Cover to Covers (2 page)

“Like what?” Tyler probed, intrigued.

The tall man cleared his throat as Mike returned with his drinks. “I become secretary, manager, friend, confidant, maid, and sometimes even a cook.” He waved a tapering hand over the drinks on the bar. “Charge it to suite 831, will you?” he directed.

“Sure thing,” Mike replied.

The gentleman pivoted his wary blue eyes back to Tyler. “I’m Chris, by the way. Chris Donovan.” He held out his hand to Tyler.

Tyler nodded, giving him a firm handshake. “Tyler Moore.”

Chris claimed his drinks from the bar. “Good to meet you, Tyler. You here long?”

“Just two days on business. I have a client coming in town from DC.”

“Where are you from?”

“From here,” Tyler asserted. “But I find it easier to stay in a hotel in town rather than driving back and forth from my ho
me in North Dallas. The expressways are always packed.”

“Yeah, I hear you. I live in Atlanta and the traffic there is getting ridiculous.” 

Tyler checked his pricey gold Italian watch that kept lousy time. “I suspect the traffic is probably why my client is twenty minutes late.”

Chris
let go a deep chuckle that belayed his suspicious eyes. “Sounds like one of my clients. They blame it on the traffic, but we know better.” He turned to the booths against the wall. “Speaking of which, I’d better get back to mine. Good meeting you.”

“You too
, Chris.”

Chris Donovan
quickly maneuvered across the crowded bar to a corner brown leather booth. Tyler was interested to see who he was taking a drink to when a rolling lilt of laughter from further down the bar made him look away. That laugh sounded very familiar to Tyler. When he turned back, Chris was sitting at a booth across from a petite blonde with her back to him. The blonde stretched out a slender arm for the glass of soda water. Tyler waited to see her face. Then, she slowly eased around, and just as he caught a glimpse of her aquiline profile, a curvaceous brunette with perfect Barbie Doll features and dancing brown eyes hopped in front of Tyler.

“I thought that was you.” The brunette’s full lips curved into an alluring
grin. “Happy to see me?” she added in a husky tone.

Tyler’s heart sank. “Hadley,
what are you doing here?” He peered down her snug green wrap dress to her black high heels.

“Janet Brubaker is meeting me for cocktails.” Hadley ran her perfectly manicured hand along the sleeve of his blue suit jacket. “What? No kiss hello?”

Years ago Tyler had found her sultry voice to be seductive as hell. Now, it grated against his nerves like sandpaper on cement. Her smooth, creamy skin was still flawless, thanks to her plastic surgeon’s expensive care, and her figure was still as firm as the day he had met her. But her sad brown eyes were the only true mirror to all the disappointment and ugliness that she hid behind her superficial façade.

“I’m here meeting a client, Hadley.” Tyler
grabbed for his orange juice. “Shouldn’t you be out spending more of my monthly allowance?”

She tossed back her long
, kinky brown hair. “Tyler, when are you going to forget about this silly divorce and let me come home?”

“It’s not a silly divorce, Hadley. I’ve told you a hundred times, I’m done with you, your friends, and our marriage.”

She seemed unflustered by his remarks. “I know better; that’s why I’ve never signed the papers.”

“After four years of living apart, I thought you wanted the divorce so you could marry your yoga instructor.”

“You know Alfredo was only a fling. They all were.” Her eyes came together, making her look much older than forty-one. “You were no saint yourself, Tyler. What about Maria, Belinda, and what was that chef’s name?”

“Tammy,” he
admitted. “And you know I never started seeing anyone until you hooked up with that polo player.”

She
wistfully rolled her eyes. “Yes, Pierre was quite the charmer…not like you even cared who I slept with. You were always too busy with your stepfather’s company.”

Tyler
tightly gripped his glass of orange juice as a knot pressed into the center of his chest. “It’s my company now, Hadley, and somebody had to pay the bills.”

“Have you told Barbara yet about the divorce?” Hadley smirked. “You know she will be furious.”

“I could care less what my mother thinks.”

“
Oh, please. That heartless bitch has dictated every move you make for years, Tyler. You like to think that she has no control over you, but she does.”

“My mother has got nothing to do with our marriage.”

She rolled her head back and cackled. “Are you kidding? The woman damned near hand-picked me for you, just like your first wife, what’s-her-name?”

The ringing of his cell phone made him put his glass down on the bar. When he pulled the iPhone from his
trouser pocket, there was a text message waiting for him. After reading the brief text, he mumbled, “Shit.”

Hadley leaned over and peeked at the screen on his phone. “Who is your newest flavor of the month? She got a name?” 

Tyler yanked the phone out of her line of sight. “Grow up, Hadley. My client just bailed on me. His flight still hasn’t arrived at DFW.”

Hadley linked her arm around his. “Then you can buy me a drink
. I’ll blow off Janet, and you and I can spend some time together.”

He
pushed off her arm. “I don’t think so.”

“Are you staying at the hotel?
You always preferred to stay in the city when you had weekend business meetings.”

Tyler
angrily shoved the phone into his trouser pocket. “Yes, I’m staying here for the weekend. Why?”

“Maybe we could go back to your room?
” She brushed against him. “We can order room service and have a nice dinner together. Like old times.”

H
e recoiled from her. “Sorry, Hadley, I have dinner plans.”

“What about after dinner?”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “What about Tessa? Shouldn’t you be getting back home to your daughter?”

T
he edges of her mouth rose in a sardonic smile. “Your daughter, too, Tyler.”

“Stepdaughter, Hadley.
Stop using your kid against me. You know I care for her, but I’m not going to stay married to you to spare her another divorce.” He went to take a step around her when Hadley blocked his way.

“So
, who is she? Who’s the woman you want to divorce me for?”

“There’s no one, Hadley.
Maybe I just want to be free of you and all of your bullshit.”

Hadley
fingered the lapel of his jacket. “Come on, Tyler, have dinner with me for old times’ sake. We can discuss the divorce, if you like.”

“There’s nothing to discuss.
Fred Bishop has already outlined the settlement for you. Don’t suck up to me for more money. You’re getting plenty.”

She stood back from him. “I’ve told you and that
idiot attorney of yours I will never agree to any terms. I like being Mrs. Tyler Moore. Your name opens a lot of doors for me in this city, and if we get divorced those doors are going to slam shut.”

“You’re a real piece of work, Hadley. We haven’t been
husband and wife for over four years, but you still want to keep me around, for what? So you can get into the best parties, dine at the best restaurants without a reservation, attend all of those social events you so desperately love to go to?”

“You know it. I like being Mrs. Moore, and I plan on being Mrs. Moore for a long time to come.”

He angled closer and glared into her cold brown eyes. “Not if I can help it. You want me to keep paying for your Botox, plastic surgeries….” He motioned to her low-cut, green dress. “And all the fine clothes you like to buy, then you had better sign the goddamned papers and end this marriage, or I will cut you off.”

Her smug grin stayed plastered
on her perfectly made-up face. “You wouldn’t dare. I could sue you for that.”

“Sign the papers, Hadley. If you don’t, I swear to God I will—”

“Excuse me,” an airy, feminine voice cut in.

When Tyler turned to the woman standing next to
them, his world came to a grinding halt.

The very petite, pale, dirty
blonde had rosy cheeks, and sleek cheekbones that screamed of a Northern European ancestry, and also made her shady gray eyes appear a little distrustful. Her mouth was small, pink, and complemented her oval face. As his eyes drank in every feature from her slender nose to the wisp of bangs covering her smooth brow, Tyler was immediately transported back in time.

“Moe,” he whispered.

She smiled, seeming pleased. “Hello, Ty.”

As if suddenly remembering where he was, Tyler straightened up and cleared his throat. “Wow, Monique Delome, I would never have—”

“
The
Monique Delome?” Hadley quickly pushed her way in between Tyler and the attractive blonde. “I’ve read all of your books.”

Tyler stared at his wife.
“Since when can you read?”

“Ah, thank you,” Monique mechanically re
sponded, and then her eyes went back to Tyler. “I didn’t think you still lived in Dallas, Ty.”

“Never left. It’s been what…twenty-one years?” He
scrutinized every detail of her lovely face. “You look good, Moe.”

She tucked her shoulder-length hair behind her right ear. “Thanks. So do you.”

“How do you two know each other?” Hadley’s irksome voice intruded.

Monique never turned away from him. “We met when I was going to SMU. Ty was a…friend.”

Her penetrating eyes made him reflexively run his hand behind his neck. His gut was twisting tighter and beads of sweat were breaking out over his brow. “Ah, yeah, that’s right.” Tyler could see Hadley smirking out of the corner of his eye. “Hadley, why don’t you give me a minute here?”

Hadley
appeared bolstered by his obvious discomfort. “Why?”

He
wheeled around to her. “Let me have a word with Moe, and then we can talk.”

Hadley ignored him and stuck out her hand to Monique. “I’m Tyler’s wife, Hadley Moore.”

“Soon to be ex-wife,” Tyler quickly interjected. “We’re getting divorced.”

Hadley flirtatiously
elbowed her husband. “That is still open for debate.”

“You two seem pretty friendly for a couple about to divorce,” Monique commented.

“Not that friendly.” Tyler placed his hand in the small of Hadley’s back and pushed her away from his side. “We’ll talk later, Hadley.”

Hadley grinned at him. “At dinner, in The Gallery Restaurant just across the lobby
. When you’re done here, of course. I can get us a table while you two catch up.”

Tyler gritted his teeth. “Fine.”

Hadley veered her greedy brown eyes to Monique. “Ms. Delome, I love your books and it has been a real pleasure to meet you. I hope we meet again.” She turned on her high heels and dashed toward the bar entrance.

Tyler breathed a sigh of relief when she was gone.

“How long have you been married?” Monique asked.

The
unpleasant tension in Tyler’s chest diminished to a tolerable twinge. “Six years, but we’ve been separated for four. I guess I’m improving, because my first marriage only lasted two years.”

“I’m sorry, Ty. But I know you were never that crazy about marriage. You used to call it ‘a medieval form of torture.’”

He shrugged. “Still do.”

“So why do it twice?”

“You know me, Moe. I was always up for a challenge.”

“Among other things.” Monique nodded to the large entrance Hadley had just walked through. “Your wife seems like quite a character.”

“On a good day, Hadley’s impossible, on a bad day…well, it was pretty much doomed from the start.”

“
Any kids?”

“A stepdaughter. Tessa is from Hadley’s second marriage.”

Her eyebrows went up. “Her second marriage?”

“Yeah, I was number three.” He
snuck in closer. “Forget about her, tell me about you.” 

“Me?” Monique fiddled with her hair. “Not much to tell. I’m a writer and here for a convention.”

“Since when did you write? I don’t remember you ever talking about wanting to be a writer.”

“That’s because you never paid attention, Ty.
You were always somewhere else when we were together.”

“I paid attention, Moe. I always paid attention to you.”

Her doubting eyes searched his. “Really? I remember one particular night, when we were at Laskey’s Bar. You spent the entire night ignoring me and vying for the attentions of our well-endowed server. Mabel, I think her name was. ”

“Forgive me
. I was young and stupid, but I’ve grown up since then. Figured out what is important.” He concentrated on her pert, pink mouth. “You know I never forgot about you. I always wondered how you were and where you ended up. Are you married?”