In Forbidden Territory

by Shawna Delacorte

  Ty snapped to attention. Suddenly she was more than just a drop-dead-gorgeous beauty contestant. She was intelligent and articulate with a sense of humor and an openness that he found very refreshing, especially compared to a lot of the pretentious women he had dated over the years.

  “Is your whole family close?” It was an area he had been both curious about and uncomfortable with—one in which he had no experience. “I know Mac feels very close to his family, even though he doesn’t see any of them that often—which is not surprising, given his workaholic nature. He doesn’t take near enough time for himself, time to just kick loose and have fun.”

  Fun…the word cut through to the core of Angie’s reality. She stared at Ty for a moment. He seemed to her to be someone who knew how to have fun and enjoy himself—someone fun to be with.

  “Yes. We’re a pretty tight-knit family emotionally even if we aren’t geographically close anymore. Only one of my brothers still lives in Portland. The others have moved to various places around the country in pursuit of their careers.”

  “What do you like to do for fun? What kind of activities do you enjoy?”

  “Activities? Well, I like museums, concerts, art galleries and the theater. As for sports, I snow ski and water-ski. In fact, I enjoy just about anything connected with the water. I’m also the quintessential tourist. I love traveling and seeing new places.”

  He nodded his agreement. “I’d put sailing at the top of that list, which is fortunate since the design and construction of custom sailboats is the business we’re in. Otherwise it sounds exactly like my choices.”

  Angie took a couple of bites of her salad. “We’ve certainly talked about me long enough.” She shot him a quizzical look. “How about you? What’s your family like?”

  Her memories of Tyler Farrell were from fourteen years ago. Even a ten-year-old could recognize an arrogant jerk with a roving eye for women. Judging by the way he had been looking her over for the past hour it was equally obvious that he still had that roving eye.

  There was no question in her mind exactly what Ty was thinking. One glance at the devilish sparkle in his eyes and his wickedly tantalizing grin said it all. But there was more to Tyler Farrell than just the surface good looks. She sensed an honesty about him in direct contrast to the sexy gleam in his eyes and the playboy image he seemed to enjoy projecting. It was the type of honesty that said she would be safe from unwanted advances. He would probably make a pass, but he would accept no for an answer and not press her. And the same would be true even if she wasn’t his business partner and best friend’s sister.

  Yes, when she was ten she had thought he was a jerk. A tingle of excitement heated her insides, telling her just how attractive she found him now. It had been six months since she had broken off her engagement to Caufield Woodrow III, a man her mother had kept telling her she should hang onto. A man who had everything—wealth, family position, social status and a guaranteed future. A man who could have given her everything she wanted. But Angie had disagreed. Maybe he could have given her everything material, but he had not given her any consideration for what she wanted out of life—it had been all about him and what he wanted…no one else.

  And he didn’t know how to have fun. She had never laughed when she was with Caufield. She liked to laugh. Everything had always been so serious with him. Everything had to be planned out well in advance. He had needed two weeks’ notice to do something spontaneous. It had been a stifling relationship, one that had smothered her in a cloak of his creation. One in which she had finally realized she had been suffocated to the point where she could hardly breathe. She shook away the thoughts. It was old territory that she didn’t want to go over again. She was relieved to be out of the relationship.

  “My family…” Ty took a deep breath, held it a moment, then exhaled. The word dysfunctional immediately leaped to his mind. He was an only child who had been raised with money and privilege, but it was not a substitute for the type of closeness Mac had with his family—the type Angie had just described. The predominant memory from his early years was the constant fighting between his mother and father. His parents had finally divorced when he was in high school, but it hadn’t stopped their ongoing battles.

  And then there had been his disastrous two-year marriage shortly after he had graduated from college. Hardly a day had gone by without some sort of argument or at the very least enough tension to fill a football stadium. Family? A happy, loving marriage and close family was something he had never seen or experienced firsthand. It was something he would have said didn’t exist if it weren’t for the single exception of Mac and his family. But marriage and emotional closeness were things he would never know and he didn’t want to try to capture it with another attempt at a relationship—an attempt he knew would be doomed to failure from the beginning.

  He extended what he hoped would be a confident smile. “I was an only child, born and raised in Seattle. My parents both live in the Seattle area, my mother in Bellevue and my father on Mercer Island. I think that about covers it.”

  “That’s certainly succinct and to the point.” She returned his smile, letting him know she was not offended by his brief and evasive answer to her question even though she found it puzzling.

  Lunch continued in a more comfortable vein. After the initial time of finding out a little about each other, the conversation turned to more casual topics and a surprisingly fun-filled two hours with lots of laughs. Each relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful day. Following lunch, they walked back to the offices.

  “You know, Mac is going to be tied up for several days. My time is a lot more flexible than his right now so I’ll be happy to show you around—” his gaze locked with hers for an intense moment, sending a heated wave of desire through his body “—if you don’t mind the last-minute tour guide substitution.”

  “No…” A sizzling second of eye contact told her more than she wanted to know about the sexual magnetism of Tyler Farrell. A little shiver of trepidation tried to work its way to the forefront. “I don’t mind at all.”

  “Do you have plans for this evening?” The tightness returned, like a band pulling across his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe. “I could pick you up at Mac’s house at seven o’clock.”

  “That will be perfect.”

  Ty watched as she got in her car and drove away. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment. He slowly exhaled as he entered the building, crossed the lobby and walked down the hallway, but it did nothing to calm his inner turmoil. Angie Coleman had made a definite impact on his senses and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

  He paused at Mac’s office, leaning casually against the door frame. “I’m back from lunch.”

  Mac looked up from his work, glancing over Ty’s shoulder. “Where’s Angie?”

  “She left. I suppose she went back to your house.”

  “Thanks for filling in for me and taking her to lunch.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Mac.” Ty flashed his patented smile. “It was certainly my pleasure.”

  “I’ll have to make it up to her tonight. Maybe take her out to dinner or something.” Mac glanced at the clock on his desk. “If I can get out of here at a decent hour.”

  “No need for you to quit earlier than you want to just so you can rush home to an empty house. I’m taking Angie out tonight.” He cocked his head and tried to suppress his grin. “You know…pizza and a movie, just like you suggested.”

  Ty noted the cautionary look on Mac’s face, but didn’t want to start a conversation about it. He didn’t want his business partner asking what his intentions were toward Angie. He didn’t want to think about what his intentions were, to define the disjointed feelings and sensations that had been floating around inside him from the moment he had seen Angelina Coleman framed in the office door.

  Angie checked the clock. She still had about an hour before Ty would be picking her up. She had spent the afternoon working on her resume. When Mac had told
her he was busy and wouldn’t be able to take her to lunch, she had been disappointed. She wanted the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with him, dig into the operational procedures of the company, create a viable niche for herself in the organization, then pitch the idea to Mac about hiring her.

  She wanted a job with Mac’s company, but she didn’t want him to hire her just because she was his sister—to once again come to her rescue, to take care of her. She wanted to prove herself to him and earn a job based solely on her own merit. She wanted him to respect her as a capable adult rather than protect her like a child. She wanted his approval.

  Then her thoughts turned to Ty. If she had an ally within the company she just might have a better chance of Mac paying attention rather than in essence telling her to run along and play—to not worry her cute little head about anything. That was what had happened six months ago when she had first broached the subject of a job with Mac’s company. She’d had her mother mention the job possibility to him. It was right after she had broken off her engagement. Her insecurities were at odds with her aspirations. She had been too scared and intimidated to approach Mac herself. All he had done was laugh and say how cute it was of little Angie to want to go to work for him. At that moment it was obvious to her that she needed to prove herself first if he was ever going to take her seriously.

  Ty was not family. He wouldn’t have any preconceived notions about who she was or what she should be doing with her life, what predetermined category she should fit in. She furrowed her brow into a slight frown for a moment. At least she hoped Mac hadn’t put any preconceived ideas into Ty’s head. If she could enlist his help, she was sure the two of them could get Mac to listen to reason and shed his old notions.

  Angie glanced at the clock again, then put away her work materials so she could get ready for her date with Ty. She paused a moment, a reflective mood coming over her. Date…it wasn’t a date. He was just being polite, seeing that she wasn’t having dinner alone while Mac worked on his deadline project. That was all it was. Nothing more. She closed her eyes and an immediate image of his dazzling smile and good looks popped into her mind. The same sensation she experienced when he had clasped her hand began to spread across her skin. Her breathing quickened and a tingle of excitement told her there was something very special about this man whether she wanted it to be that way or not.

  She brushed the last stroke through her hair just as the doorbell rang. She rushed to answer it, stepping aside as Ty entered the house.

  “You didn’t say where we were going.” She glanced down at the simple skirt and blouse she had chosen, then made eye contact with him. The glint in his hazel eyes sent a little shiver through her body. “I hope I’m dressed okay.”

  “You look gorgeous.” He forced a calm to his voice that he didn’t feel as he blatantly stared at her. She was far more than merely gorgeous. She had brains and personality in addition to stunning looks. He had never been involved with a woman who had it all. Involved—that word had popped into his mind without him realizing it. Where had it come from? He certainly wasn’t involved with Angie. She was his best friend’s sister, a best friend who also happened to be his business partner. A business partner who had managed to tell him “hands off” without ever saying a word.

  He tried to shut out the feelings coursing through him, feelings that admittedly were mostly lust. But there was a hint of something else, too. Something he couldn’t quite grasp or define. Something that made him nervous. His attention became riveted to her perfect mouth, her slightly parted lips tinted with a soft russet color. He felt himself being drawn in against his conscious will.

  He leaned his face into Angie’s. It started as an innocent brushing of his lips against hers, but it ignited a burst of unbridled desire. Ty wrapped his arms around her and captured her mouth with a kiss that did nothing to hide the passion coursing through his veins. Her body stiffened in his arms followed by a moment’s hesitation.

  A touch of panic invaded his reality. Had he just made the most colossal blunder of his life? Was this going to cost him more than he had anticipated? Possibly even the friendship of his best friend and business partner?

  Two

  Angie’s initial shock quickly vanished. Ty’s kiss held everything she had imagined it would and was everything she feared it might be. She slipped her arms around his neck and allowed the sensuality of his magnetism to flow through her. It was the last thing she had anticipated at that moment, but certainly not an unwelcome turn of events. Her thoughts faded into the background. Her breathing quickened. Her only conscious reality centered around his lips on hers and the fire he lit inside her. It was the type of heated desire her ex-fiancé had never been able to ignite in her, a sexy aura he had never possessed.

  The kiss lasted for what seemed like forever before Ty finally broke the contact. It was a kiss unlike any she had ever experienced—a kiss that demanded more and promised everything in return. It was also a kiss that frightened her in its magnitude and the way it sent waves of longing crashing through her body. She took an unsteady step backward in an attempt to escape the lingering warmth of his embrace and the connection of their bodies pressed together. She nervously ran her fingers through her short hair. A kiss like that could only lead one place and she was not prepared to let that happen regardless of how attractive and desirable she found him.

  There was a brief moment of eye contact. The intensity in his eyes sent a little shiver up her spine. It didn’t matter how much she tried to convince herself that it was nothing more than an innocent kiss. She knew the truth was far removed from what she was trying to make herself believe. The ominous silence following their kiss grew louder and louder. She self-consciously shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

  “Uh…where are we going tonight?” With any luck her words didn’t sound as unsure to him as they did to her.

  Angie’s question broke into the thoughts running rampant through his mind—thoughts about the sensuality of this incredible woman and where the kiss was headed. He was thankful for the distraction. He started to speak, but a huskiness momentarily closed off his throat and no words came out. He tried again.

  “I thought…uh, Mac had suggested…how does pizza and a movie sound to you?” He forced a smile that he hoped looked casual rather than something awkwardly pasted on his face.

  “Pizza and a movie?” A teasing grin played at the corners of her mouth and an undeniable humor surrounded her words. “Yes, that sounds like Mac’s idea of what his kid sister would enjoy.”

  She saw the quick look of hesitation dart across his face as if he wasn’t sure how to take what she had said. She couldn’t stop the laugh that quickly erupted. “I happen to like pizza and I like movies. That sounds like a perfect evening’s activity to me.”

  And it was a perfect evening. Angie picked out a movie for them to see and afterward they went to a local pizza parlor. It was close to midnight when Ty pulled into Mac’s driveway, then walked Angie to the door. He took her hand in his as he leaned against the wall next to the front door.

  “Thank you for joining me tonight. I really enjoyed it.” He suddenly felt like a teenager who was not sure how to go about ending a date. Should he try to kiss her again? Had it been a mistake to have kissed her the first time? Should he just leave? It had been a long time since he had been so unsure of himself. His dates usually ended in bed, but he knew that tonight would not be the usual. Tonight would be different, tonight he was with a very special lady.

  “It was my pleasure. I enjoyed it, too. Would you like to come in for a few minutes?”

  A quick rush of anticipation darted through his body. He stared at the closed front door for a moment, turning her question over in his mind. What was she expecting? Was he reading something into her invitation that wasn’t there? Was Mac home? So far it had been a stress-free evening without the pressure of trying to impress anyone—just the comfortable situation of two people enjoying each other’s company withou
t the underlying layer of jockeying for control and pursuing ulterior motives.

  He was very unhappy with the internal battle over which he seemed to have no control. He tried to gather his determination and regain the upper hand over his emotions. If her ability to kiss was any indication, Angie was definitely a woman who had not spent her life cloistered away from social situations or men.

  She knew the score and had spent time out there in the real world of men and women despite what her brother preferred to believe. But that did not negate the fact that she was totally different from the women he usually dated. Maybe it was true that she knew the score, but there was no way she promiscuously slept around. She would be selective and when she did take that step it would be because it meant something special to her. A little shiver of anxiety told him she was definitely not the type he was accustomed to.

  And then there was her brother. He had a responsibility to Mac that couldn’t be ignored. The uncertainty ran rampant inside him, creating havoc and indecision, something that did not normally cross his life.

  “Ty?” Her words interrupted his wayward thoughts as she repeated her invitation. “Would you like to come in and have a glass of wine?”

  He searched her face and looked into her eyes. She was all fresh enthusiasm, trusting honesty and an underlying sensuality that had been driving him crazy from the moment he had encountered the adult version of the young girl he had met fourteen years ago. She was just the type who could sneak up on a man and have him fall head over heels in love with her before he knew it. Her type of woman was more dangerous than any predator—two-legged or four-legged.

  As much as he wanted to ignore the realization and avoid the obvious, he knew she scared the socks off him. He also instinctively knew that he would never be able to walk away from her without returning. But as far as tonight was concerned…