Natlie sighed. "You should see the pictures of the car. I'm surprised anyone made it out of that alive. He's one mighty lucky man."
"I had the definite impression he doesn't think of himself as lucky by any stretch of the imagination."
"None of that, now. You know better. It will cloud your judgment and really get in the way."
The 'that' Natalie spoke of, Jacine knew, was too much sympathy, too much empathy. A therapist could really get sucked into a morass with it, and Jacine had seen it happen. No good for the patient, no good for the therapist. A lose-lose proposition.
"At any rate," she told Natalie, "it seems like a long term assignment. A lot of travel involved. You'd better warn Lee and Ann. They'll be busier."
"That's good, right?" Natalie paused. "So how was he honestly?"
"Really nice looking, tall, and totally depressed."
"You know if he's taking anything for it?"
This was also an important factor in the PT trail. "I'm going to try to get in to see Doctor Truman tomorrow. He'll let me know."
"Terrible Truman? Oh, sorry about that sweetie. I didn't know."
Jacine laughed, and started her car engine. "I'll survive."
"Call me."
"You got it."
Chapter 2
The next day, Jacine looked around her small house, and tried to figure out whether her plants would be better off with her neighbor Tessa. Ramsey hadn't really told her how long they'd be gone.
She reluctantly punched in his personal number, while feeling stupid for not getting the information from him the day before.
"Hello, darlin,'" he answered slowly, "what can I do for you?"
Feeling strange stirrings at his words and accent, and she found herself momentarily speechless.
He waited.
Finally, she said, "I just called to find out how long we'll be gone from Dallas. I need to plan."
"Depends."
Now she waited. Somewhat impatiently.
"Can you firm that up a bit? For instance, should I have a neighbor take care of my plants?"
He chuckled into the phone. "Thought you didn't have any attachments, Miss Lombard?"
"Call me Jace. My name is Jacine, but my friends call me Jace."
"Friends. I like that."
It seemed like he was playing with her now, and she grew annoyed. She wasn't one for games. "And, the length of our stay will be?" she repeated.
"Hard to say. I'd leave your plants with a neighbor or arrange something. What else?"
"That's it," she said crisply. "See you tomorrow then."
The phone went dead and Jace looked at it. "Whatever happened to good-bye?" she muttered.
In the afternoon, after she tried to pick out appropriate clothes for the Hawaii climate and her role as physical therapist, including a bathing suit, she called Doctor Truman's office and booked an appointment to see him.
It seemed as if there were just too many things she had to do before she left, and she raced into his quiet office late in the afternoon.
After waiting in an exam room for him, he finally came in and said, "I thought I was bad. You're further behind than I am. Late as usual."
"Sorry about that," she told him sheepishly.
"So my nurse told me about the situation here. You'll be traveling with Ramsey, then?"
She nodded, while he pulled an x-ray up on his monitor. Leaning in to see it, her face fell. "He's how old?"
"I know. I couldn't believe it either. He's thirty years old."
"Looks like a jigsaw puzzle someone put together wrong," she breathed.
The bones in the spine, she saw, were crooked, with very few spaces between the vertebrae. Where there should have been an arch, there was barely anything.
"Why?" she said, looking at the doctor in amazement.
"He has the bones of a sixty year old. And, although we put him on calcium, vitamin D and a bone-building prescription, we just couldn't fix him. So, when he says he hurts, believe it."
"So there's nothing surgically that you can do?"
"No. Believe me, I'd do it if I could. It might even get worse for him if I mess around in there." He peered at her. "You're his therapist?"
She smiled ruefully. "I'm the one."
"Well, he's very lucky then."
She realized this was the closest she'd ever come to a compliment from him. "Thank you. And if you think of anything else that might help him out, you'll let me know?"
He nodded and left the room abruptly. But, he'd left the x-ray on the screen. "God almighty," she whispered, "good luck to me."
After she ran some errands, patching up some loose ends in her life, paying bills, giving her poor neighbor detailed instruction on each plant and how to take care of all of them, she came in to her house breathlessly, and answered her cell phone. "Yes? This is Jace. Can I help you?"
"Maybe," his drawl was unmistakable.
"What can I do for you, Mister Knowles?" She threw her purse on the kitchen table.
"You can call me Ram, remember?" And that made her think of his handsome face, his physical impact on her.
"Ram, then. What can I do for you?" While she grew warm from just his voice, she thought this would be a difficult assignment for her. Romantic attachment. The worst thing to happen to a physical therapist. It was such an intimate sort of job to begin with.
She noticed he paused before saying, "You saw Seth today?"
"Doctor Truman? Yes, I did."
"So how did that go?"
Thinking back with a sinking heart, at the horrible x-rays, she tried to sound cheerful. "Well, I think I can help you, Ram. But it could be, also, we'll have to face the fact that surgery can't help you."
She heard him sigh.
"But," she continued, "I don't want you to be discouraged. Are you still taking your prescription and calcium, vitamin D?"
"Oh, they're around here somewhere."
She frowned at his attitude. "You must take them. It's critical. You've got osteoporosis, Mister Knowles."
"Ram," he said softly.
"Ram, you must face facts."
"I guess that's where you come in."
Trying to change the subject, she asked him, "What time tomorrow again? I'm sorry, in all the confusion it slipped my mind."
"Nine o'clock."
"Okay, see you then."
Friday morning found her trying to cram more into her already filled suitcase. Plus, she sighed as she realized they'd have to check the thing.
Or, had he said he had his own plane? She just couldn't remember.
After dressing in jeans and a t-shirt, double checking the door, she hurriedly left her house.
Ellie came into Ram's den. "Not here yet?" she asked him, as she saw he was staring out at the garden again.
"No," he snapped, "and I'm not impressed. I told her nine sharp. How can I keep on schedule now?"
"Sometimes schedules are made to be broken, Ramsey," she said softly.
"Only by me, and my permission."
Just then Jace screeched to a halt in front of the mansion. A taxi sat, with its motor running.
The old woman let her in, put a finger up to her lips, and gestured her hands wildly in the air to let Jace know Ramsey was not happy.
Jace rolled her eyes as they walked down the hallway. Nine-thirty, not really too bad she thought.
After leaving the two in the room, with Ram still looking out at the garden, he said, "Y'all are late."
Now she wasn't sure exactly what to say. "Um, I do apologize for that, sir. I hope I haven't inconvenienced you in any way."
He turned around slowly. His eyes roved over her quickly. She thought she was looking fairly good, with her hair pulled back, wearing a white silky blouse, beige pants and beige shoes. His eyes lingered on her breasts then moved to her face.
"My pilot's on the runway right now, wasting fuel. Are you ready then?" His eyes were half closed as he fixed her with a steely look.
Never
again, she thought, would she be late with this man. "Yes, sir."
"Call me Ram." He strolled around the desk, limping a bit, she thought, and brought his hand to the small of her back. The intimate gesture, as he led her into the hallway, caught her unaware.
"My suitcase is right here," she said, pulling away. "Do you have someone to lift it into the car?"
He looked down at her incredulously. "Of course not. I do my own lifting."
"You shouldn't," she said quickly, "you could very easily pull a muscle or ligament in your back."
She thought he was trying to hold back a smile then, as he said, "I'll take my chances." He picked the case up easily, and strode out the front door, to the waiting taxi, leaving her to follow behind.
When he told the taxi to step on it, the man careened through the state highways, then finally to the North Corporate Entrance at the International Airport.
Ram held her door open, and his eyes closed for seconds as he inhaled her light fragrance. It had wrapped around his senses in the taxi, making it hard to concentrate on the proposal he'd tried to study. In the end, he'd read the thing three times and still couldn't relay the contents of it to anyone.
They passed the security hand-held wands quickly, and as they walked swiftly to the waiting plane, his mind went back to their conversation yesterday, with her trying to pin him down on how long they'd spend in Hawaii. And he wondered if bringing another person with him was such a great idea. That's why he never took Susan with him; he was hard to keep up with.
As his hand came down gently on her lower back, guiding her, he wondered idly whether she ever wore her hair down. He looked over at her briefly, and realized the hair would probably reach her waist. He'd always been partial to long hair on a woman.
When they reached the tarmac, and she climbed up the stairs in front of him, he had a really nice view of her very fit backside. And, he thought, having her with him may prove to be quite a challenge.
She'd been silent, with his hand on her back, leading her gently to the plane.
But once inside the cozy jet, she gasped. "How lovely," she said, turning to look up at him.
He smiled. "Glad you like it. Here, sit." Gesturing to a waiting captain's swivel chair, he opened the small refrigerator and brought out a bottle of water, took a pill and swigged it down. "I'm sorry," he said, "would you like some water?"
"No. Thank you." Watching him, she asked, "What are you taking?"
"The strongest painkiller they can give me without knocking me out," he replied.
The pilot came back then, told them to fasten seatbelts.
He watched her looking around, fascinated, and he realized he was used to luxury. To him, it was second nature.
Jace peered here and there, while she fastened her seatbelt. She and Ram sat facing each other on reclining chairs, which were situated around a glass table with free standing artwork. When she looked in back of her, there was a big screen TV, with three smaller TV's to the right of it.
Eight porthole windows on either side of the jet let lots of light inside, and a dining room could seat four people, again, around a large, square, glass table.
A long cushioned couch beckoned from beyond the dining room, beige, with silver and gold throw pillows. She saw a bathroom and bedroom beyond, but she couldn't see all the way into them.
As if to read her mind, he said, "Take you on a tour later, Jacine."
Her eyes came back to his, and she realized with a start, what she'd forgotten completely to tell him.
Starting to panic now, she fiddled with her seatbelt, almost ready to bolt.
His brow furrowed, and his gaze captured hers, as he held two fingers towards her eyes, then back to his own eyes. "Problems?"
She couldn't believe how stupid she'd been to even do this job. And she realized she was in deep now. "I get airsick," she moaned, "and I forgot my pills."
He sat back and laughed as he lounged in his seat. "Got plenty on board, darlin.' You'd be surprised how many big executives get sick on airplanes."
"It's just the take offs and landings," she murmured, terribly embarrassed now.
As they took off, the plane swooshing down the runway, then gaining altitude swiftly, he thought she was absolutely green around the gills. As soon as it was possible safely, he got up carefully, as the pain pill was beginning to work, and grabbed a few anti-airsickness pills out of the drawer in the kitchen.
But when he brought them back to give to her, she gulped down two.
"Um, sweet pea, I don't think you're supposed to take but one of those," he told her when he sat back down.
Finally able to talk, she replied, "Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine. Really I will."
She looked anything but fine to Ram. "Would you like to lie down for a while? The pills might make you sleepy."
Nodding, she stood up, holding her stomach.
"This way," he said, indicating the bedroom.
"Oh, I couldn't. That's your bed. I'll just lie on the couch here."
He lightly put his hands around her upper arm, and led her to the bedroom. "I sleep a lot sittin' up these days. I just might have to come in there and do my internet thing, though, later on."
"Well," she said reluctantly, "if you think it's all right."
His grip strengthened as he realized she was already getting sleepy from the pills. "Have any breakfast?" he asked.
"No. Not yet." Now, he thought, she really looked confused, as he gently lowered her to the king bed. She half-dropped on her side, and he found himself smiling as she lay down.
He loosened the clip in her hair, and the auburn curls fell silkily into his hands. Unable to resist, he ran a hand along the soft mass, lifted it and let it fall bit by bit onto the pillow. "Jesus H, what have I gotten myself into this time?" he whispered.
He couldn't quite bring himself to leave her, but instead he pulled down the window shades in the small bedroom area, collected his discs and began to work on the computer. He'd read for a while, re-read, then look over at her sleeping form. From the start, in the morning, she'd thrown off his schedule totally. And, he was definitely a scheduled man.
The air felt cold coming out of the vents, and he called up to the pilot to check it for him. Searching the drawers in the room, he came up with a soft blanket, which he draped over her.
Finally, he gave up and just sat in the chair daydreaming.
A jolt sent him back to reality. A second one sent him to sit on the bed beside her, with his hand hovering above her.
But, suddenly, the plane seemed to shudder violently, back and forth, and they were both airborne a foot off the bed.
Cursing under his breath, he tried to break her fall, but she woke up as they slammed back on the bed.
"What's happening?" she asked in a voice husky with sleep.
"Shhh, it's okay," he whispered.
He realized his face was next to hers, with his arms underneath her body. He was moved, in ways he really didn't want right now, but the feelings were there and he couldn't deny it.
Her skin was warm from the blanket, and the heady perfume scent rose from her neck. He groaned, and moved his face against her hair, relishing the feel and softness of it.
But they needed to get back to the chairs in the other room and put their seatbelts on before they hit another rough patch.
Although his back was very bad, he still picked her up easily, and carried her to the chair, set her down and buckled her up.
He went to talk to his captain, who told him the patch was probably an isolated incident, although he said it would probably be best if they kept the belts fastened for at least fifteen minutes.
Jace woke up, and looked around her. The first thing she saw when her eyes opened was Ram staring at her with his turquoise eyes. And something in their depths registered raw heat, sexuality, and sensual feelings flooded her like she'd never experienced before. "How did I get here?" she asked finally.
"We hit a rough patch," he said softly, still watc
hing her. "I couldn't leave you in the room. It was pretty bad."
He couldn't stop gazing at her, like a schoolboy crush he thought. She just looked so frail yet sensual, huddled with the blanket around her shoulders, shining auburn hair fanning out from her face then down her breasts, her feet bare, lips ruby, and cheeks pink from sleep, eyes half open now.
What a picture she made, he thought. Beautiful, so very beautiful.
And she still met his gaze directly on, not looking away. "Captain says a few more minutes. Then you can go back and sleep. Those pills really did a number on you."
Smiling wanly, she replied, "Sorry about that. How did I get here? You didn't tell me."
"I carried you. Didn't want to wake you."
"Oh, my God, that must have set you back. I'm so very sorry. I feel so stupid."
Smiling at her, with his eyes still glued to her face, he said, "Don't beat yourself up. I'm always doing things I shouldn't. I have a tendency to push myself."
Shrugging off the blanket, she shook her head as if to wake up. "Why?"
"I don't know, really. I guess I tend to think I do everything better than everyone else."
She settled in the chair. "Can't delegate. I can see that in you somewhat, although I can't say I've seen it all."
A smile quirked his lips. "No one has, darlin.'"
Chapter 3
"Now, can I get you something to drink? Maybe some champagne or a soft drink, mixed drink?" he asked.
"I'll get it."
He realized as he watched her move to the kitchen, this was one sexy woman. The way she'd looked over at him just now, and the way her tight little backside moved. Also, when she brought back a cola, he noticed she was well-endowed. His eyes flitted up and down her slim form, appreciating the sight.
The look wasn't lost on Jace. "I forgot to ask you what you would like?"
Romance in Dallas - Tycoon! Page 2