The Tycoon (30 page)

“I do.” She began digging inside her purse again, came up with car keys. She bleeped the car door open and scrambled inside, slammed the door and fired the engine. The dash lights lit her face. He motioned for her to lower the window.

When she did, he leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back. “Don’t worry,” he told her. “If anything happens, we’ll take care of it.”

“Easy for
you
to say.” She looked at him a few seconds, a glimmer of moisture in her eyes. “I have to go,” she said softly.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

“I live less than two blocks from here. I could walk if I had to.”

He stepped back, she buzzed up the window, backed up and left him standing alone in the dark parking lot with his pants undone.

Chapter 18

Morning. After being awake most of the night, Shannon stood at her bedroom window staring out at Camden’s Victorian era square. There, the city and the Camden Historical Society devoted much time, energy and money to preserving the look of 1880, right down to the narrow redbrick-paved streets. Grammy Evelyn’s rambling old home on its half-acre lot stood less than a block off the square.

Tiny white Christmas lights wove through the bare branches of the many trees that surrounded the century-old courthouse. In the silvery light of the dawning day, they stood out like stars come to earth.

A dull ache throbbed behind Shannon’s eyes. Last night’s margaritas. She should have known better.

The memory of
Casa Familia’s
employee parking lot lashed her. She would like to blame tequila for that, too, but three margaritas hadn’t rendered her unconscious, only stupid. Just as champagne hadn’t been the most powerful influence at the TCCRA party. Something else was at play. Something she didn’t understand. Something about Drake turned her into a sex-crazed fool. In only two meetings, he had become another of Shannon’s Follies.

God knew she had been anything but a good girl in the past, but unprotected sex in a parking lot in freezing temperatures was the ultimate thoughtless behavior. Her brow crunched into an uncomfortable frown and she bit down on her lower lip.
Dear God
. A few quick minutes of careless sex could wipe out everything she had spent six years building.

…If anything happens, we’ll take care of it…

What had he meant by those words? If she got pregnant, would he expect her to have an abortion? She had been pregnant once, when she was seventeen. She remembered it only vaguely now, but she recalled what followed more clearly. Having no clue what to do, she and her baby’s father, her steady boyfriend, Kevin Barton, had gotten married in a quickie wedding. With teenage naiveté, she thought she was in love. No one could have been more unprepared for marriage and parenthood than her and Kevin. Those days had made up one of the more miserable periods of her existence.

She miscarried after two months, but getting out of what turned out to be an abusive marriage had taken much longer and had been one of the hardest undertakings she had ever tackled in her short twenty-one years. Even now, though her ex lived in Fort Worth, he wasn’t out of her life and he might never be. She still heard from him occasionally when he needed money. He had been the first of Shannon’s Follies.

Well, at least this morning, she didn’t have to worry about being pregnant. On arriving home last night, she had checked her calendar first thing. Her period should start any day. The little Lockhart soldiers had arrived on the scene too late and missed their window of opportunity.

She blamed herself for what happened. Drake might have kissed her, but she believed he wouldn’t have forced himself on her. If she had kept her hands to herself, he would have just let her go home.

She closed her eyes and arched her brow. Most of her wretched history with men had resulted from bad judgment on her part. The past few years, she had been able to look back and see that.

Well, this craziness wouldn’t happen again with him. After she drove off and left him standing in the parking lot, she doubted if she would hear any more from him. His pride would be hurt. And if any man she had ever met had more than his fair share of pride, Drake did. He

would be too angry to ever contact her again.

Something good thing had come out of the evening, though. He now knew who she was. She no longer had to worry that someday he might find her when she least expected it. It was time to stop stewing over it and get on with her life.

She directed her thoughts to what the day would bring. The forecast for Christmas week was for sunshine and temperatures in the seventies. Texas weather. One extreme to another. People would be out shopping and bustling, getting ready for the holiday. She and her team would decide if they would hold a holiday open house during the week for their customers and peers. She might even go shopping herself.

But despite her best effort, intruding into every one of those plans was the memory of last night and something Drake had said: …
This is it, Shannon. The bottom line. I’ve been trying to figure it out. It’s what the whole damn thing was about at that party and in my condo, what it’s been about all evening. It’s why my cock gets hard as a rail spike when I’m near you. All I have to do is think about you and I’m close to embarrassing myself. This picking on each other, driving each other crazy is just an extension of it. And I think you know it as well as I do….

She wasn’t sure what all of that meant. No man had ever spoken to her so frankly. Did he feel something? Was she wrong in assuming his only interest was another good time? What did he mean by
The Bottom Line
? What did he mean by
It
? What were her own feelings, truly? Now that she was removed from the out-of-her-world setting in the Worthington Hotel and his condo, did she feel something other than lust?

Lust wasn’t the right word for the explosion of emotions and sensations he aroused in her, didn’t explain why just seeing him turned her into a senseless person she didn’t recognize. Did that happen because of his larger-than-life persona or who he was as a man? If he were plain Joe Blow who had an ordinary job with an average income, would her out-of-control reaction to him be the same?

The stew going on within her and the events suddenly evolving around her were scary, like carrying a bomb in her purse. She thought she knew herself. Was she wrong?

The jangle of her cell phone in the quiet room jolted her. No one ever called her so early in the morning. She checked Caller ID and saw “Unknown Number.”
Drake!
Her stomach made a dip. His name might not be there and he had never called her before, but she knew. She had seen him pick up her business card in Jim King’s house and all of her phone numbers were on it. She bit down on her bottom lip, tempted to let the call go to voice mail, but she couldn’t make herself do it. She had to admit it. Hearing from him thrilled her.

After a few more seconds, she answered with a soft hello.

“Hey, it’s me,” he said equally softly. “Don’t hang up,” he added quickly.

Her hand-wringing and self-doubt fled. She loved the sound of his hushed tone that implied a closeness, an intimacy. She even liked that he worried that she would hang up when she heard his voice. “I’m not going to.”

“Are you at work?”

“It isn’t even daylight. You?”

“Soon. I always go in early. I like the quiet time. Shannon, I’ve been awake all night, trying to wrap my mind around what happened. Are you okay?”

“In what way?”

“Do you think…well…you know.”

“That I’m pregnant?”

“Well…yeah.”

“You don’t have to worry. I checked as soon as I got home. It’s the wrong time of the month.”

“You sure?”

His reply sounded almost as if he were disappointed. Silence followed it. Well, her mind had to be playing tricks on her. No way could he
want
her to be pregnant. That kind of irrational thinking came from too many margaritas, having no sleep and being stressed to the max.

Then he said, “You don’t have to worry about diseases. You probably won’t believe it, but I’m careful.”

STDs! Oh, hell.
She hadn’t yet allowed herself to consider that possibility.

Her cranky alter-ego piped up.
You know what they said about sex these days. When you have unprotected sex, you’re having sex with everyone he’s ever been with.

She cringed, thinking of the number of women who had probably shared Drake Lockhart’s bed. A mild panic zipped through her mid-section.

Finally, she cleared her throat and spoke. “Listen, last night was off the chart. I can’t begin to explain it. All I know is this kind of stuff isn’t doing either of us any good. We’re too old to be so irresponsible. I think we should to call a halt to whatever this is. Surely you agree.”

“I don’t agree. Look, I—”

“I’m struggling to build my real estate business, Drake. It’s only a few years old. That’s where I need to put my time and energy. Selling real estate is an all-consuming job. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that. I’ve invested everything I own, every dime I’ve made in the last few years. I’ve avoided involvement with anyone because I know myself. If a guy’s hanging around in my life, I can’t keep from being distracted.”

There. She had made that speech without stammer or pause. And every bit of it was true.

“You think I’m a distraction?”

He sounded almost joyful. “We just met and my life’s been upside down ever since.”

“Don’t say that. Look, I’ve got some things to say, but not on the phone. And I don’t want to try to talk in the middle of a screaming happy hour in a cantina.”

“Drake, please. Really, I—”

“This evening. I’ll drive down to your office and—”

“No,” she blurted. “I don’t want you coming to my office. Someone might see you. Then I’d have to explain who you are. This town would never stop talking. Please. Don’t come to my office.”

“I was about to suggest we could go to dinner. Somewhere besides that Mexican cafe.”

“There aren’t any restaurants in Camden like you’re used to. Besides, I don’t go out. Honestly. I try not to call attention to myself. People in town know me. Not only is my business here, I have family here. I’m doing my best to present myself as a professional businesswoman and not cause anyone embarrassment, most of all me.”

“Don’t professional businesswomen eat? If anyone asks, you can say I’m a customer. After all, I did call you about a house.”

She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Telling him no was so hard. “I can’t, Drake. I just can’t.

“Then you come up to Fort Worth. If you don’t want me to pick you up, I’ll send a car for you.”

Was he begging her? Lord, he was persistent.
“I meant what I said last night. I don’t want a relationship interfering in my life. I’d rather just…well, I just can’t do it.”

She pressed the OFF button with more firmness than necessary.

****

Drake stood at his kitchen counter a few seconds listening to dead air. Had she hung up on him? Or had the call been dropped? He picked up her business card from the counter and started to re-key her number, but stopped himself.
Hold it, hoss. What she said couldn’t be clearer. She hung up on you.

To his annoyance, he understood her conflict. If anyone knew the anguish of making a choice between accepting responsibility and following his urges, he did. He had faced it many times. But he refused to believe she didn’t want to see him again. Her words didn’t match her actions.