The Delacourt Scandal by Sherryl Woods Page A

available. You’ll do,” he said.
    Then, because he’d been wanting to do it all afternoon, he drew Maddie to him and kissed her. Thoroughly. More gently than that other sizzling, memorable kiss, but this one turned out to be equally devastating.
    At her stunned expression, he said lightly, “Just giving mother something to think about. She’s bound to be watching out the window.”
    “Oh, sure,” Maddie replied, still looking bemused. She swallowed hard, visibly fighting for composure.
    They had been on the road for several minutes when she turned to him. “You know, I get the feeling you’re her favorite child.”
    Tyler was startled by the observation. “Only because I was the only one there. Mother doesn’t play favorites.”
    “No,” Maddie insisted. “It was in her eyes when she looked at you. I can’t quite describe it. It was as if she were looking at a memory. I know that sounds fanciful, but it’s the only way I can explain it.”
    “You’re imagining things.”
    She finally shrugged. “Maybe,” she said, but she didn’t sound convinced.
    “What did you think of my father?” he asked, hoping he could prod her into revealing why she’d seemed so distant with him.
    “He’s a little intimidating.”
    “Really? He was on his best behavior today. He obviously liked you.”
    She regarded him with a startled expression. “He did? He hardly said two words to me.”
    “If he hadn’t liked you, he would have made mother’s cross-examination seem like a casual chat in the produce section at the market. Now that would have been intimidating.”
    “Men who wield their power like that make me sick,” she said fiercely.
    Tyler stared at her, startled by the intensity of her response. “Hey, what brought that on?”
    “Sorry. It’s just a sore point with me. It has nothing to do with your father,” she added hastily.
    Not for the first time Tyler realized he didn’t believe her. How could he possibly be so fascinated by a woman, so attracted to her, when he knew with everything in him that she was lying through her teeth practically every time she opened her mouth?
    He also knew he wouldn’t rest until he got to the bottom of it, though his precise motivation for that was beginning to be a little murky.

Chapter Six
    W hen Tyler suggested stopping by his place for a drink, Maddie threw caution to the winds and agreed eagerly. She wanted to take another look around, maybe get another chance to question him about that baby picture. She would just have to make sure there were no more kisses. That one in the driveway had come darned close to melting her into a puddle. She’d thought it wasn’t possible to be any hotter than Houston in the summer, but apparently it was.
    Upstairs in his apartment, Tyler flipped on one soft light, poured them each a drink—beer for him, ginger ale for her—then led the way to the small balcony with its incredible view of the Houston skyline. The setting was romantic, the glint in Tyler’s eyes equally amorous. The fact that he’d stocked up on her drink of choice touched her. The yearning inside her was dangerous.
    “Maybe we should go inside,” she said when she felt her already weak resolve disintegrating.
    “Any particular reason?”
    “It’s…umm…it’s a little warm out here.”
    “There’s a nice breeze, though,” he said in an amused way that indicated he knew perfectly well that the heat she was feeling had nothing to do with the weather.
    “Maybe so, but I’m a big proponent of air-conditioning.” Just to be sure he went along with her, she stepped back inside as she said it. Tyler followed.
    Intending to keep some distance between them, she looked around for a chair, then realized that other than some small chairs that went with the dining room table, the only seating available was the large sofa and the far-too-intimate love seat. She opted for the sofa. When he chose the love seat, she breathed a sigh of relief.
    “Are you nervous for