“I’m fine.” He grimaced as she turned his hands over and examined the deep red slashes embedded in his palms.
“Oh, Ty, that looks painful.” Her finger lightly traced the outer edge of the mark, leaving its own brand upon his skin. “I think you should run some cold water over them. Do you have any burn salve?”
She led him to the sink and turned on the tap before guiding his hands beneath the spray. His arms jerked with the shock of cold against overheated flesh.
Shit, that hurts.
“I think there’s some in the bathroom cabinet, but I’ll be fine.” After you leave. Nothing a good shot of whiskey couldn’t cure, except he was trying to quit. Oh well, tomorrow was another day.
“Don’t be silly. I’ll be right back. Keep your hands under there, okay?” She waited for his nod before letting go to slip from the room.
Now he was going to have to handle her playing Nurse Nightingale on him, was this night never going to end? Ty just wanted to lick his wounds, literally and figuratively, alone. He’d liked the thought of having her in his home, but now was almost sorry he’d invited her. How could he ever look at that counter again without picturing her laid out for him like the sweetest of delicacies? Or think of her silhouette against the picture window in his living room; an angel, come to life just for him.
The coolness of the water was working its magic and deadening his hands to the pain. Wish it were that easy to numb a bruised heart. He gazed at the twin trails of reddened skin, grateful that the burn seemed superficial. He was already on an impossibly tight schedule; the last thing he needed was to have his hands screwed up. The work on the stage was set to begin next week, and thanks to his electrician quitting on him, he was already short-handed. Good thing Jared had come back home and needed a job. He was the best Ty had ever seen with wiring and computer programming. With his friend on board, Ty had a good chance of his vision for the old theatre turning into a reality.
“All I could find is this aloe cream, but it should help.” Katy said, coming up behind him and laying a warm hand on his shoulder. “How’s it feeling?”
Ty controlled his flinch at her touch, shut off the water, and turned away to grab a hand towel. “It’s fine now, the water did the trick. I think I’ll wait until later to apply the ointment. You ready to eat, I’m starved.” He avoided her uncertain stare and opened the cupboard for plates, setting them on the spot her sweet ass had covered moments ago. Shit, her dress. He hadn’t even thought of it at the time, but she’d just been cutting greens up there. Not the best combination with white. “How’s your dress?”
“What?” She looked perplexed for a second, and then the light bulb went off. It was kinda cute, actually. Her hands groped her butt—lucky hands—and her head swiveled this way and that, trying to check out the damage.
“Turn around, let me have a look.” He chuckled.
She gave him the fish-eye stare, then slowly twirled on those stiletto heels of hers. “Do you have any idea how much this dress cost me, Ty Garrett?” Her hair whirled outward like a ray of sunshine as she swung her head to glare at him over her shoulder. “Well? Is it stained?”
Ty just shook his head, at a loss for words.
Sweet Jesus.
There, right at the apex of her thighs, lay the mark of Cain. A bright red strawberry clung to the snowy white cloth like a bull’s-eye, defying gravity and angry woman. And like a sheep led to slaughter, he couldn’t resist the lure.
~~~*~~~
Katy’s eyes widened in shock when Ty fell to his knees behind her and grasped her hips so that she couldn’t move. “Ty, what are you…” The rest of the words dried up and floated away at the touch of his mouth. An unbidden moan crawled up her throat and her knees went weak. The only things holding her up were those insidious hands. They slid down the front of her legs to the bottom of her dress and then under, working their way slowly, oh so slowly, up her inner thighs. His teeth were taking little erotic nibbles designed to make her lose her sanity.
“Ty,” she breathed, his name a prayer on her lips.
“Shh, I’ve got you,” he murmured, and every nerve quivered with longing.
Her head fell forward and she helplessly, hopefully, watched those fingers inch closer and closer to nirvana.
Then they were there. Touching, caressing, delving. His mouth nipped and sucked and it all became too much. She closed her eyes and let the sensations wash over her, the excitement, the soaring, the bliss.
When she came back to earth, it was to find herself lying beside Ty on the floor of his kitchen, his somber eyes cataloging her features.
“You’re so fricking beautiful.” His hand reached out and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
Now that the glow was slowly fading, Katy was horrified. She’d just cheated on her fiancé. Well, not technically, but close enough to matter. Why did she agree to come to Ty’s house?
“This is a mistake.” The words exploded into the air between them, too late for her to take them back.
Ty’s hand stilled before dropping to his side, a look of such contempt crossing his face that she shrunk away. He turned onto his back and folded his arms behind his head with a façade of indifference. Katy knew better, she’d hurt him. She hadn’t meant to, but that didn’t help the situation. All she could do was try to make him understand.
“Ty…”
“I think you better go. You don’t want to have the neighbors talking anymore than they already are.” He rolled to his feet, full of frustrated energy. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”
“Ty, please, just listen,” she pleaded, climbing up awkwardly, unaided.
“No,” he snarled. Then, in a slightly quieter tone, “There’s nothing left to say. Let’s forget this ever happened. I’ll finish my job, you’ll get married, and we’ll all live happy fricken after.” He turned away and strode through the living room to open the front door. “I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure, but only one of us achieved that particular plateau.”
Katy stomped after him. The man seriously knew how to piss her off. “Okay, I’ll go. When you’re ready to act like a grown-up, we can talk this out. I want to explain but not when you’re being so childish.”
“Ha, that’s a good one. You want childish? How about the girl who said she loved me, but instead when mommy and daddy said it’s him or us, she ran like the little princess I always knew she was? That, baby… is childish.”
Katy’s mouth dropped open. All these years, and that’s what he’d been thinking? Oh, Ty. She lifted her hand, palm up in entreaty, but he’d already closed the door in her face. And that’s when she realized he’d somehow maneuvered her onto the porch.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Katy stirred to the sound of her cell phone trilling from the bedside table. Eyes still blurry, she rolled over and brought the phone to her ear. “Ty, I’m glad you called.”
She’d fallen asleep with his name on her lips. Good, maybe he was sorry and wanted to talk now.
“Who’s Ty? You fooling around on me, sweetheart?” Jeff’s polished voice had her sitting up and clutching the blanket to her breast.
She rubbed tired fingers over her scalp, brushed the hair back from her face, and frowned at her pale reflection in the mirror across the room. “Jeff. You surprised me. I thought you were busy in meetings for the next few days.”
“Not so busy I can’t take a minute to call my fiancé and wish her a good morning.”
His intimate tone jarred. She’d never noticed that before. After a restless night spent tossing and turning, the artificial dimness caused by the hotel’s lined curtains allowed her to fall asleep sometime around dawn. Maybe that’s all this was, crankiness due to a lack of sleep.
Yeah right.
Katy sighed. It was hardly Jeff’s fault she couldn’t get to sleep. No, that honor was reserved for a certain exasperating, too-proud-for-his-own-good man she knew.
“So, are you going to answer my question? Who i
s this Ty character, and why were you expecting his call?” Jeff asked, his impatience seeping down the line. She could hear office noise in the background; printers and fax machines, telephones ringing and employees arriving for another day of buy and conquer in the corporate world. Which reminded her…
“He’s the contractor Dad hired to fix up the theatre, remember?” She wished he would try to understand how important this was to her. But to Jeff, it was nothing but a waste of time. He felt getting married in a fancy hotel with a gazillion people they didn’t even know was the right image for an up and coming entrepreneur.
“Yeah, whatever you want, babe. Listen, I have to go. I’ll call you later and you can tell me all about it.” There was a hushed murmur of voices, and then he came back online, “Have fun, and I’ll see you sometime next week.” Click.
“Wait…”
Katy let the hand holding the cell drop to her lap. “Love you, too.”
She wanted to know why he’d decided to build a hospital here, in her hometown, but hadn’t thought to mention it. She appreciated the gesture, especially since Tidal Falls was long past due needing updated facilities. Maybe he’d meant it as a surprise.
The soft hum of the air conditioner and the occasional muted clang of a door closing down the hall were the only sounds in the room. She fell backward and let her head hit the pillow with a whoosh. Lavender scented the air from the sinfully soft Egyptian cotton sheets. Wonder what kind of sheets Ty used. Probably silk. And why that should make her squirm, she wasn’t going to think about. Much.
Her gaze followed the lazy clockwise turn of the ceiling fan above her head. Inevitably her thoughts turned to the night before. With little effort she could once again see the hot light flare in Ty’s eyes just before he lowered his lips to hers and turned her world upside down. Her skin heated as she recalled her response to his kisses. Her pulse tumbled in reaction to the exquisite touch of his hands upon her breasts, his complete mastery of her body.
And to the hurtful words like poisoned darts they’d exchanged in the end.
Katy rolled over and hugged the spare pillow, wishing for a pair of strong arms and a sturdy chest to hold her. And it wasn’t her fiancé she missed. Maybe this was a case of pre-wedding jitters, nothing to get her knickers in a knot over. Perfectly normal, in fact. What she needed was to get up, have a shower, and like Ty said, forget this ever happened.
She could give Rebecca a call and see if they could get together for lunch. She hoped her friend would agree to be a bridesmaid on short notice. Katy had wanted to ask her sooner, but Jeff insisted his sisters needed to be in the bridal party so… then his youngest sister, Nikki, ran away with her boyfriend to backpack across Europe. Jeff had gone ballistic, but Katy was secretly happy for the young woman. Their parents had died in a plane crash a few years earlier, leaving Jeff to care for a fledgling corporation and three young girls. A tall order for any man, but he’d buckled down and succeeded better than anyone could have foreseen.
Katy met him when her mother had commissioned his company to add a wing to the hospital. Tall, dark, and handsome, he’d stood out amid all the white-coated doctors in his expensive three-piece suit and tie. She’d been drawn to his quiet self-confidence and charm. They’d dated for a couple of years before he popped the question and she’d said yes, sure that she’d met her perfect match.
She was still sure. Ty was an anomaly. Something she could, and would, control.
~~~*~~~
Ty spent the morning at the local welding shop. He had a firm dream in mind of a stage that could lift and lower three levels by the power of hydraulics. With the ability to rise to stage level, lower to audience level, or disappear as an orchestra pit the theatre would be multi-purpose, allowing for live, as well as on-screen performances.
When he’d first come up with the plan everyone called him crazy. What did Tidal Falls need with a live theatre? The school gymnasium had done the job for years, hadn’t it? And they were probably right. He was an idiot for taking this on. But once he had it in his head, he couldn’t seem to let it go. Mr. Fowler had given him carte blanche as long as he had it finished in time for his daughter’s wedding and Ty took responsibility for the costs until the project was finished. He had a lot resting on this venture, but if it came out the way he envisioned… Katy would be stunned.
He shook his head, this obsession with her needed to end. She wasn’t his anymore, hadn’t been in years. Maybe if he hadn’t fallen so hard. But right from the first moment he met her in the dusky intimacy of the theatre, with her laughing green eyes and mischievous smile, he’d been hooked. It had taken a long time to recover after she left, and even longer before he considered dating again. No one else could hold a candle to her.
And now she was back.
“Okay, that’s got ‘er.” Mitch’s voice was overloud now that the frying bacon noise of the welding had stopped. The air was thick with smoke and the aroma of hot metals freshly fused together.
“What took you so long?” Ty turned his head from his position of holding the piece in place and admired the precision of the weld. “Just kidding, good job.” He pulled off a glove and grimaced at the pain. The burn had faded from a flaming red to a pale pink but still remained tender.
His friend lifted the helmet off his matted hair and grinned at him, a black streak on his cheek highlighting his pearly whites. “What did you expect? When you have the best…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ty answered, “forget the rest.” If only he could reverse that a little in his personal life. His motto should be, forget the best, so you can accept the rest.
“Have you seen her yet? I heard she was back in town.” Mitch turned away to set the stinger down.
There was no question who he meant. The whole town knew of Ty and Katy’s past. They were probably ears to the wall waiting for the implosion. Too bad he’d have to disappoint them.
“She came and looked the job over yesterday. She’s worried we won’t get done in time, which is why I’m here busting your scrawny ass today.” Ty’s lips curled at the misnomer. Mitch was six-five, two hundred-eighty pounds, and built like a brick shithouse. He’d played football with Jack and even got a scholarship to college out of it, but then the accident with Jack happened and those dreams came to a screeching halt.
“Well, unless you add another tier or something we should be able to squeak in under the wire.” Mitch said. “And get that glint out of your eye, the answer is no.” He raised a dismissing hand, strode to the counter, and poured a cup of three-hour-old coffee. “You want to go for a beer?”
Ty wanted to agree, except it was barely noon. “Why don’t you let me buy you lunch instead? I’m starving.” Especially since he’d thrown out last night’s dinner after Katy left.
“Yeah, sure, man. Just give me a few to wash this sweat off and we can go.” Mitch set the blackened cup down and left the room.
Ty wandered around the brightly lit shop checking on their progress. It was coming together, the picture in his head now taking form. This was the part of the restoration business he loved. Incorporating new and old into seamless functionality. The old theatre would be the flagship for his line of work. He’d done many residential jobs, but this would be his first commercial project. It could open doors for his business and allow for expansion. So far he’d worked from home but Ty wanted to open a store where he could carry his own line of merchandise. Homemade furniture, expertly crafted and made to last. Kitchen cupboards manufactured by hand with love and care. Commissioned works of art; rugs and tapestries, paintings and sculptures. Quality products constructed to withstand the test of time.
Restless, Ty picked up a wrench and set it down again. He had a feeling old man Fowler had hired him hoping to see him fail, though why he’d want to chance that with the venue for his daughter’s wedding, Ty wasn’t sure. Maybe he was wrong. If it hadn’t been for the fact that this was his big chance, he would have turned the man down. And if he’d known he would be
dealing directly with his past—Katy—he still would have walked.
“You ready?”
Mitch’s voice drew Ty away from his vision of her last night, lost in the throes of passion. Her eyes closed and head thrown back as she rode his hand to completion.
To hell with walked, he should have run while he had a chance.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
CHAPTER NINE
Jared worked all afternoon with Larry to repair the torn ceiling and apply a new medallion in preparation for the chandelier Ty was on the hunt to replace. He’d contacted all the antique dealers he knew to try and locate a light close to the one destroyed.
From their position high up on the scaffolding they could see fresh cuts on the tarnished medal. Someone had deliberately weakened the integrity of the chandelier. Whoever had done this knew what they were doing. They’d staged it so the weight of the heavy fixture would slowly add pressure to the center pedestal until it couldn’t bare the load anymore and broke.
“This don’t look so good.” Larry huffed, his hardhat covered head tilted at an awkward angle to better examine the damage. “Don’t get me wrong, I like my job, but I never hired on to get myself killed.”
“Take it easy, no one’s going to die. Ty’s brother will check things out. It’s probably just some teenagers with time on their hands.” Privately, Jared decided to see about setting up some video surveillance. So far the infractions were minor, but he wasn’t anxious to get hurt on the job either.
They finished attaching the intricately carved medallion, then Jared waved Larry down first while he surveyed the room. Though old, the theatre held a charm from bygone eras hard to match in modern architecture. From his position in the concave dome, he could see across to the nearby second floor balcony. Grecian urns with chipped paint sat on raised pedestals flanking the handrails overlooking the main gallery. Three rows of torn red velvet seats stared back at him. The room’s spooky atmosphere gave him the heebie-jeebies, redolent of past occupants laughing and gossiping together while waiting for the evening’s entertainment to begin.
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