The Delacourt Scandal (7 page)

“Waiting for your friend again?” Kevin O’Reilly asked after bringing him an icy mug of beer.

Tyler nodded. “What do you know about her?”

“Less than you do, I imagine. Her name’s Maddie. She’s new in town. Beyond that, not a thing. I don’t pry into the lives of my customers.”

“Since when?”

Kevin gave him an indignant look. “I never pry. People just tell me things. But Maddie hasn’t told me anything much.”

“Does she seem a little down on her luck to you?”

“Doesn’t tip as if she is. Surprised me the first night she was in here. She’s not what you would call a heavy drinker. Didn’t order a bite of food, either, but she left a hefty tip just the same.” He regarded Tyler with amusement. “Of course, now that you’ve started paying for the drinks, the tips aren’t nearly as good.”

“Watch it or I’ll stiff you completely.”

“You do and I’ll introduce you to my bouncer.”

“Seriously, Kevin, you’re a good judge of human nature. What do you think of her?”

“Nice kid. A little nosy. Asks too blasted many questions.” He shrugged. “That’s about it.”

“What kind of things was she asking you about?” Tyler asked, wondering if they’d gotten a similar third degree.

“Mostly about you,” Kevin said at once.

“You mean after the night she and I met?”

Kevin hesitated, his expression thoughtful, then shook his head. “No, it was before. In fact, she asked me to point you out if you came in.”

Tyler’s heart sank. Their first meeting hadn’t been a chance encounter at all. She had planned it. But why? What was she after? All of those initial suspicions he’d had about her—the ones he’d conveniently squelched—came roaring back.

But rather than warning him away, they simply made him more determined than ever to figure out what Maddie Kent was all about. While taking her home to meet his parents was risky, it was also the ideal opportunity to gather more information. His mother knew how to ferret out every little detail about someone in the guise of friendly chitchat. She’d had years to hone her technique. Maddie’s reticence wouldn’t stand a chance against his mother’s skill.

“Speak of the devil,” Kevin said with a gesture toward the door.

Maddie hesitated just inside, probably to let her eyes adjust to the bar’s dim interior. Then, as if she felt his gaze, she looked in Tyler’s direction. A smile spread slowly across her face.

“Hey, you,” she said, sliding onto the stool next to him. “You’re here early.”

“Looking for you, actually. You really have to tell me how I can get in touch with you without sitting
on a barstool all afternoon. Kevin’s worried I’m turning into a lush.”

She laughed. “On one beer? I doubt that.”

“How do you know I haven’t had ten?”

“You never do,” she said simply. “Now tell me why you were looking for me.”

“I wanted to invite you to Sunday dinner with the folks.”

For an instant her expression faltered. “Your parents?” she said. “You want me to meet your parents?”

“Sure. They don’t bite. Are you game? Besides, I need cover. If you don’t show up, Mother intends to matchmake. Her only consideration tends to be blood-lines, as if she were breeding a prize Thoroughbred.”

“How did you explain me?”

“I just said I had my own woman, thank you very much.”

“Then if I don’t come, I make a liar out of you,” she said, her expression thoughtful, but her eyes glinting with merriment.

“Something like that.”

“Who’s the alternative candidate?”

“As I remember her, she had bad teeth, bad hair and a nasty temper. Of course, she wasn’t much more than twelve the last time I saw her.”

“That type usually turns into a ravishing beauty. Are you sure you don’t want to take a chance on her?”

“No way. It’s you or a quick trip out of state.”

“Then I’ll come, by all means.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“Which means you’ll owe me one, right?”

“Absolutely. Anything you want.”

She grinned. “I’ll have to give that some real thought. I’m sure I can come up with something that will make you regret not going with the alternative.”

“It’ll never happen. I’ll pick you up on Sunday at eleven-thirty. Where do you live?”

“Why don’t I just meet you here? It’s convenient for both of us.”

Tyler regarded her curiously. “Is there some reason you don’t want me to know where you live?”

“Of course not. This will just be easier. I’d better run now.”

Her uneasiness only fueled his suspicions. “What’s the rush?”

“I’m…I’m meeting friends.”

“Really?” Last he’d heard, she didn’t have any.

“From out of town,” she said hurriedly, as if she’d read his mind. “They’re just here for the one night.”

He nodded. “Okay, then. Have fun.”

She bolted from the bar. Tyler stared after her, bemused. She was lying through her teeth. But why?

Tyler was stilling trying to figure out Maddie’s evasiveness when he pulled up outside of O’Reilly’s on Sunday morning. To his surprise Maddie was standing by the curb waiting for him. He’d almost expected her not to turn up.

“I have to tell you this whole thing makes me nervous,” she said as she slid into the car. “I mean these are
the
Delacourts.”

Tyler chuckled. “I’m a Delacourt. Do I make you nervous?”

“More than you know,” she retorted, then grinned,
totally disarming him. “Just don’t let it go to your head.”

“Not much chance of that. How was your evening with your friends?”

She stared at him blankly. “What? Oh, those friends,” she said as if there were so many that his question had confused her. “They’re great. We had a wonderful time.”

“Where’d you go?”

“My place. We ordered pizza, gabbed the night away. You know how women are when they haven’t seen each other for a while.”

“Did my name come up?”

“No,” she said at once. “Why would it?”

He gave her a bland look, then echoed her earlier comment, “I know how women are. They love to talk about the men in their lives.”

“You aren’t…I mean it’s not as if…”

“Isn’t it really?”

Her gaze narrowed. “Tyler, what is it that you think we’re doing?”

“Going to dinner with my parents at the moment.”

“Beyond that?”

“Getting to know each other?” he suggested.

“Exactly. Not dating. Just getting to know each other,” she said very firmly.

“I’m not sure I see the difference. Isn’t the purpose of dating to get to know each other?”

“Yes, but…”

“But what?” he asked when she didn’t finish the thought.

“Nothing.” She fell silent.

Tyler let it go, because they were pulling into the
long, curving drive to his parents’ home. Out of the corner of his eye he tried to gauge Maddie’s reaction to the impressive grounds and even more impressive home. She looked just a little stunned.

By the time they went inside, though, she had gathered her composure. She greeted his mother graciously, but to his surprise she stiffened ever so slightly when she was introduced to his father. There was an unreadable expression on her face, but it was gone in a heartbeat, replaced by a smile that was polite, if clearly strained.

The uncomfortable moment passed because his mother stepped in and took over, leading them into the library for a predinner drink and her usual inquisition. Maddie withstood all of the embarrassingly intimate questions with good grace and surprisingly few details.

About the best Tyler could say for the endless afternoon was that Maddie’s presence kept the attention off him. For once, he and his father avoided verbal bloodshed. And his mother had apparently “uninvited” Mary Claire.

When the torturous dinner finally ended, Tyler couldn’t wait to escape. He made their excuses, claiming a prior commitment that clearly took Maddie by surprise, but she seized the opportunity to leave with an eagerness matching his, even if he didn’t entirely understand her reasons.

Outside again, Tyler crawled in thankfully behind the wheel of his car, then turned to meet Maddie’s gaze.

“I am so sorry,” he said at once.

She laughed. “Your mother is really, really anxious to see you married, isn’t she?”

“You have no idea.”

“I’m not sure she found me up to her usual standards,” Maddie said.

“You’re female. You’re available. You’ll do,” he said.

Then, because he’d been wanting to do it all afternoon, he drew Maddie to him and kissed her. Thoroughly. More gently than that other sizzling, memorable kiss, but this one turned out to be equally devastating.

At her stunned expression, he said lightly, “Just giving mother something to think about. She’s bound to be watching out the window.”

“Oh, sure,” Maddie replied, still looking bemused. She swallowed hard, visibly fighting for composure.

They had been on the road for several minutes when she turned to him. “You know, I get the feeling you’re her favorite child.”

Tyler was startled by the observation. “Only because I was the only one there. Mother doesn’t play favorites.”

“No,” Maddie insisted. “It was in her eyes when she looked at you. I can’t quite describe it. It was as if she were looking at a memory. I know that sounds fanciful, but it’s the only way I can explain it.”

“You’re imagining things.”

She finally shrugged. “Maybe,” she said, but she didn’t sound convinced.

“What did you think of my father?” he asked, hoping he could prod her into revealing why she’d seemed so distant with him.

“He’s a little intimidating.”

“Really? He was on his best behavior today. He obviously liked you.”

She regarded him with a startled expression. “He did? He hardly said two words to me.”

“If he hadn’t liked you, he would have made mother’s cross-examination seem like a casual chat in the produce section at the market. Now
that
would have been intimidating.”

“Men who wield their power like that make me sick,” she said fiercely.

Tyler stared at her, startled by the intensity of her response. “Hey, what brought that on?”

“Sorry. It’s just a sore point with me. It has nothing to do with your father,” she added hastily.

Not for the first time Tyler realized he didn’t believe her. How could he possibly be so fascinated by a woman, so attracted to her, when he knew with everything in him that she was lying through her teeth practically every time she opened her mouth?

He also knew he wouldn’t rest until he got to the bottom of it, though his precise motivation for that was beginning to be a little murky.

W
hen Tyler suggested stopping by his place for a drink, Maddie threw caution to the winds and agreed eagerly. She wanted to take another look around, maybe get another chance to question him about that baby picture. She would just have to make sure there were no more kisses. That one in the driveway had come darned close to melting her into a puddle. She’d thought it wasn’t possible to be any hotter than Houston in the summer, but apparently it was.

Upstairs in his apartment, Tyler flipped on one soft light, poured them each a drink—beer for him, ginger ale for her—then led the way to the small balcony with its incredible view of the Houston skyline. The setting was romantic, the glint in Tyler’s eyes equally amorous. The fact that he’d stocked up on her drink of choice touched her. The yearning inside her was dangerous.

“Maybe we should go inside,” she said when she felt her already weak resolve disintegrating.

“Any particular reason?”

“It’s…umm…it’s a little warm out here.”

“There’s a nice breeze, though,” he said in an amused way that indicated he knew perfectly well that the heat she was feeling had nothing to do with the weather.

“Maybe so, but I’m a big proponent of air-conditioning.” Just to be sure he went along with her, she stepped back inside as she said it. Tyler followed.

Intending to keep some distance between them, she looked around for a chair, then realized that other than some small chairs that went with the dining room table, the only seating available was the large sofa and the far-too-intimate love seat. She opted for the sofa. When he chose the love seat, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you nervous for some reason, Maddie?”

“Of course not. Why?”

“You seem a little jittery. I thought maybe you were thinking about that kiss in my folks’ driveway. Like I said, it was no big deal, just a little something for my mother’s benefit.”

Maybe it wasn’t a big deal to him, she thought with a touch of indignation. All the more reason to be sure there were no more. Apparently he went around dispensing kisses as casually as handshakes.

“It was nothing,” she agreed. “I’d completely forgotten about it till you brought it up just now.”

His eyes twinkled. “Had you?”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“I wouldn’t put it that way. I’m just trying to get
you to lighten up a little. You’ve been far too serious all day.”

“I’ve had things on my mind.”

“Such as?”

“Finding a job,” she blurted, seizing on the most believable excuse she could think of.

“I’ve told you before, I can help with that. Or if you don’t want me to make any contacts for you, I could loan you some cash till you’re back on your feet.”

She would sleep on the streets before she accepted a dime from a Delacourt. “That’s very kind,” she said stiffly. “But this is my problem.”

He held up his hands. “Okay. I’m not going to give you another lecture on false pride. Just know that both offers are there if you decide you need anything.”

Suddenly restless, Maddie stood up and began pacing, glancing idly at the photos as she moved about the room. Tyler watched her silently. When she came to the spot where the baby picture had been, he seemed to tense even as she realized it was missing. There was a faint mark in the dust on the tabletop confirming precisely where it had been.

“Something wrong?” he asked, his voice strained.

“Nothing,” she said, reaching randomly for another picture. She grabbed a photograph of his parents that had evidently been taken many years earlier. “Your parents look very happy here.”

“They were on their honeymoon. That was probably the last real vacation my dad took,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe that’s why he’s encouraging Michael to stay away. Perhaps it’s sentiment, rather than an attempt to keep me here.”

“What happened to the other picture that was here?” she asked casually. “Did you move it?”

He met her gaze evenly. “Was there another picture there? I don’t remember.”

Should she push him on it? What did she have to lose? “Wasn’t it a baby picture? You never did say who it was.”

He stood up so abruptly, the movement threw her off balance, and she stumbled slightly but recovered quickly. She put her hand on his arm, felt the muscle jerk beneath her touch.

“Tyler?”

“Drop it, Maddie,” he ordered, not meeting her gaze.

“But—”

“I said to drop it. Let’s go. I’ll walk you back to O’Reilly’s so you can get your car.”

She sighed heavily. It was clear she wasn’t going to get a straight answer. What disturbed her even more, though, was that she couldn’t quite decide if her disappointment was professional or personal. The line was getting more blurred all the time.

“Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, you’ve been holding out on us,” his brother Jeb taunted on Monday morning. He strolled into Tyler’s office, poured himself a cup of coffee, then planted himself on the corner of the desk as if he intended to linger awhile.

“Go away,” Tyler snapped. He was in no mood to discuss Maddie, or much of anything else, for that matter.

“Is that any way to talk to your big brother?”

“In your case, yes. Go bother your wife.”

“Brianna’s away checking out some prospective drilling site that is going to make us all fabulously wealthy.”

“And you’re at loose ends? Go investigate something.”

“I am.”

“What?”

“Your love life. Fascinating stuff to hear Mother tell it. She liked your young woman, though she wasn’t entirely sure she was—and I quote—one of
our
kind.”

Tyler’s gaze shot up. “She said that?”

“You know Mother, always concerned about the Delacourt image. She really had high hopes for you and Mary Claire.”

“Blast it all, I told her that wasn’t in the cards. The last thing I want is Mother choosing my dates for me.”

“Which explains the unexpected arrival of Maddie,” Jeb concluded. “Was she a decoy or someone you’re really serious about, suitable or not?”

“Maddie is just…Maddie,” Tyler responded, unable to find a designation that didn’t make too much or too little of what he felt for the infuriating woman.

Her poking and prodding about that picture of his daughter had annoyed him so much that, after delivering her safely to her car the night before, he had vowed he would never see her again. He didn’t need a woman around who was dedicated to reopening old wounds. Unfortunately, this morning he couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind, though until Jeb’s arrival he’d been making a valiant attempt.

Jeb studied him curiously. “And Maddie being ‘just Maddie’—is that a good thing?”

“Hard to tell. We’ve just met.”

Jeb settled on a corner of his desk. “Then tell me about her. Cute and perky was about all I got from Mother.”

“Leave it to Mother to make that sound derogatory. Maddie
is
cute. She’s also a perpetual optimist. And annoyingly mysterious. New in town. Looking for work. Beyond that I don’t know a lot.”

“How did you meet?”

“At O’Reilly’s. She turned up there a couple of weeks ago. One night she introduced herself. We got to talking. I said good-night and that was that.” He grinned. “Until she turned up on my doorstep with Rodney.”

Jeb regarded him incredulously. “Your doorman?”

“Seems she was concerned because she hadn’t seen me for a couple of nights. She managed to work the unflappable Rodney into a frenzy until the two of them came sneaking up to check to see if I was dead or something.”

“Oh, boy,” Jeb murmured.

Tyler glowered at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That was when you fell for her, wasn’t it?”

“I haven’t fallen for her. I’m intrigued, yes, but I’m also suspicious as hell.”

“Why?” Jeb demanded. It was obvious that every investigative instinct had instantly gone on full alert.

“Because she dropped into my life out of nowhere. And there was something Kevin said, too,” he ad
mitted reluctantly. “She’d asked about me before we met.”

“That’s not so unusual. Maybe she’d been checking you out for a couple of nights and wanted to be sure you were available before she approached you.”

Tyler shook his head. “Before that, before she’d set eyes on me.”

“Uh-oh, I don’t like the sound of that. She’s after something, little brother. Want me to poke around a little, see what I can find out about her?”

“Absolutely not. If she’s up to no good, I’ll figure it out for myself.”

“Look, Ty, I know you’re a good judge of character, but that’s when your hormones aren’t involved.”

“Who says my hormones are involved?” He sighed heavily. “Never mind. It had to be Mother. I gather she saw the kiss.”

Jeb grinned. “She did indeed. Made her toes curl, she said. She considered coming out and hosing you two off.”

“She never said that.”

“Not in those exact words, maybe,” his brother agreed with a chuckle. “But she was definitely convinced that all her dreams for you and Mary Claire were going up in smoke, pun intended.”

“Then I accomplished exactly what I set out to accomplish,” Tyler said with relief. “I got Mother off my back.”

“Not exactly.”

He felt a little flicker of alarm. “Meaning?”

“She’s wondering if you’ll have a summer wedding or wait until the holidays.”

“She isn’t,” Tyler protested.

“This is Mother we’re talking about. She most definitely is.” Jeb winked at him as he stood up. “If I were you, I’d go ahead and book the church and get it over with. Unless Maddie turns out to be an ax murderer, your goose is cooked, my friend.”

“You don’t have to sound so blasted happy about it.”

“Hey, Dylan, Michael, Trish and I have been taking bets on when you’ll get to the altar. Thanks to these recent revelations—which I have no intention of sharing with our siblings—my money’s on August. Your Maddie strikes me as an impatient woman.”

“She is not
my
Maddie. She is not
my
anything.”

“Tell it to someone who’ll believe you,” Jeb taunted. “In the meantime, if you change your mind about checking out the bride-to-be, let me know. I don’t have anything important on my plate right now.”

“Maybe I’ll pass the word on that to Dad. I’m sure he could think of something for you to do. Maybe a little stint in accounting. Hell, maybe you could just take over here, and I could get back to Louisiana and away from all the plotters and schemers in this family. And now that I think about it, does Mother have any idea that you’re all placing bets on my future? She’ll be praying for your sorry souls. You know how she feels about gambling. She had her fill of that back when Daddy was wildcatting to get his stake to start up Delacourt Oil. She considered
that
gambling enough to last a lifetime.”

“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point. It’s your life. You won’t hear another peep out of me.”

“I wish,” Tyler muttered. “You are genetically incapable of keeping your nose out of other people’s business.”

“Just the Delacourt genes, bro. You have ’em, too. Maybe it’s time you put ’em to use.”

Maybe it was, Tyler thought, after Jeb was gone. Maybe it was time he tried to get a fix on just exactly what Ms. Maddie Kent was up to.

Unfortunately, when he went looking for her, she was nowhere to be found.

If the weather was steamy in Houston, it was downright oppressive in Baton Rouge. Maddie sat on a park bench and blotted ineffectively at the perspiration on her face. She could do nothing about the dampness trickling between her shoulder blades and down her back.

This whole trip, made impulsively after the disappearance of that baby picture and Tyler’s reaction to her questions about it, was turning out to be as much of a bust as her earlier phone queries.

She’d tried every way she could think of to find out where Tyler lived when he was in Baton Rouge—utility companies, phone directories, real estate records. She’d butted up against tight-lipped bureaucrats at every turn. Even public records yielded nothing.

Now she was trying to work up the courage to go to the Delacourt Oil offices and see if she would have any better luck in person than she had when she’d called. Surely she could think of some believable ruse that would weaken their precious rules.

The risk, of course, was huge. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that someone would alert Tyler that a
woman had been asking questions about him. He was a smart man. It wouldn’t take him two seconds to conclude it was her. She doubted he would be happy about it.

Was it worth it? Was she likely to glean any significant information that could offset Tyler’s usefulness as her entry into the Delacourt clan? She would never know the answer to that until she tried.

Maybe if she played the role of an old girlfriend trying to locate him just to say hi, no one would suspect anything. Old girlfriends probably popped up all the time in the life of a man as gorgeous as Tyler. Of course, that still didn’t mean that no one would alert him about her search.

She sighed, then concluded that since she was here, she might as well go for broke. She checked her notes for the address, then headed toward the waterfront. She found the Delacourt offices in a converted warehouse that looked as if it had been around since the 1800s at least. Inside, however, the facilities were thoroughly modern and computerized. She wondered for a fleeting second if she was capable of breaking into the system, and if so, what corporate secrets she might discover.

Forget it,
she told herself sharply. She was a reporter, not a thief. A file turning up right under her eyes was one thing. Hacking into a computer was quite another. She wanted to get information to nail Bryce Delacourt, not land in jail herself.

“Can I help you?” a woman in her early twenties asked with a friendly smile. Her Southern accent was as thick and slow as molasses.

“You surely can,” Maddie said, falling comfort
ably into a similar speech pattern. “I am an old and very dear friend of Tyler Delacourt’s, and I am wondering if you can help me locate him.”

The woman’s friendly expression wavered ever so slightly. “Sorry. I can’t help you. It’s against our policy to give out any information on employees.”