The Millionaire's Secret Wish (10 page)

That stopped her. Her mind went blank.

“If it is, you haven’t been paying attention,” he said with a finality that alternately terrified and relieved her. She wondered if the next words out of his mouth would be goodbye.

“But that’s okay,” he finally said, his jaw clenching with impatience. “I’m leaving right now, but I’ll be back. A long time ago the old janitor at Granger used to joke with me and call me a ‘bad penny.’ A bad penny just keeps showing up. Well, Alisa, I’m your bad penny,” he said, and turned toward the door.

Feeling as if she’d just been through a game of crack the whip, she skipped after him. “Why are you doing this?” she asked to his broad, straight back. “Why are you talking when you know I don’t want to talk? Why are you trying to get something started between us when I told you I don’t want it?”

“I don’t like the alternative,” he said, then opened the door and stepped outside. He turned around to face her with a determined devil glint in his eyes. “
Hasta la vista,
baby.”

Alisa closed the door, then rested her back against it and slid to the floor. Whatever she had expected from Dylan, this wasn’t it. All those years ago, when she’d sent him on his way, he’d gone quietly. Since
then, when he’d occasionally asked her out and she of course had refused, he’d left her alone. Now he wasn’t going quietly. How was she supposed to put herself and her life together if he was going to generate his unique brand of turmoil inside her all the time?

Frustration boiled inside her and she covered her eyes. “Great,” she muttered. “Now I’ve got the terminator after me.”

H
e called her every other day. Just enough to keep her off balance.

Alisa had filled in most of the blanks in her memory now and was trying to take back her life. She continued to work on crossword puzzles and make lists to help with her short-term memory loss. Her problem was that her preaccident life didn’t quite fit. She had changed.

She wasn’t sure what all those changes entailed, so she focused on putting one step forward and living one day at a time. She finished lacing her running shoes for an early-morning run, tucked her apartment key in her pocket and bounded out the door and down to the lobby.

She slowed, then stopped, but her heart raced. Dylan was waiting for her, dressed in a tank top, shorts and running shoes.

“What are you doing?” she asked, remembering that she’d told him she planned to start running this morning.

“Meeting you to go running,” he said.

“Why?” she asked, moving toward the apartment building door.

“I could say it’s because I love to run any chance I get,” he told her, positioning himself closest to the street and matching his stride to hers as she began to run.

“Something tells me that’s not true,” she said.

“I don’t want you having any more close encounters with SUVs,” he said.

His words grabbed at her. She stopped and looked at him, taking in the stubborn set of his chin. Tenderness and frustration warred inside her. “I’m not going to get hit by an SUV again,” Alisa told him.

“Damn right you aren’t.”

She sighed. “You’re not responsible for me anymore. The doctor has officially released me.”

“The doctor hasn’t made love to you,” Dylan said, his eyes dark with emotion, then he lifted his lips in a half grin. “Humor me. I just want to guard your body while you run.”

Heaven help her, he made her feel so confused. She lifted her hands. “Okay, but it’ll be short. I’m out of practice.”

“You set the pace.”

He ran beside her in blessed silence as if he understood her need to be quiet. Although she was always aware of his presence, after a few moments it didn’t feel like an intrusion. He allowed her to choose the route and took a cool-down walk with her around her building.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

“Okay,” she said. “Still trying to find my feet. That’s part of the reason I wanted to start running again.”

“Clears your head. Makes you feel stronger.”

She nodded. “I miss my art,” she confessed. “When I look at my schedule before the accident, it was packed. I didn’t have time to draw or paint. You brought me the paper in the hospital and it was like finding a lost part of me.”

“It was always your secret passion,” Dylan said. “You hid it from just about everyone.” He studied her for a long moment. “I’d like you to do a drawing for me.”

“Of what?”

“Tonto, the dream dog with the pea-size bladder,” he said dryly.

Alisa smothered a chuckle. “How’s the training going?”

“My housekeeper almost quit.”

She winced.

“But he’s getting there. He’s demanding and wants a lot of attention.”

“I suppose you could have sold him,” she said.

He shook his head. “He was a gift. Besides,” he said with a sexy grin. “He’s my dream dog. So when will you draw him?”

Just a little pushy, she thought, but she didn’t feel at all put off. “I could probably do it sometime this weekend,” she said.

“Great. Anytime except Friday night.”

Her curiosity grew exponentially. It was none of her business what he did on Friday nights, she told herself, but she couldn’t keep the question from popping out of her mouth. “You have plans for Friday night?”

His eyes glinted as if he could read her mind. “A charity fund-raiser. The entire board was invited. Would you like to join me?”

Wishing she’d kept her mouth shut, she shook her head. “No thanks,” she muttered heading for the apartment building door.

“When will you run again?” Dylan called after her.

“Friday morning,” she said. “But you don’t—”

“I’ll see you then,” he said, and took off before she could tell him not to bother.

As she climbed the stairs to her apartment, she knew she drew a strange comfort from being with Dylan. He’d known her so long and he’d been there for her during that frightening, frustrating period after the accident. At the same time, she didn’t want to depend on him. She might be able to trust him with
her life, but deep down she wasn’t sure she could trust him with her heart.

He’d broken her heart, and she couldn’t let him do that again.

It was pouring rain on Friday morning, so she skipped her run and didn’t see Dylan. That night her mind turned frequently to him. She wondered who he had taken to the charity function. Dylan never had to be without female companionship. The thought scraped at a raw spot inside her, so she pushed it aside and pulled out a sketch pad and lost herself in drawing for a couple of hours.

On Saturday morning Amy invited her to join her at the park with the children. Her red hair glinting in the sunlight, she patted the seat beside her on the bench. “Nice of you to come,” she said, and pointed to the swings and wooden gym in front of her. “Perfectly positioned for watching.”

Alisa joined the friendly, intense woman. “Nice of you to ask me. Did you have something on your mind?”

“A few things,” Amy said glumly. “I hope nothing I said to you the other day made things bad for you and Dylan. I have a problem keeping my mouth shut sometimes.”

“I appreciate your truthfulness,” Alisa said.

“Yeah, but sometimes the truth hurts.”

The truth had hurt, Alisa thought, but she would
rather live with the truth than a lie. “You’re not responsible for what goes on between me and Dylan.”

“I don’t know what happened between you two in college, but he’s a good guy,” she said earnestly.

Alisa felt conflicted. Lately it seemed she always felt conflicted. “I’ll figure it out,” she said, and hoped like the dickens she would do it soon.

“Nick, use both hands on that sliding board,” Amy called, rising to her feet. The newspaper she’d brought with her dropped to the ground. Alisa picked it up and saw the society column. She narrowed her eyes at the photo of Dylan.

Amy glanced down. “Oh, did you see that this morning?” she asked, sitting down again. “Can’t blame the photographer. The man really does great things for a tux.”

“Why is he in the—” Alisa broke off when she saw the write-up on the charity function. She skimmed the article. “‘Charismatic Dylan Barrow made an appearance. No lovely lady by his side, but plenty of eager volunteers,”’ she read and turned up her nose. “No surprise there. He always drew the women like bees to honey.”

Amy arched her eyebrows in inquiry. “Now that you mention it, I seem to recall he usually had a different female escort whenever the occasion called for it.”

“Yep,” Alisa said, briskly closing the newspaper. Irritated by his ease with women and the fact that she cared, she folded the newspaper again.

“I guess that means he never got serious with any of them,” Amy mused.

“I guess,” Alisa said mildly.

“I don’t think he ever got engaged or anything, did he?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Alisa said, desperately wanting to change the subject.

“But you were engaged, weren’t you?” Amy asked pointedly. She glanced at the kids on the playground equipment. “Two hands, Nick. One, two,” she said to the little boy, then turned toward Alisa. “You were engaged, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” Alisa said. “He was older, very stable, very conservative.” Everything Dylan wasn’t, she thought.

“Do you remember why you didn’t marry him?”

“I didn’t love him enough,” she admitted. Although she’d tried not to compare her relationship with her fiancé to her relationship with Dylan, she’d ultimately been unable to deny there’d been something missing.

“Hmm,” Amy said. “Wonder what Dylan thought of that.”

“We never discussed it,” Alisa said, and wished she wasn’t discussing it now.

Amy shrugged and smiled. “Probably doesn’t matter now. The other reason I invited you here was to ask a big favor.”

Alisa saw that Amy had suddenly turned nervous. Curious, she watched her. “What’s the big favor?”

“If you can’t do it, I’ll understand.”

“Okay. What is it?”

She made a face. “I hate to ask people to do things for me. Justin’s always fussing at me about it.”

“Amy,” Alisa said. “What is it?”

Amy exhaled. “Justin and I would like to go away for a long weekend, but we need someone to take care of—”

“I’d love to take care of the children. Just tell me when,” Alisa said.

Amy’s eyes filled with unshed tears, and she threw her arms around Alisa. “Thank you. It’s a lot to ask, but they’re basically good kids. We wanted them to feel as secure as possible before we took a trip together, but with this round of chicken pox, Justin and I really want to get away.”

Alisa remembered that Amy had adopted the children after her sister and brother-in-law had been killed in an automobile accident. She admired the woman for her strength and determination. “I’m glad you asked me. When are you planning to go?”

“In two weeks,” she said, and put her hands together as if saying a prayer. “As long as everyone stays well. A minihoneymoon in Belize,” she said, and her eyes glowed with anticipation. “I’m so excited I don’t know what to do. But I’m sure Justin will help me think of something.”

Alisa felt a pinch of longing at the obvious love on Amy’s face. “You really turned Justin around, didn’t you?”

Amy turned thoughtful. “He turned me around, too. I used to think that being alone meant strength. Self-reliance was the most important thing to me. Justin taught me that it was okay to count on someone else. We both got lucky. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, that’s for sure.”

Alisa’s mind turned to Dylan. Once in a lifetime, Amy had said. Her heart squeezed tight. She wished things could have been different. She wished—She broke off the dangerous, seductive thought. Wishing could get her into trouble.

“I’m warning you. He isn’t going to pose,” Dylan said as he tussled with Tonto on the Florida room tile. “Ouch!” he said, and pulled his hand away. “Puppies may be cute as hell, but their teeth are like razors.”

Tonto immediately looked forlorn and tried to push his head up under Dylan’s arm.

“Come here, gorgeous,” she said, kneeling. The dog perked up his ears and rushed her. Her drawing supplies spilled all over the floor. Tonto grabbed a brush in his teeth.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she said, and the puppy began a game of tug-of-war. “Don’t you have a sock for him or something? This dog needs some toys.”

“Toys?” Dylan poured a basket of dog toys on the floor. Distracted, Tonto abruptly dropped the brush.

“Thanks. Sheer volume often works with males,” she said.

Dylan tossed her a sideways glance. “Are you speaking of toys or something else?”

Alisa shrugged. “Just about everything. Toys, cars, women.”

He nodded toward Tonto as the puppy burrowed through the pile of playthings. “He has a favorite. Watch,” he said. “He’ll pass up all the others to get his favorite.”

Sure enough the dog stopped searching when he found a squeaky rubber cat. Tonto plopped down on the floor and gnawed the toy.

Dylan met her gaze. “You were saying something about volume?”

Alisa dodged the question. “I think it might be best for me to take some photos and just watch him for a while. Can I borrow your camera?”

“Sure,” he said with a thoughtful expression that let her know she hadn’t fooled him with her change of subject. Alisa accepted the reprieve and spent the next half hour taking pictures of the puppy indoors and out.

“How does he know not to leave the backyard?” she asked when she observed that Tonto stayed within a specified area.

“Electric fence,” Dylan said. “After I chased him all the way to the horse barn, I knew I had to do something. He’s coming along,” he said. “You made a good choice.”

Alisa was quietly pleased that her impulsive gift to Dylan had enriched him. She glanced over the beau
tiful green acres of his estate and felt a twinge of homesickness. Impossible, she told herself. She didn’t feel as if she belonged here. Especially with him.

“I should go,” she said.

“Why?” he asked.

Irritated, she noticed that he asked that a lot lately. “Because I’m done taking pictures and observing Tonto.”

“So now you can relax with me,” he said, moving close to her.

Alisa’s heart thumped. What a joke. She couldn’t relax with Dylan. She opened her mouth to refuse, but he covered her lips with his fingers.

“Tell me a secret,” he said in a low seductive voice that reminded her of the hot nights they’d shared in his bed. “Tell me how to persuade you to stay.”

Fighting the steamy memories and a shot of panic at the way her mind was wandering, she stiffened her knees and her resolve. “I’m not going up to your bedroom with you,” she said breathlessly.

Surprise lit his eyes. He grinned that terrible grin that disabled women by the droves. “I wasn’t going to ask you,” he said.

Feeling immediately foolish, she covered her hot cheeks with her hands “Oh, well—”

Dylan covered her hands with his. “I’m waiting for
you
to invite me to your bedroom.”

Her contrary mind zapped her with a quick, hot visual of Dylan naked in her bed, filling her mind, filling her body. “Don’t hold your breath,” she said.

He tilted his head to one side and considered her. “You’re remembering what it was like when we made love in my room, aren’t you? You can do more than remember, Alisa.”

Flee, flee, flee
temptation! She backed away from him. “Save your flirty come-ons for your droves of admirers. They don’t work with me. I’m not sweet little adoring Alisa anymore.”

His gaze darkened. “I know by firsthand experience that you’re not little Alisa anymore. Even without that experience, I’ve seen what’s in your lingerie drawer. No angel wings there,” he said. He lowered his face to within an inch of hers. “As for my droves of admirers, I haven’t noticed them. I’m too busy with you.”