More than a Mistress

The thing of it was, he wanted his head in that noose.

On the other hand, how much love could a man offer a woman if he ended up dying of pneumonia?

"Open the door, Alex."

"No.

A muscle knotted in Travis's jaw. "Alex?" he said sweetly. "Did. you know you left the top down on your convertible?"

The door swung open. Travis grinned in triumph and stepped into the house as Alex stuck her head outside.

"Liar," she said furiously, and swung at him with the wine bottle. "You get out of here, Cowboy!"

Travis snatched the bottle from her, frowned and took a sniff of the air.

"Have you been drinking?"

Color flew into her face. "No. And if I have, it's none of your business, you—you liar!"

"You already called me that." He put the bottle down, slapped his hands on his hips, kicked the door closed and glared at her. Rain dripped from the tip of his nose, pooled on the floor from his sodden clothes. "And I know I lied but it was only to save my life. I was drowning out there." He put his hand up. "Will you get that light out of my eyes?"

Alex swung the light away and he got his first clear look at her. She was wearing an oversize robe with a big brown stain down the front. Her hair hung straight as sticks around her face, her eyes and nose were pink.

His heart swelled. She was beautiful.

"You can come in," she said coldly, "but only until the storm is over. I wouldn't want to have to try to explain why I'd let a man drown on the front steps."

"Thanks," he said, and shuffled past her. "You're dripping on the floor."

"An astute observance, Princess. I don't suppose you have a towel to spare?"

She hesitated, shrugged and turned on her heel. Travis followed after her in waterlogged silence, up the stairs, down the hall, to the bedroom. A moment later, she slapped a stack of scratchy towels in his arms.

"Here."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

His brows lifted. "Such good manners."

"There's no reason not to be polite," she said stiffly.

He looked at the bed, then at her. "We weren't always, so well mannered, when we shared a bedroom."

Alex flushed. "When you're done drying off," she said, making for the door, "come downstairs."

"I want you to come back."

Damn, he hadn't meant to tell her that way. He'd intended to take her in his arms, kiss her, tell her how she'd changed his life...but he could feel his chances slipping away. He'd never seen his Princess so cold and removed.

"Alex? I said—"

"I heard what you said." She stood absolutely still, her back to him. "What do you expect me to say, Travis?"

"That you will," he said, as if this were all too simple to need explanation.

Her heart, her foolish, foolish heart, which had been oh, so close to melting, quickly began icing over.

"Come back to you, you mean." She swung toward him.

"Yes."

He took a step forward, wishing he could see her eyes but she was pointing the flashlight at him again. His heart gave an unsteady lurch. This wasn't going right. He'd admitted that he loved her, asked her not to leave him. Why wasn't she in his arms? He knew that she loved him. She had to love him.

"No. "

Travis came to a dead stop. "What do you mean, no?"

Alex licked her lips. Don't look at me that way, she thought. As if you really love me, not just want me. Don't, oh don't.

"Princess." He cleared his throat. "Princess, I know I let you down—"

"Is that what you think this is all about?"

"Okay. I hurt you. But I never intended to. When I said you were—that you were more than a mistress to me, I meant that you'd become the center of my life."

"That's nice," she said politely.

Travis's eyes narrowed. What was this? He was putting his heart on the line here and all she could say was...

"Nice? I bare my soul, and you tell me, `That's nice'?"

"I am not coming back to you," she said. Her voice quavered; she told herself not to dare cry. "I hate you, Travis. I hate you!"

"No, you don't."

"Go away. And never come back."

"You're in love with me, Princess."

"In love with...?" She laughed, or hoped the sound she made was a laugh. "Oh, that ego of yours is unbelievable! Why would you think I'm in love with—" The lights blazed on. Alex blinked and looked at Travis. What she saw in his face made her breath catch. "You stay away from me, Cowboy," she said quickly, but it was too late. He was already moving toward her. She took a step back, then another. Her shoulders hit the wall.

"Don't you dare touch me, Travis! Travis? What do you think you're doing?"