Stormbound with a Tycoon (16 page)

 

Dylan replaced his cell phone in the charger cradle. The second he heard Jessica's voice the words froze in his throat and wouldn't come out. The hard knot in the pit of his stomach and his high level of anxiety told him how deeply he had become involved with her, how much he already missed her…and how much he loved her.

He had not been able to say those words, or any other words for that matter, to keep her from leaving. All he had been able to do was stand like a statue and watch her drive away. And just now, after spending several miserable hours alone in the cabin, he had phoned her with the same paralyzing results.

Had he totally driven her away with his inability to give her what she so obviously wanted and deserved? To make a commitment to her and to their relationship? Had she gone from his life for good? A sinking despair finally overcame him. He collapsed on the couch, leaned back and closed his eyes. Images of her face danced across the screen of his mind—her smile, the sparkle in her eyes, her delicious mouth.

The loss of either the woman he loved or his best friend was unacceptable, but the loss of both was unthinkable. Exposing all his fears and laying open his total vulnerability could not be any more painful than what he was going through right now, and certainly not as horrendous as a future that did not include Jessica. He drew in a deep breath and held it for several seconds before expelling it.

He had to do whatever it took to win her back and hopefully capture her love. But where to begin? He sat upright. He knew the answer to that…it had been with him all along, his very purpose in being at the
cabin to begin with. In order to win her back he had to prove himself worthy of her trust. He needed to take the plan he had formulated for his financial seminars and put it into effect.

Dylan raced for the bedroom, taking the stairs two at a time. He grabbed a notebook and began making a To Do list. He would show Jessica he could offer her what she wanted.

Then he would ask her to share his life.

“T
hanks, Glen.” Dylan started toward the office door. “My attorney will contact your legal department. We'll be able to get started a month after the paperwork is signed. I have almost everything in place now…just a few more loose ends to tie up, then we're set.”

“I want to thank you for bringing this project to me,” Glen said. “I really like the way you've laid it out. Not only will this be something of benefit to the community, it meets the requirements for our public service programming as well. Let me know when you're ready, and I'll schedule the studio production time for you and we'll work out a broadcast schedule for our other stations in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Miami and New York.”

The two men shook hands to seal their agreement, then Dylan left the television station manager's office.
It had been a busy week for him, and he had managed to accomplish everything on his list in record time. He had never worked so hard on anything in his life, nor had anything ever meant as much to him or been as important to his future—his and Jessica's.

Not an hour had gone by that he hadn't thought about her and yearned for the time he could present her with his accomplishments. Everything he had done had been with one purpose in mind…to erase the past and win her back.

He had offered to give her the world and had been crushed and confused when she'd turned him down. It had been a mistake on his part, one he did not intend to repeat. A shiver of apprehension invaded his thoughts and plans. He had tried several times to call her, but each time he had only gotten her answering machine. He had gone to her house three times, but no one had been home. He didn't know where she had gone.

Now that everything was set, he only had one thing left to do. He had to find her. He returned to his hotel room in downtown Seattle and dialed her phone number. And once again the machine answered.

He sat on the edge of the bed and surveyed his surroundings. Another hotel room. He had been in too many of them. He longed for the closeness of home and family that had never been part of his adult life; a real house instead of an apartment or another hotel room; and the woman he loved, to help him make it the kind of home he'd always wanted even though he had never admitted it until now. And more than just the woman he loved…also a family. His thoughts drifted to a place that he had always been afraid to go. Perhaps a son to carry on his name, someone to play
ball with and take camping. Or maybe a daughter, a beautiful little girl who would look just like Jessica. A soft warmth settled over him. It was what he wanted most, and somehow he had to make it happen.

He dialed another number.

“Justin? It's Dylan.” He didn't like the nervousness he heard in his own voice. “Where's Jessica? I've been trying for a week to find her. I've called several times and have even gone to her house.”

“I'm, uh, not sure. Why are you looking for her?”

The edge of caution in Justin's voice caught Dylan off guard. He had heard it before, but never aimed in his direction. It raised a new level of anxiety within him.

“I need to talk to her. We have some things to work out.” He tried to keep a tight rein on his emotions. He didn't want to get into a misunderstanding with Justin, but he had to find Jessica. “Some personal matters.”

“Tell me,
good buddy—
” the antagonism in Justin's voice cut across the phone line, jumping Dylan's anxiety level up a notch “—what kind of
personal
business do you have with my sister?”

Dylan took a calming breath and put forth an extra effort to remain neutral in this conversation with Justin. “It's just that—
personal.
”

“Come on, Dylan, this is my sister we're talking about, not one of your many girlfriends
du jour.
I know how you are with women—”

“No, you don't!” Dylan's angry words cut Justin off in midsentence. “You know what you want to believe, or what you think is true. You seemed to get a kick out of believing that I had a different woman in
my bed every night, so I never bothered to correct you, but that was your take on reality…not mine.”

He took a calming breath, unhappy with himself for getting angry at Justin. He tried to smooth it over. “I can understand your being concerned for her well-being, but this is private…just between Jessica and me. Now, do you know where she is?” The trepidation coursed through Dylan as he waited for Justin to say something. In a friendship that spanned seventeen years, this was the first time anger had ever flared between them.

After what seemed to Dylan like an eternity, Justin finally relented. “She's in New York. She was called back to finish that job that was postponed. She should be home tomorrow night.”

“Are you picking her up at the airport? I'll save you the trip.”

“No. I didn't know if I would be in town or not so she drove her car and left it in the long-term parking lot.”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Yep, her flight gets in about five o'clock.”

“Uh, Justin, while I've got you on the phone I'd like to talk to you about your purchase of the charter company.” The mood quickly settled back into the type of relationship Dylan and Justin had always enjoyed.

 

Jessica kicked off her shoes and sank into the large overstuffed chair in her living room. She had been grateful for the activity of the New York project and the opportunity to concentrate her energy and efforts on something other than Dylan Russell, but it felt good to be home. She leaned back in the chair and closed
her eyes, then the ringing doorbell brought her back to attention.

“Dylan!” When she opened the door, her heartbeat jumped into high gear and her mouth went dry. He was the last person she expected to see standing on her porch. He didn't say anything. He stood there staring at her with the oddest expression on his face, one she couldn't decipher. A strange combination of joy and hurt swept through her body, pulling apprehension along with it.

His steady, unrelenting gaze touched her nerves. She awkwardly shifted her weight, not sure what to say or do. Her pain shoved the joy aside. She quickly blinked away the misty film that started to form over her eyes. The only thing she was sure of was that she would rather die than shed another tear because of Dylan. A shiver darted across her nape, then down her spine. He just stood there, as if frozen to the spot. Why didn't he say something? The silence became deafening.

She forced herself to say, “What are you doing here?” She felt as if she were being torn in two: one part of her wanted him to fold her into his embrace and chase the pain away; the other part wanted to hide away from the nearly overwhelming desire coursing through her veins. It was all she could do to remain in place. An uneasiness welled up inside her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

He reached out and lightly brushed his fingertips across her cheek. His voice cracked as he said, “I'm just comparing you to the mental image I've been carrying around ever since you drove away from me at the cabin.”

She couldn't stop her hurt from lashing out at him.
“You mean when you stood there and didn't say a word after I gave you every opportunity to say something…anything that would have let me know if we had a future together?”

Her words sent a hard jolt of pain through him. He swallowed down his panic. He knew it wouldn't be easy. She had every reason to be hurt and angry. He saw the wariness in her eyes and read the attitude of her body language as she crossed her arms in front of her and took a step backward without inviting him to come inside.

“I mean when I was too scared of what I was feeling to say anything. In fact, I was too scared to even allow myself to think.”

He took a steadying breath, then continued, “I wanted to do something special for you, to give you something that would show you how much I cared. I wanted to give you the world…literally.”

“I didn't want the world.”

“I know that now.” She was so close, the physical contact too alluring. He couldn't resist the temptation any longer. He leaned his face into hers and brushed his lips softly against hers. He caressed her cheek with his fingertips, but stopped there.

“Oh, Jessica…you have no idea how much I've missed you. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I didn't mean to detract from your job or make light of your career. I very much admire your independence and the way you've made a success of your life.”

“Maybe we'd better go inside, rather than stand here in the open doorway.” She stepped inside, and he entered the house behind her, closing the door after him. His words touched her deeply, especially after
her ex-husband had done everything he could to discourage any independence on her part and had been adamantly against her having a career.

Dylan directed her over to the couch. Almost involuntarily, he reached inside his jacket pocket to make sure the small velvet box was still there…an action he had performed several times in the past hour. He took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled in an attempt to calm the nervous jitters racing through his body. He sat next to her.

“I want to tell you what I've been doing this past week. After you left the cabin I made several phone calls—”

“Phone calls? But there isn't a phone….” She furrowed her brow in confusion. “You mean you went down to the store to use the pay phone?”

“No, with the power restored I was able to get the cell phone from my car and recharge the battery. I set up several appointments for the next three days, then drove to Seattle and checked into a hotel. Since that time I've had meetings with various civic groups, the senior citizens council, the university's adult continuing-education department, one of the local television stations and an advertising agency.

“I've laid the groundwork for my financial seminars and have expanded the idea I had originally discussed with you. I've met with an attorney to set up a nonprofit foundation to run the clinics and maintain a Web site on the Internet. In addition to holding the live clinics, I'm also having them taped so they can air on television and the videos can be purchased by mail order and through the Web site.”

He nervously cleared his throat. “I've also made arrangements to move to Seattle permanently.”

Her insides shook so violently it took all her effort to keep it from showing. She wasn't sure where he was going with any of this, but the mere fact that he had sought her out to share his news was enough to make her heart swell with the love she felt for him. This man that she had at first assumed was just like her ex-husband had turned out to be nothing like him. Did she dare to hope that they had a chance for a life together?

Then the storm clouds of doubt again invaded her thoughts. He still had not offered her a commitment or even said he loved her. And even more disturbing was the still-present possibility that she could be pregnant. She forced her elation under control.

“It sounds like you've been very busy while I was in New York.”

He swallowed down the lump in his throat and the panic he'd mistakenly thought he'd finally conquered. “There's just one thing that I haven't taken care of yet.” He brushed a quick kiss against her lips, as much to give him courage as to fulfill a desire.

He framed his hands around her face and plumbed the depths of her eyes. The love he felt for her nearly overwhelmed him. She meant the world to him. “Jessica…I love you. I love you very much. I'm so sorry that I hurt you, that I wasn't able to say what you wanted to hear. But I can say it now. Nothing has frightened me as much as the thought that I might have lost you for good.” He didn't wait for a response to his words.

“I've done everything I can to show you I've made a commitment to the plans I told you about, my desire to give back to the community and help those who've been caught in financial scams. I have no doubts or
concerns about my decision to settle permanently in Seattle. It's now time for one last major decision.”

He reached into his pocket. His fingers grazed the velvet box, then passed over it and grabbed a coin. A nervous shiver darted through his body. He held out the coin in the palm of his hand. “This is my lucky coin. I'll make a bet with you. I'll flip the coin. If it lands heads up you'll agree to marry me immediately. If the coin lands tails up…well, what I'll do is clear out of your life and stop disrupting your organized structure.”

A hard jolt of hurt and anger jabbed at every corner of her consciousness. What seconds ago had been overwhelming happiness when he told her he loved her had crashed into the greatest depth of disappointment, pain and anger.

She pulled away from him, grabbing the coin from his hand as she jumped to her feet. Her anger could not keep the underlying hurt from showing up in her voice. “How dare you put the fate of our relationship, of whatever future we might have together, on this—” she held up the coin, turning it over in her fingers “—arbitrary toss of a coin! I refuse to stake my future on some whim…on something no more substantial than—”

Her eyes focused on the coin, and her words froze in her throat. It was no ordinary coin. She looked at Dylan as the full implication hit her. It was a two-headed coin. No matter which side landed up, it would show heads. “I—is this a…?”

“If you're trying to ask me if that's a proposal, the answer is yes…that's exactly what it is. I love you. I love you very much. Marry me, Jessica.” He lowered his mouth to hers with a kiss that spoke of all the love
bottled up inside him. If he had been having any last-minute doubts, they had just been dispelled for all time. He pulled her body tighter against his, infusing her with the passion that coursed through his body.

Jessica allowed the kiss to continue for several seconds before breaking the physical connection.
I love you. I love you very much.
His words rang in her ears and echoed in her mind. She felt as if her happiness would burst from her chest. Tears pooled in her eyes, but this time they were tears of joy.