The Ramseys Boxed Set

by Altonya Washington

  Dr. Orvin was still delivering his instructions, when an orderly arrived with a wheelchair. Ty’s happy expression dimmed with skepticism.

  “I really don’t think I need that,” she said.

  “Tyke…” Quay called in a warning tone from where he stood across the room.

  “I’m afraid it’s yours until you exit the hospital doors. We’ve also supplied you with a lovely one to use while you’re at home.”

  “What about crutches?” Ty suggested.

  “You’ll have those as well.’

  “Can’t I use them now instead of this wheelchair?”

  The doctor was quite amused as he was very accustomed to this final debate by patients who abhorred being wheeled out. “Hospital rules,” he said, using the tried and true argument that usually silenced the disagreement. He smiled and then nodded when it appeared to work on the outspoken young woman in the bed. “Now, I’ll leave you to freshen up and I’ll return within the hour with your release forms.” Dr. Orvin patted Ty’s cast once more before he shook hands with Quaysar and left the room.

  “I’m gonna bounce out of here for a minute too, Tyke,” Quay said, following the doctor’s departure. “I want to double check and make sure the kitchen’s stocked with everything we’ll need,” he tugged a quarter length gray linen jacket across his white shirt.

  Ty couldn’t resist smiling. “Don’t tell me you’re going to cook?” she teased.

  “If you’d like me to,” he replied, his sensual dark stare focused and intense.

  The look caught Ty completely off guard and she couldn’t respond.

  Thankfully, Quay’s expression softened again in humor. “I don’t think your stomach would approve of that, though,” he pulled keys from his jacket pocket, “see you in a few.”

  When he was gone, Ty expelled the breath she’d been holding. Leaning back on the pillows with her eyes closed, she questioned the intelligence of releasing herself to the care of Quay Ramsey. Despite the past, she knew she’d always be a fool for the man. But how many more times would she put herself in the line of fire and keep hoping everything would be alright, when again and again she ended up brokenhearted?

  Nodding then, she decided she was just going to have to keep things on an even keel. Sure, she was in love with him, attracted to him- thought about them making love more than a few times every day and she couldn’t stop the excitement from pulsing through her every minute at the idea of being around him so often during the approaching weeks.

  Still, when those truths got in the way of her ability to resist his incredible charm- and that would most certainly happen- she would pull away from him. She would have to. Her very dignity and sanity would depend on it.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Put that down!” Quay ordered from the driver’s seat. His glare was hard and focused on the tall beauty as he watched her through the rear view mirror.

  “What?!” Ty fixed Quay with her own glare from her relaxed position along the back seat of the Hum-Vee.

  “The doctor said no work,” Quay reminded her, moving his gaze from Ty to the traffic.

  “I was only reviewing some notes,” Ty reasoned already lifting the legal pad she scribbled up during her hospital stay.

  “Put it down,” he ordered quietly that time.

  “Dammit,” she tossed the pad to the floor, “will you tell me then what the hell I’m supposed to be doing for the next six weeks?”

  Quay cleared his throat, eager to recite the list. “Eat three square meals a day’, he began, revealing his right-dimpled smile when she groaned, “snacks are fine, but don’t get crazy, no more than four hours of TV a day. So you’ll have to decide between soaps in the morning or movies at night. The rest of the time you’ll be asleep.”

  “Mmm hmm and crazy inside of two days,” she cast a despairing gaze outside the rear window. “I’ll be bored to tears.”

  “Then sleep will keep your mind off how bored you are.”

  “Oh please, shut up. You’re not the one with your foot in a sling.”

  “No that would be you,” Quay leaned his head back against the padded rest. “’Course it wouldn’t be you if you’d been getting enough rest, so you could be more alert. But all that’s about to change.”

  “I don’t-”

  “No more arguments, Tyke.”

  Folding her arms across the front of her Colorado Rockies sweatshirt, she pouted.

  Once on the freeway, Quay stole infrequent glances at her. He thanked God she’d given in and decided to let him look after her. This accident of hers had put so much into perspective. Sure it was what everyone had been telling him- he was a fool to deny either Ty or himself what they’d both wanted. For so long, he’d pretended she meant little or nothing to him in hopes of keeping her safe. His reasoning had been all wrong. He shuddered, thinking how pushing her away was more dangerous than anything else he’d done. It was a mistake he wouldn’t make again. Tykira Lowery was his and it was way past time that everyone knew it.

  “Am I allowed to hear music? Or is that against the orders too?” Ty still looked annoyed in the backseat.

  Quay offered no response, except to grin at her stubbornness. Dutifully, he hit the button tuned to a classic R&B Soul station. Keith Sweat’s “Make It Last Forever” was fading into another slow jam.

  When Janet Jackson’s “Funny How Time Flies,” faded in, Ty gasped and prayed Quay hadn’t heard her. Surely, he would never recall what the song meant to her but she would never forget it.

  Memories carried her back to one late Savannah summer when they’d spent a private week at the estate of his late grandparents Quentin and Marcella Ramsey. Of course, no one had any idea that Ty and Quay were secluded in the private cottage across the river that ran through the property. There was hell to pay when the teens finally returned from the trip. Their parents were sick with worry in spite of the fact that Quest had covered for his brother by telling everyone that he and Ty had taken an impromptu road trip with friends.

  The cottage was the last slave home left standing on the property that Quentin Ramsey’s ancestors dwelled in when their master and his family deserted the plantation following the Civil War. Quentin and Marcella remodeled the three-room dwelling and it was a private oasis for the adults only. Ty was more excited to take part in the adventure Quay had planned. Just the chance to go anywhere with him always sounded like heaven to her.

  Their relationship had always been unorthodox. In fact, they’d only gone on a couple of actual dates, nothing serious. Quay always seemed to shut down whenever the chance to venture deeper rose between them. When they stepped inside the tiny cottage, Tykira was stunned. The place was lovely and perfect for a romantic, getaway- music galore, a fully stocked kitchen, mini library/reading area with comfortable throw pillows all about a gorgeous bedroom. They spent the entire day and much of the evening there, before Ty asked when they’d be heading back.

  But Quay had no intention of taking her back just then, Ty learned. She smiled then, remembering how uncertain she’d been when he suggested they spend the night.

  She wanted to scream the word ‘yes’ but didn’t want to appear fast, smiling she smoothed her hand across the vehicle’s champagne suede seating as her memories returned with a vengeance. Quay had continued to encourage her and finally succeeded in drawing that tentative ‘yes’ past her lips. It was the best day she’d ever had up until that point. One day turned into another and soon almost a week had passed. The Janet Jackson ballad played the first night they made love.

  “Why’d you take me there?” she heard herself asking.

  Quay shook his head against the rest. The song had triggered his memories too. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Remember what you said about me taking other girls- other virgins there?”

  “So what’s the truth then?” Ty challenged, watching streams of weakened sunlight lay across her sweatpants. “Was it really because you wanted sex and I’d do because I was there?”

>   Quay thanked God for quick reflexes as he almost rammed the back of another SUV when he heard her question. “You’ve really believed that all these years?” Incredulous, his dark eyes fixed on her through the rearview mirror.

  Ty didn’t meet his gaze. “What else could I think? The way you treated me afterwards…” her voice trailed to silence.

  Now he’d come full circle in realizing the damage he’d done. What she’d gone through, what she believed he thought of her. The realization was like a knife through his side. He knew she’d be hurt, he’d prepared himself for that and said it was better than having something more hurtful befall her. But somehow he’d foolishly not considered that she would think he thought she was nothing; that she’d only been a convenient source for gratification.

  The drive continued with no further discussion and Ty accepted Quay’s silence as her answer. Clearly, he didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her that she was right about him. Her voice of clarity screamed that she hire a nurse and stay at her mother’s. But there was more going on- more than Quay refused to say, and she was just too stubborn to let it go. For fifteen years she’d tortured herself with thinking about why Quay refused to let her into his heart. Now she had him right there, taking care of her, no less. Her determination was solid and she could only pray this time would produce the truths she’d waited half her life to hear.

  ~~~

  Quay pulled his Hummer right up to the entrance of the scraper where he kept a penthouse. Ty began looking in the rear compartment for her crutches or the dreaded wheelchair. She found neither.

  “How am I supposed to get out of here?” she asked when he came to assist her from the vehicle.

  “Your crutches and wheelchair are inside,” he informed her as though she should have known.

  Ty grimaced while gingerly swinging her casted foot down from the seat. “So how am I supposed to get upstairs.”

  “I’ll carry you.”

  Ty’s mouth fell open and her brown eyes began an immediate search of his black ones. She just knew he’d been teasing. “No thanks,” she said upon realizing he was dead serious.

  Quay was already easing his arm beneath her knees. “Don’t start, Tyke.”

  “I’m not starting, but this is silly.”

  “You’re right, so please stop with the arguments.”

  Ty clamped her mouth shut and watched while Quay lifted her like she weighed nothing. Damn him, she thought. He was making her feel all soft and deliciously feminine without really doing anything at all.

  They approached the tall glass doors leading to The Loft, where scores of wealthy business people resided. At one of the glass doors, Ty braced her hand against the frame and shook her head.

  Quay halted his steps. “What?” he asked.

  “I can’t let you carry me in there?” she hissed softly.

  “Why?” he challenged just as softly.

  “You can’t.”

  “Why can’t I?” a smile tugged at his perfect mouth.

  “You just can’t,” she ordered herself to look away from the sensuous curving of his mouth. “It just wouldn’t…wouldn’t…”

  “Yes?” he stood there holding her in his arms as though it were an everyday task.

  “It just wouldn’t look right,” she peeked beneath her long lashes at the people who cast interested looks in their direction.

  “Your foot’s in a cast,” Quay bounced her in his embrace as he delivered the fact. “Are you saying I’m just supposed to let you hobble to the top floor?”

  “It’s your fault for leaving my crutches,” she muttered, rolling her eyes at his playful sarcasm. “Besides, I’m sure you’re gonna bruise the hearts of many women if they see you carrying me across the threshold, so to speak.”

  Quay firmed his arm behind her back, forcing her closer. “Right now, I’m only interested in one woman. I’ve bruised her heart more times than I can count and now the only thing I care about is making that up to her.”

  Ty had to mentally remind herself to shut her mouth. She could scarcely focus on anything until Quay cleared his throat and stared fixedly at her hand on the door. Giving in, Ty let him walk on ahead. Sure enough, they drew stares of almost everyone in the lobby. Her fist clenched at his shoulder when more than a few men complimented Quay on his lovely burden.

  “Hey Barker, Jerry,” he greeted two security guards upon stopping at the desk. “Anything I need to pick up?”

  “No sir,” Jerry drawled with a grin.

  “Looks like you already have your hands full,” Barker nodded politely in Ty’s direction.

  Quay chuckled. “Definitely, Barker Doyle, Jerry Brown, Tykira Lowery. She’ll be my guest while she’s recuperating.’

  “Nice to meet you ma’am,” Barker said.

  “Thank you,” Ty shook hands with both guards.

  Quay moved on. Ty kept her head bowed and her smiles light as they strolled towards the elevator bay. What is it with these guys and private elevators, she wondered as Quay selected the car that went only to the penthouse.

  Inside the quiet, mahogany paneled car, Ty could almost feel Quay’s potent ebony stare focused on her. Suddenly, her comfy sweatshirt and pants felt unbearably hot.

  “So is the nurse already here?” she was desperate for conversation.

  “You’ll meet her in the morning since she’ll only be with you during the weekdays,” he laughed when he heard Ty gurgle a mournful sound in her throat.

  “I wanted to take a bath and I needed her help.”

  Quay shrugged. “I’ll help you.”

  “Quay-no.”

  He slanted her an innocent look. “I promise to be a gentleman.”

  “Mmm hmm, unless I tell you not to be, right?” she knew the words would be the next out of his mouth.

  “You need your rest,” his sleek brows rose in challenge when he noticed her surprise.

  The car stopped and the doors opened into the penthouse living room. Ty forgot her unease and was immediately taken by the décor. She could easily compare it to the office at Ramsey. The twins clearly adored the dark, masculine design. Ty hoped Quay couldn’t feel her shiver as she took in the savagely beautiful masks and etchings on the brick walls. There were aquariums in each room and they accounted for much of the light in the place.

  Quay didn’t set down his burden, until they were inside her bedroom. Ty wondered when the trip would end. After all, she’d be first to tell anyone that she wasn’t the lightest woman in the world but Quay seemed quite content though as he carried her through the spacious dwelling.

  The room that was to be hers, was mellow and dim- much like the rest of his home. This room, however, was decorated with sweet creams and pastels. In addition to the pillows and linens, other feminine touches gave it another kind of warmth.

  “I just had it redone,” Quay made a point of telling her while trying to read her reaction. “I hope I got your sizes right,” he said while setting her on the bed where her suitcase lay.

  When he moved, Ty noticed that the walk-in closet across the room was filled with clothing.

  “What did you do?” she breathed, blinking rapidly as she took in the array of pieces.

  Quay shrugged and then folded his arms and glanced toward the closet. “I figured you’d have a time getting in and out of your clothes,” he cleared his throat softly at the way the words sounded. “Anyway, I had some stuff picked out. You’ll find some new PJs that should go on easily over that cast.”

  Ty had already hobbled across the room and was peering through the clothes, gasping at how lovely they were.

  “Tags are still on. I didn’t want you to think they belonged to anyone else,” he said when she fixed him with a curious look.

  Ty shook her head and turned back to the clothes. “This was so sweet and thoughtful,” she didn’t quite believe he’d done this for her. “Thank you,” she added.

  “Why don’t you get settled in?” Quay wouldn’t let himself get sucked in by t
he moment. “Press six on the cordless when you’re ready for your bath,” he instructed and turned to leave.

  Ty only nodded and watched him go. When the door closed behind him, she left the closet, fell back to the bed and covered her eyes with both hands. If Quay intended to play the charming host for the duration of her stay, she was definitely in trouble. She realized it was far easier to handle- or conceal- her needs as long as he remained cool, distant or arrogant. When he switched gears that way, not only was he irresistible, he was downright confusing.

  The truth was, she didn’t want to believe anything he said- any excuses about why he did what he had to do. She didn’t want to even consider that his feelings for her were more than just a desire for another sexual conquest. If he told her something else, something more than she wanted to hear, and then went cold again after letting her have a glimpse into his heart, it would kill her.

  ***

  Little over an hour later, Quay returned to check on his houseguest/patient. He found her asleep with her suitcase opened and partially unpacked. Smiling, he crossed the room, pulled her arm from the case and situated her more comfortably. Then, he finished unpacking her clothes and afterwards he pulled a blanket across her sleeping form. He had all intentions of leaving when he heard the bed shift as she stirred.

  “Quay?”

  “Shh…go back to sleep,” he held the door partly open.

  “No,” she propped up on her elbows. “I need a bath and I’m hungry.”

  “Alright, well let me bring something up to you but forget the bath until the morning,” he bargained and prayed she’d go along. He didn’t want to think about having to help her settle into a bath he couldn’t enjoy with her.

  “Quay please, I just feel so grimy after all those sponge baths at the hospital. I only want to sink into a bubble bath for a while,” she closed her eyes and smiled as though she were imagining that very thing.

  Averting his gaze, Quay smothered a groan and prayed for strength. Of course, he could understand her desire for a hot bath. “Alright, I’ll go get the water run.”