Читать книгу In Forbidden Territory - Shawna Delacorte - Страница 8

Tyler Farrell’s business partner barged into his office, panic covering his face as he pleaded, “You’ve got to help me out, Ty. Take her off my hands for the next few days.”

“Take who off your hands?”

“It won’t take that much of your time. She’s just a kid.”

“Who’s just a kid?” Tyler’s confusion began to turn to irritation. “What are you talking about, Mac?”

McConnor Coleman paused a moment as he took a calming breath. “All I know is what Mom said when she called the other day. It seems that my kid sister wants to move from Portland to Seattle, get a job and her own apartment. She arrived last night and is staying with me until I can help her get settled. I promised Mom I’d keep my eye on her. You know, maybe take her to a movie one evening and buy her some pizza. Take her on the harbor tour or to the top of the Space Needle. Stuff like that.”

Mac renewed his determination. “It’s not like you’ll have to put your busy social life on hold so you can wine and dine her. Like I said, she’s just a kid. You know the kind of long hours I’m going to be putting in until this new design is finished. The pivotal point of our company’s expansion plans is dependent on this design. I don’t want her sitting all alone at my house and I certainly don’t want her going out at night by herself.”

Ty made a valiant attempt to put some logic to Mac’s obviously frazzled state of mind. “We’re on Bainbridge Island, not in Seattle. There’s no reason why she can’t go out alone.”

“A young girl should not be out on the streets alone.” Mac’s tone of voice said there was no room for discussion of the matter.

Ty allowed a slight frown to wrinkle across his brow. An image popped into his mind of Angelina Coleman, the annoying little girl he had encountered once at Mac’s parents’ house in Portland, Oregon. He shook his head and emitted a sigh. “I really don’t have the time—”

“Am I too early for lunch?”

Ty whirled around in the direction of the sound. The sultry voice perfectly matched the beautiful blond vision framed in the doorway. A quick surge of desire shoved aside Ty’s initial shock. Could this gorgeous vision be the same person Mac had been referring to as his kid sister?

Mac rushed toward her. “Angie…is it noon already?” He glanced at his watch, a sheepish expression covering his features. “I guess the morning got away from me.”

She shot a teasing grin at her brother. “Why am I not surprised?”

Recovering from his initial shock, Ty leaped into action. He grabbed Angie’s hand, kissed the back of it and made a courtly bow. “Angelina Coleman…Tyler Farrell at your service. You probably don’t remember, but we met several years ago.” A jolt of charged energy emanated from their clasped hands. A heated surge of desire swept up his arm and through his body. Her unwavering gaze, combined with the vibrancy of her expressive green eyes, sent another ripple coursing through him—a strange combination of lustful desire and caution.

“I most certainly do remember you. It was fourteen years ago, a month or so before you and Mac graduated from the University of Washington. Mac was the one worrying about finals. I was the scrawny ten-year-old with braces on my teeth.” A dazzling smile lit her beautiful face and a touch of humor surrounded her words. “And you were the arrogant jerk.”

Ty released her hand, clutched at his chest and staggered back a couple of steps as if he had been hit by a mortal blow, his action eliciting a spontaneous laugh from her. It was an enchanting sound, one that left him wanting to hear it again and again. The moment he broke the physical contact with her a strange sense of loss made its way into his consciousness. Her words startled him, but they had been said more in fun than with any show of malice. At least that was the way he chose to take it.

He quickly recovered from the barb, taking a minute to make a survey of her physical assets. He judged her to be about five feet six inches tall, perfect for his six-foot frame. His gaze started at her mesmerizing eyes and visually traced every curve of her body until he reached the tips of her shoes. An appreciative grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. She certainly had everything and it was in all the right places.

A tightness pulled across his chest. His skin still tingled where their hands had met. He forced a casualness he didn’t feel as he flashed a wickedly sexy grin. “Well…I’m happy to see that at least one of us has improved over the years.”

Angie stuck her hands in the pockets of her tailored slacks, a subconscious effort to wipe away the sensation of his tantalizing touch. The devilish gleam in his hazel eyes told her exactly what was on his mind. It was a look she had seen on the faces of many men on numerous occasions, but it had never had this type of impact on her. It was a look that spoke of excitement and the promise of many nights of sensual pleasure for the woman lucky enough to share his bed.

It was a look that also spoke of fun, an open enjoyment of everyday things and life in general—something definitely lacking in her life for the past year. She wanted to regain that sense of fun that she had lost. She needed to have it back in her life.

Tyler Farrell was a very disconcerting man, yet there was something about him that she couldn’t dismiss. It was more than his movie-star good looks, thick dark hair and strong athletic build. A little shiver of anticipation darted across the surface of her skin. She sensed an underlying level of passion that reached out and grabbed her like nothing ever had and refused to let go.

Angie glanced at her brother. An uncertain look surrounded by a hint of disapproval covered Mac’s face as his gaze darted between his business partner and his sister.

Mac self-consciously cleared his throat. “Uh…Angie…about lunch today—”

Ty immediately took control of the conversation. “Don’t give it another thought, Mac. I know how busy you are with the deadline on the design project. I would be honored to escort Angie to lunch in your place.” He glanced at the delectable Angelina Coleman, then forced his attention away from the tantalizing image and back to his partner. He flashed a quick grin. “For the sake of the company and our expansion plans.”

“I hate to interrupt your schedule, Ty. I can certainly amuse myself until Mac gets home tonight.” His mention of expansion plans did not escape her notice. Hopefully the company’s plans would fit nicely with her personal agenda, her primary goal—a plan she had not shared with her brother even though he was central to its success. It was her real reason for moving to Seattle.

Ty extended a dazzling smile and winked at her. “Nonsense. There’s nothing I’d rather do than take a beautiful and charming lady to lunch.” He glanced toward Mac before leaving, catching the look of warning aimed directly at him.

Ty escorted Angie out of the building. The tightness in his chest increased as the scent of her perfume tickled his senses. A sudden rush of discomfort left him uneasy. He felt pressured to make small talk even though he wasn’t sure what to say to this enchanting woman who had just robbed him of his ability to be glib and charming. He took a deep breath. Maybe Mac thought of her as still being his kid sister, but there was no way this gorgeous vision could be thought of as anything other than all woman—beautiful and fascinating.

He took another breath and tried to brush away the flood of lascivious thoughts that invaded his mind. He tried to convince himself it was just force of habit. It was not as if he was entertaining serious thoughts about making a pass at Mac’s little sister…not really. The band pulled even tighter across his chest. The heat settled low inside his body. Regardless of what he tried to tell himself, pizza and a movie were the last things on his mind.

The libidinous thoughts coursing through his head and pulling at his body were totally inappropriate under the circumstances, but that did not make them go away. She was Mac’s sister, what Mac referred to as his kid sister—an expression that had a very protective sound to it, especially the way Mac said it. It was the type of sound that matched the look of warning Mac had shot in his direction.

Ty turned toward Angie. “Well…shall we go? There’s a charming little place a short walk from here.”

They strolled along the waterfront toward the harbor. As much as he tried not to, he couldn’t keep from staring at her. He drank in her finely sculpted features, the turn of her nose, the absolutely delicious-looking mouth.

“Why are you watching me?”

Her words surprised him. His mind scrambled for some sort of acceptable explanation. “I…I was looking for similarities in appearance between you and Mac. I can see the family resemblance.”

“I think we both look like our mother.”

He allowed his gaze to drift across her features. “You’re not what I was expecting. I was still picturing that ten-year-old little girl.”

She emitted a sigh, part exasperation and part resignation. “Yes, that’s what Mac sees, too, whenever my name is brought up in conversation. He and Mom both. They’re always patronizing me. I guess I can understand it. Not only am I the only girl, I’m also the youngest—the baby of the family with five older brothers. Mac is the oldest, thirteen years older than I am. I keep hoping that the day will come when they stop thinking of me as that little girl, but I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon.”

Ty and Angie reached the restaurant. It was a bright, sunny autumn day and they were seated outside on the deck. After they ordered lunch he leaned back in his chair in an attempt to project a casual appearance, something far removed from the uneasiness churning inside him. “So what have you been doing with yourself since you were that little girl?”

A teasing grin played at the corners of her mouth. “Mostly I’ve been trying to get everyone to stop thinking of me as that little girl.”

Was she making fun of him? At that moment his mind was so muddled he didn’t know what to think. His gaze slowly traveled across her features again, pausing a moment to take in the way the fabric of her blouse caressed the curve of her breasts. He finally settled on her tantalizing mouth, a mouth that deserved to be kissed long, hard and often.

“What else have you been up to besides not being ten anymore?” His voice held a huskiness he wasn’t happy with. He cocked his head as he made eye contact with her. A shiver of anxiety worked its way up his back followed by a shiver of uncertainty. Just pizza and a movie with Mac’s kid sister—what had he gotten himself into? He was not sure about this anymore, not sure at all.

“I went to school. Then after I graduated from high school I entered an Oregon beauty pageant and was selected first runner-up.”

He straightened to attention. “Ah…you’re a beauty queen.” He saw a momentary flash of irritation dart across her face.

“I didn’t care about the beauty title. What I wanted was the college scholarship. I had some scholarship money, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to provide the rest of the funds myself. Unfortunately, with the heavy class load I had planned to carry I wouldn’t have been able to work very many hours a week.”

The words were not what Ty had expected to hear. She sounded very serious rather than simply engaging in casual chitchat. Was she always this serious? She had shown marvelous flashes of humor in the short time he had been around her. He was not accustomed to having serious conversations with women. “How did things turn out?”

“Mac came to the rescue as he always has for anyone in the family who needs anything.”

The waitress interrupted their conversation when she placed the food on the table. Angie became reflective as she watched the waitress leave, then turned her attention back to Ty. “As Mac has probably told you, our father died when I was very young and Mac was still in high school. Mom had a tough time financially. She was raising six kids by herself and money was very tight. Mac worked for two years after he graduated from high school to earn the money he needed for college to supplement his scholarship funds. That’s why he was two years older than the other freshmen such as you.” She flashed a teasing grin at Ty and displayed another moment of her pointed humor. “And far more mature than most of them.”

“Ouch!” Ty expressed the pain of another direct hit to his ego, partly in good fun, but with an underlying layer of reality.

“Mac was right there for me. He stepped in and took care of the rest of my college expenses. I graduated with honors and a dual major in business and industrial design.”

Ty emitted a low whistle of appreciation. “That’s a very impressive accomplishment.”

“I never would have been able to do it without Mac’s help. I’ve always looked up to him. He’s been both my big brother and the father figure I never had. He always took care of me.” She quickly blinked away the tears of emotion that started to moisten her eyes. “I owe him so much.” What she chose not to say was that she had always been in awe of Mac and his many accomplishments, not to mention just a little bit intimidated, too. She idolized her brother and knew there was no way she would be able to repay him.

She also knew he wouldn’t accept it even if she could.

“Yes, Mac is a very generous and giving person.”

“Other than that, for the past three years since graduating from the University of Oregon I’ve worked in Portland at an industrial design firm. Unfortunately it was a job that didn’t offer any challenges or any future.” Not to mention a boss who decided I was the office decoration and never took my work seriously. It was a sore spot with Angie and an attitude she deeply resented. She wanted to be treated according to her merits, not her beauty. At one time she had even considered dyeing her hair in order to avoid being the object of the dumb blonde jokes. She quickly dismissed the idea. She was who she was and didn’t see any reason to make changes just to appease someone else whose opinion wasn’t important to her anyway.

Ty snapped to attention. Suddenly she was more than just a drop-dead-gorgeous beauty contestant. She was intelligent and articulate with a sense of humor and an openness that he found very refreshing, especially compared to a lot of the pretentious women he had dated over the years.

“Is your whole family close?” It was an area he had been both curious about and uncomfortable with—one in which he had no experience. “I know Mac feels very close to his family, even though he doesn’t see any of them that often—which is not surprising, given his workaholic nature. He doesn’t take near enough time for himself, time to just kick loose and have fun.”

Fun…the word cut through to the core of Angie’s reality. She stared at Ty for a moment. He seemed to her to be someone who knew how to have fun and enjoy himself—someone fun to be with.

“Yes. We’re a pretty tight-knit family emotionally even if we aren’t geographically close anymore. Only one of my brothers still lives in Portland. The others have moved to various places around the country in pursuit of their careers.”

“What do you like to do for fun? What kind of activities do you enjoy?”

“Activities? Well, I like museums, concerts, art galleries and the theater. As for sports, I snow ski and water-ski. In fact, I enjoy just about anything connected with the water. I’m also the quintessential tourist. I love traveling and seeing new places.”

He nodded his agreement. “I’d put sailing at the top of that list, which is fortunate since the design and construction of custom sailboats is the business we’re in. Otherwise it sounds exactly like my choices.”

Angie took a couple of bites of her salad. “We’ve certainly talked about me long enough.” She shot him a quizzical look. “How about you? What’s your family like?”

Her memories of Tyler Farrell were from fourteen years ago. Even a ten-year-old could recognize an arrogant jerk with a roving eye for women. Judging by the way he had been looking her over for the past hour it was equally obvious that he still had that roving eye.

There was no question in her mind exactly what Ty was thinking. One glance at the devilish sparkle in his eyes and his wickedly tantalizing grin said it all. But there was more to Tyler Farrell than just the surface good looks. She sensed an honesty about him in direct contrast to the sexy gleam in his eyes and the playboy image he seemed to enjoy projecting. It was the type of honesty that said she would be safe from unwanted advances. He would probably make a pass, but he would accept no for an answer and not press her. And the same would be true even if she wasn’t his business partner and best friend’s sister.

Yes, when she was ten she had thought he was a jerk. A tingle of excitement heated her insides, telling her just how attractive she found him now. It had been six months since she had broken off her engagement to Caufield Woodrow III, a man her mother had kept telling her she should hang onto. A man who had everything—wealth, family position, social status and a guaranteed future. A man who could have given her everything she wanted. But Angie had disagreed. Maybe he could have given her everything material, but he had not given her any consideration for what she wanted out of life—it had been all about him and what he wanted…no one else.

And he didn’t know how to have fun. She had never laughed when she was with Caufield. She liked to laugh. Everything had always been so serious with him. Everything had to be planned out well in advance. He had needed two weeks’ notice to do something spontaneous. It had been a stifling relationship, one that had smothered her in a cloak of his creation. One in which she had finally realized she had been suffocated to the point where she could hardly breathe. She shook away the thoughts. It was old territory that she didn’t want to go over again. She was relieved to be out of the relationship.

“My family…” Ty took a deep breath, held it a moment, then exhaled. The word dysfunctional immediately leaped to his mind. He was an only child who had been raised with money and privilege, but it was not a substitute for the type of closeness Mac had with his family—the type Angie had just described. The predominant memory from his early years was the constant fighting between his mother and father. His parents had finally divorced when he was in high school, but it hadn’t stopped their ongoing battles.

And then there had been his disastrous two-year marriage shortly after he had graduated from college. Hardly a day had gone by without some sort of argument or at the very least enough tension to fill a football stadium. Family? A happy, loving marriage and close family was something he had never seen or experienced firsthand. It was something he would have said didn’t exist if it weren’t for the single exception of Mac and his family. But marriage and emotional closeness were things he would never know and he didn’t want to try to capture it with another attempt at a relationship—an attempt he knew would be doomed to failure from the beginning.

He extended what he hoped would be a confident smile. “I was an only child, born and raised in Seattle. My parents both live in the Seattle area, my mother in Bellevue and my father on Mercer Island. I think that about covers it.”

“That’s certainly succinct and to the point.” She returned his smile, letting him know she was not offended by his brief and evasive answer to her question even though she found it puzzling.

Lunch continued in a more comfortable vein. After the initial time of finding out a little about each other, the conversation turned to more casual topics and a surprisingly fun-filled two hours with lots of laughs. Each relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful day. Following lunch, they walked back to the offices.

“You know, Mac is going to be tied up for several days. My time is a lot more flexible than his right now so I’ll be happy to show you around—” his gaze locked with hers for an intense moment, sending a heated wave of desire through his body “—if you don’t mind the last-minute tour guide substitution.”

“No…” A sizzling second of eye contact told her more than she wanted to know about the sexual magnetism of Tyler Farrell. A little shiver of trepidation tried to work its way to the forefront. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Do you have plans for this evening?” The tightness returned, like a band pulling across his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe. “I could pick you up at Mac’s house at seven o’clock.”

“That will be perfect.”

Ty watched as she got in her car and drove away. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment. He slowly exhaled as he entered the building, crossed the lobby and walked down the hallway, but it did nothing to calm his inner turmoil. Angie Coleman had made a definite impact on his senses and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

He paused at Mac’s office, leaning casually against the door frame. “I’m back from lunch.”

Mac looked up from his work, glancing over Ty’s shoulder. “Where’s Angie?”

“She left. I suppose she went back to your house.”

“Thanks for filling in for me and taking her to lunch.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mac.” Ty flashed his patented smile. “It was certainly my pleasure.”

“I’ll have to make it up to her tonight. Maybe take her out to dinner or something.” Mac glanced at the clock on his desk. “If I can get out of here at a decent hour.”

“No need for you to quit earlier than you want to just so you can rush home to an empty house. I’m taking Angie out tonight.” He cocked his head and tried to suppress his grin. “You know…pizza and a movie, just like you suggested.”

Ty noted the cautionary look on Mac’s face, but didn’t want to start a conversation about it. He didn’t want his business partner asking what his intentions were toward Angie. He didn’t want to think about what his intentions were, to define the disjointed feelings and sensations that had been floating around inside him from the moment he had seen Angelina Coleman framed in the office door.

Angie checked the clock. She still had about an hour before Ty would be picking her up. She had spent the afternoon working on her resume. When Mac had told her he was busy and wouldn’t be able to take her to lunch, she had been disappointed. She wanted the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with him, dig into the operational procedures of the company, create a viable niche for herself in the organization, then pitch the idea to Mac about hiring her.

She wanted a job with Mac’s company, but she didn’t want him to hire her just because she was his sister—to once again come to her rescue, to take care of her. She wanted to prove herself to him and earn a job based solely on her own merit. She wanted him to respect her as a capable adult rather than protect her like a child. She wanted his approval.

Then her thoughts turned to Ty. If she had an ally within the company she just might have a better chance of Mac paying attention rather than in essence telling her to run along and play—to not worry her cute little head about anything. That was what had happened six months ago when she had first broached the subject of a job with Mac’s company. She’d had her mother mention the job possibility to him. It was right after she had broken off her engagement. Her insecurities were at odds with her aspirations. She had been too scared and intimidated to approach Mac herself. All he had done was laugh and say how cute it was of little Angie to want to go to work for him. At that moment it was obvious to her that she needed to prove herself first if he was ever going to take her seriously.

Ty was not family. He wouldn’t have any preconceived notions about who she was or what she should be doing with her life, what predetermined category she should fit in. She furrowed her brow into a slight frown for a moment. At least she hoped Mac hadn’t put any preconceived ideas into Ty’s head. If she could enlist his help, she was sure the two of them could get Mac to listen to reason and shed his old notions.

Angie glanced at the clock again, then put away her work materials so she could get ready for her date with Ty. She paused a moment, a reflective mood coming over her. Date…it wasn’t a date. He was just being polite, seeing that she wasn’t having dinner alone while Mac worked on his deadline project. That was all it was. Nothing more. She closed her eyes and an immediate image of his dazzling smile and good looks popped into her mind. The same sensation she experienced when he had clasped her hand began to spread across her skin. Her breathing quickened and a tingle of excitement told her there was something very special about this man whether she wanted it to be that way or not.

She brushed the last stroke through her hair just as the doorbell rang. She rushed to answer it, stepping aside as Ty entered the house.

“You didn’t say where we were going.” She glanced down at the simple skirt and blouse she had chosen, then made eye contact with him. The glint in his hazel eyes sent a little shiver through her body. “I hope I’m dressed okay.”

“You look gorgeous.” He forced a calm to his voice that he didn’t feel as he blatantly stared at her. She was far more than merely gorgeous. She had brains and personality in addition to stunning looks. He had never been involved with a woman who had it all. Involved—that word had popped into his mind without him realizing it. Where had it come from? He certainly wasn’t involved with Angie. She was his best friend’s sister, a best friend who also happened to be his business partner. A business partner who had managed to tell him “hands off” without ever saying a word.

He tried to shut out the feelings coursing through him, feelings that admittedly were mostly lust. But there was a hint of something else, too. Something he couldn’t quite grasp or define. Something that made him nervous. His attention became riveted to her perfect mouth, her slightly parted lips tinted with a soft russet color. He felt himself being drawn in against his conscious will.

He leaned his face into Angie’s. It started as an innocent brushing of his lips against hers, but it ignited a burst of unbridled desire. Ty wrapped his arms around her and captured her mouth with a kiss that did nothing to hide the passion coursing through his veins. Her body stiffened in his arms followed by a moment’s hesitation.

A touch of panic invaded his reality. Had he just made the most colossal blunder of his life? Was this going to cost him more than he had anticipated? Possibly even the friendship of his best friend and business partner?