Cross My Heart (Ty & Hunter #1)(23)
Author: Carly Phillips

Especially of that bastard,” he muttered. “And especially when he’s suddenly doing a one-eighty, acting like a repentant old man instead of the prick we know him to be.”

Lilly grinned. “Well, I like seeing you in action.” She smiled at him, her lips curved in a sensual pout, her mouth begging to be kissed.

He stepped forward. The years melted away, the desire for her was suddenly as real as it had once been. The light in her eyes told him the feeling was mutual. Something that strong and lasting couldn’t be denied, despite all the obvious reasons they should both walk away.

But he didn’t. From the moment Ty had laid eyes on Lilly again, he’d known he was a goner.

Why bother fighting what he wanted so badly?

Putting the consequences aside for later, he lowered his head and let his lips touch hers for the first time. The old spark caught fire and burned between them. He kissed her, brushing his lips back and forth over hers, moisture and friction building. The play of his mouth, the eager movements of hers tempted him to take it further.

He slipped his tongue inside her mouth, filling his senses with everything she was. She let out a soft purr from the back of her throat and his body tightened with need and overwhelming desire.

Sweet and warm, sensual and feminine, she curved her body into his, fulfilling every dream he ever had. And some that he hadn’t.

Suddenly, Digger began to bark, jumping up and down on her stubby hind legs, begging for their attention. It wasn’t the best way to be brought to his senses, but it did the trick.

He stepped back fast, still dazed but much more aware of what was going on around him. “That was—”

“So long overdue,” she said, jumping in before he could get his actual thoughts together.

“That it was.” Though he doubted those would have been his words of choice.

Mistake probably would have been more like it. He sure as hell didn’t need to search hard for the reasons why. She had a guy named Alex at home and a life that didn’t include him. Yeah, he’d known those facts going in, but in the heat of the moment, he hadn’t cared.

He should have.

She laughed, but the sound was more of a tremor.

He felt certain she had her own share of regrets.

“You have to admit, we’ve been curious about what that kiss would be like for over ten years.

And now we know.” She turned and started to straighten up, fixing the blanket which already lay folded on the couch, obviously avoiding looking him in the eye.

Okay, so deep down she agreed with his unspoken assessment. The thought didn’t make him feel any better.

“I’m thinking of taking Uncle Marc up on his invitations.” She glanced over her shoulder as she fluffed a pillow.

His eyes widened. “You’re kidding.”

She shook her head. “I came back here to face the past and move on. I need to gauge his sincerity.”

“I thought we agreed he’s full of crap,” Ty said, not wanting to think about her moving on any more than he wanted her getting anywhere near her greedy uncle or any other relatives who’d never lifted a hand to help her when she was a child.

She picked up the pillow, holding it against her chest. “We did. We still do. But I need to go, for my parents as well as for myself.”

“You aren’t going alone.”

A relieved smile spread across her beautiful face. “I was so hoping you’d say that. So you’ll be my date? ” Her cheeks flushed red the minute the word flew out of her mouth.

Ty didn’t think Alex, whatever his last name was, would appreciate the label, either. But Ty didn’t touch the comment any more than he’d take the word date seriously. Once again she needed him, nothing more. Even if the kiss had been everything he’d ever imagined and one helluva lot more.

Six

A fter seeing his niece again for the first time in ten years, Marc Dumont drove to work, ignoring Paul Dunne’s phone call demanding a meeting. Marc didn’t think they had anything to discuss. The man was a prick. Always had been. There probably wasn’t a lot of difference between Marc and Paul, but Marc liked to console himself that he was at least trying to be a better man. Paul had no morals and no intention of reforming.

Marc thought of his niece. She’d grown into a beautiful young woman. When he looked at her today, he no longer saw his brother’s spitting image, only her own strength and beauty. But back when he’d become her guardian, looking at Lilly had reminded Marc of all his failures.

At the time there had been many, the most glaring of which had been losing Lilly’s mother to his brother, Eric. Marc had believed himself in love with Rhona but she only had eyes for Eric, who’d always been the golden child anyway. All things went his older brother’s way. He’d won Rhona, started a successful vintage car business, and he’d married wealthy. Marc hadn’t known about Rhona’s money when he’d fallen for her but what a bonus. Of course it had become Eric’s.

His brother Robert merely went on his harmless, merry way while Marc seemed to bungle one relationship and job after another.

And when he looked at Lilly, Marc hadn’t seen the woman he’d loved and lost, he’d only seen his brother. His competition. The person he had a chance to defeat one last time.

Marc used to blame his actions on drinking but he accepted the truth now. He’d allowed jealousy to rule his life and he’d made both decisions—to drink and to destroy his niece and steal her money, he thought, bile rising in his throat. But at least Marc was trying to make amends. Paul had no such desire.

Whatever Paul wanted from Marc now—and Marc knew for sure it had everything to do with Lilly’s trust fund—he didn’t want any part of the other man’s scheme. The trustee had been siphoning money from the estate for years, as Marc had discovered during his first few months of sobriety. A time when he’d decided to take control of his life and see where things actually stood.

Paul, who’d known he could put anything over on a drunken Marc, claimed he’d intended to pay the money back before Marc inherited. A bald-faced lie if Marc had ever heard one. When Marc had threatened to go to the authorities, Paul had countered with a warning of his own. If Marc turned him in, Paul would expose Marc’s lies and abuse of his niece. That left them in a stalemate, since Marc couldn’t afford a public scandal now that he had a respectable job and the prospect of a future.

They’d both had too much to lose, so Marc had remained silent. After all, as soon as he inherited, the old bastard would be out of his life for good. Now there would be no inheritance and possibly no future if his fiancée bailed on him once she realized there was no money.