me the horse was his. I offered to buy her, and after some negotiation, he agreed. Since then she’s filled out and healed from her physical abuse, but neither of my ranch hands have been able to work with her. She won’t let anyone near her.”
“It sounds like you probably saved her life,” Greta replied, more than a hint of approval in her voice.
“If I did, she isn’t showing any gratitude,” he replied drily. He was rewarded by her short but melodic laugh. “And speaking of gratitude, I haven’t heard you thank me for getting you out of jail.”
“I am grateful, but I’m not sure I’ve forgiven you for the particular lie you told. Didn’t you consider what it might do to my reputation? What it would do to your relationship with your brother? Didn’t you consider any of the consequences of your lie?”
“Nothing has gone public, so your good reputation remains intact.” He paused and thought about his brother. “Mark and I have always had a difficult relationship. To be honest, I knew that you’d already told the authorities that you were in a hotel room on the night of the murder. It just seemed easiest for me to tell them that I was in that room with you. I wasn’t thinking of consequences. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you having to spend another day and another night in that jail cell.”
She sighed and took a drink from her glass. “It would have been so much easier if Mark had been the one to come forward and say he was with me that night.” Her eyes narrowed. “But he did absolutely nothing to help me. He didn’t even come to see me or make a phone call to check on me.”
“If all this hadn’t happened, then you wouldn’t have known that you were about to marry the wrong man,” Tyler countered. “Not that I’m suggesting I’m the right man.”
She tilted her head slightly and looked at him curiously. “Why haven’t you married? You’re handsome and successful and I’m sure plenty of women would be happy to become Mrs. Tyler Stanton.”
“The women who want to be my wife aren’t the kind of woman I’d want for a wife. They want it for all the wrong reasons,” he replied. “I got close to marrying once, but it didn’t work out and since then I haven’t found the right woman. Besides, I work long hours and don’t have a lot of time to do the whole dating thing.”
“So you just invite emotionally vulnerable women to share your bed for the night and then move on to the next woman.” She stared at him boldly.
A small laugh escaped him. “You don’t appear to me to be an emotionally vulnerable woman, and no, I don’t make a habit of inviting women into my bed. In fact, you’re the first who has gotten an official invitation.”
She eyed him dubiously.
He leaned closer to her, so close that if he wanted to, he could wrap her in his arms and take full possession of her lush lips with his. It was tempting. It was oh so tempting.
“It’s true, Greta,” he said and watched her eyes spark with gold and green hues. “I don’t invite women into my bed. I wait for them to invite me into theirs. But you’re different, and the desire, the passion, I have for you is stronger than anything I’ve ever felt for any other woman.”
Her mouth trembled slightly and he continued, “In all of my life I’ve never been jealous of Mark, but when he hooked up with you, I was jealous of him for the first time. He had what I wanted...what I still want.”
“I should go,” she replied in a breathy voice, but she made no move to get up.
“You should stay,” he countered. “It’s a long drive back to Tulsa. You should stay here with me tonight and then tomorrow morning you can see the horse.”
Her eyes looked slightly glazed and he didn’t know if it was from the wine she’d drunk too fast or the blatant lust he knew shone from his own.
“Greta, if you want, you can spend the night in one of my guest rooms.” It wasn’t what he wanted, but he also didn’t want to coerce her in any way. He’d laid his cards out on the table and the next play was hers.
“I’ll stay,” she said slowly. “I’ll stay in one of your guest rooms and take a look at the horse in the morning and decide if she’s a project I want to take on.”
Disappointment winged through him, but he tamped it down. He knew he’d been forward and he really wasn’t surprised by her answer. He’d definitely been too open too quickly. It had been out of character for him, but when he’d seen her standing on his front porch, all of his desire for her, which had simmered for so long, had roared to full life.
“Then whenever you’re ready, I’ll show you to your room,” he replied.
“I think I’m ready now.” She stood and finished the last drink of wine in her glass.
He got up, as well, and took the glass from her and carried it and his own to the bar. He felt her gaze on his back and cursed himself for being a fool.
He should have just told her he’d alibied her because he’d been sure of her innocence and then told her about the horse he wanted her to work with. He should have never come at her with the open and honest passion that was in his heart and beat through his veins.
“I’ll get you a T-shirt to sleep in,” he said as he led her down the long hallway. They passed several bedrooms and two baths before he finally turned into a room that was located next to his master suite.
“This is lovely,” she said. She offered him a small smile. “My bedroom at home is decorated in shades of blue, too.”
“Then you should feel right at home here. There’s an en suite bathroom, where you should find whatever you need. There’s several new toothbrushes beneath the sink, and if you need something else that you can’t find, just ask.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she replied.
“I’ll just go grab a T-shirt for you to sleep in.”
He left her standing in the guest room and went into his master suite and to the drawer that held his T-shirts. He pulled one out and for a brief moment imagined her wearing it and nothing else.
He shook his head and shoved the vision aside and then returned to the guest room, where she hadn’t moved a foot.
He handed her the T-shirt. “Thanks. This should be more comfortable than trying to sleep in my clothes,” she said. She shifted from one booted foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable.
“Then I’ll just tell you good-night,” he said. “I’m right next door if you can’t find what you need or if you change your mind about joining me.” Damn, he’d done it again.
“You’re very persistent,” she replied.
“I am when I know what I want.”
“Good night, Tyler,” she said.
“Good night.” He left the room and she closed the door behind him. He headed back to the great room and to the bar to put the glasses they had used into the dishwasher in the kitchen.
He certainly didn’t intend to give up on satisfying his desire for Greta. He’d shocked her tonight, but he could be a patient man and
