Romance in Dallas - Tycoon! (6 page)

He laughed as he sat back down on the bed.
"Anything they damn well please, usually. I think they have us
engaged in one of the papers. But you'll be glad to know that no
mention is made of your name," he drawled. "They're clueless on
that. Let's keep it that way. If you're ever approached by one of
them, walk by like they aren't even there. Just ignore 'em. I'll
give them a statement eventually."

She nodded. "Think we can really keep it a
secret?"

"Trust me." His eyes scanned her face. "I can
call a doctor now if you like, sweet pea."

"No, really," she protested, inching up to a
sitting position now, and regretting it, as she felt dizzy, "I'll
be fine." Pausing, she added, "You look very nice today. Do you
have more meetings?"

He wore a grey three piece suit, shiny black
shoes and looked very put together, she thought, with his wavy hair
combed back from his face, freshly shaven and wearing a pleasant
citrus aftershave.

Still watching her, he said, "I just have one
meeting today and one tonight around seven, which I have to attend.
I was hoping to bring you tonight. It's for charity, special needs
children. Just a little get-together, to raise money. I'll only
stay about half hour. Same thing with my meeting today. I don't
need to stay long. Especially with you sick an' all."

But she was fading fast, her eyes closing as
she nodded, and she felt him pull the covers up around her. His
hand ran down her hair, then to her forehead. "God, you're burning
up." And the next thing she felt was a cool washcloth on her
forehead. It felt so good, she smiled.

Ram went reluctantly to his meeting. And,
true to his word, he only stayed a short time. He was too worried
about her having such a high fever.

She heard him come in an hour later, and
looked up to see him drop himself painfully onto the other bed and
lay against the two pillows.

"How y'all doing darlin'?" he asked her as he
loosened his tie, and flipped it off along with his suit coat.

"Better, I think," she said softly. "I'm so
sorry I'm sick, Ram. You need to go and attend to your business.
Just leave me. I'll be fine, really." But, she knew it wasn't true.
She felt weaker by the minute, and had barely made it to the
bathroom and back while he was gone.

"Just have to make a few phone calls.
Rearrange things. Don't worry about any of it."

She fell into a half-sleep, half-awake state
then, as she heard his voice from a distance.

"Dennis," he said, "the meeting for tomorrow,
we need to change due to flu, my man. How about two days from now?
Thanks."

And again, "Marty, laid up with flu here, how
about three days from now?"

She heard him on the phone for a while then
his voice faded as she listened to him open and close the adjoining
room door.

Ram lowered his voice. "Warren, she's got the
flu."

"Oh, crap," his friend said, "so that will
delay you?"

"I don't care about that. I just feel so
helpless."

"You can't fix everything, man. Don't even
try. Just be there for her."

"She's so damn foxy. It's hard to
concentrate."

Warren laughed. "That's a sure sign of
something. Could it be love?"

Sighing now, Ram replied, "I feel guilty.
Plus she was clear on the fact she didn't want any ties. I just
feel like I'd be cheating on Susan. Know what I'm saying?"

"How long has it been now?" Warren said
quietly.

"A year and a half, plus a few days."

"Put away the calendar. The old one, I mean.
Open a new page in your book. I can't say I understand because I've
never been married. But I've had relationships."

"Yeah. Well, better go try to work some more.
Get her some soup or something to eat. I'm not used to taking care
of someone like this. Feel like a duck out of water."

"Right," Warren laughed, "hey saw you two in
'Society' today. You didn't look too cozy, though. Work on it,
Ram."

"Not today, my friend."

Ramsey called down and asked the advice of
the cook, who said he'd send up chicken noodle soup and crackers,
along with ice and water.

When Ram went back in the room, she was
shivering violently and he looked for an extra blanket, which he
laid over her gently.

Watching her, while he half-heartedly scanned
a new proposal on the laptop he'd brought in, he wondered about her
background. She was so silent about it, never divulging anything.
Where was she from? Did she have siblings, and how many? Parents?
He knew she didn't have boyfriends. But then who called her? He
tried to think of the name she'd used. Ralph. Who was he?

He just came up with more questions than
answers, as his eyes roved over her motionless figure, now deep in
sleep.

Room service came with the tray, and she
began to stir. "Hungry?" he asked her.

Her cheeks were still flushed with fever. She
shook her head.

"You really need something in your stomach,
sweetheart," he said, looking with her with concern.

"All right," she said softly, as she pulled
the covers further up on her chest and leaned against the pillows.
"I'm so sorry I can't work with you on your physical therapy. But
I'm sure I'll be up and around soon."

Smiling at her from the end of the bed, he
said, "My back has been bad for way over a year now. It can
wait."

"In my papers, by the laptop, there are some
exercises. Try those. They're similar to the stretches we did the
other day."

"Okay, I'll look for them. You just rest
now."

After she'd eaten a bit, she fell asleep
again. He went back to his room, propping the adjoining door open
with a waste basket, and used the time to get caught up on his work
without her distracting presence.

Jace woke with a start, at dusk, and she
looked around, confused. She still felt awful, feverish, nauseated
with a sore throat.

Ramsey came in and flipped on the dresser
lamp.

She thought he looked incredibly handsome,
dressed in a black tux, still exuding the heady scent of
aftershave.

"Darlin,' I have to go to the fundraiser. You
be okay for now? I won't be gone long."

She nodded.

He walked and stood next to her, ran his hand
down her hair, pushed it back from her forehead. "Sure?" he asked
gently.

She nodded again.

On the elevator going up to the ballroom, he
thought he'd had to drag himself away from her.

But he heard plenty of voices coming from the
party, so he put on his best smile.

Victoria waited for him to arrive. She
immediately began to converse animatedly with a man she'd met
earlier, who she wasn't the slightest bit interested in. Smoothing
her red hair, up in a French twist, hair dyed that color
purposefully since Ramsey's wife died, her hand slid down her silky
beige floor-length gown, preening now.

She saw how Ram worked the room, kissing
women and shaking hands with the men, smiling, laughing, doing what
he did best.

But then, she thought ruefully, she'd never
gone to bed with him so she didn't really know about that. "They
don't call him Ram for nothing," she muttered to herself, as she
walked towards him with her best strut.

Ram saw her coming, and knew this was
unavoidable. And he thought it was a bit peculiar she kept showing
up at fundraisers and show openings he attended.

"Victoria," he said with warmth he didn't
really feel. "You are looking lovely," he told her, thinking she
may have had some liposuction since he last saw her, and possibly
work on her breasts as well. They just didn't look natural, and his
thoughts drifted to Jace and her beautiful, curvy body.

Reaching a hand in back of his neck, Victoria
kissed him a little too hard on the lips before he drew back.
Unfortunately, one of the photographers snapped a picture just
then, and he cursed her silently. He didn't want his picture taken
with this woman. He'd much rather see Jace staring up at him with
her warm, brown eyes.

Victoria caught a momentary look on his face
that she just loved, a sexy, hot look she'd been waiting for. And
she hoped the camera in the hand of the photographer she'd hired
had caught it. Then, she'd be in tomorrow's papers.

"You're handsome as always, Ram," she sighed,
while her hand came up and smoothed his suit jacket. "Where have
you been?" she asked him, already knowing the answers. "We've
missed you in Dallas."

He grinned, and she thought he looked very
boyish and oh, so handsome.

Smiling down at her, he said, "Here and
there. You know business is brisk. With hotels you have to keep on
it."

But she knew about his vast wealth already.
And he could get 'on it' with her anytime he wanted.

God, she thought, the man was worth billions
with his hotels, real estate and inheritance. Old money. Just what
she needed to make her respectable again. She'd screwed up once too
often, and now her father gave her an allowance which seemed like a
pittance. She had to scrape her savings to afford all the trips to
all the places where Ramsey owned hotels. Following this man was no
easy task.

Ram finally managed to escape from Victoria,
worked his way back to the podium, gave his speech from memory, and
excused himself from the party as he was applauded.

Once back in his room, he shucked off his
coat and tie, and walked quickly in to see Jace.

His hand moved to check her forehead, and he
thought she was burning up. He quickly grabbed his phone and called
Doctor Truman's private number.

"Yes?" the man said.

"Seth, it's Ramsey. I've got a situation with
Jace."

The doctor chuckled into the phone. "Whatever
I can do."

"No, it's not that. She's got the flu. With a
high fever. How can I get it down?"

"Oh, yes, that's a nasty flu. The forehead.
If she gets too bad, you'll have to rinse her head with cold water.
But I think you could just try cold cloths for now. The head is the
center of the fever regulators."

"Thanks, Seth. Send me a bill."

"Right."

Ram unbuttoned his shirt a bit, rolled up his
sleeves, had room service bring him more ice, and made an ice bath
out of it as he added water and sat next to her on the bed.

He thought Jace looked really out of it, as
he gently placed the wet cloth on her forehead. And her eyes
appeared glassy while she stared over his shoulder. "Gram?" she
said softly.

"What is it, sweet pea? Is it your Gram?"

But tears welled in her eyes then.
"Gram...don't die...please."

He pressed the cloth on her cheeks and back
up to her forehead. "Shhh, it's okay."

"You don't understand," she sobbed, looking
at him wildly, "She's burning! I have to save her, I have to save
her! Gram!" She fought him, thrashing around, trying to wiggle out
of his hold now.

"Darlin,'" he said firmly, "stop this. I'll
save your Gram for you."

Her eyes were wild still, but her arms seemed
to run out of fight as he held her close. Murmuring against her
cheek, as he held the cloth on her head, she finally calmed down
enough for him to pull back.

"Sweetie, what have you been through?" he
wondered out loud. But, she wasn't able to answer him as she looked
vacantly at the same spot over his shoulder.

Chapter 6

After a very long night, with her fever
waxing and waning, Jace woke in the morning to the sound of
tapping.

Looking over towards the glass table in the
room, she saw Ram sitting, typing into his laptop. Her eyes roamed
over him, taking in his disheveled appearance. His white dress
shirt was unbuttoned all the way, and he'd taken off his shoes. She
could tell he'd run his hand through his hair several times. Her
mind tried to remember what had happened the night before. But she
just recalled whispers and someone holding a cool cloth to her
forehead, then to her cheeks.

"Good morning," she said, in a voice which
was a little too feeble for her liking.

Ram stopped, and looked over at her with warm
eyes. "How y'all doin' sweet pea?"

Realizing she was naked, with only a sheet
drawn up to her chest, she clutched at the rest of the
bedspread.

He rose and stretched, she thought somewhat
painfully.

"I'm much better today," she said, "I should
be able to continue your program tonight." She paused. "Did you get
any sleep last night?"

He smiled, and continued his stretches, "Not
much. But then you didn't either."

"I don't remember," she told him honestly,
"these types of things always hit me hard. I'm prone to
fevers."

He strolled over next to her, and dialed the
house phone. "Ramon, send two full breakfasts would you?
Thanks."

"I'm not sure about that," she said ruefully,
"but I'll try to work up an appetite in the meantime."

Looking down at her tenderly now, he said,
"We need to get you back up and around." His hand came to her
forehead. "No fever," he said, as his hand rolled down to her
cheek, then the back of her neck for seconds.

"I'll go shower. Would you like your
robe?"

"Yes. Please."

He found it in the closet, and placed it on
her bed. "See you in a few."

She was curious what he was working on, what
he'd typed in the laptop. Shucking on her robe and tying the sash
tightly, she rose slowly and padded over to it.

But on his computer was a picture of a
beautiful young woman, with short red hair, flawless complexion,
and a perfect, even smile on her face. Jace wondered who she was.
His dead wife? And, if a girlfriend, how much he cared for her. And
she wondered why she would even care.