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| Tell Me You Love Me |
February, 2003 Harper Torch ISBN: 0-06-050350-5 |
 When Sheldon Ford walked into her life, Tyanna Montgomery thought she had been carried up to Heaven on the strong wings of a sexy black angel. But when he disappeared, she came crashing down to Earth. Now he's back with some wild tale about going undercover to take down a Miami mob-boss-which means he's either big trouble or flat-out crazy, and Tyanna should let him go. But damn if the man doesn't still make her heart race and her body ache with wanting him!
Sheldon should never have returned-and now he's put his sweet woman in serious danger! But living without Tyanna's loving would not be living. Though she doesn't believe a word of his story, that doesn't make the threat less real-and he'll protect his ebony queen to his last breath. But will she still want him when she realizes that taking a chance on this love means risking a lot more than her heart?
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CHAPTER ONE
Now nearing her car, Tyanna dug into her purse for her keys. And dug a little further. Where were they? She’d gotten rid of her bigger purse, thinking it would be easier to find items in a smaller one. But no. Murphy’s law had to have a hand even in purse issues.
Damn that Murphy anyway.
Just as she was resting her purse on her car so that she could get a better look, a sound got her attention. She whipped her head up and looked over her shoulder. Immediately, she saw the figure standing right behind her.
Her heart pounding, she instantly sprung into action. While turning her whole body, she swung a fist. The punch landed under the stranger’s chin, knocking his head back. Tyanna followed that punch with a quick kick in the man’s abdomen.
The man cried out and toppled backward. With him down, Tyanna reached into her purse and was elated to feel her fingers close around her keys. She scrambled to the driver’s side door and tried get her key in the lock. Her fingers fumbled and the keys dropped to the ground.
She quickly stooped to retrieve them. The man groaned again, and as her hand settled on the keys, something made her pause.
That groan. There was something familiar about it . . .
Her heart pounded harder than it had moments before. And while her brain told her to get in the car and drive away, something else made her slowly stand. Made her slowly turn.
The man was back on his feet, although still hunched over in pain.
And suddenly, Tyanna felt like she was the one who’d just had the wind knocked out of her.
It couldn’t be him.
She stared at the man in the darkness, certain her eyes had to be playing some kind of trick on her. It looked like him. But could it be?
“Sheldon?”
“Yeah,” he replied, then coughed. “It’s me.”
He sounded horrible, like she’d really done some damage. She couldn’t help asking, “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live,” he retorted testily. Then, “What were you trying to do? Kill me?"
Her defenses went up. "Ever hear that it's not polite to sneak up on a lady?"
Sheldon nursed his side as he stared at her. “I didn’t sneak up on you.”
“Oh, really? Then what would you call it?”
He hesitated. “You could have at least tried to see who it was before you became Rambo.”
“At this time of night?” Her voice was full of skepticism. “Aren’t you the one who always told me that wasting a moment could mean your life?”
Beneath the street light, Tyanna saw Sheldon smile. “Very good,” he said. “In fact, I’d applaud you, but I’m trying to hold my liver in place.”
Tyanna actually chuckled. “I’m sorry, Sheldon. I didn’t know it was you. If I had, I wouldn’t have hurt you.” Even though you deserved it.
“Yeah, well. I guess I should be happy you took those self-defense classes I encouraged you to take. But you made one mistake.”
“Oh?”
“You weren’t looking up as you approached your car. I told you before, that puts you at risk of someone sneaking up behind you. Like I did. Take your keys out earlier, and look around as you approach your car to make sure you’re safe.”
“I still got you. And good.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Silence fell between them, and it suddenly hit Tyanna that Sheldon Ford was really here, really talking to her as if no time had passed since she’d last seen him. Her stomach bottomed out as a million questions flooded her mind.
She knew she shouldn’t ask why he was here, why he’d been waiting for her in the shadows; it didn’t matter. But she was curious as hell, and he wasn’t talking.
“What,” she began sarcastically, “you showed up after a year to give me a test in self-defense? To see if I’d taken all your advice?”
“Very funny.”
Sheldon straightened, and Tyanna couldn’t help giving him a sweeping gaze from head to toe. He was dressed in black—not a good thing for a man sneaking around in the shadows if he didn’t want to seem suspicious. But black definitely suited him. He wore a tank top and fleece shorts, the kind of outfit someone might wear to the gym or to go jogging.
Despite the dim lighting, Tyanna’s eyes didn’t fail her as they perused Sheldon’s body. His golden brown skin looked smooth and flawless. His hair was more closely cropped to his oval-shaped face than the last time she had seen him, and it took Tyanna only an instant to decide that she preferred this look. His shoulders were still as broad as she remembered, his biceps still perfectly sculpted. And there was no way she could miss the shape of his strong pecs, even in the darkness.
Sheldon’s black tank top hung over his shorts, but that didn’t obscure the outline of his flat stomach and his narrow waist.
Tyanna’s gaze went lower, and she was almost embarrassed at her reaction to his thighs. Her breath actually caught in her throat, as if she’d never seen the man’s strong thighs before.
Of course, she had. She’d seen every beautiful inch of him . . .
And goodness, the man was still fine. Too fine for his own good.
When she lifted her gaze to his face, she saw him smiling. She quickly looked away.
He said, “It’s good to know you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
Huh? she thought, then remembered what they'd just been saying. She may have used a little humor to lighten the mood, but there was nothing funny about this situation! For seven months, she had been in love with Sheldon Ford. She’d fallen for him hard and fast, and she still wasn’t sure why. Everything she hadn't imagined for herself—like two point five children and baking cookies on a Sunday afternoon—she’d allowed herself to dream about when she’d fallen head-over-heels for him.
Four years ago, Tyanna had seriously dated a guy named Chad who worked at the same restaurant where she had—her first love relationship. She’d been smitten with the dark-skinned brother, but he had never made her feel the kinds of domestic feelings that Sheldon brought out in her. Other than Chad, there had been two other men with whom she’d been fairly seriously involved, but again, neither of those men had made her feel anything close to what Sheldon made her feel.
Characterized by her own family as a wild child, Tyanna had been as surprised as anybody by her domestic fantasies when Sheldon had come into her life.
But he had left her life as suddenly as he had entered it, and he hadn't even had the decency to face her when he’d broken off their relationship. She still remembered the pathetic letter he’d sent her, how she had eagerly ripped it open because she had been so worried about him. Instead of an explanation for his disappearance, he had simply said that things weren’t working out for them and he was moving on.
If they hadn't spent the previous night making wild, explosive love at her place, she might not have been so confused by his disappearance. But they had—their lovemaking was always earth shattering—and she’d been even more devastated by his easy dismissal of her.
She swallowed uneasily as she pushed those thoughts aside. The last thing she needed was to remember how she and Sheldon had connected between the sheets.
“We can stand here all night and play twenty questions,” Tyanna said flippantly. “But I’d rather not. Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing here.”
“I came here to find you.”
Why, was the next question on her tongue, but she held it in check. Instead, she glared at him a good few seconds before saying, “Go to hell.”
She turned back to her car, wishing the door was already open so that she could slip inside and quickly disappear. But it wasn’t, and as she was turning the key in the lock, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She shook it off. “Leave me alone, Sheldon. I’ve had a very long day, and I just need to—”
“Tyanna.”
The rest of her protest died on her lips. Damn. Why did he have to say her name all soft and whispery? Her knees actually went a little weak, and she didn’t need weak right now. She needed the strength she’d built over the last year after he’d abandoned her for no rhyme or reason.
Yet her hand stilled on the key.
“Listen, I know this is a shock—”
“Shock? You call this a shock?”
“All right. Maybe that’s a understatement. The point is, I want to explain a few things.”
“You’re a year too late.”
“I kind of figured you’d say that. And I don’t blame you. But I’m also sure you have questions, and what I have to tell you will explain the last year, why I did what I did.”
I don’t know what possessed him, child, Tyanna could hear his mother saying on one of the occasions she’d visited her after Sheldon had disappeared. He said this woman’s the one for him, and that I need to be happy for him.
She steeled her jaw and faced him. “Things didn’t work out with the new lady, I guess? If you even think you can begin to explain that away . . .”
“What other woman?” he asked. Then, “Oh, that.”
“Yeah,” Tyanna mocked, “that.” Her blood started to boil, and she knew she was close to giving him another one of her self-defense movements—one that would leave him writhing on the ground. “I don’t have time for this.”
Once again, she shoved the key in the lock and turned it. But again Sheldon reached for her, wrapping his fingers around her arm.
“Let me go, Sheldon. Before I top what I did to you a few minutes ago. And if you think I’m joking, go ahead and test me.”
“No,” Sheldon replied firmly, and Tyanna met his gaze. He was looking at her with a serious, yet vulnerable expression.
“I’m not letting go of you yet,” he went on. “Like I told you, I have a lot of things to explain. And even if you get in your car and I never see you again afterward, please, just give me a few minutes.” He paused as he stared at her. “Okay?”
Groaning, Tyanna rolled her eyes. “Somehow I don’t think you’re going to take no for an answer.”
“Smart girl.”
“Fine,” she quipped. “I’ll give you a few more minutes. That’s all.”
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