almost drooled at the prospect. “I told her to come on out, we’d suffer through the ‘inconvenience’ somehow.”
Tyler scarcely heard. “Yeah, sure, whatever.”
His gaze fastened on Molly to see her still staring in his direction from across the courtyard, her graceful form framed by palm trees and silhouetted against the pool’s waterfall. He imagined her standing under that shimmering cascade…naked…the water glistening on her skin…and himself close beside her—
“Ty? Earth to Ty,” Barry interrupted again. His timing sucked. “Will you promise me you’ll think carefully before making any dumb moves?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Tyler repeated. He was thinking carefully right then. This wouldn’t be like the other times, would it? He already did know quite a bit about Molly via those hand printed reports Farrell had faxed him this past week. He was still waiting for the final report on Molly’s early background, but there’d been nothing so far to indicate she had any skill with deadly weapons—like Carlotta. Or that she had a drug problem—like his last wife. She was just a kook. An incredibly gorgeous kook. What else did he need to know?
Keep talking, Libido, I’m almost convinced.
“Your nephews, Tyler, what about them? You don’t want them under her influence, remember?” his reason reminded.
Reason could be a real bore sometimes.
“Bite me, Reason,” Libido told it. “You worry too much. Tyler can handle the kids. Wait’ll they see all the cool stuff he’s bought for them. They’ll love him. Marrying Molly will just help his case with them.”
Good point. Libido was starting to sound more reasonable than Reason.
“Ty,” Barry broke in once more, “you have the strangest look on your face. Why do I get the impression you’re standing here like one of those old cartoons where the character has a little devil whispering in one ear and an angel whispering in the other?”
Tyler slanted a sideways glance at him. “Beanpole, I’m going to disconnect your satellite dish. You’ve been watching too much TV again.” Pushing past him, he strode forward to meet his new bride.
There remained but one question. What was the proper protocol here? Should he propose before or after the introductions?
Continued in Part 2…
=========
*
Sneak-peek
Excerpt from Part 2:
A bolt out of the blue…
Not the heavenly blue beyond the dome. There was nothing heavenly about this bolt. It struck from a pair of eyes so blue they were almost black. Midnight blue, deep and mysterious. Eyes full of secret yearnings and nighttime whisperings. Sultry, seductive…
The gaze crackled into her and sizzled down her spine, sparking all her nerve endings to life, bringing a rush of damp heat to the juncture of her thighs. Her nipples hardened against the thin fabric of her halter-top.
How embarrassing.
Molly blushed. Mesmerized, trapped against her will, she stared as the man who’d stood half hidden behind a curtain of sinuous, swaying green stepped forward into clear view.
The paparazzi’s photos hadn’t nearly done him justice. Even in casual-cut gray slacks and button-down shirt, Tyler James was a tall, tanned, muscular Greek god, dark as the devil, and looking infinitely more sinful. Her breath caught as he smiled and walked toward her, moving with a fluid, feline grace. The walk of a predator. A panther stalking its prey—and she knew who that was.
He stared back at her as he advanced, those deep blue eyes promising all sorts of steamy pleasures. And his body looked like it could deliver every last one of them.
Boy, was she in trouble.
Molly gave herself a mental slap. What was the matter with her? She’d never been one to fall for physical appeal before. Even if that appeal was extravagant—like everything else about the man. Didn’t that just figure?
It’s what’s inside a person that counts, she reminded herself. And from what she knew of Tyler’s insides, he shouldn’t appeal to her in the least. She’d come here to rake him over the coals, for goodness sake.
So why was she having sudden fantasies of the two of them setting new records together in bedroom gymnastics?
Someone was being roasted, all right, but it wasn’t him.
Resisting the urge to fan herself, Molly shoved the fantasies out of her head when Tyler came to a halt before her and the boys. Her hands flattened against the twins’ backs, holding them close to her sides. Mama lioness protecting her cubs.
Stevie pulled out of the crunch and turned around, planting himself between her and the intruder in his own gesture of protection. He understood their situation better than Jeremy and Josh did, and it worried him. Having grown up helping her with his little brothers and a crippled father, he understood more than any child his age should—and that worried Molly.
She let go of the twins, briefly, to draw him back against her, but he stepped out of her reach and confronted Tyler. A genuine little David glaring up at Goliath.
“Are you our uncle?” He made it sound like an accusation.
Tyler winced and glanced down, blinking like he’d forgotten for a moment the kids were there. Stupid man. He was the one who’d sent for them. He cleared his throat and planted a warm smile on his face. A little too warm? He was trying too hard. Then he held out his hand in a put-it-there-pardner gesture.
“Yes, I am. And you must be Stevie. I’m very glad you and your brothers are here, son.”
“We’re not. And I’m not your son.” Ignoring the offered hand, Stevie turned his back on him.
Tyler’s smile froze, and Molly fought a sudden battle to not feel sorry for him. She lost. Stupid her.
“We don’t like it here!” the twins chimed in unison. “We wanna go home!”
“You’re a dirty bird,” the Myna said.
Unfortunately, he said it in Molly’s voice since that was what she told him every time she cleaned his cage. And Tyler was looking at neither Molly nor the bird when the comment came. So he probably thought…
Wondering if her face now matched her red skirt, Molly opened her mouth to explain.
“Ms. Leigh,” Tyler snapped her off.
A midnight blue stare hit her like a slap, sending sympathy scurrying for cover and making her wish she could scurry after it.
“I’d like to speak to you privately,” he said, not pleasantly. “Now.”
Never mind the explanation. Admiral Byrd had been right on target.
So was Fang.
Molly’s eyes widened. The tomcat was sniffing the lord of the manor’s leg, and she knew what that meant. “Um, Mr. James—”
Too late.
Tyler sputtered and jumped back as Fang sprayed him.
“I guess that tells us what he thinks of you,” offered a new voice. It came from a tall, lanky fellow with tawny hair and a wicked grin, which widened as he strolled forward to stand beside Fang’s newly marked territory.
The “territory” glared at the newcomer. “So why should his opinion be different from anyone else’s?”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed. You’re going over with your usual lead-balloon charm, my man.” He turned his grin to Molly. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Leigh. I’m Barry Baker. We’ve, ah, spoken on the phone several times.”
“Yes, I remember. I’m prepared to forgive you for that, too.” The phone calls had all been strikeouts, but Barry had fielded them as nicely as he could. Molly returned his grin.
Tyler’s glare darkened. He shot a warning glance at Barry, then leveled his deep blue high-beams on her. A fresh jolt of electricity crackled through her as their gazes locked. She saw anger in his eyes, and…something else. Hurt?
Hunger.
Oh, Goddess…
He held out his hand to her. A very nice hand, Molly noticed. Long fingered and sensitive, but strong. Probably very talented. What would it feel like on…
She swallowed, hard, and booted the thought from her mind.
“Ms. Leigh?” Tyler didn’t ta
p his foot with impatience, but he might as well have. He looked as though he wanted to tap her—with a club maybe. “Our talk?”
“What about it?” Molly rasped out the words, her focus frayed. The intensity in his eyes pulled at her like magnets. It took all her strength to resist. And she wasn’t even sure what, exactly, she was resisting.
“You have been demanding a private appointment with me, haven’t you?”
Had she? Oh. Right. Of course she had. Why did that suddenly seem such a not-so-good idea?
She nodded, trying to rake her wits back together. “Yes, but—”
“Well, I’m giving you one. Are you coming with me or not?”
He would use words like coming, wouldn’t he? Probably did it on purpose, too. Oh yeah, he knew just what he was doing.
And I don’t.
Molly floundered for an answer. The question really wasn’t that difficult. She had wanted to confront the lion in his den. She’d been planning on giving him a very large piece of her mind—and had hoped he’d choke on it.
Only now she was tempted to offer him a piece of something else, which wasn’t like her at all. A “private appointment” had lost its appeal. Or, rather, it had gained too much appeal. A different appeal. Dangerous. Before, she hadn’t trusted him. Now she didn’t trust herself.
Besides, the twins were still plastered against her like wallpaper!
She cleared her throat, willing her voice to sound normal. “I’m sorry, but I can’t leave the boys right now. They’re keyed up from the flight and…um, nervous about all this. They need me near.”
Tyler’s mouth pressed into a hard line at mention of the kids. He’d shown no signs of trying to talk to them since they’d rebuffed him. Molly suspected he was afraid to. None of the boys would even look at him.
Unwanted but inescapable, a new twinge of sympathy stung her. True, this was all his fault. He’d brought on their reaction by his own callous behavior, by the dictatorial way he’d brought them here. The man was obviously a tyrant.
But even tyrants must have feelings. This situation was as difficult for him as it was for the rest of them. That was obvious, too.
If only she could decide what to do about it…
They did need to talk. She couldn’t put off the coming confrontation forever. Even after it, even if she was successful, there’d still be details to discuss. She hadn’t figured on just waltzing in and out with the kids. She’d probably be stuck here for at least another day, maybe several.
Molly heaved an inner sigh. “Um, why don’t we set aside tonight for our meeting? After the boys have calmed down. We can do it after I put them to bed.”
Tyler’s mouth relaxed into a small grin, rather devilish. Definitely disconcerting. That counter-offer hadn’t come out sounding quite the way Molly had intended.
“Doing it with you tonight sounds very enticing, Ms. Leigh. I’m sure we can manage something along those lines. However, I want to get certain…preliminaries settled between us this afternoon. As in now.”
Of all the…
Her jaw dropped open, then snapped shut. The man did realize there were children present, didn’t he? Jeremy and Josh were too young to understand his implication, but Stevie was old for his years and a little too good at spotting innuendos.
She glanced at the boy to see him scowling at Tyler, his small hands balled into fists at his sides. Stevie was rather territorial about his family, and about her in particular. Molly knew he’d outgrow it eventually, but in the meantime it made any inclination she might have toward playing the dating game more hassle than it was worth.
Not that she did have any inclination in that direction. And especially not with someone like the arrogant ass in front of her—and she didn’t care how attractive he was. Well…maybe she did, but she was trying extremely hard not to.
Groan.
Before she could think of a cutting response, Barry stepped into the fray.
“I’ll be happy to watch the boys for you.”
Thanks a heap, Mr. Baker.
Tyler shot him a look. “You