A mouth made for kissing.
She’d always kept to herself so much that he’d taken it as a sign that she wasn’t interested.
Was it possible he’d mistaken shyness for disinterest?
She stirred something within him, but he’d just labeled it as curiosity, considering she was the only female he knew who didn’t fall into flirt mode whenever he was near.
He was definitely curious. Beyond curious.
More like intrigued by the plethora of contradictions that defined his colleague.
The CEO waited for Eleanor to speak.
The rest of the crowd waited for her to give her speech.
A too-long pause settled over the crowd.
“H-hello. It—it is …” A few stuttered words began escaping her quivering lips. “An honor …an honor to be here. Today. This evening, I mean.”
“She sure isn’t her sister,” a man next to Ty with a camera in his hands grumbled under his breath.
Surprisingly, Ty’s fingers curled, the man’s comment rubbing him up the wrong way. Why he felt so protective of a woman he wasn’t certain he even liked, he had no clue. But he found himself wanting to speak up, to defend her. How could you defend someone you didn’t really know?
Still, he shot the man a silencing look. “Not everyone is a polished speaker, but Eleanor is a fantastic doctor and woman.”
The man’s bushy brows drew together then he shrugged. “Whatever, pal.” Then he went back to snapping photos.
Not looking anyone in particular in the eye, Eleanor began speaking again, and Ty found himself letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“Th-thanks to everyone for coming to this wonderful occasion where we’re celebrating the opening of a new neonatal wing at the Angel Mendez Children’s Hospital.” She paused, swallowed hard, then smiled what he knew was a forced smile before she continued. “M-many of you know pediatrician Federico Mendez started this hospital during the depression after the death of his much-loved son, Angel, who suffered from polio. My father, Senator Cole Aston, wishes to continue the tradition started by Federico Mendez.”
Her expression tightened and she cleared her throat, pausing too long yet again.
Come on, Eleanor, he mentally willed her on. Just thank everyone for coming again and be done.
“It is with that same generous and caring spirit that my father donated the funds for this new neonatal wing in the hope that—that …” Between stutters, she thanked everyone for coming to the ribbon-cutting. Then, not seeming to know what else to say, she turned imploring eyes on the CEO.
Imploring eyes because she was begging to be rescued.
How was it possible that a woman who’d had to grow up in the public eye could be so socially backward? Surely Cole Aston would have enrolled her in some prep courses to prepare her for public speaking?
And the stuttering? Was that lifelong or something she just did when she was nervous?
Tyler wished he knew. Wished he knew lots of things about the enigma showcased in a flashy red dress.
Rather than rescuing her, the CEO looked as if he had no clue at how on edge she was. Instead, he made another big hoo-ha, then handed Eleanor a large pair of showy scissors.
Immediately, she almost dropped them but managed to recover in the nick of time. One of the men beside her rolled his eyes. Ty saw red and not just the red of Eleanor’s hot dress and cheeks.
His gaze shot back to hers, saw the fear, saw the shaking of her hands, the sheen of perspiration that glistened on her skin. Something moved inside him.
Literally, something in his chest shifted.
Dear heavens, she was going to pass out.
Ty might be known as a womanizing son of a gun, but he was a chivalrous son of a gun. His momma, God bless her big Southern heart, would have beaten his hind end otherwise, and rightly so.
He might have left his horse in Texas but, hell, no one else was stepping in to save the good doctor.