The Tycoon's Proposition

Terri picked up the lotion and squirted a mound of the cream into her palm to begin the rubdown.

But when she started to work the lotion into his skin, her hands froze.

Dear God. This man wasn’t Richard!

The burnished, hard-muscled leg did not belong to her ex-husband!

Terri began to tremble. Without hesitation she rushed to his side and bent over him so she could peer into his eyes.

A pain-filled gray gaze stared back at her between dark lashes. There was a frantic urgency in his look she could feel to her bones.

“You poor man,” she whispered in a shaky voice. “All this time everyone has thought you were my ex-husband. No wonder you’ve been so upset.”

The man let out a moan, which she took for a yes.

From boardroom…to bride and groom!

A secret romance, a forbidden affair, a thrilling attraction?

Working side by side, nine to five—and beyond… No matter how hard these couples try to keep their relationships strictly professional, romance is definitely on the agenda!

But will a date in the office diary lead to an appointment at the altar? Find out in this exciting new miniseries from Harlequin Romance^®.

Look out for Rebecca’s next book,

Bride Fit for a Prince (#3740)

The Tycoon’s Proposition
Rebecca Winters

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

“AREN’T you going to invite me in?”

Matt Watkins was a nice-looking divorced guy who’d recently moved to Lead, South Dakota, to manage a busy service station.

Tonight had been their first official date, but already Terri Jeppson knew she could never be interested in him. She sensed he was looking for a wife. It would be better to dash his hopes now.

“I’m sorry, Matt. I start work early in the morning and—”

“You’re still in love with your ex,” he broke in before she could finish, sounding more hurt than angry.

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him her love for Richard had died an early death during their six-year marriage. But she caught herself in time.

“Maybe I am, and it took going out with someone else to realize it,” she said. It was an excuse she felt he could live with. “Please forgive me. I really did have a wonderful time with you tonight. Thank you for dinner and the movie.”

He stared hard at her. “When you think you’re over him, let me know.”

She nodded before shutting her apartment door. Glad the evening had come to an end so she could stop feeling guilty, she walked into the kitchen and automatically turned on her answering machine.

Her job as assistant head of the chamber of commerce meant she received a lot of calls transferred to her apartment after hours. Summer was the busiest time. July was the worst in terms of the swarms of tourists wanting to see Mount Rushmore and vacation in the Black Hills.

While she waited to hear what problems needed troubleshooting tonight, she sifted through the mail she hadn’t bothered to look at earlier.

The first two calls were from her mother and sister Beth who lived in Lead with her husband Tom. Unfortunately Beth had discovered Terri was going out on a date. Her family was so eager for her to meet a man who was “worthy” of her, their interest in her nonexistent love life was transparent. They weren’t going to like it when she told them she wouldn’t be seeing Matt again.

Another message played. “Mrs. Jeppson?” it began, letting her know it had to do with business. She tossed her junk mail in the wastebasket while she listened.

“My name is Martha Shaw. I’m calling from Creighton Herrick’s office at the Herrick Corporation Headquarters in Houston, Texas. Your husband, Richard, was injured in an accident where he’s been working. We’ve been told you should come as quickly as possible. A special family emergency visa has been arranged for you to enter the country.”

Country?

“Since this won’t require you going into the jungle, you won’t need any immunizations. The company will pay for your transportation and hotel. After you hear this message, please phone me at the following number day or night so I can book your flight and make hotel accommodations for you.”

Terri stood there in shock.

She and Richard had been divorced for almost a year, and had been separated six months before that. There’d been no communication between them since their divorce had become final. She’d thought he was out of her life forever.

Why would he have lied about his marital status when she knew he was happy to be a free man with no ties?

As for working outside the U.S., she couldn’t imagine it unless a glazier could make a lot more money somewhere else.

The whole thing was a complete mystery to her, but whatever the explanation, it appeared his condition was very serious, otherwise the company wouldn’t have gotten in touch with her.

After playing back the message so she could write down the phone number, she made the call. It only rang twice before someone picked up.

“Martha Shaw speaking.”

“Hello? Ms. Shaw? This is Terri Jeppson.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad you got my message.”

“Thank you for phoning me. How serious is Richard’s condition?”

“I wish I had those particulars, but I don’t. I’m sorry. One of the staff from the Herrick office in Ecuador phoned the company here in Houston, informing us that your husband had been hurt.”

Ecuador?

“I’m afraid she couldn’t give me any specifics, but that’s not unusual when the work site is miles from the city center. The message would have been relayed through a variety of people to finally reach us.

“After you arrive in Guayaquil, you’re to phone the office there. I’ll give you the number before we hang up. By the time you reach Ecuador, I’m sure they’ll be able to give you a lot more information and tell you which hospital your husband was taken to. The important thing is to get you down there as quickly as possible.”

A few more minutes’ conversation and all Terri’s travel and hotel arrangements had been made. After thanking Ms. Shaw, Terri phoned her boss with the news that she had to take emergency leave.

Ray Gladstone, the head of the chamber of commerce, couldn’t have been nicer about it. He said he’d handle everything while she was gone and wished her a safe trip down.

Then she called her mother and explained what was happening. As much as her parent had disliked Richard for the years of pain he’d caused, her compassion for his being alone and hurt in a foreign country won out. She told Terri she and Beth would look after the apartment in her absence.

With no time to lose, Terri got busy cleaning and packing, all the while reflecting on what a difference one phone call had made. Ages ago she’d relegated Richard to the past. Now suddenly there seemed to be no choice but to fly down and be with him. As her mother had said, it was the charitable thing to do.

Terri’s mind had to stretch back a long way to remember that she’d once been in love with him. Raised in Spearfish, South Dakota, by his aunt and uncle who was a master glazier, Richard had learned the trade well.

It wasn’t until after their deaths that he’d landed a glazier’s job in Lead where he’d met Terri and they’d married. She hadn’t known about his dark side back then.

Little by little it manifested itself as his growing restlessness kept him moving from one work location to another, one state to another. He always wanted more money, a bigger job. She suspected there were other women. He had a drinking problem which he’d tried to hide around her when he came home in-between jobs.

Though she no longer thought about or missed the man who’d been unable to fulfill her as a husband, there was a part of her that would always love the memory of the twenty-two-year-old with the laughing blue eyes who’d asked her to marry him.

As it turned out, he was a man with more charm than substance.

The long separations, his inability to settle down, two devastating miscarriages when he hadn’t been home to help her through either one, all contributed to the breakup of their marriage. Somewhere along the way she’d stopped caring.

But none of that mattered now. Not when he was so far away with no aunt or uncle to comfort him.

Eighteen hours later an exhausted Terri arrived in the city of Guayaquil, populated by upwards of eight million people. The dry climate came as a big surprise. She’d expected a wall of humidity.

After checking into her room at the Ecuador Inn, she immediately rang the number Martha Shaw had given her. The receptionist put her through to one person after another. Finally someone came on the line who told her Richard had been taken to San Lorenzo Hospital. That was all the information they had available.

Terri thanked the person before she took a shower and put on a fresh skirt and blouse. At the bank in the lobby she changed some travelers’ checks into local money, then caught one of the taxis waiting in front of the hotel.

She’d been to Los Angeles and New York on different vacations, but the evening traffic here presented a completely different kind of chaos. She considered it a miracle to arrive at the hospital in one piece. When she found the floor in question, a Dr. Dominguez met her at the nursing station.

As she introduced herself to the older doctor who was doing his evening rounds, his dark gaze flicked over her face and figure with admiring male interest.

In heavily accented English he said, “Your husband will be very happy to see you. According to a local fisherman who brought him into the hospital three days ago, he called for you repeatedly before losing consciousness.

“With no identification on him, I am afraid it took the hospital authorities some time to determine he worked for the Herrick Company.”

“Are you saying he’s still in a coma?” she asked in alarm, not bothering to correct the doctor about the fact that she was no longer Richard’s wife.

“No, no. He awakened at the hospital. His worst problem is his agitation. Now that you have come, he will get the rest he needs.”

“Please, doctor—tell me about his condition.”

“There’s nothing life threatening. He has had the cuts on his face stitched. There are superficial burns on his palms which will soon heal. Once his dislocated shoulder mends, he will be fine. His most painful injury is to his throat. After the accident, he must have swallowed some contaminant in the seawater that made it burn.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Do not worry. The lining is healing nicely, but for the moment it is swollen and he cannot talk. Another few days and the swelling will be gone. Then he will be able to communicate the same as before and tell us exactly what happened to him.

“In the meantime we have swathed his face and head to protect the dressings over the stitches. He was fortunate that the cuts were at the hairline and just beneath the chin, so there will be no disfigurement.

“Depending on a number of factors, he might wish to have some minor plastic surgery done later to the scar below his chin, but I am not sure that will be necessary.”

“May I see him now?”

“Certainly. Keep in mind we’ve left the overhead light off in his room to help him rest.”

Terri nodded.

“Sister Angelica will take you to him.” He turned and spoke in rapid Spanish to the nun who led Terri down the hall to her ex-husband’s hospital room.

Terri had always been frightened of mummies, so when she peered inside and saw what looked like a mummy’s head and torso extending beyond the sheet, she let out an involuntary cry.

His head moved a trifle in Terri’s direction. The sister in her white habit put a finger to her lips as if to warn Terri not to let her emotions disturb their patient again.

Ashamed of her outburst, she nodded to the sister, then moved to the side of the bed.

His right arm was in a sling. There were needles in both arms above the wrists. As for his hands, they looked like they’d been fitted with little white gauze mitts. An oxygen mask covered the nose opening. Just looking at him made her feel as if she was going to suffocate.

“Richard?” she said in a soft voice. “It’s Terri. I flew down here as soon as I was told about the accident.”

She heard a funny little sound come out of him.

“No—don’t try to talk. The doctor said your throat will heal faster if you don’t use your vocal cords. I’m here now and I’ll sit with you as long as you want me to.”

Reaching for the chair, she placed it near the IV stand and sat down. The sister smiled approvingly before leaving the room.

Richard had played football in high school and was six feet of sturdy muscle. With all the bandages, he looked even bigger. A portion of his uninjured left shoulder was the only part of his body she could really see in the dim wall light.

Normally he worked with a shirt on, but she guessed it must have made him feel more macho to take it off. That would explain the bronzelike tan built up over months of exposure under a hot sun.

He made another muffled sound. She watched him lift his left hand from the sheet.

For a man who’d always been so restless both within and without, his suffering had to be extreme. She leaned forward and gently patted his lower leg draped by the sheet.

“The doctor said you’re going to be fine. He thinks any scarring will be so slight, you might not even have to undergo minor plastic surgery. That’s a blessing. You always were a heartthrob.”

She watched his legs stir beneath the sheet. No doubt he was in unbearable pain.

It was bad enough that they hadn’t lived together for at least a year and a half. But to have to meet her former husband under these precarious circumstances made their meeting even more difficult. What did she say to the man who was a virtual stranger to her at this point?

“Dr. Dominguez told me you called out my name several times to the fisherman who saved you. I have to admit it surprised me to learn that you’d listed me as your spouse on your work application.

“I can’t imagine why you did that when we’re divorced. I happen to know you wanted it as much as I did. But I’m not sorry to be here. You shouldn’t be alone at a time like this. My family sends their best wishes. They want you to get well as soon as possible, too.”

He lifted his left arm once more and brushed it against her arm before lowering it again. Perhaps it was his way of thanking her for coming. She didn’t really know.

“As soon as the Herrick Corporation notified me, I took emergency leave from the chamber of commerce to fly here. Ray told me not to worry about anything. He said he hoped you’d have a swift recovery.”

While she tried to think of things to say, her heart went out to him for his helpless state.

“I didn’t realize you’d taken a job in South America. Judging by your tan, it looks like you’ve been here quite a while. According to the doctor, you’ll be able to talk in a few days. Then you can tell me what you need.

“If there are friends you want me to contact, a woman you’ve been seeing, I’ll do whatever I can to help you get in touch with them.”

He made another sound in his throat and tried to lift his head. If anything, she felt as if her presence were disturbing him rather than bringing him a measure of peace.

Afraid to do something wrong that might delay his recovery, she got to her feet.

“You need to rest, Richard. I’m going to go now, but I promise I’ll be back in the morning. I’m staying at the Ecuador Inn and will leave my room number in case the hospital needs to get in touch with me about you before tomorrow.”

At that moment he moaned more distinctly than before. Worried over his reaction, she hurried from the room and rushed down the hall to the nursing station.

A minute passed before she saw the doctor come out of one of another patient’s room. He headed in her direction.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Richard seemed to be more unsettled with me there. He kept trying to talk.”

“It is the excitement of seeing his beautiful wife again.”

Hardly. If that were the case, there would never have been a divorce.

“Knowing you are here will hasten his recovery,” the other man continued.

She shook her head. “Dr. Dominguez? You don’t understand. I’m not his wife.” It was best he know the truth.

The announcement brought him up short.

“We were divorced eleven months ago,” she went on to explain. “Since then I’ve had no contact with him. I didn’t know anything of his whereabouts until the Herrick Corporation got in touch with me.

“Frankly I have no idea why he claimed to be married on his work application. When he’s recovered enough to talk, I’m sure he’ll explain. What’s important to me is that he gets well. But he keeps trying to say something to me, which couldn’t be good for his throat.

“I told him I’d be back in the morning. I’m staying at the Ecuador Inn, room 137. You can reach me there, no matter the hour.”

“Very good,” he murmured, clearly puzzled by the news.

“Doctor? Is he getting enough pain relief?”

“As much as he can tolerate. Perhaps his increased restlessness has been brought on because your presence is a reminder of your broken marriage. Maybe he regrets the divorce and that is the reason why he still claims to be married.

“Sometimes it takes losing something of great value for a man to realize what is really important after all. Have you considered this might be an opportunity for a reconciliation?”

Terri could see where the doctor was going with this, but he would be wrong about the whole situation. Richard wasn’t having second thoughts. There was an entirely different reason why he’d claimed to still be married when he’d accepted a job down here.

As for Terri, she couldn’t resurrect feelings that had been burned out of her. “Dr. Dominguez? Our marriage was over a long time ago. However I still care for him and want him to recover as soon as possible.”

“I want that, too.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She left the floor and took the elevator to the foyer where she asked the receptionist to summon a taxi.

Once back in her hotel room, she rang for room service and ordered dinner. When it arrived, she changed into her nightgown and ate in bed while she talked to her mother and Beth, updating them on Richard’s condition.

Beth suggested Richard might have lied because it was the only way he could get the job. Maybe the Herrick Corporation had a rule about their employees being married if they wanted to work outside the U.S.

It was a possibility Terri hadn’t thought of. Tomorrow she would visit Richard again, then go to the Herrick office and ask more questions. Right now what she craved was a good night’s sleep so she’d be better prepared to deal with the situation in the morning.

But even though she was exhausted, it was hard to settle down. She turned on the television and watched several news programs in Spanish. With the help of her high school Spanish, she was able to figure out some of it. Then she switched to a movie dubbed in Spanish she’d already seen in English, and promptly fell asleep. The television was still on when she awakened at nine the next morning.

Once she’d eaten breakfast in her room, she showered and dressed in another blouse and skirt. After she was ready, she left the hotel and climbed into one of the many taxis waiting out front.

To her delight the temperature outside the hotel wasn’t as high as she would have supposed for July. In fact it felt much better here than in Atlanta where she’d changed planes.

On her way to the hospital, she looked around to get better oriented. Guayaquil was a large South American port city. Its proximity to the ocean, plus the masses of dark haired people speaking Spanish made it a fascinating place to be. With so many beautiful women, she imagined Richard had been enjoying himself here. How sad to think he’d met with an accident that had almost cost him his life.

She knew he liked to fish. Maybe he’d been out in a small boat with his spinning rod when it had happened. Had he gone alone? Was anyone else hurt?

Terri was impatient for answers. But she would have to wait until his throat was healed enough to supply her with details.

Hoping they’d given him something to help him sleep so he’d had a restful night, she hurried down the hospital corridor to his room. The door was ajar. When she peeked inside, she saw a younger doctor standing at the side of the bed unraveling the bandage that was wrapped around Richard’s forehead.

He flashed her a broad smile. “Come in, Señora Jeppson. I’m Dr. Fortuna. We have been expecting you.”

She did his bidding. Evidently Dr. Dominguez hadn’t informed the staff about Richard’s divorced status yet. “If your husband could talk, I’m sure he would tell you he is glad you are here. I have been checking his stitches. The cut under his chin shows no infection.”

At that news, Terri was relieved. She sank down in the chair to watch. The bed had been raised so Richard was sitting up. His oxygen mask had been removed.

In a minute she saw the top of his head. He’d always worn his dark hair marine style, very closely cropped. Since he’d been in South America, it appeared he’d let it grow. She could tell it was at least an inch or two longer now. Maybe even more.

“Ah,” the doctor murmured with satisfaction as he removed the dressing. “Everything looks very good. No one would guess you had a cut there. Stay still while I put on a new dressing. If there’s no infection by tomorrow, you won’t have to wear the head wrap anymore.”

Just hearing those words helped Terri to breathe a little easier. She could imagine Richard felt equally relieved. Confined like that, he had to be going out of his mind. In fact he would probably have ripped off the bandages by now if he’d been able to get at the gauze.

“What about his burns, Doctor?”

“They are much better. Tomorrow we will unwrap his hands and apply a dressing which will free his fingers. I am happy to say that he is breathing at ninety-five perfect capacity and no longer needs oxygen.”

Thank goodness for that. “What about his shoulder?”

“It was an anterior dislocation which is the most common. The surgeon performed a reduction. All your husband has to do now is wear this sling for three or four weeks and he will be fine. To his credit, he is in remarkable shape. Has he always worked out?”

Richard?

“Not since he played football in high school.”

“Then he has been keeping a secret from you. You do not stay this solid without help.”

Maybe he’d been going to a gym for the last eighteen months. She had no idea.

“Is his throat really going to get better?”

“In a few days it will be like new.”

“I’m sorry I sound so impatient.”

“That’s a wife’s prerogative.”

Ignoring his comment she said, “I wish there were something I could do for him right now.”

The doctor finished rewrapping his patient’s head, then lowered the bed so Richard was lying almost flat.

“I can think of one thing.”

“What?”

“You could give his legs and feet a soothing massage with that lotion over on the table. It will relax his whole body and help him to sleep.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Excellent. I am sure your husband is looking forward to such a lovely wife ministering to his needs.”

The doctor was mistaken on that score, but she was equally certain Richard craved any relief from the pain that he could get. If a massage would help, she was only too glad to provide it.

“Tomorrow we will put him in the shower for the first time. That will make him feel really good, too.”

Terri had no doubt of it and thanked him.

“I’m impressed with the wonderful care you’re getting,” she said after the doctor had left the room. “Tomorrow you’ll be stripped of all these bandages. I know you can’t wait. Until then I’ll do as he suggested and try to bring you some comfort.”

She moved over to the table and picked up the lotion, and then walked to the end of the bed. After pulling out the sheet to expose his left leg to the knee, she squirted a mound of the cream in her palm to begin the rubdown.

But when she started to work the lotion into his skin, her hands froze.

Dear God.

This man wasn’t Richard!

The burnished, hard-muscled leg did not belong to her ex-husband! Richard’s legs were shorter, bulkier, hairier; his foot was wider, not as long.

Terri began to tremble. She removed her hands and hurried to the door to turn on the overhead light.

Without hesitation she rushed to his side and bent over him so she could peer into his eyes.

Pain-filled gray eyes stared back at her between dark lashes. There was a frantic urgency in his look she could feel to her bones.

“You poor man,” she whispered in a shaky voice. “All this time everyone has thought you were my ex-husband. No wonder you’ve been so upset.”

He let out a moan which she took for a yes.

Her eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry it took me this long to discover the truth. Last evening when I arrived, Dr. Dominguez told me they were keeping the light off in here so you could sleep. If I’d been able to look into your eyes, I would have known immediately you weren’t Richard.

“The fisherman who brought you in said you called out my name. That means you knew Richard. I assume you were friends or colleagues. Were you both in the accident?”

The stranger lifted his head enough to nod, but it was clearly a strain. Nevertheless it meant he understood her English.

“Lie still,” she begged. “Please don’t exert yourself. Obviously you have family and friends looking for you. They must be in agony wondering where you are.

“I’ll alert the staff right now, then I’ll leave and go straight to the police to find out if the Herrick company or someone else has put out a missing persons report for you. I suppose it’s possible Richard was taken to another hospital in the city.”

This time the stranger shook his head.

She was trying to understand. “If he’s not at a hospital, do you know where he is?”

He nodded again, but the strain on him had taken its toll. His eyelids closed. The unidentified man had to be in grueling pain. She could feel it.

“That’s all right. You sleep while I’m gone. I swear I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She covered his leg and tucked the sheet in place. Then she put the lotion on the table. After turning off the light, she grabbed her purse and tore out of the room.

To her relief the same doctor happened to be at the nursing station down the hall. She took him aside and told him what she’d discovered. He looked shocked and said he’d immediately notify the staff as well as the head of the hospital.

Within a half hour she’d told the same story to Captain Ortiz, an officer at the main police station in Guayaquil. He knew nothing about an accident at sea and proceeded to ask a lot of questions. She gave him a full description of her ex-husband. As for the stranger lying in the hospital bed, there was less to tell about him.

The captain said he would send another officer to the hospital to interview the doctors who were taking care of him. If the police could find the fisherman who’d brought him in, it would answer a lot of questions. At some point he would get back to her either at the hospital or the hotel.

Terri in turn said she would find out where her ex-husband was living. The bandaged stranger had indicated that Richard wasn’t in a hospital. That had to mean he hadn’t been badly hurt in the accident and was convalescing at his apartment or wherever it was that he lived. If she found him first, she would phone the captain right away. He agreed that it sounded like the best plan of action.

After agreeing to stay in close touch, Terri left the police station for the Herrick head office. The taxi driver knew the name and drove her to the heart of the city where he deposited her in front of a complex of buildings, one of which housed the company in question.

A Latin beauty sat at the main reception. When Terri told her she needed some information about one of the employees who worked for the Herrick Corporation, the woman told her she couldn’t give out confidential information.

However as soon as Terri mentioned Martha Shaw, Mr. Creighton Herrick’s secretary, her tone changed. The woman made a quick phone call before looking up Richard’s record on the computer. She gave Terri his address, but there was no phone number listed.

After thanking the receptionist, Terri asked her to call for a taxi. Once that was done, she went outside to wait.

When the driver pulled up in front and she showed him the address, he told her it was located twenty-five miles south of the city and would take close to an hour to get there.

Terri didn’t care about that. She climbed in the back seat and handed him fifty dollars to cover the round-trip. Then she told him to step on it.

He smiled before starting up the taxi to merge with the other cars. The drive turned out to take fifty minutes in the early-afternoon traffic. By the time they reached the city limits, she could tell that the barrios in the outskirts were more run-down.

Eventually he pulled up in front of a small three-story apartment called the Mirador. There was no landscaping to speak of, and a cluster of little children played on the stairs. She asked him to stay put while she went to the door. In case Richard wasn’t there, she needed to be sure she had a ride back into town.

The driver nodded and reached for a magazine to read.