The Delacourt Scandal

Since she didn’t seem inclined to say more, he asked, “And your mom?”

“My mother died just last year, but she was never really the same after my dad died.”

Since both of them seemed to have valid reasons for not wanting to delve any more deeply into family history, Tyler changed the subject. “What do you do for a living, Maddie Kent?”

“I’m…” She turned away, then finally met his gaze. “I’m between jobs right now.”

Tyler couldn’t tell whether pride had put that embarrassed flush in her cheeks or whether it was because she was lying. He had spent enough time around women to sense when one wasn’t being completely honest with him. And something was telling him now that Maddie Kent had been skirting the truth from the moment he’d met her.

“Is that why you came to Houston, to find work?”

She nodded. “I thought it might be easier in a big city, that there would be a lot of opportunities.”

“The classifieds are definitely full of jobs. No nibbles yet?”

“Not yet, but I’m still hopeful,” she said cheerfully.

“What kind of work are you looking for? I could check at Delacourt Oil. Maybe there’s an opening there that would suit you.”

An odd expression crossed her face, but Tyler couldn’t quite interpret it.

“I’m pretty flexible, actually, but I don’t want you to go to any trouble. I’m sure I’ll find something anyday now.” There was a touch of stubborn, if admirable, pride in the lift of her chin.

“There’s nothing wrong with getting a little help, Maddie. A lot of people find their jobs through networking. It’s the way the corporate world works. Why do you think so many women fought to get into clubs that were open only to men? They knew that’s where the men were finding out about job openings.”

“Is that how you found your job?”

Tyler laughed for the first time in days. “No, I’m afraid I got mine through nepotism, pure and simple. The truth is I’d have a hard time not working at Delacourt Oil.”

“Then you work for your father?”

He met her bright gaze, tried to discern if there was something more than curiosity behind her questions. “Yes, unfortunately.”

“On one of the company’s rigs?”

“For the moment,” he said tersely. “Could we talk about something else? The weather, maybe?”

“Your job’s a sore point?”

“Oh, yeah,” he said fervently.

“How come?”

“If you knew my father, you’d understand.”

“Since I don’t, why don’t you explain it to me? I’m a good listener.”

He was surprisingly tempted to do just that, to share all of the hopes and frustrations he’d been keeping bottled up inside since Jen’s death. The mental comparison with Jen was enough to bring him up short.

“So you’ve said, but I’ve taken up enough of your time, Maddie.” He stood up abruptly and looked pointedly toward the door.

Maddie didn’t budge at first, but then her eyes widened. “Oh,” she said softly. “You want me to go. I suppose I did burst in uninvited and disrupt your plans for the evening. I’m sorry.”

Oddly enough, he realized that he didn’t want her to leave, not really. And that made him more determined than ever to get her out the door. She asked too many questions. Sooner or later she would work the conversation back to that baby picture. Or to his father. Or to his job. None were topics he cared to explore just now.

Sooner or later he would have to kiss her just to shut her up. Just thinking about it made him feel disloyal to Jen’s memory.

That was another thing that was worrisome about Ms. Maddie Kent. No other woman had been able to make him forget about Jen, not even for a second, but for a little while tonight he’d been aware only of the woman who’d bullied her way into his apartment simply because she was concerned about him. Somehow she had managed to banish some of his suspicions about her in the process. He’d been counting on that wariness to keep him from getting in too deep.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly. “No offense, but I want you to go. It’s getting late. Do you need a ride home? I can call a cab for you.”

She shook her head. “My car’s over by O’Reilly’s. I can walk.”

Tyler bit back an oath of pure frustration. “Not alone, not at this hour,” he said. “I’ll walk with you.”

Her chin rose stubbornly. “It’s a few blocks. I’ll be perfectly safe.”

“With me along, you will be,” he agreed. “Got everything?”

She patted her purse. “Right here.”

“Then let’s go.”

Outside, there was something about the heavy night air closing in around them that made Tyler feel as if they were still all alone. It was the kind of atmosphere that invited confidences. But instead, they walked in surprisingly companionable silence for a bit. Tyler hadn’t realized Maddie could be so quiet for so long. Thrown off guard by it, he felt a sudden need to figure out what made this woman tick, to unravel the contradictions he’d sensed in her.

“Maddie, what really brought you to my place tonight?”

She regarded him with surprise. “I told you, I was concerned when you didn’t show up at O’Reilly’s.”

“You have to admit it’s unusual to take such an interest in a virtual stranger.”

Her gaze met his. “Not for me.”

“Then you make a habit of riding to the rescue of people you barely know?” The thought bothered him for some reason he couldn’t quite explain. On some purely masculine level, he wanted to be different, which was absurd when not five minutes ago he’d feared getting any more deeply involved with her.

“Only the ones with potential,” she teased lightly.

“Potential?”

“Of becoming friends.”

Friends. The word echoed in his head, annoying him irrationally. Had he been misreading the signals that badly?

“Can you believe how hot and muggy it is?” she said, stealing the chance for him to question the limitation she seemed to be placing on their relationship. “It feels like rain. Maybe that will cool things off.”

Because she seemed so determined to move to an impersonal, innocuous topic, Tyler deliberately gave the conversation a provocative turn.

“Some people think there’s something sexy about a sultry night like this.” His gaze locked with hers. “The weather gets you all hot and bothered. You start stripping off clothes till you’re down to almost nothing.”