The Tycoon's Proposition

When she’d finished, his head remained motionless.

“Hmm. How about this?”

She wrote South America.

Still there was no gesture from him.

Next she printed the words North America.

Now she got the nod she’d been waiting for.

“American?”

Another emphatic nod.

Terri shot to her feet. “I should have played this game with you earlier.” Her voice shook. “Do you work for the Herrick Company, too?”

He gave her a nod.

She sucked in her breath. “Okay. Let’s learn your first name. I’ll start saying the alphabet. You lift your right hand slightly when I come to the right letter. A,” she began. “B.”

He lifted his hand.

“Second letter. A. B. C. D. E.”

Again, his hand moved.

She went through the alphabet a third time. When she reached N, he raised his hand.

“Your name is Ben!” she cried out. “Short for Benjamin?”

He nodded.

With her heart racing she said, “Let’s do your last name.” She went through the same process. It seemed his last name started with an H. By the time she’d been through the alphabet seven times, he’d spelled the name Herrick.

Terri blinked. “Is it a coincidence you have the same name as the company you work for?”

He shook his head.

“You mean you’re the head of the company here?”

Contact at last!

Ben nodded as he gazed into her expressive eyes. They widened in incredulity. Their heavenly blue color reminded him of Texas bluebonnets which flowered every spring at the ranch.

With her dark-blond hair cut in a kind of windswept shag, and a mouth shaped like a heart when she was pondering something serious, she looked utterably adorable to him.

“But if that’s true, how is it possible no one’s looking for you of all people? Captain Ortiz never said anything about the head of your company disappearing. It doesn’t make sense! But that doesn’t matter right now. The important thing is that you’re alive and on the road to recovery.”

He watched helplessly as she bit the soft underside of her lip. What he’d give to taste such an enticing mouth.

“I’ll call Martha Shaw and tell her you’re here so she can let your family know.”

No! Lord, no. Not Martha.

He moaned, then lifted his hand in the air. Unfortunately his blond angel of mercy wasn’t paying any attention to him.

Stunned over her discovery, Terri grabbed for her purse to get the secretary’s number. When she found the paper she’d written it on, she hurried over to the wall phone at the head of the bed.

Using her phone card, she made the call. This time it took six rings before the other woman answered.

“Martha Shaw speaking.”

“Ms. Shaw? This is Terri Jeppson.”

“Yes, Terri. How is your husband?”

“I believe he’s all right, but I haven’t seen him yet. There’s another reason I’m calling.” She struggled for breath.

“You sound upset. What’s wrong?”

“The man the hospital thought was my husband has turned out to be someone else. The trouble is, his throat was burned and he can’t talk. However I discovered a way to communicate with him. He says his name is Benjamin Herrick.”

After a long silence, “Ben is the patient?” She sounded as shaken as Terri.

“Yes. I need to inform the police, but I thought you should be told first so you can get in touch with his family and co-workers. Naturally he’s had no visitors.

“The thing is, today’s his fourth day in here. Though he’s been getting excellent treatment, it has to have been a ghastly experience for him not being able to talk or explain who he really was.”

Ben heard the tremor in Terri Jeppson’s appealing voice. The woman’s compassion for his plight—never mind the fact that she was still waiting for word about her ex-husband—touched him in places he hadn’t known existed.

“How bad is he?” Martha asked in a pain-filled whisper. “Don’t spare me.”

Terri’s hand tightened on the receiver. The other woman sounded like she’d taken the news personally, almost as if…

“Actually the doctors have assured me he’s going to be fine.” Without hesitation she told the secretary everything Dr. Fortuna had related to her.

“Thank God he wasn’t killed. I’ll let his family know at once.”

“Tell them he’s at San Lorenzo Hospital, Room W621. There’s no use anyone phoning his room. He won’t be able to use his voice for several more days. But I’m sure either Dr. Dominguez or Dr. Fortuna will be happy to discuss his condition if the family will call the sixth floor nursing station.”

“I’ll convey the message. Terri?” There was a hint of pleading in her tone. “Would you put the phone to Ben’s ear so I can say something to him before we hang up?”

The woman was in love with him. Terri could hear it in her voice.

“Yes. Of course.”

She turned in his direction.