The Man She'll Marry

“I apologize for walking in on you, Tracy,” he began and frowned when her gaze shifted to his then flinched away. “Just so you know, I usually wait for an invitation before I go that far.”

The mild sexual reference made her stiffen. “You had no business coming here. I’ll have a lawyer contact you about the damage today.” As if to underscore her words, her gaze moved to meet his as she said, “If I don’t answer your calls or respond when you knock on my door, it means I don’t want to see or speak to you.”

Tracy watched as Ty’s brows went up. “We have business to settle. You seemed eager to make restitution for the wreck, then you refused to meet my conditions. I figured you’d had time to reconsider, so I thought we should talk again.”

Tracy lifted her chin. “Is there a reason you have to blackmail people to work for you?”

He took the jibe in stride, but the stern line of his mouth softened. “People like working for me. I pay fair wages and give generous benefits. I value good workers and show my appreciation with cash bonuses from time to time.”

Ty reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a couple folded papers. “I got estimates on the car and the garage door this afternoon.”

Tracy eyed the folded papers, then walked reluctantly around the sofa to take them. The dollar amounts listed made her nauseous. Oh, God, so much money. More than she’d thought. She made herself look at him.

“Please…there’s no reason I can’t write a check to cover this and settle it today.”

Ty was already shaking his head. Now his face was stern again. “You asked—no, begged— to know what would make it right with me. I gave you my answer.”

His tenacity rattled her. It was beyond comprehension. “I was hysterical and frightened of what you’d do. I don’t know how everything got steered away from monetary compensation to—to—indenturement.” She shook her head. “Why are you doing this?”

He gave her a searching look. “Damned if I know. Maybe one of us will figure it out as we go along.” His gaze sharpened. “What else are you doing with your life right now, Tracy?”

The question took her by surprise though she shouldn’t have been. Ty Cameron meant to have his way, so his question was a means to undermine her reasons for refusing him.

The impulse was to make something up, to make her life seem important and busy. Productive. But as she stared helplessly at him, she suddenly knew he’d sense it if she lied. It occurred to her that Ty’d had a whole day to investigate her life. For a man with his connections and money, it would be simple. And if he hadn’t done it yet, something told her he would. She tried a new tack.

“What do you get out of this? Revenge?” She’d tried to provoke him with the bold question, but he took it seriously and his voice was mild and reasonable as he answered.

“Maybe nothing if you refuse to work for me. But if you agree, maybe I’ll get a temporary worker to fill in doing small jobs not worth hiring a permanent employee to do.”

“It will take months to pay off the damage this way,” she argued cautiously, certain he’d given her a way to talk him out of this. “Long enough for you to hire a full-time employee.”

Once again, Ty’s calm answer was proof of his single-mindedness. “I’m not looking for someone permanent. When the damage amount is met, the job’s over. I won’t be obliged to keep someone employed, and you can get back to your…life.”

Tracy turned away and paced across the room, frustrated. He hadn’t said, You owe me because you took advantage of my trust and goodwill and wrecked my car. She might have been able to refute that accusation.

But Ty was more crafty than that. He didn’t say those words because he could probably tell that guilt was already eating her up. Instead, he made it sound as if her working for him solved a problem for him. She was concentrating so hard on finding a way to counter the subtle tactic that she jumped a little when he spoke.

“You asked me about revenge. Does that mean you think I’ll mistreat you if you work for me?”

Tracy hesitated, then turned to look over at him. “You’ve made no secret of your feelings toward me. How do I know this isn’t just a huge opportunity for you to belittle and embarrass me?” She swallowed thickly as his expression started to harden, but she forced herself to go on and verbally acknowledge the thing that was on both their minds.

“I know you despise me because of what I did to Rio and Kane. You probably think I didn’t do enough to make it up to them or that I wasn’t punished enough, but it might surprise you to know that I agree with you. They let me off easy.”