look beautiful,” he said without moving.
“What?”
Ty saw her confusion and realized he wasn’t saying this right. Typical of his bad manners and tongue-tied efforts at being glib, charming words just never came out the way he meant. But it was important for him to make her understand what he felt tonight.
Forcing his feet to move him closer to where she stood, he tried a half smile. “You don’t have on your glasses and your eyes are the most spectacular green I have ever seen. They just light up your whole face.”
“Oh.” She scowled and turned to find the black-rimmed glasses on the table.
“Please don’t put them on,” he said quietly. “There’s no need for you to see anything special tonight. I can tell you what’s going on.”
The little laugh she gave sounded more like a hiccup. But she put the glasses in her purse and clasped the itty bitty scrap of cloth to her side.
He took another step in her direction. “I brought you this corsage.” Looking down at the fiery red bouquet in his hand, he couldn’t help but frown. “I thought Janie said your dress would be navy or black. The red roses were meant to liven it up a bit but…”
This time she laughed out loud. “It’s okay,” she said, through a grin. “For tonight, I can be the one who’s wearing clothing that clashes. You look spectacular, by the way. You clean up real good, Tyson Steele. I’m impressed.”
He smiled at her in return. Though he knew she was joking, it warmed him to hear her using a less formal way of talking. Maybe she was becoming comfortable with his small-town Texas ways. Good. Maybe that meant she would stay around for a while longer. Like maybe forever.
Letting his gaze move lazily over her, his mouth began to water at the very sight. The dress wasn’t much to look at, he had to admit. But it clung to her body in all the right places, leaving not much to the imagination.
His imagination was working double duty anyway. He visualized her standing there before him naked. Breasts tipped up and beaded, waiting for his caress. Hips curved and soft, waiting for the palms of his hands to glide over th
em. He blinked back a shudder of desire and shook himself free of the strangling erotic dreams.
Nothing was going to happen in that vein tonight. He had promised, and he intended to keep that promise. No matter what. She wasn’t quite ready for everything he had in mind. But he sure hoped she would be—soon.
Merri pinned the corsage to her shoulder and then slid her arm through Ty’s. “Okay, let’s go. Tonight is your night.”
No, unfortunately, it wasn’t. But he intended to make the most of it anyway. Ten more yards to first down on the way to goal.
He escorted her down in the elevator to the ballroom. Merri glued herself to his side, praying to blend into his shadow so that no one would notice her.
There was the reception line to get through, but that turned out to be a snap. Very few people paid any attention to her at all. Most of the women were so busy drooling over Ty that she became an insignificant blip on their radar. Just as she’d hoped.
The only hitch was the governor himself. He said something kind to Ty, but then turned to her and took her hand in both of his. “And who is this beautiful creature? You can’t possibly be a native Texan, young woman. I would never forget meeting anyone so lovely, and I pride myself in knowing all my gorgeous constituents.”
Ty scowled but grudgingly introduced them. The governor caught the possessive tone Ty used and chuckled.
“You can’t blame a man for looking, Steele,” he said with a wink and a nod.
Merri couldn’t stop the blush, but she’d never heard anything so ridiculously political in her whole life. She was under no illusions about how she looked tonight.
After three hours of the ball, she’d had enough. She’d sat through a Texas-sized banquet dinner, with platters of two-inch-thick prime rib and baked potatoes. Fourteen awards for charitable service and the acceptance speeches that went along with them. And two hours worth of listening to the heavyset woman sitting on her left who droned on about the good works of her charity to help preserve historic Texas oil derricks from the ravages of time.
Now the photographers had asked everyone to line up for pictures, and she hung back. “You go on,” she told Ty. “I’ll wait for you over there.”
