Romance in Dallas - Tycoon! (16 page)

Nat squeezed her hand. "He's lucky to have
you, what with mentioning his wife like he did."

Jace shrugged. "He was confused. I would have
said the same thing in his shoes."

"They're too big for you," Ram said groggily,
as he opened his eyes and struggled to sit up.

Jace smiled at him, as she walked over and
smoothed his hair. "I can tell you will be the worst patient this
hospital ever saw."

Frowning, he said impatiently, "How soon can
I get this thing out of my hand?"

Laughing, Jace told Natalie, "See what I
mean? That sounds like the Ramsey I know."

Warren walked in with three cups of
coffee.

"What, none for me?" Ram said.

"Hey," Warren said with a grin, "be careful
or I'll pour it on your head."

"You and what army?" Ram said, while his eyes
flitted to Jace again.

After a short silence, Warren said, "Hey Nat,
come here there's something I want to show you in the lobby."

The two left, and Ram continued his steady
stare at Jace.

"What?" she asked with a smile.

"You knew, didn't you? What was wrong with
me? So you told them. I heard you. When they first brought me
in."

"Well, I had a theory that turned out true in
the end. I'd already called Doctor Seth, and he was going to study
your labs. He was just a bit slow. I called him just now. I think
it really devastated him to know he'd been wrong, or I should say
just not right."

He squeezed her hand. "You're so damn
everything. Beauty, brains, compassion, and did I mention you give
dynamite head?"

She laughed at that. "Yes, that was some fun
experimenting I did. We'll have to continue that after you're
better."

"What an incentive. Now, when are they taking
this thing out of my hand?"

The next day, Natalie woke with a start,
unsure of where she was. She looked around at the pretty room, and
realized she was in the penthouse in Ram's hotel in Nassau.

Relaxing, she looked over as Warren's eyes
opened, and she turned her body towards him.

They said nothing, before his hand came along
the back of her neck, pulling her towards him for a slow kiss.

"Sweet," he whispered against her lips, "you
up for me today Nat?"

She smiled as she thought of the day before.
"You didn't get enough last night?" she whispered back.

"Never," he said, as his hand roved across
her backside, drawing her leg up over his.

And he thought he could probably never get
enough of her, with her heady sexual nature and desires to please
him. Now, as he stroked between her legs, she was hot for him, he
felt her, caressed her wetness before he eased his fingers into
her.

She made a little sound he loved, a sigh, as
she closed her eyes. And, as he always seemed to wake up hard, her
strokes on him just made him harder still.

There was just something about her, he
thought, that made him wild.

Flipping her on her back, he drove himself
into her, while she made the sound, gasping then. "Look at me,
Nat," he whispered.

She opened her eyes, which were still drowsy
with sleep, and met his gaze. "You always this eager first thing?"
she said with a smile.

"Yeah. I am. And you?" He thrust harder,
balancing with one hand, while the other roved along her breast
then her waist and back up again.

But he didn't give her a chance to answer,
just sucked on her breasts, one then the other.

He just couldn't get enough of her, as he
thrust harder and she gasped, while her hips met his, with a
pounding rhythm.

"Oh, my baby, you are hot, so hot," he
whispered, "come for me," he urged, kissing down her neck, "now,
Nat."

Her body tensed and she cried out, while he
grinned. "Tell me you love me, Nat. Right now, while I'm in
you."

"Love you, love you, now," she gasped.

Warren and Natalie's early morning lovemaking
sounds were apparent to Ram, as he sat and smiled at Jace in the
living room. "I really am all right you know," he joked, "you can
take off the kids gloves now."

"With you," she said slowly, smiling now too,
"I'd just as soon be safe then sorry."

She hesitated for a minute. "So tell me about
this home wrecker, this Veronica woman."

"Ronnie? We always called her that, Susan and
I. A very insecure woman, always trying to undermine any kind of
obviously loving relationship."

"Char said something about her along that
line. So, how do you get rid of this woman?"

"Good question."

"Doesn't she have a man with her? It seems to
me I've seen someone with her, brown haired sort of a quiet type.
Always there by her side."

He smiled as he put his coffee cup on the end
table. "That would be Marley Banes. Old money. Not much to do all
day but try to run after her. He is quiet, but I get the feeling he
loves her but she's rejecting him all the time. Sort of using
him."

"I just had the best idea, Ram."

He laughed. "Why does that scare me?"

"Just give me his phone number. I'll get my
idea going."

*****

Veronica wasn't sure how long Ram would be
staying at the Nassau Manor House, and none of her contacts could
even tell her, which left her in a very peevish mood.

She called, and Marley's number was busy,
which put her in an even worse mood. And she tried him steadily for
ten minutes, and finally got through.

"Who on earth have you been talking to?" she
told him sharply, without even identifying herself.

She heard him sniff. "None of your business,
Ronnie."

"What? Why are you calling me that?"

He laughed. "It's your nickname. I've been
calling you that since grade school behind your back."

"Well, I don't like it. I prefer
Victoria."

Laughing again, he said, "Okay Ronnie."

"What's gotten into you today?" She couldn't
understand this. He never spoke to her like that, ever.

"Oh, just a stroke of wisdom, I guess. Say,
Ronnie," now his voice lowered, "what are you wearing right
now?"

"Why?"

"Just trying to picture you in my mind."

"Why are you doing that? I'm not going to
tell you, anyway."

He sniffed again. "So, I may be heading home
soon. I'm tired of Nassau."

This didn't sit well with Victoria, and she
was silent then.

"And," he continued, "I'm tired of being at
your beck and call. I treat you well, that's why you call me in the
middle of the night."

"You are not that good," she told him
sharply.

His voice was soft now again, as he said,
"I'm as good as the person I'm with." And, with that, he hung up in
her ear.

Her mouth fell open at his audacity.

She called him back, and his line was busy
again. Thinking he was seeing another woman, her heart sank. And
she couldn't figure it out. Thinking of him, he was usually so
pliable to all her demands. Sighing, she continued speed dialing
him.

Jace laughed into the phone. "Did she really
say that? Oh, I'm sorry Marley. But, trust me on this, you must be
firm and hard against her prodding. Otherwise she'll run right over
you. Be firm, don't be a pushover. Be 'not available' all the time.
Let it be on your terms. Turn your phone off, and let her go to
voice mail. Go out somewhere for breakfast so you won't be in your
room if she comes there. It will drive her crazy. But, you see, she
wants what she can't have. She needs a firm man, a strong man."

Her gaze traveled to Ram, sitting with a big
smile on his face.

"Actually," she continued, "you could be seen
with some other society women. It wouldn't hurt. I'm sure we could
get your picture in the paper. We have a multitude of media outlets
at our disposal all the time. Okay, you take care. Remember, stand
firm now."

She laughed. "We'd better head out of town,
Ram. A big blast is about to go off."

Chapter 14

Victoria was furious at Marley. He was hiding
from her for some reason. She went to his room down the hall from
hers, and pounded on his door, but he didn't answer.

She launched a tirade at the maid who was
changing sheets in the next room, but the woman could give her no
answers.

And she mentally rehearsed what she would say
to him when she did finally catch up with him. He would be very
sorry indeed, she thought.

Ram, Jace, Warren and Natlie spent the next
few days sunning, swimming, eating, dancing, and generally enjoying
themselves. But, Jace knew Ram was anxious to get back to his
businesses. And much as she feared a relapse with him, she told
herself he was fine, and he was cured of the small tumor that had
almost ended his life.

"So," Jace asked, as she and Ram sat together
on the penthouse patio, "what's the next stop, boss?"

"Actually, I'd like to go back to Dallas. I'm
missing home something fierce. I'm missing Dallas."

A brief smile passed her lips. "Home. I was
almost getting used to life on the road."

He sighed. "Lots of shadows back in Dallas,
lots of old feelings I have to deal with in my own way. I must face
them, Jace."

She nodded, understanding completely, but
unwilling to let him go. She wanted him all to herself, but then
she knew it was impossible. And, again, she felt the pull of his
dead wife.

The next day the two left Warren and Natalie
still vacationing in the penthouse and took Ram's jet back to
Dallas. He seemed to be preoccupied during the trip, with business
matters, and Jace tried to make herself scarce, even at one point,
talking to Mac the pilot.

And, as the jet banked, leveled off, then
banked again for the landing, she saw the huge skyscrapers of
Dallas with trepidation.

While they walked through the airport, she
cast quick looks at Ram, making sure he was all right, and seeing a
grim look on his face.

After dropping Jace off at her house, the
taxi took Ram to his home. He stood at the entranceway and, for a
minute, did not even want to go in. But, he knew he had to. He
needed to face his demons.

After a fond hello by Ellie, his housekeeper,
he strode upstairs with his bags. Throwing them on the floor in the
master bedroom, he looked around. Susan was everywhere, he thought.
On the walls with her paintings, on the bed with the beautiful
mahogany bed set and green coverlet she'd bought two years ago, and
in the adjoining studio, with her last painting still waiting on
the easel.

"Ellie!" he called.

She ran up the stairs. "Are you all right
then, Ramsey?" Her face was concerned, as she'd heard, from Jace
calling her, about his illness.

He smiled at her. "Yes. I'm more than all
right. I just wanted to know how you feel about moving from here
with me?"

"But, why? This is a lovely house,
Ramsey."

"It's a mausoleum and full of Susan. I need
to sell her paintings, or better yet, give them to charity. I'll
start fresh. Jace and I will get a ranch somewhere."

She nodded and smiled up at him. "A ranch
would be great. And Jace is wonderful for you."

"She said she'd like to get a dog some day.
We could have horses too. Do you know of a realtor?"

"I'll ask around, Ramsey, I'm sure we can
come up with something."

"Well," he said slowly, as he ran a hand
through his hair, "the only sticky thing is convincing Jace to
marry me. She's a very independent woman."

A silence ensued. "Does she love you,
Ramsey?"

"She told me once. Just one time."

"Well," she said briskly, "you'll need a ring
then. Don't propose without a ring, Ramsey. Also, it needs to be a
romantic setting, somewhat private."

"I don't want it to be here," he said
quickly. "Maybe Robertos for dinner. They have the private rooms in
back. Sort of intimate."

After gathering up her precious plants from
her neighbor, Jace sat down to weed out her mail and pay her
bills.

But, after a while, she found herself pacing
the floor. She missed Ram, but didn't want to call and interrupt
him. And Natalie was still on vacation, and Ann and Lee her friends
were on call and they'd be tied up too.

A terrible loneliness set in then, an
unpleasant feeling not unlike when Ralph had strayed. Only, this
time, the other woman was dead. There was nothing for her to fight,
just memories.

Donning her sweats, she went for a walk in
the brisk air, a long, long walk, convincing herself that Ram also
was a memory for her. Just a memory now. He hadn't mentioned
keeping her on in any capacity, so she was free of him. The only
problem was, she didn't want to be free. She wanted to be with him
all the time now. All she had of him were memories, good times, and
even some bad times. Miserably, she thought, in sickness and
health.

When she returned to her house, she went
straight to her bedroom, and sobbed on the bed until darkness
approached and she fell asleep.

A pounding woke her later, and she looked at
the clock. Seven o'clock. Feeling punchy, she rose and still heard
the pounding. On her front door. And she cursed her ex-husband for
not installing a peep hole there.

"Who is it?" she said loudly, hugging
herself, shaking.

"Open the door, Jace."

It was Ram. She rubbed her eyes and shook her
head, trying to wake up.

Opening the door, she looked up at him, felt
his presence fiercely, and smelled the scent of his expensive
aftershave.

Ram thought she was the loveliest woman he'd
ever seen, with her sleepy eyes, hair in disarray and husky voice,
saying, "Yes?"

It was not the friendly greeting he was
expecting. "You didn't answer your cell phone. Are you all
right?"