Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) (14 page)

“I’m an adult. I don’t let petty
differences interfere with what I have to do.” Alex looked Ty in the eye,
stubbornly raising her chin and clenching her jaw. She was trying to catch her
breath, she was so mad she was seeing red.

She could tell he wasn’t happy with what
she said. She did feel guilty about how she acted around him; she just couldn’t
stop herself. Why did he get under her skin so easily? No one had ever treated
her like he did. He spoke with a total disregard for her feelings. He was too
damn arrogant.

Getting up, he placed his hat on his
head and his flannel over his shoulder in one swift movement. He moved around
the table to lean down and whisper huskily in her ear. “If you keep behaving
like a child I’ll start treating you like one. I’ll put you over my knee little
girl. So, what’s it going to be?” He slid further toward her chair, crowding
her space in an attempt to intimidate her. With his large body looming so close
to hers she could feel the anger radiating off of him like heat from an open
fire.

She looked up at him. “You wouldn’t
dare?” She looked into his eyes; her hand itched to wipe that smug expression
off his face with the palm of her hand. He saw her hand start to rise.

“Try it. I dare you. You’ll find
yourself over my knee before you can even open your mouth to scream.” Alex felt
the color drain from her face. She could see that he was deadly serious about
tanning her hide if she didn’t back down. She lowered her gaze to the collar of
his shirt.

“I wouldn’t lower myself to your level,”
pushing her glasses further up her nose. She tried to get up to take her plate
to the sink. Ty pushed her back into her seat.

“Keep pushing me, baby, and you very
well may find yourself flat on your back on this table,” he replied heatedly.
Releasing her arm, he looked pointedly at her mouth before looking at the
table. He saw her eyes flair unexpectedly with desire, surprised by his threat.

Laughing mockingly, he told her, “And if
I need anything, you’re right, I’ll just take it.” He looked meaningfully at
her, then pivoted on his heel and swaggered out the door before Alex could fire
back a reply

Feeling as if she had barely escaped
Ty’s wrath, her body sizzled like she had come in contact with an electrical
current. He had been teetering on the edge. Even a novice like her knew you
could have cut the air with a knife with all the sexual tension that had been
crackling in the room. And it hadn’t just been one sided, Ty had felt it as
much as she had.

Turning she found Martha staring at her,
an all-knowing expression on her face.

“Well that’s the way it is, is it? No
wonder Emma said to keep an eye on the two of you. I thought you were involved
with that Steven fellow.” She finished drying her hands on a dishtowel and
placed her hands on her hips. Groaning loudly, Alex got up from the table with
her plate.

“It's not what you think. It’s
complicated,” she muttered, handing Martha her dish. After depositing it in the
sink, Martha turned back to Alex.

“Obviously, or the two of you wouldn’t
have acted as you did. Your grandmother’s right. You set the room on fire,” she
said chuckling. “Now I know why you picked the name Fire.”

“That’s not why! He just irritates me,
that’s all,” she denied emphatically. Alex fluttered her hands in front of her;
not meeting Martha’s probing eyes. “Please don’t mention Fire around him. He
doesn’t know I’m her,” she fretted.

Alex moved as if to leave when Martha
blocked her path and placed her hands on her hips, making Alex look her in the
eye. “If that’s irritated, I’d hate to see mad! Who do you think you’re
kidding, missy? I’ve been around the block a time or two so I know frustration
when I see it. You just keep yourself out of his bed or your grandmother will
have that boy in front of her shotgun before you can blink!”

Alex felt the color return to her
cheeks, and lowered her head, trying to hide her embarrassment over what had
happened between them. She suspected Martha overheard every word he’d said to
her. Martha just chuckled and went back to doing her dishes.

Leaving the room, Alex knew that if
anything did happen her grandmother would indeed shoot Ty. Emma and Martha were
very protective of all the girls. She and her sisters suspected that Emma knew
about everything that transpired in their lives, whether the girls volunteered
the information or not. They joked about her “spy network” on a regular basis,
but this just wasn’t very amusing.

Not this time.

Going to her room, Alex got the sheet
music that she had been working on until late last night, snagged her
blackberry, and headed for the den. Closing and locking the soundproof door,
she punched in Steven’s cell number and waited patiently for him to answer.
When she heard his deep voice she realized, much to her irritation, it was just
his voice mail.

“Hey, it’s me. Call me back as soon as
you get this.”

She hoped he would return the call
before night fell and Ty was liable to be in the house. She didn’t want Ty to
overhear their conversation, especially because she needed to ask him if the
recording studio would be open for the upcoming week. Slipping onto the piano
bench and taking a calming breath, she banished Ty from her thoughts and set to
work.

She ran her fingers over the keys,
checking to make sure it was in tune. She was glad that Sam was thoughtful
enough to keep it in good repair for when she visited the ranch. Once she was
satisfied with the tones, she began to play the music she had written the night
before. Her voice rang out softly, ghostly in the silence of the room. As her
hands flew over the keys, her voice gained more depth, more huskiness. She sang
about love being endless, timeless. It was a sad, dreamy ballad that had a
haunting melody. She was happy with the riffs but needed to work out a few of
the kinks.

Alex spent the morning locked in the
den. She finally glanced down at her watch and realized it was lunchtime.
Leaving her music, she left the den in search of something to eat. As she
walked into the kitchen, she spotted Ty at the table with a group of men,
eating sandwiches. He motioned to the large refrigerator against the wall.

“The sandwiches are in the fridge.
Martha made enough for an army.” he invited her to join them.

He couldn’t help but notice how Alex had
lowered her head when she realized he was in the room.
God, she’s still so
predictable
, he thought to himself,
constantly trying to run from
confrontation.

“These are the men I told you would be
showing up today. Can they still crash in the main house, or should I have them
store their gear in the bunkhouse?”

Getting up from the table, Ty drifted
over to Alex and came up behind her. He brought down a glass she had been
trying to pull from the cupboard, and set it on the marble counter for her. She
stiffened in front of him.
She’s still fuming from this morning’s argument
,
he thought as he leaned down to her ear.

“Don’t get upset, I was just trying to
help. Let me introduce you to the guys.”

She was glad that Ty couldn’t see her
face. He had mistaken her reaction. She was not upset by his help. She was
appalled by the reaction of her treacherous body when his practically blanketed
hers. It sent her heart into overdrive when he reached for the glass, bringing
up vivid old memories. She was taken aback by his nearness, and was reminded what
could happen after such a small gesture. How could she be feeling so nostalgic,
have such desire for him, especially with the way they had fought this morning?

Clasping her hand in his, he led her
over to the table and pulled out a chair for her next to his.

“Your men are welcome to sleep in the
main house.”

Surveying the acute difference in the
various faces that gazed back at her, she noticed that only one of the men
appeared to be older than Ty. The other two seemed much closer to his age.

“This is Ridge. We served together in
the military.” Ty indicated the darkest of the three. Alex returned his cold
stare and saw no warmth in his onyx eyes. Close to Ty’s age, he was built like
a typical military man. As tall as Ty at about 6’2”, with long black hair pulled
back and tied at his nape, it seemed as if he could take on an army all by
himself. She couldn’t discern anything from his guarded expression. Smiling
shyly at him, she raising her hand to her glasses to make sure they were still
there. He didn’t return the smile.

“Don’t worry, Ridge is rough around the
edges but he’s house broken,” Ty chuckled.

As the others joined in his laughter,
Ridge remained stone face. “Speak for yourself, Chief.”

She suspected that Ridge saw more than
the others did. As she perched uncomfortably in her chair, she was afraid that
Ridge would distinguish more about her than she wanted him to. She would have
to be on her guard around him. Keep some distance for her peace of mind.

Before turning her head toward the next
man introduced, she saw a flicker of speculation in Ridge’s eyes.

God! Don’t let him be a
Fire fan! That’s the last thing I need.

“This is Parry. He works the tech stuff,
he’s the resident geek,” Ty indicated the youngest of the group. Shorter than
the others by a couple of inches, he had bright red hair and freckles dappled
over the bridge of his nose. He appeared clean cut though Ty said he was the
brainiac, Alex could tell from the cut of his clothes that he didn’t sit behind
a desk all day either. Plus, he looked like he was the practical joker out of
the bunch. She could tell just by the way he was smirking. After winking at her,
she had her suspicions confirmed. She burst out laughing just as Ty got around
to the last man sitting at the table.

“Tennessee, this is Alex. I grew up with
her and her sisters back in Wilkinson.” Though he was talking to him, he was
studying her to see what she thought of his men.

The older gentleman looked like an
experienced wrangler. He had thinning gray hair and a long, skinny build. His
face, though weathered, seemed kind. He reminded Alex of her grandfather,
except for his height and eyes. There was a twinkle in the deep gray depths, as
if he had just heard an amusing riddle and knew the answer when no one else
did.

“It’s awful nice to meet you miss. Maybe
since you knew him way back when, you wouldn’t mind answering a few of our
questions about his shady past. It would go a long way to understanding the
boss man here.” he raised his chin toward Ty.

Ty suddenly seemed increasingly uncomfortable
in his seat. Stiffening in his chair, he shot a stern look at Tennessee.

“Yeah,” Parry stated, “in the interest
of having a good working relationship, ya know? Like, would you mind telling us
why he has this tendency to growl at anyone who calls him ‘son’, or why he
can’t stay on the phone with your grandfather without going for the liquor
cabinet?”

Tennessee and Parry were riveted on Alex
with wide, unblinking stares. Judging by their expressions, it seemed they
believed she had all the answers, including the location of the Holy Grail.
Alex started to laugh. The two of them were priceless.

Parry watched as Ty shot daggers at him,
the look clearly stating that he would be the first up for graveyard duty. But
it was worth it to rile the boss. They all knew it was rare for anything to
affect him and obviously Alex stirred something in the man. Ty had been known
to drop her name here and there. He could tell they had a history, uncovering
it would be the challenge.

“Oh no, forget it! If I want you to know
something, I will inform you. Until then you just stick to getting the security
cameras and the sensors up and running.”

Parry just shrugged his shoulders and
kept smiling at Alex. She could see Ty didn’t intimidate him in the least, if
anything his anger seemed to egg him on.

Tennessee looked questioningly at Alex.
“Is your grandfather really that formidable? I mean, the way Ty talks about
him, I expected him to be a ten-foot giant with buckteeth and fists like a Mack
truck. You can imagine my astonishment when I finally met the gentleman. When I
saw a leprechaun reject walk into the office one day and I learned it was your
grandfather, I remember looking down at him and thinking this old man couldn’t
hurt a fly.”

Alex started laughing at the picture he
painted of her grandfather. “He may not hurt the fly, but my grandfather would
pluck its wings off and watch it crawl around while torturing the poor thing;
talking it to death by complaining to it incessantly. It would probable fall
over dead just to get out of listening to his never-ending tirades. Max
wouldn’t even have to lay a finger on the insect. And if I were you, I would be
careful about calling my grandfather a leprechaun reject; this house may have
ears you don’t know about.” She cast a worried look over her shoulder, then
under the table as if she expected to find him hiding there.

Hearing Parry and Tennessee laugh at her
joke, she couldn’t help but join in. She liked Ty’s men, despite being unsure
about Ridge; she certainly wouldn’t want to meet up with him in a dark alley.

Ty watched all of his men interact with
her. Ridge was staring when she wasn’t looking, a puzzled expression stamped on
his hard face. Tennessee and Parry weren’t so guarded; they were obviously
enchanted by her sense of humor. He would have to watch Parry closely; he
didn’t want him flirting with her. He and Alex had some unfinished business and
Parry wasn’t part of the equation. Nothing was going to get in his way this
time, not even the “mystery man”.