She blushed, feeling the heat rush to her face.
“We’re landing soon,” he said. “I left my SUV at the airport, so I’ll drive you home.”
She glanced out the window at the clear blue skies and the ocean below. Soon enough, she’d be seeing the shoreline of Miami. Of home. Reality. “I think I’ve put you out enough. I can take a cab.”
“Ella.” He placed a hand on her bare knee, below the hem of her skirt, his warm touch a brand on her flesh. “I said I’d take you home,” he said in that commanding voice so common to the Dare men.
And when Tyler used that tone, everything inside Ella stilled, compelled to listen. She shivered at his touch, but her mind wasn’t on her physical reaction but the emotional one.
She wasn’t used to anyone looking out for her in any way.
She’d had a family once, and then her mom had died of a stroke when Ella was five. After that, it was just Ella and her dad, until he’d met and married Janice Freeman when Ella was eight. At first she’d been excited to have another woman in the house. She’d missed her mom and having someone to talk to, shop, and do things with like her friends did with their moms. But Janice was a cold woman with no interest in having a daughter. She’d had her twelve-year-old son, Drew, and didn’t need another child. To this day, Ella wasn’t sure why the two had married, but she marked it as the day her relationship with her father had ended.
Harry Shaw had doted on his new wife, spent time making his stepson happy, and when Janice was diagnosed with cancer, he’d done as he’d been doing for the last two years, put his wife’s needs before his only daughter’s. After visiting her comatose mother in the hospital, Ella was petrified of hospitals and anything doctor-related, especially needles. Even so, he hadn’t looked far for the bone marrow donor, zeroing in on a frightened, lonely little girl to do the right thing when Janice’s son wasn’t a match.
The irony was, Janice hadn’t appreciated the sacrifice. Having received a second chance, after she’d recovered, she’d dumped Harry Shaw for a younger, wealthier man in her zeal to really live.
Had Harry stepped up and become Ella’s parent then? No, he’d chosen to give his affection to alcohol instead. Nothing had been able to stop his downward spiral, not even a thirteen-year-old child who needed him. And a year later, after a devastating car crash, he was found guilty of Drunk Driving Vehicular Homicide, and was now serving time in jail. The aunt Ella had gone to live with was a widow with no children, who mostly left Ella alone. Was it any wonder her vacations with Avery and the Dare family had been a fairy tale and dream come true for Ella?
But given her life, was she used to anyone worrying if she went home by herself? Taking care of her when she was sick? No, she was not. She didn’t know what to make of the fact that Tyler wanted to be there for her now.
But from the determined look in his eyes and the set of his jaw, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
So she went from the private jet to the luxury passenger seat of his black Range Rover. The truck smelled like Tyler, his musky masculine scent and distinctive cologne something she’d recognize in the dark, or blindfolded. He made a few calls while they drove, catching up with his business, and she watched the palm trees go by as they headed for her apartment.
At this point, she didn’t know if her life was a dizzying blur because of the concussion or Tyler Dare’s persistent presence.
He parked in a visitor’s spot and headed inside. As he rolled her suitcase down the hall, he turned to her. “You never got a roommate after Avery moved in with Grey?”
She shook her head. “I’m looking but I’m picky. I’m fortunate that my boss is generous, but I’m going to have to pull the trigger soon or move.” She was about to dig into her purse for her keys when she remembered. “My keys were in my purse, which was stolen.” She slumped against the wall, frustration overtaking her.
“Good thing I’m ahead of you,” he said, knocking on her door. “Avery had the locks changed today. She has a set of keys for you inside.”
“You’re back!” Avery flung the door open and threw herself at Ella, pulling her into the tightest hug she’d ever experienced.
To her mortification, tears filled her eyes, and she broke down for the first time since the mugging and waking up all alone in the hospital in St. Lucia.
* * *
Tyler never knew what to do when a woman cried, and given he’d been raised with two sisters, he had plenty of experience. Though he should be used to it, he found himself emotionally wrecked by Ella’s tears, affected by her pain, both of which told him there was more to him wanting to be with her than a sexual fling. Again, none of which he could allow to matter.
He studied his sister, her dark hair highlighted with blonde, wearing a strappy dress and flat sandals, in stark contrast with Ella, her light brown hair shorter than Avery’s, her outfit more casual. He couldn’t tear his gaze from Ella’s trembling form. Even as he wondered what the hell it was about her that had always gotten past his barriers, he already knew. He had a pattern of behavior that could only hurt her if they got emotionally involved.
As he liked to point out to himself, if only so he never forgot it, when things got tough, Tyler ran instead of facing his problems head on. And though he was home now, trying to prove he’d learned from the past, before he told any woman, especially Ella, she could count on him for the long haul, he needed to know he not only meant it but that he could act on his intentions.
Otherwise he’d be left with one more unresolved issue, one more person he’d screwed with his behavior. No better than his father, no better than Jack Gibson, his fellow soldier and friend who’d gone AWOL and, in doing so, gotten himself killed, leaving Serena and their baby daughter behind.
He glanced at the women as Avery hugged Ella one more time. “Let’s go inside.”
“Good idea. Is Grey here?” Tyler asked, eager to move along from their emotional reunion and the introspection it inspired.
“He’s home getting ready for our trip to L.A. He’s recording this week, remember?” she asked, as they stepped into the apartment and she shut the door behind them.
He parked Ella’s rolling bag against the wall, and she headed straight for the sofa in the living room, falling into it with a thud.
“Ouch,” she muttered, bracing her head in her hands. “That wasn’t a smart move.”
He winced. Having had a concussion, he could imagine her pain.