“But it could take months before there’s an opening,” he objected.
The room went silent. Jason coughed diplomatically. “I take it this isn’t going to be a long engagement?”
“Well,” Tyler said awkwardly, “Julie and I were thinking we wanted to get married next week. Not that we have to for the reason you’re thinking.”
“Next week,” his grandmother repeated dryly. “Do you realize how long it takes to have invitations engraved? To book a caterer? And you must give guests enough warning to make plans.”
Tyler glared at his family as if he’d lost his patience with all of them. “Listen, if you want to buy her a gown, see us hitched in a church and plan a big bash, go for it. But I’m telling you I don’t have the time to fool around with elaborate wedding plans.”
“What about you, Julie?” Kate turned to her across the table. “How do you feel?”
Julie took a moment to compose herself. “I just want to marry Tyler and start my new life,” she said softly. It was, after all, the truth. “I don’t need an expensive ceremony. It’s not necessary for you all to go to a lot of trouble for me.”
For a while no one spoke. Although Tyler was observing her with approval, she sensed that others at the table were wondering why she was letting Tyler stomp all over a woman’s traditional right to an elaborate wedding when money wasn’t an issue.
At last, Kate broke the silence. “I’ll call the pastor myself and see if he can squeeze you two in sometime within the next week. The flowers and photographer may be a little more difficult.” She glanced down the table to Adele. “Are you up to the challenge, dear girl?”
Jason’s pretty wife grinned, her green eyes flashing. “After what you did for me? I’ll follow you to Hades and back, Kate. Let’s hit the phones after dinner.”
Before Julie could send Tyler a silent message that she was sorry he’d been stonewalled…even though she really wasn’t, Kate caught her eyes. “I’m so glad our Tyler found you, my dear. Don’t you worry, this will work out just fine.”
Four
Tyler drove in silence away from the family estate. Julie felt his tension, but it couldn’t have been any worse than her own. “I’m sorry,” she said at last, fingering the electric window controls in the passenger door.
“What are you sorry for?” he grumbled.
“Back there…all that talk of the wedding. You’re right. Maybe we should just elope.” But feelings she hadn’t expected had sprung up when Kate spoke of a gown and flowers and a church. It’s all romantic fantasy, Julie told herself. Rainbow fluff. A soap-opera scene with lace and flowers and organ music, played over and over by centuries of brides.
Although it was obvious the Fortunes could afford such celebrations, it didn’t seem right they should have to pay for one their son didn’t even want! And what about the gown?
“I don’t suppose we could talk your family out of this…this plan of theirs,” she said with a sigh.
Tyler laughed dryly. “Not likely. Kate is the gang leader; she has no concept of defeat. I think the only way we’re going to get married any time soon, without alienating my entire family, is by taking the path of least resistance.”
“You mean, let your grandmother plan a formal wedding for us?”
He nodded somberly. “There will be hell to pay if we run off and get married without them.” He turned to look at her. “I promise, once they get this out of their system, they’ll only insist on the occasional family dinner. You can go back to your own routines, just as I will.”
But her old hermitlike existence no longer had any appeal. Kate’s sparkling eyes and energetic manner were contagious. Besides, dressing up like a bride might be fun!
“If it will make things easier,” Julie said, trying to sound resigned to an unpleasant task, “I’ll go along with whatever your family wants.”
Tyler let out a long breath. “Thanks for being a good sport. I owe you one.”
Julie turned her head away so that he wouldn’t see the corners of her lips lift in a small, secret smile. How intriguing it was to contemplate Tyler Fortune owing her. She felt a wee bit wicked as she thought of the possibilities of collecting.
A moment later she was startled out of her daydreams when the truck turned into the Saguaro Springs residential area. “Oh. I thought you’d be taking me to the hotel. You did arrange for a room for me, didn’t you?”
“My family knows me too well.” He winked at her. “They’ll expect we’re already sleeping together.”
“Of course.” Her heart had somehow worked its way up into her throat. “Um…what would happen if they discovered we hadn’t already…you know…been intimate?”
“They’d know something was up. And they might find a way to stop the wedding.”
“But you said they wanted you married.”
“Happily married, to a woman they view as right for me. Luckily for us, you seem to fit the bill.”
“I see. Is the reason they assume we’re having sex because…well, if I’m not getting too personal, because you’ve slept with a lot of women?”
“I expect my reputation exceeds my deeds.” He slanted her a meaningful look. “When you’re considered the most eligible bachelor in all of Arizona, it pays to let people think you’re a dedicated playboy. After a while, most husband-hunters give up the chase.”
She giggled. “I see.”
They pulled past a tennis club, private swimming pool, clubhouse and down another road through a rambling golf course. “There is a convenience store.” He pointed out a small stucco structure. “For anything more than milk and bread, head for the mall. My father claims he built it for my mother. She’s a shopping addict. He wanted to keep her closer to home.”
Julie laughed. “That’s a cute story.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s true.” He parked in a numbered space, held the door to the condo open for Julie, then started switching on lights.
Standing in the middle of his living room, her overnight bag in hand, Julie turned her thoughts to the rest of the evening. A thousand questions bombarded her, not the least of which had to do with sleeping arrangements. She’d never in her life been alone with a grown man in his home. It felt dangerous, evocative…and ever so slightly delicious.
Tyler must have been on a similar wavelength, but perhaps in a more practical way. He pointed to the middle of the room. “That’s a convertible sofa with a pull-out bed inside. I figured you’d probably want me to sleep out here, until we—”
“Thank you,” she said quickly, glad for the privacy he was offering her. Nevertheless, she felt just a little disappointed. Ever since they’d agreed to this venture, her mind insisted upon conjuring up images of Tyler, sans clothing. Now, it would seem, she’d have to wait a while longer to see if reality lived up to her runaway imagination.
As for touching Tyler and being touched by him—that was something she couldn’t allow herself to visualize just yet. It seemed impossible that he’d want her after having other women who already knew how to please a man. She was sure that when the time came she’d embarrass herself. Tyler would have to be patient, then take command of the situation.
But he seemed to enjoy taking charge of things and making decisions, so maybe it wouldn’t turn out too awfully. Julie decided not to worry about that until the time came. And it would if she was to collect her part of the bargain. She might be naive, but she fully understood there was only one way to make a baby outside of a test tube.
“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate you giving up your bed for me.”
There was a long pause and she only belatedly realized that Tyler was standing very still, observing her with such concentrated energy she felt his gaze as a smoldering sensation at the back of her neck. She turned to fully face him, and he suddenly stepped forward. Her right hand automatically shot up in front of her.
“I thought so,” he said in a low voice.
“What?”
“You’re afraid of
me.”
“I—I am not.” Julie drew herself up straight and immediately retracted her hand.
“Your body language says you are. You tense up whenever I get too close. All the way here in the truck, you were as far to the right as the seat belt allowed. And now you look as if you’re ready to bolt.”
“You’re exaggerating,” she insisted. “I’m just a little nervous. Any woman planning to marry a stranger in less than a week would be.”
A dangerous twinkle in his dark eyes warned her that his mood had turned playful again. “Maybe we’d better do something about that.”
“What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously.
“I have a feeling that if we don’t take active measures to relax my bride-to-be, she might not show up at the church.”
“I promised to go through with this, and I will,” she insisted through gritted teeth. The man was toying with her; she felt at a perilous disadvantage, not knowing what he was thinking.
“I’m not questioning your honest intentions.” He moved forward cautiously, his lips lifting in a devilish smile. “I just think you need a chance to warm up to me.”
Lord, help me, she thought. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying—”
“Relax. If you don’t want to consummate this relationship until after the ceremony, that’s fine by me. But it’s not natural to bottle up emotions the way you have for so long.”
“My emotions are right where they belong,” she retorted crisply. But she was so very curious. “What would you suggest?”
“Doctor Fortune suggests you change into something comfortable, then enjoy a glass of wine with him in front of a blazing fire. Some therapeutic cuddling also might be in order.”
“And then?”
“Then…” he flashed her a wicked smile “…as much or as little as you’re ready for. It’s up to you. At the very least, spending some time together will take the edge off. Believe me.”
“I don’t know,” she murmured doubtfully.
How could she tell Tyler that the more time she spent with him, the more vividly she fantasized about him? How could she admit that those mysteriously tantalizing fantasies were woven out of bits and pieces from movies, books and the gossip of other women? She had never done more than kiss a man, which was due as much to fear as to lack of opportunity.
“I promise,” he said, reaching to take her hand in his, “nothing bad will happen, Julie.”
To her knowledge he hadn’t deceived her yet. If she was going to commit herself to marrying him, she ought to trust him.
“Okay.” She lifted her travel bag and headed for the bedroom, her heart in her throat. Back in the living room, she thought she heard Tyler humming, then the clink of glasses. Her stomach flip-flopped. What had she let herself in for?
The spacious room where Tyler slept was a monotone sand hue, from walls to vertical blinds to bedspread and carpet. Not a speck of color anywhere. Thankfully, Julie saw no signs of past lovers—no photos, mementos, tender love notes. If he’d kept a woman’s picture on his bedside table, she didn’t know what she’d have done. She shook off the unwelcome wave of possessiveness and dropped her bag on the bed.
She’d brought only what she could cram into the small canvas satchel. Her nightgown was a simple white flannel sacque with pink flowers, warm enough for cool March nights. Even though it was very conservative, she knew she’d feel vulnerable wearing it into the living room. Besides, she wanted to look appealing to Tyler, not frumpish.
Julie chose the cream-colored cotton leggings she wore when lounging about her apartment on weekends, and a turquoise sweater that hung comfortably off the curve of her shoulders and dropped below her hips. It was modest in design but a pretty robin’s-egg shade that, she thought, brought out blue-green lights in her changeable eyes.
She opted for bare feet. Might as well start to get comfortable. After quickly brushing her hair, she sprayed a little perfume in the hollow of her throat and at both wrists, then applied a pale pink lip gloss. Taking a fortifying breath, she stepped out into the living room.
The fire was blazing. Tyler stood in the middle of the room watching the bedroom door as if he’d been waiting for her. He held out a crystal stem of bubbling golden stuff. The glass looked so fragile between his strong fingers, she wondered that it didn’t shatter.
“That looks suspiciously like champagne.” She accepted the glass cautiously.
“I decided the occasion deserved it.”
“A fire and cuddling merit champagne? What do you serve when a lady agrees to spend the night?” She felt just a little evil, taunting him, but was gratified by a slow smile.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
His gray eyes darkened, and she sensed how helpless a prairie rabbit might feel under the gaze of a hungry wolf. But a second later, he smiled, the predator gone.
She lowered herself slowly to the edge of the couch. Tyler settled beside her, very close beside her. Reminded of how cozily his parents had sat in their own home, she took comfort that Tyler was just duplicating behavior patterns his family would expect from a married couple.
“The fire is lovely,” she whispered, watching tongues of orange and gold dance and flicker. The logs crackled, popped, hissed pleasantly. As she took a sip of champagne and focused on the fire, she felt a few ounces of tension drain away.
“As a boy I used to experiment with matches,” Tyler confessed. “I was fascinated by fire, but it was the mechanics of it that intrigued me, not its potential for destructiveness.”
“You lit fires just to watch them burn?” Hadn’t she read somewhere that little boys who literally played with fire often grew up to be violent men?
“Yeah, I loved studying them, experimenting with different materials to discover which burned the fastest, or not at all. I suppose I had some vague idea about fire-safe construction materials even then.”
“But something made you stop,” she guessed.
“Oh yeah. One day my dad caught me in the backyard. I knew what I was doing, always kept a hose nearby and wet down the ground around my experiments. But Dad was furious, wouldn’t listen to explanations.”
“You were punished?”
“Damn right. No TV for a month!”
“You must have been upset when he wouldn’t hear you out.” She sipped her champagne, enjoying the pictures in her mind of Tyler as a boy, already dreaming of the buildings he would someday erect.
He nodded. “Didn’t mind not being able to watch my favorite shows. But I was hurt he didn’t trust me to never endanger my family.”
Julie was strangely moved by his story. Trust was important to him. It was a virtue she believed in and admired, too.
As Tyler spoke, he maneuvered his arm behind her shoulders. She didn’t object to the harmless gesture. But when his wide hand curled gently inward, pulling her still closer, his fingers felt hot against the cool skin of her bare shoulder where the sweater had dropped low. When she looked up to try to read his expression, he was gazing down at her thoughtfully. He leaned forward to place his untouched champagne on the coffee table.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he said.
It was as if he understood she needed to prepare herself. “Yes,” she said, “I know.”
Tyler slowly lowered his head until their lips met. This time when they kissed, he started so softly she hardly felt any pressure. But a lovely glow penetrated her, spreading from her lips, along her jaw, and down her throat until her breasts felt flushed and full.
Tyler gently moved the tip of his tongue between her lips. She let him open her mouth, felt the pressure and warmth increase. Only when she began to return his kiss with a soft, eager groan did he press her back into the cushions and plunge deeply between her lips.
Her hand trembled violently. A drop of tingling, cold liquid hit the back of her wrist. It seemed it should evaporate into steam, her flesh felt so hot. As if Tyler knew she was about to drop her glass, he remo
ved it from her fingertips and set it down beside his.
“Do you honestly think this will help me relax?” she asked skeptically. If anything, she felt more tightly strung.
“Definitely. Give yourself time.” His hand came up and he lazily drew the lightly callused pads of his fingertips down her throat. She shivered, enjoying the contrast of roughness and tenderness. He dropped a kiss in the V of her sweater, then lower between her breasts. “Now isn’t the time to be bashful about letting a man know what you want, Julie. Tell me to stop if you don’t like what I’m doing.”
But she felt incapable of communicating a single logical thought. She wasn’t sure what she wanted or didn’t want. She could only let him touch her, then react to each new feeling.
And, at the moment, her body seemed to be reacting in very pleasant ways. Curls of heat and little zings of electricity moved along mysterious paths through her torso. Corners of her body that had gone unnoticed all of her years seemed to burst to life, even though she wasn’t supposed to feel anything for Tyler Fortune.
When the time for making her baby arrived, she had expected to have quick, mechanical intercourse with the man she married. She hadn’t foreseen him being so charming, so gentle, so gosh-darn good at touching and kissing. Good enough to stir her up inside this way and strike matches to places that had felt wintry-cold forever.
Most of all, she hadn’t expected Tyler to want to be with her in this way. An occasional, necessary intimacy would be the price he’d agree to pay to secure the wife he so desperately needed for business motives. Amazingly, he seemed to be putting a lot of energy into making her feel wanted. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself.
It’s all a clever, clever act, she thought, letting herself drift. Lost to the moment, lost to his magical hands and wandering lips.
Mail-Order Cinderella (Fortune's Children: The Grooms Book 2) Page 6
