Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars #2)(58)

“And exactly what are you willing to sacrifice to keep that from happening?”

Fingers of dread trailed down her spine. “I don’t have anything to sacrifice.”

“Yes, you do.”

The hard note in his voice undid her. Crumpling her napkin on the table, she stood. “I’d like to go home now.”

“You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

“I don’t see any reason to prolong this evening.”

He got to his feet. “I want to show you my rose garden.”

“I think it would be better if I left.”

He pushed his chair back and came toward her. “I’d like you to see it. Please. I think you’ll enjoy it.”

Although he didn’t raise his voice, the note of command was unmistakable. Once again he was going to have his own way, and she didn’t know how to fight the firm hand that enclosed her upper arm and led her toward the French doors at the end of the dining room. He pushed down on a wave-shaped brass handle. As she stepped outside, the night settled around her like a fragrant steam bath. She smelled the lush perfume of roses.

“It’s lovely.”

He led her along a cobbled path that wound through the flower beds. “I brought in a landscape architect from Dallas to design it, but he wanted everything too fussy. I ended up doing most of the work myself.”

She didn’t want to think about him planting a rose garden. In her experience, gardeners were benevolent people, and she could never view him that way.

They had reached a small koi pond set in a ramble of tall grasses and foliage. It was fed by a waterfall trickling over terraced stone, and recessed lighting illuminated the fat fish as they swam beneath the waxy leaves of the water lilies. She knew he wouldn’t let her leave until he’d had his say, and she sat down on one of a pair of verdigris iron benches decorated with twining grape leaves that provided a resting place beside the pathway.

She crossed her hands in her lap and tried to brace herself. “What did you mean when you asked me what I was willing to sacrifice?”

He took the bench across from her and stretched out his legs. The lights in the pond threw his cheekbones and the bony ridge above his eyes into sharp relief, adding a menacing aspect to his features that further unnerved her. His voice, however, was as soft as the night. “I wanted to know how committed you were to keeping Rosatech here.”

“I’ve lived in this town all my life, and I’d do anything to keep it from dying. But I’m only the president of the Board of Education; I don’t have any real power in the county.”

“Your power in the county doesn’t interest me. That’s not what I want from you at all.”

“Then what?”

“Maybe I want what I couldn’t have all those years ago when I wasn’t anything more than Trudy Sawyer’s bastard kid.”

She was aware of the trickle of the waterfall, the distant hum of the air-conditioning units that cooled the house, and those peaceful noises made his quiet words seem all the more ominous. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Maybe I want the prettiest girl in the sophomore class.”

Dread crept through her, and the night that wrapped around them was suddenly full of peril. “What are you talking about?”

He propped his elbow on the back of the bench and crossed his ankles. Despite his relaxed posture, she sensed a tightly coiled watchfulness about him, and it frightened her. “I’ve decided I need a companion, but I’m too busy running Rosatech to spend the time looking for someone. I want that person to be you.”

Her mouth was so dry that her tongue felt swollen. “A companion?”

“I need someone to attend social functions with, someone to accompany me on trips and serve as my hostess when I entertain.”

“I thought you had a companion. I’ve heard you’re seeing someone in Dallas.”

“I’ve seen a lot of women over the years. I’m looking for something a little different. A little closer to home.” He spoke as calmly as if he were discussing a business agreement, but there was something about him, a heightened sense of alertness, that made her certain he wasn’t as calm as he pretended to be. “The two of us would still be able to live our own lives, but you’d be…” He paused and she felt as if his eyes were burning straight through hers into her skull. “You would be available to me, Suzy.”

The way he lingered over the word chilled her. “Available? Way, you’re not—It almost sounds as if—” She couldn’t hide her horror. “I’m not sleeping with you!”

For a moment he said nothing. “You’d hate that, wouldn’t you?”

She sprang to her feet. “You’re crazy! I can’t believe you’re suggesting this. You’re not talking about a companion; you’re talking about a mistress!”

He lifted one eyebrow, and she thought she had never seen a man so cold, so completely lacking in feeling. “Am I? I don’t remember using that word.”

“Stop toying with me!”

“I know you have an active life, and I don’t expect you to give it up, but sometimes when I need you with me, I’d like you to make concessions.”

Her blood pounded in her ears, and her voice seemed to be coming from very far away. “Why are you doing this to me?”