Reflected Pleasures (5 page)

Whew, babe. The sensations and blinding images were all too strong, too fast. He'd promised her he wouldn't—

Lifting his head, Ty fought his body's demands and stepped back. “I…uh…have to go.”

What was the matter with him? Go where? He was here to help her clean up the mess and make sure the roof had stopped leaking. But standing this close made it impossible for him to think. Impossible to concentrate.

Lord have mercy, but such things had never happened to him before. Never.

“I mean, I should go back out and make sure the tar paper I nailed on the roof is holding in the wind. Are you okay enough now to start mopping up right away?”

“Mopping?” She looked up at him with confusion in her eyes. He noticed her kiss-swollen lips and erotic flushed face and it made him want to reach for her all over again.

Instead he took another step toward the door. “Yeah, mopping. Like with the mop…on the floor.”

“Oh,” she said in a tiny voice. “I…guess.”

She'd said the words as if she was cold…numbed by what had happened between them. But he wasn't so sure that was true. The kiss had been hot, but he'd felt her holding back. Not nearly as desperate for him as he'd been for her.

“Okay, then,” he wheezed. “Good. You start cleaning up and I'll be back to help you in a few minutes.”

He started out the door but caught himself midstride. He had to say something. Something about the kiss. But it was still a jumble in his head.

When he turned, thoughts racing to catch up, he saw her reach out to steady herself with the counter. “Merri?” He took a step back toward her again.

She raised her hand, palm out to stop him from coming any closer. “No, Ty.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and stared down at the wood plank floor. “I'm fine. But we can't ever do that again. I can't just kiss you and go on as if nothing happened. Not if I'm going to work for you…not if we're going to be friends.”

He'd never had a woman tell him no before. It stunned him. Plastered his feet to the floor.

Before he could gather his thoughts enough to speak, Merri silently turned her back and walked out of the room. She hadn't stopped to look at him, hadn't even raised her chin.

But she'd seemed so soft and vulnerable, walking away with her shoulders slumped and her hair all wet and falling down around her shoulders. The last thing he'd seen as she disappeared through the doorway was the mousy brown nest tumbling out of its binds on the top of her head, and dripping cascading water rivulets down her back.

It took everything he had to finally move.

Driving a hand through his own dipping hair, Ty felt the pain of being alone worse than he had in years. He forced his feet to carry him back outside and onwards toward the ladder to the roof. But he barely noticed that the rains had already slowed.

He stood, with one foot on the bottom rung of the ladder and rain dripping down his neck, wondering if he'd just let the most important thing in his life slip through his fingers. But in his soul that idea felt ridiculous.

What did they really know about each other? One kiss and a strong sensation in the vicinity of his groin, did not make for a lasting relationship.

The last time he'd felt something similar was in college, and that woman had damned near stolen his integrity, along with his heart, with her lies and her cheating. He should've known better even then. Lies came too easily for some women.

But he truly didn't believe Merri had any reason to lie to him, she was just shy and a little introverted. That had to be why she didn't seem to mind coming to live in this backwater town and living alone without family.

He would definitely love to bring out the passion in her that he knew lay right below the shy surface. But Ty didn't need entanglements at this stage in his life. He only needed a friend.

Just a friend…dammit.

M
opping?
What the heck did a mop look like anyway?

Merri stood, staring into the broom closet and trying to settle her nerves. Her lips were still tingling, her breasts still tender as they rubbed against her starched blouse right through the thin material of her teddy.

She blew out the breath she'd been holding and leaned back to steady herself against the door. Closing her eyes and counting the beats of her pounding heart, Merri wondered if she was going crazy.

All she could think about was the look in Ty's eyes when he'd turned back to check on her. The passion had still been flaming in those beautiful blues, that was for sure. And she was real familiar with that lust herself. She'd also been beyond hot and bothered.

But deeper, below the heat, she'd seen confusion and desperation in his eyes. Again, the very same emotions she had been struggling to conquer in herself.

That need, that desperate need having nothing to do with lust, was what had gotten to her the most. It made her want to wrap her arms around him and cuddle through a long night. To smooth back the strands of hair from his forehead and soothe away the frown lines that seemed so much a perpetual part of him. It would be so easy to listen to his passionate secrets in the dead of the night, and to be that special someone who would be there to understand.

Secrets?
Hell. She had to get a grip here.

It wasn't Ty who had secrets.
He
wasn't the one who was deliberately misleading everyone.
He
wasn't the one who had gone to huge lengths to change his looks so he wouldn't be recognized. And that was why she had pushed him away and forced herself to keep a distance between them.

Merri breathed in a lungful of air and did get a grip. She gripped the plastic handle of what she was sure must be a mop and turned back to the urgent job of getting the water off the kitchen floor.

It took a few minutes for her to understand that the mop wasn't going to pick up any water until it was damp. But after a few inept attempts, she finally managed to fall into the natural rhythm of this mopping thing.

Almost pleasantly monotonous, the push-swipe-wring felt so good she caught herself smiling. This was exactly the kind of thing she had longed to experience.

No pedicures, breakfasts served on the terrace, or
massages before bed for her anymore—no pampering at all. The things Merri wanted in her life now were alarm clocks, boxed cereal and discount store sales—the real world. And that included floor mops.

“Hey!” Ty's voice as he entered the kitchen interrupted her thoughts. “You've got a great wave action going there, but I don't think you're making much headway.” He grinned and looked down as the water she'd just pushed in his direction covered his boots.

“Let me grab some towels and I'll help. They're still kept in the hall closet, aren't they?”

“Yes, but…” She started to say that she'd rather finish the cleanup job herself, but he disappeared down the hall before she could get it out.

In thirty seconds he was back, carrying an armful of bath towels. “Here.” He threw her a towel before he went down on his hands and knees with a couple of towels himself. “See? The towels pick up a lot more water than the mop.”

Merri froze and stared, scarcely believing her own eyes. The man was rumored to have earned over a billion dollars before he turned thirty. He owned real estate in ten states and oil wells all over the world. His charitable foundation was destined to be a multi-million dollar project.

And here he was, on his hands and knees, using towels to sop up rainwater from her kitchen floor. Well…she'd wanted real, hadn't she?

She dropped to her knees and ran the towel over the puddles on the floor. Following Ty's lead, she soaked up water with the towel and then wrung it out over the bucket. Within a few minutes every muscle in her body hurt.

What had happened to the muscles she'd thought she'd toned in all those upper-body workouts at the gym?

Maybe this was a little too real. Just like Ty.

It struck her all of sudden—she was lying to everyone in order to experience the truth of a real life. How screwed up could she possibly be?

How on earth could she keep on lying to Ty and still expect to be his friend? But she had to…she just had to. One false move and the paparazzi would descend on them like ants on sugar.

There hadn't been much of a life for her before she came to Texas. But if the tabloids found her and ran stories on her sudden appearance in a small town after that fast disappearing act when her phony engagement went bad… Well, she could just imagine how horrible her existence would be from then on.

And now—she had involved Ty and Jewel in her deception, too. The reporters would never believe they had no knowledge of who she really was.

Her family would disown her permanently and forever. Though that wouldn't make too much of a difference in her sham of a life, it would also mean that her few new fragile friendships here would be broken forever, too.

But could she really keep these lies going long enough to establish herself as a neighbor and true friend? And long enough so that the paparazzi lost interest and moved on to the next “hottie” celebrity?

Sighing, Merri ticked off all the things that could go wrong with her plan.

Her new life could be ruined. Ty could see through
her disguise completely and would hate her. She wouldn't get a chance to live in a real-life world. Ty would hate her. She might never have another opportunity to find real friendship.

And, oh my God, Ty would hate her.

A tiny reminder that eventually she would have to own up to her deception and tell Ty the truth came into her conscious mind. But she pushed it aside.

She simply could not bear for that to happen. No way would she ever
let
that happen. No damn way.

 

After two days of finding excuses to stay away from the Foundation office—and Merri—Ty gave in to the urge to see her again. He was tired of fighting it. Tired from not sleeping—and tired of arguing with himself about her.

For a half-dozen reasons, he needed to get over it and get on with becoming her friend. Her roof was in need of more permanent repair. The Foundation needed her help with new donations. Jewel was constantly bugging him about Merri's welfare.

Dang. He stood in front of the full-length mirror in his walk-in closet and studied his appearance the way he had never done before in his life. Was this chambray work shirt the right thing to wear? Maybe he should change out of his work jeans into something nicer.

Eyeing his still-wet work boots that were standing in the corner, Ty knew for certain those soggy old things wouldn't work for Merri today. Hell. He never hesitated or fussed over his clothes, and as long as he'd been the boss of his own companies it had never mattered. Bank presidents, oil sheiks. Shoot, even senators
and governors. None of them ever once mentioned his looks or so much as cared one way or the other.

But now it mattered—a lot.

As he flipped through his shirts to find something more suitable, Ty's thoughts turned to Merri once again. Her clothes didn't seem exactly right for her, either.

Okay, they were probably right for a shy office assistant with impeccable manners. But after that kiss they'd shared the other night, he'd become absolutely convinced that Merri could be so much more than that.
Was
so much more.

He remembered thinking years ago that his former fiancée, Diane, was so much
less
underneath her sexy clothes and outgoing personality. Merri was just the opposite.

That kiss was driving him totally insane.

Finally, he found a long-sleeved shirt and dress jeans that seemed to match. Today he had an appointment with a donor that wouldn't care about his looks. But he wanted to please Merri.

He just had to get closer to her. Business associate. Friend. Lover. Hell. He would take whatever she would give.

Of course, it didn't mean he could forget to keep the gates up on his heart. That was nonnegotiable. But he wasn't above testing Merri, trying to find out what was really behind the gates she had erected around herself.

In less than half an hour, Ty pulled his pickup into the Foundation office's lot and parked. After stepping out of the truck, he tucked in the shirt at the back of his waistband and straightened his collar. He even rubbed
the toes of his new boots against the backs of his jeans-covered calves to make sure they were free of dust before he allowed himself to open the office door.

“Hey, there,” he said when he spotted her at the computer. “How's your day going?”

She looked up at him with an irritated glimmer in her wide emerald eyes and his knees wobbled. It took a minute for him to realize she wasn't wearing her glasses. The sight nearly took his breath away.

“I've had better days,” she finally admitted with a scowl. “The computer keeps going blue screen. And on top of that, Jewel called a while ago to say she's made an appointment for me to meet with a retail clothing buyer who's a friend of hers for four o'clock this afternoon.

“Apparently this woman is willing to donate clothes for the modeling show, but that will mean I have to drive to some town named McAllen and find the department store where the meeting is to take place. Waste of an afternoon, if you ask me.”

“Juanita Ramirez.”

“Excuse me?”

“Jewel's friend, the buyer. Her name is Juanita Ramirez and she grew up near here. Jewel taught Sunday school for years and Juanita was one of her star pupils.”

“Oh? Yes, well…” Merri's scowl changed to a half smile. “I'm sure she's a lovely person. But still…”

“Let me try to make your day better if I can,” he interrupted with as much charm as he could manage. “I'm on my way to see an old friend who lives on a ranch about an hour out of McAllen. I wanted to invite you to come with me since he's about to become one of the Foundation's biggest donors.

“So…why don't we make a day of it?” he continued as he placed both hands flat on her desk and leaned closer. “I'll call the computer tech, who may yet be able to make it out here to the office late this afternoon. Then you and I can go pick up a check from my friend before we swing by and visit with Juanita on the way home.”

Merri blinked a couple of times and looked as if she was considering all the possibilities—including the fact that the two of them would be spending most of the day together riding around in his truck. But Ty wasn't about to mention any such thing. Not until he got her to agree.

“I don't think…”

“Your eyes are the most fascinating color of green,” he told her, trying for distraction until he could make her say yes to his proposal for the day. “Do you absolutely have to wear those glasses all the time? I mean, in the last few minutes I've counted at least three different shades your eyes have turned as the emotions rolled across your face. It occurs to me that it must be a real pain having to wear glasses unless you're positively forced to.”

“What?” She looked stricken as she fumbled on her desk for her glasses. “No…I mean…yes. I have to wear the glasses. Uh…except to work on the computer.”

Ty found the glasses and handed them over. She flipped them on her face and took a breath. Interesting reaction. Maybe he was having an effect on her, after all.

“What do you say?” He was determined to push her as far as possible without being rude. “It's turning into
a great day. The sun is finally out and things are drying up from that last rainstorm. We can do all our chores at one time and when we return, the computer should be up and you'll be back in business tomorrow.”

“I suppose so…”

Gotcha.
“Terrific. Grab your things while I make the call, and then we can lock up. The tech has a key to let himself in.”

He watched Merri slowly stand up and begin to straighten her work in order to move it out of the way for the computer technician. She was dressed in something softer today. Her long-sleeved dress was still prim, but not nearly as severe as the last couple of things he'd seen her wear.

And it was in an icy jade color. Just the exact shade her eyes had become when he'd seen her considering being alone with him for the afternoon.

Uh-oh. He'd never noticed such things before in his entire life. He just might be in a world of trouble here.

 

Great
day, Merri mumbled to herself. Right. Sure it was great—if a person liked ninety-degree temperatures and humidity high enough to frizz hair and make clothes feel all limp and sticky.

The sun looked like a burner on an electric stove set at “high.” But it was hanging out in the cerulean sky overhead and beating down through the windshield as if it were determined to ruin any chance that the pickup's struggling air conditioner would be able to make things comfortable.

Ty hadn't said much while they drove for an hour and a half down winding farm-to-market roads. A
minute ago they'd bumped over a grate in the road, then jostled under a twenty-foot sign indicating this was the Double S ranch.

“Ouch,” she complained when the truck dipped into a pothole the size of Orange County, California, and knocked her sideways into the door handle. “I thought your friend must have money if he's going to make such a big donation. Can't he afford to pave the driveway to his house? Or does he just like gravel roads?”

“This isn't gravel. It's caliche,” Ty told her without turning to face her. “And Miguel Santos could afford to pave over the entire state of Texas if he wanted to. But part of his empire includes the largest caliche pit in the world. You might want to refrain from bringing up the subject of paving.”

“Ah. I see. Well, caliche is nice, I guess.”

She half turned to look at Ty and found herself noticing how he absently drove his fingers through his hair and then straightened his collar as he kept his eyes trained on the road ahead. This
great
day would have a long way to go in a competition with Ty on who looked the best in the sunshine.