Moving forward, Nick covered the phone with his hand. “What’s up?”
“He wants me to fly back to Boston so the board of trustees can meet.”
“Tell him you can’t get away. You have an in-line skating lesson scheduled.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “He’ll never buy that.”
“Then make up a lie he will believe,” Nick said.
Taking a deep breath, Tyler spoke into the phone. “Howard, I can’t make a meeting today. I ran into Hamilton Bradshaw. He was at the Plaza for lunch, and I promised Richard and I would meet him for a drink later.” The minute the lie was out, she saw a smile of approval on Nick’s face. “Yes, I think they’ll understand. And no, I can’t promise that Richard will get back to you later. The whole idea of playing hooky is that you don’t have to get back to people.”
Closing the phone, she handed it back to Nick.
“Who’s Howard?”
“He’s my mother’s latest husband, number four, the only one my grandmother felt was capable of handling a job at Sheridan Trust. He’s been in my camp since she died.”
“But you don’t trust him enough to let him know the truth about Richard.”
She shook her head. “It’s best if I don’t trust anyone with that until we know what the truth is. But I won’t be able to put him off much longer.”
“Maybe you won’t have to. C’mon, let’s walk.” As he led the way down the path, he said, “This probation thing has you tied up in knots, doesn’t it.”
“I can handle it.”
“But you can’t even go in-line skating.”
His tone had her smiling. “I don’t know how. Besides, don’t you think that’s the least of my problems?”
“Maybe. But it’s still a shame. They’ve really got you dancing to their tune. This bridegroom of yours—I’ll bet your grandmother handpicked him.” As soon as he spoke, he saw her stiffen.
“I think she would have liked him.”
Nick glanced at her in surprise. “She never met him? How long have you known him?”
“Four months this week.”
“And you met when he answered your ad in the Personals.”
“No. I never did go out with any of the men who answered the ad. Richard and I met through an Internet dating service.”
Nick stared at her. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“It was a perfectly legitimate—”
“Do you have any idea how many psychos there are out there using computers?” he asked. “What ever possessed you to be so stupid?”
Her chin shot up as she glared at him. “Stupid? Maybe if you listened instead of jumping to conclusions, Sherlock. I didn’t say I met him in a chat room. I went through a very legitimate on-line dating service. Personal Connections. They responded to the ad I placed in Attitudes. Once I read their brochure and investigated what they could offer, I decided to use them, instead.”
“Are they connected to the magazine?”
“No. But they respond to personal ads in a lot of magazines and newspapers as part of their marketing campaign. I had the security people at Sheridan Trust check it out, and I had them check Richard out, too.”
“And you can bet he did the same to you. Is that when he told you that his favorite movie was Gone with the Wind? After he found out you were Tyler Sheridan?”
“No!” She moved closer until they were standing toe to toe. “He had no way of knowing who I was. Personal Connections guarantees complete anonymity. It was Richard who insisted on giving me his full name the first time I e-mailed him. He also insisted that I have him checked out. And he never asked who I was.”
Rolling his eyes, Nick said, “How long do you think your anonymity lasted? Once I had an e-mail from you, I could trace you in a few hours at the most.”
“He couldn’t have traced me that way. Personal Connections relayed all my e-mails for me. He could only have traced them back to the dating service. And I’m not stupid!” She poked him in the chest. “Take it back or I’ll—”
“Way to go, gal!”
Tyler whirled to face the speaker and found to her horror that a small crowd had gathered. An older woman sitting on a nearby park bench called, “You tell him!”
The man next to her laughed, while a mother urged her toddler and two teens down an adjacent path. All four were craning their necks to keep her in view.
“Show’s over, folks,” Nick said, taking her hand and hurrying her away across the grass.
She had to almost run to keep up with him, but she didn’t complain. Only when she was sure that they could no longer be seen or heard by their audience did she speak. “I never do that.”
“What? Lose your temper?”
“No. Make a scene in public.”
Nick smiled at her as he slowed his pace. Her cheeks were flushed and some of her hair had fallen loose. He very much wanted to run his hands through it. “You should do it more often.”
“No. Sheridans never—”
“Have any fun,” he finished for her, nudging her down onto a bench.
“We do, too,” she said, the anger bubbling up fresh in her.
Nick barely managed to control a laugh. Instead, he tapped his chin. “Go ahead. Take a swing. We’re all alone.”
She curled her hands into fists, but she kept them in her lap and frowned at him, instead. “You…stir me up.”
He reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then let his fingers trace lightly along the curve of her jaw. It was a mistake, but hell, he’d made them before.
“Don’t—”
“I’ve got one of those personal space violations coming, remember?” Beneath his thumb, he felt her pulse jolt and then begin to race. “The problem is that you stir me up, too.”
“It’s just chemistry,” Tyler said.
“You got that right. The question is, what are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t…we can’t.”
“Normally, I’d be very tempted to just concentrate on the now. But I know you’re big on plans, and it’s always good to have as much information as possible before you make one. So let’s just see what we’re up against, sugar.” He knew how to move quickly, so when he felt her stiffen, he settled his hand at the back of her neck. Then, keeping his eyes on hers, he brushed his lips over hers once, twice, then moistened them carefully with his tongue. Drawing back slightly, he felt her breath mingle with his as her lashes fluttered. The need within him grew sharper as he nipped along her jaw, then lingered to taste the soft, secret spot behind her ear.
She shouldn’t be doing this. The thought drummed through her mind like a chant, but she suddenly lost track of the words making it up. His mouth was impossibly soft when it returned to hers. His taste so different, so sweet. Gripping his shoulders tightly, she pulled him closer and nipped at his lips, then sighed as their honeyed warmth poured through her. It was melting her. Oh, she really shouldn’t be doing this. But she wanted to. In some part of her mind that could still function, she was dimly aware that she was losing parts of herself, parts that