“I …” she started to argue. He knew that was what she was about to do because her phenomenal etiquette would think it rude to disappear so quickly. But she stopped, which told him just how poorly she felt. Another wave of guilt hit him. How could he have been so lost in his own homecoming misery that he’d been oblivious to her exhaustion and just how much effort she was making to hide how ill she really felt? He felt a grade-A jerk.
He was a grade-A jerk.
Because when he’d not been lost in the past, he’d been thinking about the night they’d shared and how he’d been wanting a repetition ever since.
“After our trip this morning, resting for a short while would be heavenly. Thank you.” Still, she turned to his mother. “Can I help you clear the dishes before I go?”
His mother beamed at her perfect manners, shot Ty a thumbs-up, I-like-this-girl look. “No, Carmelita has already taken care of everything else so there’s only these. She and I will get everything cleaned up in a jiffy. Nita will help.”
Watching the conversation curiously, Ty’s sister-in-law nodded her agreement.
“You go and rest so you will be refreshed for the rodeo this weekend and meeting the rest of the family. They’re all looking forward to meeting the first woman Ty’s ever brought home to meet us.” As if she couldn’t stop herself, his mother pulled her into her arms for a big hug. “We are so glad to meet you, Ellie, and to welcome you to our house and family. This is just wonderful.”
Eleanor bit back both her wince at Ty’s mother’s use of “Ellie” and the nausea she’d been fighting from the moment she’d smelled food. What was wrong with her? Usually her bouts of nervous stomach didn’t last so long.
Then again, usually her bouts of nerves weren’t triggered by a trip to Texas with a gorgeous hunk she’d spent a night naked with several weeks ago.
Ha, it had never been triggered by that until Ty and this trip. She’d truly believed he’d have invited someone else or have gone alone.
Not that he’d been linked to anyone since her.
Or if he had, she hadn’t gotten the gossip memo.
Since Ty seemed to be Linda’s favorite topic of conversation these days, Eleanor was positive she would have heard if Ty had so much as looked in another woman’s direction. He hadn’t.
Why hadn’t he?
He led her up a majestic curved gleaming oak staircase to the second story of the sprawling Texan mansion that spoke of wealth, functionality and family.
Because unlike the magazine picture-perfectness of her parents’ various homes, the Donaldson mansion was filled with love, with family photos and knickknacks that, without asking, Eleanor knew had special meaning. The house was lived in and full of love.
“I like your family,” she said when they were almost to the top of the stairs.
Holding her hand tightly in his, Ty snorted. “You may want to withhold judgment until you meet my father. He’s the scary one, remember?”
Eleanor’s heart squeezed at the pain she heard in his voice. All her life she’d lived knowing that she didn’t quite fit in with her family, but never had she doubted that they loved her in their own way. Even Brooke had her loving-family moments such as when she’d insisted upon helping Eleanor pack yesterday and had given Eleanor a pair of bright red designer boots for her trip to Texas. Ty’s voice didn’t convey that same knowledge of love. Not where his father was concerned.
“You want to talk about it?”
He shook his head. “No, I just want to get you into bed.” He waggled his brows and grinned. “For once not so I can take your clothes off you. Seriously, Ellie, you should have told me you still weren’t feeling well. We didn’t have to do the whole family thing right then. They can be a bit overwhelming. You could have rested first.”
Although she knew he was purposely distracting her from the conversation he didn’t want to have, she let him. If he didn’t want to tell her about his relationship with his father, what right did she have to pry? After all, she was only the date he had bartered with her father for.
Plus, she really did feel exhausted and so nauseated that she really might throw up again. She hoped not. How embarrassing would that be?
“Honestly, I felt better until we walked into the kitchen. When I smelled the food I just …” She paused, realizing what she’d said and feeling horrible. “I didn’t mean that there was anything wrong with your mother’s cooking, just that—”
He grinned. “Relax, Ellie. I know what you meant and it’s okay.” He winked, then opened a door and stepped back for her to enter first.
Immediately on stepping into the room, she was overwhelmed with Ty. With his past and his present. There were all sorts of paraphernalia from his life scattered throughout the darkly masculine room. Obviously at some point his mother had thought the room needed updating to her grown son’s tastes, but she hadn’t been willing to let go of her little boy either.
“You used to compete in the rodeo?” she asked, walking up to a shelf that was filled with various trophies, plaques and photos of Ty on horses, of Ty roping a calf, of a teenage Ty sliding onto the back of a monstrous-looking cow. “I thought you said you were too tall.”
Although he’d paused on stepping into the room, his room, which he hadn’t been in for years, that crooked grin of his slid into place. “I’m a true, full-blooded Texan, darlin’. Of course I competed in the rodeo. Besides, I wasn’t always this tall.”
She gestured to the vast display of awards. “Looks like you were pretty good.”
His grin widened and mischief twinkled in his eyes. “Was there ever any doubt?”
She gave him a small smile. “Never. I bet you always won the cow-riding events.”
He burst out laughing, slid his hand around her waist and turned her toward the bed. “It’s bull riding, darlin’,” he corrected her. “Come on. You can check out all this stuff Mom keeps out later. Right now, I want you resting.”
He led her to the king-size bed that suddenly dominated the room. They both stopped, stood staring at it.
“You grew up sleeping in this giant bed?” Had her voice just broken?
He shook his head. “Early on Harry and I shared bunk beds. Later, when we went into rooms of our own, I got this furniture. Guess Mom expected us to keep growing.”
“She’s tiny, so your dad must be a giant of a man.”
“He is.”
Ty’s soft words twisted her heart, made her want to wrap her arms around him and hold him tightly to her.
“You look exhausted, Ellie.”
She did feel worn out, which was unlike her. It was probably that she hadn’t slept well due to nerves the night before and the travel sickness on the plane had also taken its toll. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to climb into Ty’s bed so she stood, staring at the big bed.
“Here, let me.” He yanked the deep brown comforter back, then gently pushed her down onto the bed in a sitting position.
What he did next surprised her. More like stunned her.
He dropped to his knees, slipped her shoes off her feet and set them aside. His hands slid up her calves, massaged along the way, paused at her knees, leaning forward and kissing each one, then, over her skirt, up her thighs, her hips, to her waist.
He placed his palms against her upper arms and gent ly guided her backward. “Lie back, Ellie, and take a load off.”
She did, letting him pull the covers around her and tuck her in as if she were a small child, then he straightened, stood staring at her with an odd