The Tycoon's Tender Triumph (3 page)

Accepting defeat, she leaned back against the kitchen sink and crossed her arms over her chest.  She couldn’t quite force herself to look at his face, so she let her eyes rest on his chin.  “Okay, so I haven’t opened the mail and I haven’t listened to your messages.  I know it was rude but I didn’t think there was anything important enough to bother. 
I spoke to my father two weeks ago and he’s fine
,” she said, irritated at the lump that formed in her throat at
how much she missed him
, “so there’s really nothing more for us to discuss.”

“Except
that he’s not fine as of ten days ago.  He fell off the roof of his
stable
and broke his leg
,” he said casually.  “Go pack a bag, Chloe.  My plane is standing by and you’re coming with me.”

“What?” she squeaked, her body instantly tense, her mind terrified of the words he’d just spoken.  “
Why didn’t he call me and say something
?
  I should have been there.  Is he okay now?  What was he doing on the roof?
” she demanded. 

His face was completely devoid of humor as she squirmed under his direct, intense gaze. 
“
He’s fine now but he couldn’t get to a phone for a long time so he was out in the elements.  I went over to talk with him about something the afternoon it happened but he’d already been on the ground for several hours out in the
rain
.”

That stunned her.  “No!” she
denied, already feeling horribly guilty for not answering his calls now.  Why hadn’t her father called her himself?  He should have let her know!

Chloe couldn’t believe her ears.  She felt as if she were in some sort of dream world with a wicked, teasing twist.  “
Of course I’ll come back to take care of him.  Why didn’t he call and tell me himself?”

“Because he didn’t want you to worry.  You’re father has a great deal of pride a
nd he doesn’t want to rely on me
to get him through this.  I owe him though so I’m not going
to let anything happen to him.”

“Does he have any horses housed
in the
stable
right now?”

“Yes.  And you’d know that if you’d just opened my letters.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Horses.  She loved riding.  Besides being with her father
and seeing Sam
each summer, riding the horses he’d raised had been the best part of her summers with him in Texas.  She’d go out early each morning and ride through the plains, watching the sun rise as she cantered along the tall, early summer grasses that quickly faded to
crackling straw
by the end of the summer. 

“
He really
has some horses to ride at his ranch
?” she asked, a smile breaking out on her face as the news broke through her disbelief. 

Sam’s arms crossed over his chest once again and, instead of answering her, he simply raised his dark eyebrow as if to say that she shouldn’t ever question his word. 

Sam watched as Chloe came to terms with the fact that she
now had a great deal of responsibility
.  Now he just had to get her back to Texas and get her settled. 
Getting her there wouldn’t be a problem, he thought.  Keeping her there…well, that’s going to be the trick. 

Glancing at his watch, he pushed away from the wall, assuming he’d given her enough time to absorb this latest news.  “Go pack a bag, Chloe.  We need to get airborne before midnight.  Otherwise, you’ll be dead on your feet in the morning and too tired to see your horses. 

“Bag?” she asked.  “Pack?”  She blinked and looked at him.  “I can’t leave here
.  My father will have to come up to New York to recover
,” she said. 

“
No, you’re coming back to Texas
,” he countered, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. 

She shook her head, knowing that she’d be fired if she left for a vacation without notice.  “I can’t.  My agency is in the middle of a huge ad campaign.  They won’t let me go right now.  I’ll be
terminated
and they’ll replace me with someone else.  This is
New York
, Sam.  The competiti
on is fierce for my kind of job
.”

His face showed no irritation at her words.  “I’ve already spoken to your agency and they’ve approved unlimited time off for you starting immediately.  Any other objections?”

She was stunned.  “How did you get them to do that?” she asked, horrified that he’d already contacted someone in her office.  But then she thought
about it
and knew that he prob
ably hadn’t called anyone.  He
simply had one of his minions call and arrange for her vacation time.

Putting his palms flat on her counter, he leaned forward, his impatience showing in his tone and body language. 
“I spoke to Manny Peterson about an hour ago.  He personally will speak to your supervisor and get a replacement in for you
but assured me that your job will be waiting for you whenever you get back
.”  He leaned
imperceptivity
closer on
counter.  “Are you going to pack a bag?  Or am I going to do it for you?”

That snapped her out of her dreamy haze.  “You spoke to Mr. Peterson?” she gasped.  “He’s the owner of the agency!” 

“He got the job done.”  Instead of
asking again, he simply walked through the only other door in her small apartment. 

Chloe had no idea what he was doing but she followed him in. 
He was so tall and huge, he looked like a fierce lion in her ultra feminine bedroom with the
soft pink, cottage rose
comforter and
delicate
pillows.  Her room was done in shades of off-white and pale rose in the shabby chic style that she loved.  But his presence in her room terrified her.  It was a
l
most like he was learning all of her deepest secrets, just by standing in her bedroom. 

“Sam, what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded, standing behind him as he opened her closet door. 
She would have pulled him away except for the
same reasons she didn’t do the karate-chop-drag thing earlier; h
e was huge and probably nothing she did would get him out of there until he was ready to leave. 
But more importantly
, she was too afraid to touch him. 
Sam had been too large a figure in her life and any increased awareness of him would be very, very bad.

“Sam, get out of my clothes,” she sq
u
eaked, embarrassed to have him see her clothes hanging in her closet.  It seemed much too intimate for her peace of mind. 

He ignored her, his large hand going through the dresses, picking out a red one that she’d never worn before, had bought spur of the moment last year but thought it was too risqué to actually be worn in public.  It still had the tags on it since she’d always intended to return it, but never got around to it. 
He turned to face her, holding the red dress up a few inches from her.  With a mysterious look in his eyes, he looked from the dress, to her flushed face, then smiled wickedly and nodded. 
He tossed that one on the bed,
then turned back to the closet and rummaged through her other clothes.  A few moments later,
a black crepe dress she’d worn to a Christmas party the previous year
joined the red one as well as
a navy blue wrap around dress and a white summer dress. 

Seeing the growing pile of dresses on her bed, she clenched her fists at her sides. 
“Sam!  Get out of my bedroom,” she almost yelled. 

Again, he ignored her and simply pulled her suitcase out of the bottom of her closet.  He walked over to the bed and opened it, putting the clothes into the suitcase.  “Sam!  I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said, standing in front of her closet in the hope that he wouldn’t go through her clothes anymore. 

He walked back to the closet and didn’t even hesitate.  He simply picked her up with one of his massive arms, held her against his side while he went through the rest of her clothes, rejecting all of them.  “Where are your jeans?” he asked,
easily
holding her wiggling body against him.

Straining against the heat flowing against her body wherever it touched his, she gritted her teeth, terrified of what she was now feeling. 
“I’m not telling you!  Now put me down!”  She pushed against his shoulder
s
but he didn’t even flinch at the pressure.  Eventually, he did put her down and as soon as she was free, she scrambled back
wards
several feet, crossing her arms across herself defensively.  “Do you treat all your women like some sort of caveman?”

He smiled slightly as he walked over to her dresser.  “Are you telling me you consider yourself one of my women?” he asked as he pulled open the first drawer. 

Chloe gasped in horror as she watched his long, dark fingers sift through her underwear.  “Sam!  Get out of that drawer!” she snapped, her face turning bright red in the dim light of her bedroom. 

He almost chuckled.  “Darlin’,” he drawled, “As much as I like the idea of ‘my women’ going around without underwear, it might get a little uncomfortable while riding Nutmeg.  She’s feisty.”  He held up a pair of black thong underwear, smiled slightly, then tossed them on top of the neatly folded dresses already in her suitcase.  “You surprise me, Chloe,” he said as he pulled out several of her more sexy underwear, ignoring the milder, softer cotton briefs she usually wore.  The sexy stuff was bought spur of the moment but wasn’t her daily preference. 
At the last minute, he tossed the white cotton underwear on top but he didn’t give them as much respect as her lace underwear had received. 
“Makes me wonder what’s underneath those boring slacks,” he said, his gaze dropping to her tailored navy blue slacks.
 

Chloe gasped at this insult and glanced down at her trim, blue slacks that she’d chosen to wear that day.  They weren’t exciting, she knew
,
but they were
well made
and fit her
nicely
, projecting a professional, competent image. 
“What’s wrong with these slacks?” she demanded, hands on her hips.  “They’re very neat and tailored.”

“They’re not very sexy,” he said, opening up the next drawer.

She wished she could run over and slam the drawer shut as his fingers pulled out one lacy bra after another.  She might wear cotton underwear on a normal basis but her bras were all very pretty and sexy.  She loved having that kind of secret underneath her conservative business suits.  But now, seeing his fingers draped in black and barely-there lace, she wished desperately that she’d only purchased boring white cotton bras.  Covering her face with
her hands in
embarrassment, she groaned as he chuckled at her discomfort.  “Makes me wonder what color you’re wearing now,” he said softly
, his eyes drifting from her red face to her breasts
. 
Chloe wished her body hadn’t betrayed her, but she knew by his smile that her nipples were now hard little points jutting against the soft silk of her shirt. 

“Get out!” she yelled, uncaring about her red face as her hands dropped to form fists at her sides.  “Just get out of here!” 

He completely ignored her and moved on to the next drawer, finally finding her jeans
neatly stacked with some
khaki
underneath
.  She had several pairs
of jeans
, all well-worn and comfortable
.  He didn’t comment but tossed all of them into the suitcase, then opened the next drawer, finding her casual shirts.  He simply scooped them all up and tossed them into the suitcase. 

Turning back to her, he said, “Are you going to get your makeup or am I going to do that as well?”

She couldn’t believe his arrogance and wished she could kick him.  Hard. 
“Sam!  I am not going to
Texas
with you.  You might be able to push the rest of the world around but I’m not one of those people.  So you can just forget it.”  She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, daring him.