Reflected Pleasures (4 page)

Tyson Steele. That low, masculine voice was impossible to forget. It ran shivers over her skin and set fire to a tiny bubble of warmth low in her groin that threatened to explode at any moment. But she hadn't expected him to call.

“Don't you say hello before you begin your conversations? You're not my mother, just my boss.”

Oops, that sounded a little too smart-mouthed for something that Merri Davis would say. He
was
her boss and she needed to try to remember it. Maybe the
low, sensual sound of his voice had pulled a plug in her mind and her brain had drained.

“I'm sorry,” she apologized, before he could say another word. “But you took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting you to call after working hours.”

After a moment of silence, Ty cleared his throat and began again. “Hello, Miss Davis. Good evening. I understand from my aunt that you were late coming home from the garden club meeting. I was concerned that you might've had to miss your dinner.”

“No, Mr. Steele, I did not miss dinner. I fixed myself something when I got home.”

Another moment's silence dragged along on the other end of the line. “Could we go back to Ty and Merri?” he finally asked. “I didn't mean to sound so brusque, but my aunt was worried.”

“Your aunt?”

“All right.
I
was worried, too. I promised Jewel I'd see to your welfare, and I intend to keep that promise.”

She smiled, charmed by his concern, but glad he couldn't see her to know it. “Don't think you need to take me on as some kind of mission. I'm an adult.”

This time the quiet went on so long Merri was worried that the connection had been lost. “Did you have something else on your mind?”

“Uh. Yes. Tomorrow morning I have to be at a meeting concerning my oil businesses in Corpus Christi. I know you can handle the office without me, but I just figured I'd better tell you I won't be in.”

“No problem. I thought I might work on the donor reception idea tomorrow, if that's all right with you.”

“Good idea. But won't that be too much for you to
take on, since you've agreed to help the garden club with their fund-raiser?”

“Not at all. If there's one thing I know how to do, it's how to hold a party.”

“Really? Why's that?”

Hell, she'd said too much again. “My…uh…family was in the hospitality business.” Well, that was a version of the truth, if not all of it. Her father's family did own chains of hotels and restaurants. But the party-giving was something she'd picked up from her mother—without ever being taught.

“Okay. Why don't you consider scheduling the reception for early April?” he proposed. “We could hold it on my ranch. The weather should be nice enough then to set it up outside under the trees.”

“That would be lovely. I'll begin working on it right away.” She hesitated and wondered what else was left to be said.

Finally, Ty cleared his throat and told her what was on his mind. “I plan to be back in town by midafternoon tomorrow. I thought, if you weren't scheduled for a meeting at the garden club, that you might like to go out to the original Nuevo Dias Children's Ranch and see what kind of things our foundation supports.”

“Nuevo Dias? The New Day. I'd like that, yes. Thank you.”

“Good. And while you're in the mood for saying yes, I'll ask if you'll let me take you to dinner afterward. I have to keep my word to Aunt Jewel, you know.”

She could hear the chuckle in his voice and tried to keep the smile out of hers. “That wouldn't be like a
date, would it? Because I don't think it's a good idea for a boss and employee to date.”

“No. It wouldn't be like a date.” His laughter hummed over her skin and set her blood on fire. “It would be like a boss making sure his employee took care of herself.”

Yeah, right. But she remembered her promise to his attorney. Maybe outside of business hours were the best times to find a way to mention his appearance and manners.

On top of that, there was something terribly compelling about Tyson Steele. She decided to put her terrific opportunity for a new life in jeopardy in order to spend more time with him.

“I think you might be telling just a tiny fib with that one,” she said with a sigh. “But…”

“I never lie,” he interjected in a sober tone.

“Okay, then.” She took a deep breath. “I'll go to dinner with you tomorrow night after we visit the children's home. But don't think that means I'm giving you permission to watch over me. I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, ma'am,” he said in his deep, sexy voice. “Good night, Merri. I'll look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

After he'd hung up the phone, she sat for a long time, still holding the receiver in her hand. What had she done?

She really couldn't let Tyson Steele get that close. They shouldn't be seen out together.

But, well…he was just so tempting. And he'd actually flirted with her, even though she hadn't worn her usual tons of makeup and fancy clothes. Ty seemed to like the plain Merri Davis just fine.

All she could do now was pray that her wonderful new life would not be ruined by getting too close to someone who was so earthy…and so very real.

 

Ty's gaze moved past the giggling little girls in the lounge and landed on the fascinating woman who sat cross-legged on the floor amongst them. The whole time he'd been outside, playing ball with the older boys of Nuevo Dias Ranch, he hadn't been able to think of anything else but the green of her eyes behind those glasses. And the tiny beauty mark at the side of her mouth that he'd spotted while in the car on the way out here.

He leaned back against the doorjamb and folded his arms to watch her interact with the children. She had her back to him, but he had a clear view of what she was doing.

She'd removed the restrictive navy jacket that was part of the dress suit she'd worn today so she could play with the girls. The crisp white shirt she'd had on under it shouldn't have looked sexy at all.

But it did.

Letting his eyes wander where they would, he started his perusal at the back of her long slim neck above the shirt's collar. A few soft tendrils of hair had escaped the bun and they trickled across her flesh at the hairline. He wondered how she would react if he replaced those strands of hair with his lips and kissed the tender skin there.

Would she yelp and reprimand him? Or would she giggle and go all soft and warm? It was another sensual image of hearing her moan with pleasure that
drove him, at last, to move his gaze past her collar and on down her back.

The new view wasn't a whole lot better for his libido. As she reached out to brush a little girl's hair, the white shirt stretched across her back and he got a good look at the outline of the underwear she had on beneath it.

And underwear was the best word he could come up with. She wasn't wearing a bra, that much he could easily see. There was no obvious horizontal strap line like a bra.

This gizmo had shoulder straps, but it didn't have a back strap. Instead, the flimsy material captured his attention and drove his gaze lower as it went down her back and disappeared under her waistband.

Mercy.

Ty straightened up and shook his head to clear it. This would never do. He needed to get her alone so they could
talk
—get to know each other better. There was something she was hiding and he just couldn't get a handle on what it might be. He shouldn't be having these thoughts about what was hiding under her blouse.

He walked closer to the group on the floor and was amazed to see Merri helping a couple of twelve-year-olds as they applied a light shade of lipstick to their pouty young lips. What the heck would she know about putting on makeup? She didn't wear a drop of it herself.

“It's best if you can use a lip liner first,” she told one cute little girl with long blond braids. “Maybe I'll bring a few out the next time I come.”

“Are you coming back?” the blonde asked.

“Sure.” Merri's eyes softened and she gently cupped the girl's cheek. “I live in this town now. I'll come out as often as I can. I promise.”

He cleared his throat to announce his presence. Six sets of various shades of brown and blue eyes turned to stare up at him. But it was the emerald green eyes, swimming in tears behind thick glasses, that made his knees go weak.

“I've been told to announce that dinner is ready,” he managed with a rasp. “Everyone should go wash up now.”

“So soon?” a brown-eyed girl complained with a whine.

Merri sniffed once and laughed, throwing her arm over the girl's shoulder. “You need to eat so you can grow straight and tall.” She looked up at Ty and continued with a grin. “We all need to eat to keep up our strength.”

He reached out his hand to help her up. “You look beautiful when you laugh that way, Merri,” he said as she stood up beside him. “You should do it more often.”

“I do laugh,” she told him with a frown.

Rolling his eyes with exasperation, Ty shook his head. “But not around me. Is that right?”

She chuckled, and the sound wound around his nerves and settled deep in the pit of his gut. The sweat broke out on his forehead.

“Do you want to wash up before you eat?” he gulped.

“Where are we having dinner?”

“I know of a wonderful place. They serve lots of vegetables and salads. You'll probably love it.”

“I haven't heard of a place like that around town. Where would that be?”

“Here. In the main dining room.”

Her eyes lit up like he'd just given her a present. “Can we stay? Really?”

Oh, God. She was adorable. Aunt Jewel had been right in her original assessment.

Now he was noticing everything about her—and way too often. Dang it all.

“A
re you tired?” Ty asked as he turned out of the Nuevo Dias Ranch road and onto the main highway.

“A little,” Merri replied with a sigh. “But it's a good tired.”

Though it wasn't terribly late, the sky was black and the air smelled of rain. She leaned her head back against the passenger seat of his huge pickup truck and breathed in the scent of ozone mixed with mesquite.

“I'm glad you got a chance to see the ranch,” Ty said without taking his eyes off the road. “The kids sure enjoyed your visit.”

“I enjoyed meeting them, too. They're all so…” She hesitated over the words, remembering what one of the women in charge of the kids had told her about Ty.

“Uh…” she began again. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Shoot.”

“Someone told me that the reason you've taken on a charity for abused and abandoned children is that you were abandoned as a child. Is that true?”

He raked a hand through his dark chestnut hair, but didn't turn to look at her. “No. Not at all. Jewel was babysitting for me when my parents were killed in a car accident. She raised me. I was never abandoned.”

The words made sense, but Merri noticed that his tone of voice seemed to suggest something else. It appeared to be a real sore spot for him. So she let him change the subject.

“Back before dinner, when you were playing with the girls on the lounge floor…” he began. “Were those tears in your eyes?”

Ah. He'd managed to hit on one of her own sore spots. Well, she would tell him the truth of this one. No sense lying about something that she considered to be nonsense.

“Yes. Silly, huh?” She fidgeted under her seat belt but kept her eyes trained out the windshield. “Those little girls were so sweet to me…so needy. They actually wanted me to stay with them.”

She turned her head away from Ty in order to stare out of her side window and lowered her voice to a whisper. “No one's ever really wanted me that much before.”

“No one?”

She shook her head, but didn't imagine that he would be able to see her in the darkness.

“
I
want you, Merri,” he said in his own whispered voice.

Whipping her head around, she caught the hungry
look in his eyes before he turned to face front again. “Oh, sure you do,” she said on a strangled gurgle. “You want me to do a good job of fund-raising.”

“Yes. That too. But…”

She could hear the desire—slow, silky and sensuous in his voice. It threw her, set her soul aflame. In self-defense she slipped into her mother's spoiled-diva persona.

“Don't tell me we're going to have the talk about you taking me to bed? If that's the kind of wanting you mean, rein it back in, please. It can't happen.”

Through the darkness of the truck cab she saw him set his jaw and narrow his eyes. “Not at all,” he began in a low and dangerous tone she'd not heard from him before. “I know you've felt the electricity between us…just like I have. But I have no intention of jumping your bones. I may be an ogre to work with, but I don't force myself on employees—Miss Davis.”

She was more flustered than she could ever remember being. Her stomach was doing little backflips. She could imagine the two of them together, taking pleasure in each other's bodies and finding that special high peak that had always eluded her in the past.

But the reality of the situation drove her mind back around to face the chilly night and the raindrops that had begun to fall on the windshield. She thought about running away from her feelings—and from him.

However, this place had been her last resort. She'd already run away once—from the press and her old life. This time she had to stay and fight for what she wanted. Even if it meant fighting her own desires.

Ty didn't wait for her to deny or agree with his state
ment. “What I meant by needing you was…I need a friend,” he said in a quieter tone. “I've told you before that helping the kids means everything to me. It's the one thing I can really do to give back.

“I have—had—a great-aunt who just passed away,” he continued sadly. “Lucille gave me a hand up when I was down on my luck. She paid for my college and gave me the money to buy my first fixer-upper properties…because she believed in me. But there was never anything I could give her—or any way to adequately thank her. And now there never will be.”

Merri could hear his voice crack under the strain of grief. Damn, but this guy could get under her skin—in so many different ways. She'd never met anyone like him.

Embarrassed at her own stupidity, Merri squirmed in her seat and bit her tongue. What an idiot she was.

He took a deep breath. “I thought raising money for a charity would be easy. But it isn't. At least, not for me. And my foundation can't do it all.

“Frank suggested to me that you might be willing…” he continued hesitantly. “Well, to give me a few pointers on how to do it better. Say the right things. Dress more like—I don't know—a banker maybe. Learn to ask for what I need…and not simply demand.”

Her mouth opened before she thought it through—again. “Are we in need of one of those extreme makeover reality shows here?” she asked with a wry grin. But then in the glow of oncoming headlights she saw the smile fade from his lips. And she felt like kicking herself. Why couldn't she just keep quiet?

“Ty…” Merri began again as she gently touched his
arm. “You're a decent man, with all the right instincts. Believe me, there are tons of slick fund-raisers out there who couldn't care less about their charity or the suffering behind it. You do care, that's easy for anyone to tell.

“All you need is a little polish,” she added. “I'm not sure I should be the one to help you…but…”

Before she realized his intention, he took one hand off the wheel and tenderly captured her hand within his own. “I can handle it if you can. I fully intend to keep my promise to Jewel about seeing to your welfare. You're in a new place with strangers around you. If you can stand me reminding you to take care of yourself, then I can take whatever stuff you've got to throw at me.”

The heat from his touch was frying her brain. Merri was half afraid that she would
give
anything—
take
anything he ever wanted to dish out, if only he would touch her more often. But even wanting his touch so badly, there was nothing she wanted more than to be his friend, to listen to all his secrets and to share all of hers in return.

Unfortunately,
her
secrets had to remain buried. Ty had said, many times, that he didn't care for liars. And that's exactly what she was.

Merri sighed and gritted her teeth. She wanted her new life badly enough to keep on lying to him, too. And she intended to force these new erotic urges deep into her subconscious, to be forever buried there.

But… She also wanted very badly to find a way to help Ty, and befriend him. What a confusing predicament this was.

“I came here for a new start,” she began as her brain raced for excuses and answers. “And I thought I needed to do that all by myself. But if you need a friend then I…”

“A new start?” he interrupted. “Is there someone you're running away from? A husband? Or a boyfriend?”

He'd just supplied her with a great excuse to keep them from being anything but friends. Maybe she could fudge a little on this one and not come out and really lie to him. It was just so important for her to find a way to keep the two of them at a proper distance. Before it was too late.

“I broke my engagement a few weeks ago,” she told him. “I'm not terribly shook up over it, but I do need some time to heal.” See? Not a lie. Not exactly the truth, either, but it was good enough.

“Hmm. You don't seem all that heartbroken to me.”

“Enough that I don't want to get involved with anyone right now,” she said with her fingers crossed at her side. “But I
do
think we can try being friends—try helping each other out. Maybe we should just leave our relationship at that for now.”

“Merri, I told you that I don't take advantage of…”

Just then the heavens decided they had played around long enough. A bolt of lightning crashed across the night sky and, with a tremendous whoosh, huge raindrops obliterated everything in sight out of the windshield.

“Uh-oh,” Ty said as he slowed the truck.

“What's wrong?”

“The heavy rain is not good news.”

“Why? The roads won't flood, will they? And we're almost home anyway.”

Ty turned off the highway and made a second turn down her street. “It's a good thing we're nearly to the cottage, all right. We're going to have a lot of work to do tonight.”

“Why? Doing what?” She couldn't imagine what he was talking about. Once she was back in her cozy little cottage everything would be just fine.

 

Ty didn't bother to answer her. He roared down her street and literally slid his way down her gravel driveway.

“How many buckets do you own?” he yelled as he flipped open his seat belt and opened his door.

“Buckets? One, I guess. Why?”

“Out!” he hollered as he stepped outside into the drenching rain. “Find that bucket and meet me in the kitchen.”

Merri gritted her teeth against the downpour and stepped out of the truck. She tried to find her footing on the sloshy grass. But finally she decided to pull off her shoes and make a run for it.

She unlocked her front door, dropped her shoes and purse just inside, and dashed toward the utility room. She was sure she'd seen a bucket in there.

Finally finding the bucket stashed behind some cleaning supplies in a cupboard, she turned and flipped on the kitchen light. The light blinked off and on a couple of times. But when at last it stayed on, it illuminated the full view of a soggy disaster.

Water dripped from the ceiling onto her brand-new kitchen floor. Lots of drips. From lots of places.

Ty ran into the kitchen. “Put the bucket under a drip.”

“Which one?”

“Any of them,” he said with a sharp rasp. “Then use pots and pans. Anything you have handy. I found a ladder out in the shed. I'm going up on the roof to see what I can do.”

“Now? In the dark?”

He flashed her a quick grin. “Worried about me? Don't be. I'll be fine. I'm not sure I can help, but I've got to try.” With that he dashed out the back door and into the blinding and blowing rain.

It took Merri a minute to decide where the bucket would be of most use. She put it down and then cursed herself for taking so much time. The water was already fully covering the kitchen floor. Another few minutes and it would be an inch deep.

She dragged out every pan and placed them under the worst of the drips. But it wasn't enough. Next she pulled out the big mixing bowls and tried them. Finally, in desperation, she sought out the two glass vases from the living room.

While fussing over the rearrangement of the bowls, she almost missed a loud crashing sound from outside. Ty?

Ohmigod. He must've fallen off the ladder.

Merri flew out the back door, dreading what she would find in her backyard. Barreling around the corner of the house, she slipped on the wet grass and went down. Face first in the muddy grass.

Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up to her feet. “Are you okay? What did you think you were doing?” Ty roared through the noise of the rain.

She couldn't see a thing. Couldn't speak. Mud caked her glasses and she had enough grass in her mouth for a salad.

“I…” she sputtered and spit the grass out. “Thought you were hurt.”

Ty dragged her up into his arms and headed for the cottage's back door. After he'd kicked open the door and set her on her feet inside, he tried to clean her up with his hands.

As he removed the glasses and picked tiny sticks and grass out of her hair, it was all he could do not to crack a smile at the picture she'd made as she went down. “Hold still. I'll get a paper towel.”

He was back in an instant. Though he too was dripping wet, he tried dabbing at the caked mud on her face. She tipped her face up to his and let him dry her off.

It was a temptation, gently stroking her cheek and focusing on the full, thick lips so close to his own. A temptation he fought to set aside.

But he couldn't concentrate on his promises to just be her friend. Not now. All he could think of was how beautiful she looked without the glasses. And of how intense they would be together during long, slow kisses and hot, passion filled nights.

He'd said he wouldn't push…he needed Merri's friendship. But suddenly the fact that he hadn't so much as kissed a woman in over six months became a truth he just had to change. Instead of thinking it through, he leaned in and covered her mouth with his own.

She tasted not unpleasantly of wet grass, sort of earthy and much like the freedom to be found in childhood. But there was nothing at all about the kiss that
seemed like his boyhood. The heat of her body next to his chest filled him with sizzling needs and growing sensual images. Her kiss was like no one else's in his memory.

Merri made a strangled noise deep in her throat and melted into his arms. When he nudged her lips, she opened up to take his tongue into her mouth. Their two tongues danced in perfect harmony. As if each one had always known the other.

They stood there, dripping wet, while the world around them disappeared. Her sweet taste and feminine warmth was wrapping them both in a blanket of heat and need.

Oh, my darlin' one, he thought dimly. I do want you. More than I want to admit. Maybe more than you'll ever know.

Instantly hard, for a second Ty thought about stripping them both and dragging her into the shower. Images came of slick, soapy bodies, sliding under the cascading water, learning each other's needs—giving pleasure—wringing every sensual sensation from desperate souls….