He smiled. “You’re always arguing and I knew you weren’t going to make this easy for me.”
“Just let me go. I’m not interested in anything you have to say.”
“Let’s compromise for once. Ask me whatever you want to know and if you want to leave afterwards, I’ll let you go.”
She did have a lot of questions, but she didn’t think her heart would be able to take the answers. It had grown fragile since their last conversation. “I’d rather not get into this again. You wanted Trisha and when she didn’t come back, you settled for me…because I was there. Easy. Convenient. You never made the decision to not go back. She made it for you.”
He was silent for a long while, staring at her like he thought she could read his mind. “Is that what you think? All this time…that’s what you’ve been thinking?”
His usual technique of questioning instead of answering only caused her to become more irritable. They were going to go around in circles. “This is pointless, Tyler.”
“Jordan.” And the quiet way he said her name told her he was just as angry as she was. “I’m the majority stockholder of a multi-billion dollar company.No onemakes decisions for me. And I sure as hell don’tsettlefor anything less than what I want.”
“And it’s very clear to me that you still want Trisha.”
“Can you stop arguing? And assuming? And insinuating? Also if it’s not too much to ask, ease up on the sarcasm. Let’s have a proper conversation.”
“I don’t wanna talk. In case you forgot, I didn’t wanna come here. You had me kidnapped, so save yourself the trouble and let me go.”
He cringed with annoyance, shutting his eyes for a few seconds to calm down. When he opened them, the oddest smile curved on his lips. “You’re pushing me for a reaction.” He reached down to grab the duct tape and a pair of scissors. “So I’m reacting.”
“Tyler, you wouldn’t dare.”
“I’m really sorry I have to do this.”
“No, you’re not.” It was the last thing she managed to get out before the tape was pressed lightly against her lips, just enough to keep her quiet. She shot daggers at him with her eyes, but he seemed to be overly amused.
“There,” he said, flashing that sexy grin that made her want to punch him in the face. “I think it’s safe to say that I have to ask the questions for you, so let’s just recall the events, shall we? Did I ask you out to make Trisha jealous? Yes. Do I regret doing it? No. It was the very thing that led me to you and while I regret that it hurt you, I don’t regret doing it.” He paused, fixing his eyes on hers to make sure he had her full attention. “When did I start feeling something for you that wasn’t professional? The second the pasta dropped on your hair. You had me hooked from the beginning. I was just so caught up in this stupid plan that I didn’t realize it.” He lifted her bound hands and clasped them in both of his. “When did I start wanting more than a boss-accountant relationship? The first night you stayed here. I wouldn’t have shared a bed with you otherwise. I wanted to be with you…but I was confused…very confused. The part of methat’s reluctant to try anything new kept pushing me back to what I know…and that was Trisha. I was honest with you about it. I told you I needed time. Are the pieces starting to fit together, Jordan?”
Listening to all this made her realize that it had only been two dates. Apart from the first two accompanying lies, he’d always been honest with her. She gave a slight nod and he continued.
“Now I decided not to go back to Trisha the second we landed in Montana, but when did I know with certainty that I wanted to be withyou? It was the day I tried the chocolate ball. I wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise. When did I decide I was emotionally ready for another relationship? The day Neil and Gemma caught us half-naked. I wouldn’t have had drunk-sex with you otherwise. I made a decision to be with you and it had nothing to do with Trisha. I never doubted it. I never second-guessed. I never looked back…So now we get to the most crucial question.” He sat back, crossing his arms over his chest, his defensive pose. “How do I feel about you, Jordan? Well…I…” He smiled awkwardly and the change in his breathing showed he was nervous. “Mmm…This is hard for me…uh…I…I don’t think I’m in love with you yet.” He paused and her heart sank. “I don’t think I’ll ever beinlove with you…because you kinda just keep me in this perpetual state of falling.” He leaned forward, brushing a stray curl off her face. “You want me to confine what I feel for you to one word. I can’t do that, because I don’t know what it is. Is it like love? Yeah, I guess…maybe a few steps above it. And just because I can’t say how I feel, doesn’t mean I don’t feel it.” Pausing again, he seemed to be growing more uneasy. “You have no idea what you do to me. These last few weeks…it felt like I couldn’t breathe. You stripped the very air out of my lungs. And when you told me you love me, it weakened me, made me feel like my whole world would collapse if you weren’t in it…and I didn’t want you to know that…but now you do. You mean everything to me. You’re strength and weakness at the same time. I feel so out of control when I’m with you…I feel more out of control when I’m not. There isn’t a word for that, Jordan…” He slowly peeled the duct tape off her lips. “…but that’s how I feel about you.”
She smiled. If he had told her all this the day she found out about the plan, she would have forgiven him immediately. All her doubt was based on his inability to open up, but he said things in his own way. He was the type of man who showed his feelings by doing instead of saying. Sabotaging. Stalking. Kidnapping. He’d expected her to read his actions and automatically know what was going through his head. Maybe in his mind he thought it was obvious. It wasn’t.
Tyler Evans was just plain weird and she loved him with her whole heart. Well, a few steps above love. “There is a word,” she said softly. “Smudginess.”
His eyebrows creased. “Is that a real word? I don’t think that’s a real word.”
“It isn’t. I just made it up. It’s mush…mixed with sludge…mixed with complete disgusting soppiness…Smudginess.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with a wide grin. “That sounds about right…I smudge you very much, Jordan.”
“I smudge you too.”
He smiled as if hearing it struck something inside him and then he slowly shook his head. “You really are an emotional basket case.”
She giggled. “I wasn’t the one pouring my heart out, making all these poetic declarations. You’re such a softy. I have to admit, it’s quite a turn off.”
Reaching for the scissors again, he freed her legs from the chair. “You’re right. We need to fix this.” He looped her bound hands around his neck and lifted her up. “Let’s just have sex.”
“Agreed.” She hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. “Get all up in my Kool-Ade.”
His mouth slammed onto hers, ravishing and desperate, like he’d been starved for weeks and she clung to him with no intention of ever letting go. He carried her up the stairs and tossed her onto his bed. Grabbing the back of his sweatshirt, he pulled it over his head and threw it on the floor.
“Aren’t you gonna untie my hands?” she asked.
“No.” He flashed her a devilish smile as his big body covered hers. “There are some games we’ll always play.”
