Romance in Dallas - Tycoon!

by Nancy Fornataro

  "You can get me an aspirin if you like; I have a headache. First drawer. But, you're not my slave. I don't want you to feel that way, either. If it wasn't for my back, you probably wouldn't even be here."

  "Well," she said, getting the aspirins for him and sitting down again, buckling her belt, "guess I've been told."

  "Didn't mean it that way," he drawled. "Lots of things have changed in my life since...well, a while ago, the back injury. Not all of them have been bad, though."

  She nodded, but he noticed her eyes were still half closed. He looked at his watch, before checking with the pilot, who assured him it should be smooth flying from there on out.

  He eased back into the chair. "Why don't you lie down again? It's going to be a while before we get to Honolulu."

  "Okay," she whispered.

  "You need help?" he asked.

  "No, thank you. I can manage. Don't want to add myself to your responsibilities."

  He sent a text to Warren, after she'd gone into the room. 'I'm blowing it, my man.'

  A minute later, his friend sent an answer. 'Go with your gut.'

  Ram smiled at that. If he went with his gut, he'd be kissing her lips right now, followed by her neck, while he smelled her sweet perfume then kissing her breasts, each one, down her stomach...

  But, he stopped his train of thought. "It's been too long," he muttered to himself. And, most of the rest of the way to Hawaii, he was either pretending to work on his computer in the bedroom with her, or lounging in the bedroom doorway just watching her sleep.

  Jace felt someone shaking her shoulder. "What?"

  "We're going to land, peaches," he said, "need your seatbelt on. Good time to take a restroom break if you need it."

  Rubbing her eyes sleepily, yawning, she managed to find her way to the bathroom. It was luxurious along with the rest of the plane, with gold sink, fixtures, and a marble counter top. It even had a shower, she noticed absently.

  After she'd thrown some water on her face, and dried herself, she sighed and went to join him.

  She was always extremely nervous on landings, and just kept picturing planes exploding and crashing.

  Clutching the seat arms, she could feel his gaze on her again. "Why are you staring at me?" she asked irritably.

  He smiled then tried to cover it up as he rested his elbow on the seat arm and hid his mouth with one hand. "Not staring, really," he said, "just making sure you're okay."

  "I'm fine. I have no problems."

  But as she looked out the window, the plane lurched to the left suddenly, leaving butterflies in her stomach.

  "And on your right," he joked, unable to suppress it anymore, "I give you Honolulu."

  "I think you're loopy on pain pills," she told him dryly.

  The landing was smooth after that, and they took a taxi to his hotel whizzing through the busy Honolulu streets to the beach area.

  Jace received a call from Natalie, as she and Ram sat in the back seat.

  "How are you?" Nat asked her.

  "Better than I was a few hours ago. I'll fill you in later."

  "Are you with him right now?"

  "Yes, we're headed for..." she paused.

  "Manor House," Ram filled in.

  She heard Natalie laugh. "You forgot the name of his hotel. And after all my coaching!"

  "Well," she sighed, "guess I'll talk to you later, then."

  "Just one more thing."

  "Yes?"

  "Is he a babe in person then?"

  "No comment."

  "I'll take that as a yes."

  The Honolulu Manor House was right next to the beach, and Jace loved the room he'd assigned to her, next to his. She walked on the balcony and reveled in the panoramic ocean view, palm trees swaying in the breeze and the ocean's calm surf, while the porter brought her bag.

  Looking around the large room, she thought it was really upscale with two sumptuous queen beds, with fern patterned spreads, nightstands, dresser with a large full length mirror to the right, a microwave, a refrigerator, a mini-bar stand, and a marble tiled bathroom with a large Jacuzzi tub, aside from a walk-in shower, all with gold fixtures.

  Again, she wasn't sure how long they'd be in the city, as he hadn't said anything about that, so she unpacked her clothes and hung up a few dresses which she'd brought along, but doubted she'd ever wear.

  He knocked and came in a few minutes later. "Are we eating?" he asked.

  She nodded.

  They ate at one of his restaurants in the hotel.

  While they were waiting for their omelets, he said, "So tell me about yourself."

  "Well," feeling his intense stare again, "what would you like to know?"

  "Where did you grow up?"

  "Actually," she said, avoiding the question, "I really need to do my assessment of you after we're done here."

  He sat back, physically uncomfortable now, if she was reading him right.

  "Why don't you want to tell me where you grew up?"

  "PT needs to keep her distance from her patient."

  "Is that right? PT would be you?"

  She nodded.

  "What if I don't want to do the assessment until you tell me?"

  She frowned. "Then I'd take the first plane out of here."

  A look flashed across his face, before he covered it up again with a smile. "All right. Then I'll tell you about myself. How's that?"

  Smiling back at him, she said, "Perfect. I can start my assessment now with the information you give me."

  "Born in a small town in southern Georgia. My papa was old money and my momma was a southern belle, complete with dowry."

  "Really? So she was a housewife, and your father?"

  "Dabbled very successfully in the stock market."

  "And the hotels?"

  He ran a hand through his blond hair. "I built them with the inheritance. After they died. I think people like the style of the hotels, we're always booked."

  "The room is lovely."

  "I'm right next door if you need anything darlin.'"

  She was thankful that the food arrived just then, and the two of them sat, silently eating.

  After the meal, she couldn't remember if it was breakfast or lunch, she insisted he come to her room for the assessment.

  He lay casually on the bed, leaning against the bed pillows, eyeing her calmly, as she asked about his life. What did he do all day? Did he lift anything? What drugs was he taking? Then, more personal. The accident, what had happened? How long ago? What activities made his back worse? Medical history?

  "Can you please lie flat for me?" she asked him, as she typed her final notes into her laptop computer.

  He did as requested.

  "Take off your belt, please."

  His eyebrows raised, but he did as requested.

  She gently pulled his right leg up at the knee and tried to move it to his chest. The look on his face said it couldn't happen, and he gasped. The left leg revealed the same results.

  Ram felt like her touch was so tender; it moved something deep inside him. And his pain was almost secondary to his attraction to her. She brought his right leg across, stretching the hip muscles slowly, and on again to the left leg with the same stretch. His right leg was again rolled, as well as the left, with her expert touch.

  "Remove your shirt," she told him quietly "and turn on your stomach please.

  He shucked it off. Her warm, capable hands began massaging and manipulating his shoulders around, then moved to the small of his back, where she kneaded.

  "You're really tight," she whispered, almost to herself, he thought.

  But when she straddled him, below his hips, he almost groaned from the sensation, as she pulled his arms back, forward, back, then began the deep, penetrating massage. She seemed to know instinctively where his pain was located, and avoided the spots close to his spine.

  He felt his erection start, but ignored it, and lost himself in the feeling of her. But, soon a sense of urgency began that he
couldn't ignore. Slowly turning over, while hanging onto her, he knew he'd surprised her.

  "What--" she began.

  His hands came up behind her neck, and he pulled her face to his.

  "Please--"

  Finally, he was able to kiss her, feel her lips on his. She stopped struggling, as the kiss drew deeper.

  Flitting his tongue inside her mouth, tasting, probing, it was her turn to moan now.

  Darkness fell and the kiss drew on and on, as he let out the pent up frustration of their plane ride. He wanted her closer, closer to his chest, he couldn't get her close enough.

  She felt his lips, now whispering unknown words against her cheek, urgently, as she felt his hardness against her. And she was powerless to stop him, and was helpless for a minute or two as he kissed and whispered against her lips, "So...so very beautiful...darlin'..."

  With her own reaction to him, to the totality of the man, she knew she'd have to leave him here, take a plane home.

  "This can't be," she said, pulling away from him, climbing off the bed. She was shaking now, as she opened the slider and walked onto the large balcony, into the muggy heat of Hawaii.

  A few minutes later, he came up in back of her, slowly folding his arms around her as he whispered, "I'm sorry...so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

  "I'm here to help you," she said, sounding steadier than she felt. "If you can't rein it in, I'll have to leave. I am not looking for a relationship." It was on the tip of her tongue to say she already had a lover, but she didn't have one, and she hated lying anyway. It was none of his business, and she planned to keep it that way. She moved forward, out of his arms.

  "I'll leave you alone," he whispered. "Don't go. I don't want that."

  She nodded, and he went to his room.

  Her cell phone rang early the next morning. It was Natalie.

  "What time is it?"

  "I don't know, with the time difference. I just wanted to get you before you were with him."

  "I did the assessment yesterday."

  "And, how did that go?"

  "Dicey. I think he's too horny for me to continue."

  "Sweetie, have you looked at yourself lately? You don't even have to wear make-up, it's sickening. Your complexion is flawless and your body is fine. So, where were you when it happened?"

  "What?"

  "The horn-dog routine."

  "I sat on his back. It was just easier for me with him being on the bed and all."

  "Jesus, no wonder."

  "It's still no excuse."

  "What exactly happened?"

  Her mind went back to his kisses and urgent whispers in the twilight. She couldn't say anything momentarily.

  "Hmmm," Nat said, "that good, 'eh?"

  "No comment."

  "So are you coming back here then?"

  "I'll give him one more chance. Today I'll make that determination."

  "Just give him a break. It's been a while since his accident. He's probably not been with anyone since that. So, try not to be too hard on him."

  Jace sniffed. "All right. I just had a thought. Maybe I should get a portable table for him, that way I could raise and lower it to suit myself and we wouldn't find ourselves in such an intimate position."

  "That's a great idea. Then just load it on his plane."

  "Okay, Nat. Thanks for calling. I'll get in touch with you later then."

  They rang off and she sat up against the pillows, looking blankly at the coffee maker. "It's not going to make itself," she said out loud. But still, she didn't move.

  Her cell rang again. She looked at the clock. Eight in the morning. Thinking it was Nat again, she answered, laughing, "Now what?"

  Silence greeted her.

  "I was going to ask you that," Ram said finally. "Heard you talking in there."

  "Yes, I had a phone call," she said vaguely.

  Another silence.

  "I ordered us some coffee," he drawled, "I'll be there in a few."

  But he'd hung up before she could even protest. "Damn," she swore, as she bounded up and searched through her bag. There was no time to get dressed all the way, so she grabbed her shorty robe. She definitely did not want to let him know she slept in the nude. With the lights on. That was her business, not his.

  He knocked softly on her door a few seconds later, and she let him in.

  "Have a seat," she told him, looking up at him quickly, drawing her robe sash tighter. "I just wanted to comb my hair; you didn't give me much time."

  "I'm on a schedule here, Jace. Thought we'd have coffee before I go to my meetings. They'll take up most of the day."

  And as she stood in the bathroom brushing her hair, he continued, "How about dinner tonight?" he drawled.

  Sighing and leaning against the marble counter, she wondered whether she should. It was like dating him.

  As if reading her thoughts, he said, "Just as friends. Just for fun."

  Walking out in her bare feet, tying her robe sash, she said, "I suppose so." She sat on the corner of the bed, and her eyes met his. "What I need to do today is get a portable table for working on you." Nodding towards the other bed, she told him, "Just too much of temptation. I'd hate to have to leave you, because I think I could really help you in your recovery."

  His eyes roved over her hungrily. From her bare feet, over her silky short robe showing an expense of curvy legs, to her breasts with nipples showing under the drape of fabric, back to her warm brown eyes, long curly hair and flushed cheeks.

  "Ah wish you wouldn't do that, darlin.'" And he wished his damn southern accent wouldn't come out so much when he was moved by someone. And, she moved him. A lot. He thought of the night before, kissing her soft lips, as his tongue roved in and out, tasting, then reveling in the feel of the soft skin of her cheeks, kissing and moving on them.

  He looked past her to the painting on the wall. "Order whatever you need and charge it to the room." Then his eyes came back on her steady gaze now. "Nothing else will happen, then. You trust me?"

  A certain look flashed on her face, before her guard came up again, and she said, "Of course. If you say nothing, then you mean nothing. I understand that."

  The coffee came then, and he watched her get up, walk to the door and let the foodservice woman in with the tray. He rose and put a several bills on the tray.

  As they were sipping their coffee, he said, "You can do anything today. I won't be back until five. A full day."

  "And, how is your back?"

  "Don't ask." After finishing his cup of coffee, he rose stiffly, and thought he'd like to take another pill but he needed to wait another few hours.

  "Sit down," she told him, moving the chair around and standing behind it, "this will only take a minute."

  He nodded and sat. She began massaging his shoulders, a deep, penetrating rub that almost made him gasp.

  "You're very tight," she said, as she concentrated on his left shoulder, then his right. "Do you have a muscle relaxant? I don't remember you mentioning that."

  His voice was soft now, that was all he could manage, "No."

  Continuing the rubbing for a few minutes, and patting his shoulder to indicate she was done, she said, "I'll call Doctor Truman today. He can call it to a pharmacy here. I really think it's advisable."

  She padded over to the door, opening it then for him, "See you tonight. Just call me."

  "You got it."

  Jace took the day, with a taxi, to visit some memorials of Pearl Harbor. But the one that moved her the most was The Arizona, destroyed battleship, still under the water. And, she wondered as she looked sadly at the lists of names of men killed there, just how many soldiers had to die to protect America's freedom.

  Chapter 4

  Ram was bored during one of his meetings, and sent Warren a text: 'she b hot, hrd to cntrl.'

  A few seconds later, Warren replied, 'regain cntrl man - u r the Ram.'

  And Ramsey smiled. He really had lost control, and it would eventually drive her away, being
the independent woman she was. Now, he felt doubly bad about the night before, and promised himself it wouldn't happen again.

  He called at five-thirty to make sure she'd be ready at six for dinner.

  But when he knocked on her door at six, she didn't answer. Calling her phone, he just went to voice mail. Frowning, he strolled back to his room. And he thought it didn't make sense. He slowly tried the door adjoining their rooms. It was unlocked.

  Not hearing or seeing her, he leaned on the doorjamb. Looking at the beds then towards the bathroom, his breath came out in a long sigh as he spotted her finally in the full length mirror.

  She'd just gotten out of the steamy shower, and was toweling herself off. She moved the towel over her long hair, then down to her breasts, stomach, between her legs, down her legs to her ankles. And as she came back up to rub her hair again, her breasts thrust out, and he thought he'd never seen such a beautiful sight. Large breasts, generous nipples now peaking, tiny waist, nicely rounded buttocks, tiny triangle of short hair on her mound, and shapely long legs.

  He quickly shut the door, more than wanting to keep it open, just to let his eyes rove up and down the length of her. "Christ," he swore, as he paced up and down the room. Then, waiting a good ten minutes, he called her cell phone again.

  "Ready when you are," she told him cheerfully.

  After he'd clicked off, he muttered, "You have no idea, darlin.'"

  After she opened the door for Ram, she showed him the table she'd received that day, for his physical therapy.

  "Looks sturdy," he said, looking more at her than the table.

  She wore a blue mini-dress and matching high-heeled sandals.

  "You look gorgeous," he said politely.

  Ignoring the comment, she asked him, "Where are we going?"

  "A retro disco place upstairs," he replied.

  "Upstairs?"