Romance in Dallas - Tycoon! (4 page)

Looking around the large room, she thought it
was really upscale with two sumptuous queen beds, with fern
patterned spreads, nightstands, dresser with a large full length
mirror to the right, a microwave, a refrigerator, a mini-bar stand,
and a marble tiled bathroom with a large Jacuzzi tub, aside from a
walk-in shower, all with gold fixtures.

Again, she wasn't sure how long they'd be in
the city, as he hadn't said anything about that, so she unpacked
her clothes and hung up a few dresses which she'd brought along,
but doubted she'd ever wear.

He knocked and came in a few minutes later.
"Are we eating?" he asked.

She nodded.

They ate at one of his restaurants in the
hotel.

While they were waiting for their omelets, he
said, "So tell me about yourself."

"Well," feeling his intense stare again,
"what would you like to know?"

"Where did you grow up?"

"Actually," she said, avoiding the question,
"I really need to do my assessment of you after we're done
here."

He sat back, physically uncomfortable now, if
she was reading him right.

"Why don't you want to tell me where you grew
up?"

"PT needs to keep her distance from her
patient."

"Is that right? PT would be you?"

She nodded.

"What if I don't want to do the assessment
until you tell me?"

She frowned. "Then I'd take the first plane
out of here."

A look flashed across his face, before he
covered it up again with a smile. "All right. Then I'll tell you
about myself. How's that?"

Smiling back at him, she said, "Perfect. I
can start my assessment now with the information you give me."

"Born in a small town in southern Georgia. My
papa was old money and my momma was a southern belle, complete with
dowry."

"Really? So she was a housewife, and your
father?"

"Dabbled very successfully in the stock
market."

"And the hotels?"

He ran a hand through his blond hair. "I
built them with the inheritance. After they died. I think people
like the style of the hotels, we're always booked."

"The room is lovely."

"I'm right next door if you need anything
darlin.'"

She was thankful that the food arrived just
then, and the two of them sat, silently eating.

After the meal, she couldn't remember if it
was breakfast or lunch, she insisted he come to her room for the
assessment.

He lay casually on the bed, leaning against
the bed pillows, eyeing her calmly, as she asked about his life.
What did he do all day? Did he lift anything? What drugs was he
taking? Then, more personal. The accident, what had happened? How
long ago? What activities made his back worse? Medical history?

"Can you please lie flat for me?" she asked
him, as she typed her final notes into her laptop computer.

He did as requested.

"Take off your belt, please."

His eyebrows raised, but he did as
requested.

She gently pulled his right leg up at the
knee and tried to move it to his chest. The look on his face said
it couldn't happen, and he gasped. The left leg revealed the same
results.

Ram felt like her touch was so tender; it
moved something deep inside him. And his pain was almost secondary
to his attraction to her. She brought his right leg across,
stretching the hip muscles slowly, and on again to the left leg
with the same stretch. His right leg was again rolled, as well as
the left, with her expert touch.

"Remove your shirt," she told him quietly
"and turn on your stomach please.

He shucked it off. Her warm, capable hands
began massaging and manipulating his shoulders around, then moved
to the small of his back, where she kneaded.

"You're really tight," she whispered, almost
to herself, he thought.

But when she straddled him, below his hips,
he almost groaned from the sensation, as she pulled his arms back,
forward, back, then began the deep, penetrating massage. She seemed
to know instinctively where his pain was located, and avoided the
spots close to his spine.

He felt his erection start, but ignored it,
and lost himself in the feeling of her. But, soon a sense of
urgency began that he couldn't ignore. Slowly turning over, while
hanging onto her, he knew he'd surprised her.

"What--" she began.

His hands came up behind her neck, and he
pulled her face to his.

"Please--"

Finally, he was able to kiss her, feel her
lips on his. She stopped struggling, as the kiss drew deeper.

Flitting his tongue inside her mouth,
tasting, probing, it was her turn to moan now.

Darkness fell and the kiss drew on and on, as
he let out the pent up frustration of their plane ride. He wanted
her closer, closer to his chest, he couldn't get her close
enough.

She felt his lips, now whispering unknown
words against her cheek, urgently, as she felt his hardness against
her. And she was powerless to stop him, and was helpless for a
minute or two as he kissed and whispered against her lips, "So...so
very beautiful...darlin'..."

With her own reaction to him, to the totality
of the man, she knew she'd have to leave him here, take a plane
home.

"This can't be," she said, pulling away from
him, climbing off the bed. She was shaking now, as she opened the
slider and walked onto the large balcony, into the muggy heat of
Hawaii.

A few minutes later, he came up in back of
her, slowly folding his arms around her as he whispered, "I'm
sorry...so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"I'm here to help you," she said, sounding
steadier than she felt. "If you can't rein it in, I'll have to
leave. I am not looking for a relationship." It was on the tip of
her tongue to say she already had a lover, but she didn't have one,
and she hated lying anyway. It was none of his business, and she
planned to keep it that way. She moved forward, out of his
arms.

"I'll leave you alone," he whispered. "Don't
go. I don't want that."

She nodded, and he went to his room.

Her cell phone rang early the next morning.
It was Natalie.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know, with the time difference. I
just wanted to get you before you were with him."

"I did the assessment yesterday."

"And, how did that go?"

"Dicey. I think he's too horny for me to
continue."

"Sweetie, have you looked at yourself lately?
You don't even have to wear make-up, it's sickening. Your
complexion is flawless and your body is fine. So, where were you
when it happened?"

"What?"

"The horn-dog routine."

"I sat on his back. It was just easier for me
with him being on the bed and all."

"Jesus, no wonder."

"It's still no excuse."

"What exactly happened?"

Her mind went back to his kisses and urgent
whispers in the twilight. She couldn't say anything
momentarily.

"Hmmm," Nat said, "that good, 'eh?"

"No comment."

"So are you coming back here then?"

"I'll give him one more chance. Today I'll
make that determination."

"Just give him a break. It's been a while
since his accident. He's probably not been with anyone since that.
So, try not to be too hard on him."

Jace sniffed. "All right. I just had a
thought. Maybe I should get a portable table for him, that way I
could raise and lower it to suit myself and we wouldn't find
ourselves in such an intimate position."

"That's a great idea. Then just load it on
his plane."

"Okay, Nat. Thanks for calling. I'll get in
touch with you later then."

They rang off and she sat up against the
pillows, looking blankly at the coffee maker. "It's not going to
make itself," she said out loud. But still, she didn't move.

Her cell rang again. She looked at the clock.
Eight in the morning. Thinking it was Nat again, she answered,
laughing, "Now what?"

Silence greeted her.

"I was going to ask you that," Ram said
finally. "Heard you talking in there."

"Yes, I had a phone call," she said
vaguely.

Another silence.

"I ordered us some coffee," he drawled, "I'll
be there in a few."

But he'd hung up before she could even
protest. "Damn," she swore, as she bounded up and searched through
her bag. There was no time to get dressed all the way, so she
grabbed her shorty robe. She definitely did not want to let him
know she slept in the nude. With the lights on. That was her
business, not his.

He knocked softly on her door a few seconds
later, and she let him in.

"Have a seat," she told him, looking up at
him quickly, drawing her robe sash tighter. "I just wanted to comb
my hair; you didn't give me much time."

"I'm on a schedule here, Jace. Thought we'd
have coffee before I go to my meetings. They'll take up most of the
day."

And as she stood in the bathroom brushing her
hair, he continued, "How about dinner tonight?" he drawled.

Sighing and leaning against the marble
counter, she wondered whether she should. It was like dating
him.

As if reading her thoughts, he said, "Just as
friends. Just for fun."

Walking out in her bare feet, tying her robe
sash, she said, "I suppose so." She sat on the corner of the bed,
and her eyes met his. "What I need to do today is get a portable
table for working on you." Nodding towards the other bed, she told
him, "Just too much of temptation. I'd hate to have to leave you,
because I think I could really help you in your recovery."

His eyes roved over her hungrily. From her
bare feet, over her silky short robe showing an expense of curvy
legs, to her breasts with nipples showing under the drape of
fabric, back to her warm brown eyes, long curly hair and flushed
cheeks.

"Ah wish you wouldn't do that, darlin.'" And
he wished his damn southern accent wouldn't come out so much when
he was moved by someone. And, she moved him. A lot. He thought of
the night before, kissing her soft lips, as his tongue roved in and
out, tasting, then reveling in the feel of the soft skin of her
cheeks, kissing and moving on them.

He looked past her to the painting on the
wall. "Order whatever you need and charge it to the room." Then his
eyes came back on her steady gaze now. "Nothing else will happen,
then. You trust me?"

A certain look flashed on her face, before
her guard came up again, and she said, "Of course. If you say
nothing, then you mean nothing. I understand that."

The coffee came then, and he watched her get
up, walk to the door and let the foodservice woman in with the
tray. He rose and put a several bills on the tray.

As they were sipping their coffee, he said,
"You can do anything today. I won't be back until five. A full
day."

"And, how is your back?"

"Don't ask." After finishing his cup of
coffee, he rose stiffly, and thought he'd like to take another pill
but he needed to wait another few hours.

"Sit down," she told him, moving the chair
around and standing behind it, "this will only take a minute."

He nodded and sat. She began massaging his
shoulders, a deep, penetrating rub that almost made him gasp.

"You're very tight," she said, as she
concentrated on his left shoulder, then his right. "Do you have a
muscle relaxant? I don't remember you mentioning that."

His voice was soft now, that was all he could
manage, "No."

Continuing the rubbing for a few minutes, and
patting his shoulder to indicate she was done, she said, "I'll call
Doctor Truman today. He can call it to a pharmacy here. I really
think it's advisable."

She padded over to the door, opening it then
for him, "See you tonight. Just call me."

"You got it."

Jace took the day, with a taxi, to visit some
memorials of Pearl Harbor. But the one that moved her the most was
The Arizona, destroyed battleship, still under the water. And, she
wondered as she looked sadly at the lists of names of men killed
there, just how many soldiers had to die to protect America's
freedom.

Chapter 4

Ram was bored during one of his meetings, and
sent Warren a text: 'she b hot, hrd to cntrl.'

A few seconds later, Warren replied, 'regain
cntrl man - u r the Ram.'

And Ramsey smiled. He really had lost
control, and it would eventually drive her away, being the
independent woman she was. Now, he felt doubly bad about the night
before, and promised himself it wouldn't happen again.

He called at five-thirty to make sure she'd
be ready at six for dinner.

But when he knocked on her door at six, she
didn't answer. Calling her phone, he just went to voice mail.
Frowning, he strolled back to his room. And he thought it didn't
make sense. He slowly tried the door adjoining their rooms. It was
unlocked.

Not hearing or seeing her, he leaned on the
doorjamb. Looking at the beds then towards the bathroom, his breath
came out in a long sigh as he spotted her finally in the full
length mirror.

She'd just gotten out of the steamy shower,
and was toweling herself off. She moved the towel over her long
hair, then down to her breasts, stomach, between her legs, down her
legs to her ankles. And as she came back up to rub her hair again,
her breasts thrust out, and he thought he'd never seen such a
beautiful sight. Large breasts, generous nipples now peaking, tiny
waist, nicely rounded buttocks, tiny triangle of short hair on her
mound, and shapely long legs.

He quickly shut the door, more than wanting
to keep it open, just to let his eyes rove up and down the length
of her. "Christ," he swore, as he paced up and down the room. Then,
waiting a good ten minutes, he called her cell phone again.