Blue Mist of Morning (19 page)

"Dreamer," she called herself now, staring bleakly out the
wide window at the high-rise office building across the street. Even
after that episode with Ty in his bedroom at the bungalow Saturday
night, she had known she was fooling herself when she tried to believe
she really meant anything to him. Millicent was the one he loved.

She sat up straight in her chair, stiffening her spine
with sudden resolve. Somehow, she was going to regain control of her
life, and she planned to begin by treating Ty in a purely businesslike
manner. It wouldn't be easy, but if she really tried, perhaps she could
even suppress the love she felt for him. Perhaps she could, but she
seriously doubted it. Yet, even if she was destined to always love him,
that didn't mean she had to let him use her. He might be willing to
indulge in a casual affair, but she wasn't. She had some pride left,
and his involvement with Millicent Beaumont hurt her too much for her
to pretend it didn't exist.

For once, Anne was too lost in thoughts about her personal
life to keep her mind on office duties. It came as something of a
surprise to realize that an entire half hour had passed, when Millicent
came strolling out of Ty's office. Ty accompanied her, and though Anne
pretended to be busy with some papers on her desk and tried not to
watch them together, it was difficult to ignore Millicent's possessive
behavior. Leaning her svelte body against him, she draped her long arms
around his neck and kissed him lingeringly on the mouth. "I hope I
didn't keep you from your work too long, darling," she cooed, "but I
did want to tell you how much last night meant to me."

As Ty simply nodded discreetly, Anne felt as if someone
had delivered a blow to her chest, though she showed no outward
evidence of her distress. Her expression remained placid as she
rummaged through the bottom drawer of her desk, trying to appear as if
she hadn't even heard Millicent's comment.

At last the other woman swept regally out of the room.
Sensing that Ty was watching her, Anne glanced up. Unable to meet his
eyes directly, she held up the steno pad expectantly. "Are you ready
for me?" When he said that he was, she immediately followed him into
his office. To her dismay, he didn't go around the desk to sit behind
it. Instead, he leaned back against it, very close to her chair, his
long legs outstretched to support him and his feet nearly touching hers.

Detecting the clean masculine scent of his aftershave,
Anne felt an abrupt and nearly overpowering need to touch him. It would
have been so temporarily gratifying and so easy. All she needed to do
was reach out and brush her fingertips over the large tan hand curved
around the edge of the desk. Yet, she managed to overcome the
temptation to do that and berated herself mentally for even feeling
tempted.

Throughout the remainder of the letter-taking session,
Anne never once looked up at him. There was something comforting in the
mechanics of shorthand. She only had to deal with the deep sound of his
voice as he dictated the words. Her hand skimmed swiftly across the
paper, ciphering those words into symbols. But when the dictation of
all the letters was finished, she felt vulnerable again, as if the
steno pad had been a shield that she could no longer hide behind. Now,
she had to involve herself in his personal life again. She had to tell
him about Jenny.

After closing the steno pad and tucking one of the pencils
into the spiral cylinder at the top, she unnecessarily smoothed her
navy linen skirt and took a deep breath. "I have to tell you some
unpleasant news," she announced softly, staring at his feet. "It's
about Jenny. I'm fairly sure she's still in contact with Kirt Callen."

"I thought maybe she was beginning to be sensible about
him," Ty said, his low, clipped tone conveying disapproval and more
than a little irritation. "But I guess that was wishful thinking on my part. I suppose you
mean she's seen him since we returned from St. Croix?"

"I don't know if she's actually seen him or not," Anne
gestured uncertainly. "I only know that she was very secretive about a
call she got last night. We were in the study together, and she
answered the phone when it rang. She hardly said anything to the
caller, asking him to hold on while she went up to her room to take the
call on her phone there. She wanted me to hang up the study phone for
her after she'd had time to get upstairs. When I did, I heard a man's
voice, and I'm pretty certain it was Kirt's."

Ty nodded. "I see. You know, I'm about to decide to have a
nice long talk with Kirt. This whole business is beginning to annoy me
immensely."

"There's only one problem with that. Kirt Callen would be
quite capable of telling Jenny that you were trying to keep them apart.
I really believe that would only make her more determined to talk to
him, maybe even start seeing him more often, and that's the last thing
in the world we want to happen. I'll try having another talk with her
tonight, but I don't know how much good it will do."

"If I can't talk to him and we can't reason with her, what
do you suggest we do?"

"I'm not sure there's anything we can do," Anne replied
with a sigh. "Except hope Jenny will begin to tire of this silly game
of defiance she's playing and will forget about Kirt. If only she
would… I can't bear to think of that cad using her, then
tossing her aside when another young girl comes along. Something like
that shouldn't happen to Jenny. I hate to think of the emotional damage
that might do to her."

"So do I," Ty murmured, his eyes narrowing as he gazed
down at her. "You really care about Jenny, don't you?"

The sudden gentling of his expression and the warmth that
appeared in his eyes had a disturbing effect on Anne's senses. Shifting
restlessly, she stared down at her hands to avoid looking at him. "Of
course, I care about her," she answered softly at last. "She's really a
sweet girl, just a little confused right now. I only wish I could help
her."

"But I think you have helped, Anne," Ty told her, reaching
down and taking one small hand to draw her up to stand before him.
"Jenny's already less hostile than she was before you came to live with
us."

"You're very kind," Anne said almost inaudibly, staring
glumly at the long fingers that were brushing slowly over the back of
her hand. His touch was evoking sensations that she was now too afraid
to enjoy. Since she had decided a mere physical relationship with him
would never be enough for her, she knew she would have to deny herself
the luxury of being close to him. And she had to start now. Yet, she
felt an excruciating sense of loss as she gently, but determinedly,
extracted her hand from his.

Ty's dark brows lifted questioningly and he stood up
straight, then stepped closer to her. As he caressed her smooth cheek
with the back of his hand, she took a jerky step backward away from
him, murmuring a soft protest. He scowled, "What's wrong, Anne?"

"Nothing's wrong, exactly," she replied, her voice
embarrassingly strained. She looked everywhere except directly at him,
then raised her shoulders and let them fall in a tired shrug. "It's
just that… well, I… don't think you should touch
me… that way anymore."

"You can't be serious?" he asked roughly, and when she
nodded, his hands descended onto her shoulders. "I can't believe you
mean that."

She nodded again. "But I do."

His grip on her shoulders tightened almost painfully.
"Then may I ask what has made you decide you don't want me to touch
you?"

"I just think it would be best if you didn't," she said,
almost in a whisper. "You remember I told you I thought it was wrong
for a secretary to become involved with her boss. It's just not a good
idea. Our relationship seemed to get out of control, and now I think
it's time we try to get it back to the way it was at first. You know,
strictly business."

"Sticking strictly to business might be possible for
computerized robots, Anne," he said tautly. "But we happen to be
people, and we're attracted to each other."

"We shouldn't be."

"So, we won't be? Is that what you're saying? Well, I'm
sorry, Anne, but life's not that simple. Some human responses and
emotions can't be controlled so easily."

"Well, I intend to try to control mine," she muttered,
managing to get the words past that hard knot in her throat. "I
promised myself I wouldn't get involved with you, and I have to keep
that promise."

"And what good does that promise do you when I kiss you?"
he asked rather impatiently, hauling her to him, covering her mouth
with the warm, seeking firmness of his.

Anne's lips parted traitorously, and she responded to his
kiss with an urgency that equaled his, but only for an instant. Then
the memory of Millicent kissing him good-bye this morning came unbidden
to her mind, and she pushed away from him to gasp softly, "Don't!
Please. I don't want you to do that again."

The anger her words provoked in him seemed almost a
tangible thing between them, and Anne's breath caught as Ty grasped her
chin in one hand and tilted her head back, forcing her to look directly
at him. "I'm disappointed in you," he announced bluntly, blue fire
flashing in his eyes. "Are you sure this is really the way you want it
to be?"

"Yes," she lied, her voice choked. "I'm… sure."

A mocking smile played over his firmly carved mouth. "Then
that's the way it will be. I've never forced myself on any woman, and
I'm not going to start with you. But, tell me something, Anne. When are
you going to stop being afraid to live?"

The sarcasm conveyed by his low mocking tone stung, and
she rushed out of his office and closed the double doors before several
fat teardrops spilled from her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. Now
she had done it, she thought bleakly, brushing the tears away with the
back of one hand. Ty was the only man she would probably ever love, and
now she had made him so angry that he would undoubtedly find it
difficult to even be pleasant to her.

Early that evening, after Ty had driven her home from the
office, Anne hurriedly changed out of the suit she had worn to work.
Immediately after slipping into jeans and a comfortable cotton boucle
sweater, she walked down the hall to Jenny's room. She knocked twice,
but no response was forthcoming. She eased open the door to look
inside, just to be certain Jenny wasn't merely asleep.

The room was deserted and unusually untidy. Contents were
spilling from opened drawers, and several items of clothing, still on
hangers, had been tossed onto the bed. As Anne looked around at the
mess Jenny had left, suspicion began to drag at her stomach, then
became a very intense dread, as she noticed the envelope propped
against a perfume atomizer on the vanity table.

Curiously enough, the envelope bore her name, but when
Anne tore it open with shaking fingers, then read the contents of the
brief note inside, she knew why Jenny hadn't left it for Ty. No doubt,
she had been afraid to. The note said that she was going away for the
weekend and wouldn't be back until late Sunday night.

Feeling rather ill, Anne simply stared at it for several
long moments. After that phone call last night, she could only assume
that Kirt had finally beguiled Jenny with his lies. She was such an
innocent that she believed he really cared about her, and now it looked
as if he had succeeded in persuading her to go away with him.

But where had they gone? Anne wondered frantically. And
was it too late to find them before Jenny had to spend a night with
Kirt? Having no answers to these questions, she went to Ty, hoping he
would know what to do.

When Anne knocked on Ty's bedroom door a few seconds
later, he was in the process of changing clothes, too. Clad only in
snug-fitting khaki pants, he was pulling the bottom of a rugby-type
black knit shirt over his broad tan chest as he opened the door.
Obvious surprise at seeing her there flitted across his dark face, then
was gone in an instant.

Anne didn't speak. She merely handed him the note, then
clenched her hands together before her as he read it. The explosion she
had half expected didn't occur, although the implacable hardening of
his jaw indicated he was angry. He crushed the note in his hand. His
eyes had taken on an ominous glitter as they sought hers.

"It's obvious you're thinking the same thing I am," he
said tersely. "Jenny hasn't gone off for the weekend with a girlfriend.
If she had, she would have mentioned a name. So she must be with
Callen." Uttering an implicit curse, he raked his fingers through his
hair. "She's only seventeen, and if he seduces her, I swear I'll have
him charged with statutory rape."

Anne put her hand on his arm, an automatic calming
gesture. "Maybe we can do something to avoid that. If we could find
them tonight before… well, before anything happens, we could
just bring Jenny back home. And I've been trying to think where he
might have taken her. I believe Jenny would refuse to go to a hotel
with him, so maybe he took her to that house he owns near Colonial
Beach."

Ty considered her suggestion for a moment, then shook his
head. "No, I don't think he'd take her there. He'd probably expect me
to go there looking for them. But I do know somewhere else they might
have gone. Up to the mountain house."

"But Ellie's there," Anne argued logically. "And Kirt
would be risking his life if he tried to seduce Jenny with her in the
same house. She impressed me as the kind of lady who would go after him
with a cast-iron frying pan for being such a cad."

"She probably would," Ty agreed, smiling grimly at the
thought. "The problem is, she isn't at the mountain house right now.
She's spending a month with her daughter in Arizona, and Jenny knows
that."

"Then they might be there. Hurry, Ty, we have to drive up
right away," Anne implored, tugging at his sleeve until she realized he
might not want her to go with him. A rose color tinted her cheeks as
her hand dropped away from his arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to invite
myself along."