Текст книги "Game for Anything "

Автор книги: Bella Andre

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Ty's hands were warm around her bottom. She lowered her mouth to kiss him and he was so tender, so careful with her. Finding out that her father was a cheat and her mother was a drunk could have been the perfect grenade to wave in front of her face. He could have used her shame to force her to back off, to cut him some breathing room during the next week.

Instead, he chose this tenuous moment to be kind to her. To "back her up." She nipped at his lips, wondering why she'd ever thought that jocks were nothing but empty, musclebound shells. Because while Ty certainly had looks and charm to spare, he also had more than his share of warmth and understanding.

Pulling her lips away from his mesmerizing kiss, she said, "I'm ready to hear your ideas now." She felt his erection stiffen even further against the back of her thigh. He picked up one of her hands, traced the tops of each of her fingers with his thumb, then turned over her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm.

"I don't think I've thanked you yet for what you did to me last night under the bleachers." Arousal sizzled deep in the base of her stomach. "You don't need to thank me," she said, her words breathless and excited. Something wonderful was on its way.

"I insist on returning the favor." The lack of blood to her brain made her slow to pick up his implication.

"Oh," she finally said. "You want to .. ."

"Tie you up."

The sensual image hit her square in the chest and she gasped.

"Blindfold you."

She licked her lips, wondering how it was possible for her heart to beat so fast.

"Taste you."

She couldn't take her eyes from his, couldn't think of anything but giving herself to Ty, wholly and completely.

Could it be that she was ready to trust him? At least with her body? She wanted to give her sexual self to him fully and completely.

"We don't have much time," she said, desperate now for the release he promised, wishing everyone downstairs at the party would just go home and leave them alone.

Where she'd once looked at two weeks as an eternity, she now saw that it would be over in a flash. She would miss this incredible man very, very much.

He slid her off his lap and laid her down in the middle of her old bed. He got up and locked the door, then shrugged off his blazer and draped it on the back of a chair.

He was a man on a mission, his sole purpose to make her feel good.

As a teenager, she'd fantasized about what it would be like if Ty kissed her, if he held her close. But she'd never come close to feeling this aroused, this revved up.

Then again, she'd never imagined Ty tying her up so that he could take her any way he pleased. He walked into her closet and emerged grinning. Swinging a woven brown leather belt, he said, "This will do nicely for your wrists."

He dropped the belt beside her hip and she sucked in a breath as he undid the knot of his tie. "And this," he said, "is the perfect blindfold."

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Was she crazy? Was she really going to let him do this to her? In her parents' house?

Drunken laughter drifted up through the floor. Didn't her parents realize that people were simply using them for free champagne and caviar, not because they actually liked them?

Perhaps being here with Ty was the perfect way to create a new, final memory in this house. After tonight, her last impression would be of a gorgeous man and the sinful things he'd done to her.

Ty sat down on the bed and his weight tilted the mattress, forcing her closer. He was warm and solid and she didn't hesitate for a second when he slid his silk tie over her eyes and reached beneath her hair to tie it.

Instantly, her remaining senses came to life. She loved his fresh, woodsy scent. The band playing

"The Way We Were" downstairs sounded like the backdrop to their own personal love story. His kiss was minty on her tongue.

She suddenly saw things clearly.

All the sex, the fun, the laughter—it had been more than fooling around. She'd asked Ty to keep their relationship a secret not just because she wanted to keep her professional reputation intact, but because she was afraid that he'd turn on her, like he had before. But he wasn't a teenaged boy anymore. He was a wonderful man.

And maybe, just maybe, she thought as she reached out and laid her hand over his heart and felt its strong, steady beat, he was falling in love with her. fust like she was falling in love with him. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and she knew what he was going to ask.

"Only if you're sure," he said, and she smiled.

"I'm sure," she said and a moment later he had her arms secured to the bed frame, not so tight that it hurt, but just tight enough that she couldn't escape.

Heat and wetness pooled between her legs and her nipples grew hard.

"Now let's see what's waiting for me under here," Ty said, his voice and fingers coaxing a soft moan out of her as he found the zipper on the bodice of her strapless dress and pulled it open.

"You're wearing my favorite thing of all," he murmured as he slid the lace over her breasts, exposing her bare flesh all the way to her rib cage. "Nothing."

Instinctively, she arched her back, hoping he would touch her soon, kiss her, run his tongue over her nipples. He cupped her breasts with both hands and pushed them together, so that when he began to lick her, he could pay attention to both nipples at once.

She'd thought that giving her body to Ty in this way was going to be a gift for him, but it was turning out to be a gift for herself too. She'd dug out her sexiest, skimpiest panties from the back of her lingerie drawer, and tonight she was wearing just a scrap of white silk and lace beneath her white dress. He pulled her dress over her stomach and blew out a long breath. "Every time I take your clothes off, I think I'm going to be prepared, and every time I'm wrong."

He covered her mound, silk and all, with his mouth, and his hot tongue lapped long strokes against her lips, pushed at her sex, returning again and again to her clitoris. She pulled hard against her bindings, but she couldn't break free, couldn't get close enough to his perfect mouth. Then, thank God, he pushed aside the expensive silk and slipped one thick finger inside her. His tongue met her bare flesh and he flicked it against her clit again and again, first light and then hard, then softly again. She was desperate for release, desperate to come against his mouth. All it took was the slightest touch of his thumb and forefinger on her nipples for her orgasm to take over, from head to toe. Before she could fall back down to earth he put his hands on her back, said, "Trust me," and shifted her wrists over each other, turning her around so that she was on her knees and shins, her breasts pressed into her bed frame.

Was this really her in bed with Ty? Blindfolded, tied to a bed, up on her knees, waiting for him to take her? Desperate for it?

His hands were on her again, his fingers sliding against her pussy lips, her clit, slowly making their way over her stomach, the bottom of her rib cage, her breasts. Just when she didn't think she could wait another second, she felt the hot head of his penis pushing into her, stretching her wide, branding her with the feel of him.

One hard thrust was all it took for her to hit the peak again, and she rocked her ass into his pelvis, wanting to take him deeper, as deep as he could go. His hands were rough now, no longer the gentle lover. He'd given her what she'd so desperately needed, and now he was taking his pleasure in her body. In this moment, with a belt around her wrists and a silk tie covering her eyes, Julie felt utterly complete. She'd never think about her parents' house the same way again. And she had Ty to thank.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

An hour later, Ty nodded absently to the fan talking his ear off. He was watching Julie standing with what he guessed were family friends. Too thin, too brittle, and you could smell their unhappiness from a mile away, even though it was dressed in designer clothes.

Julie didn't look nearly as pale as she had pre-romp, but her mouth was still tight, and the tendons in her arms and neck were rigid.

He was worried about her, hoping like hell that their little romp upstairs had helped some. Ty knew with absolute certainty that she would have done the same for him, had his drunk-off-his-ass father been around.

Most of the women who came on to him were looking for not only a good time in the sack, but also a white knight to rescue them from their ordinary lives. He'd always made sure that he didn't make the mistake of getting someone pregnant, of getting into something that he couldn't easily get out of. Early on, he'd learned to look after number one. His teammates came next. There hadn't been room for anyone else.

Until now.

It was funny how fucked up everything had seemed in high school. Julie had been everything he wanted and knew he could never have, simply because they were so different. But it turned out they weren't different after all. Because when you took away the old money and the new mansions and the trailer parks and the Super Bowl rings, all you were left with were two kids with parents who should never have signed up for the job.

Julie was the first woman he'd been with who wasn't expecting him to rescue her. And frankly, he wasn't sure she'd accept his help if he offered it.

The crazy thing was, Ty wanted to take care of her. He wanted her to know she could look to him for support, even if it was nothing more than two socialites who had her pinned to the wall and wouldn't let her go. There was nothing he'd rather do than drop everything and ride in to rescue her, nowhere he'd rather be.

The middle-aged man in front of him finally got to the end of his story about a game Ty'd won six years ago. Ty shook his hand. "Great talking with you. If you'll excuse me." He kept his eyes trained on Julie as he walked across the living room, making it clear that he was temporarily off duty to the guests who were waiting to meet him.

She looked up at him a moment before he reached her side and gave him a smile that said, "Thank God you're here."

In that moment, Ty wanted to do more than rescue her; he wanted to claim her. Publicly. He wanted everyone to know how much she meant to him, especially her parents and their annoying, arrogant friends.

"Hello, ladies," he said smoothly as he moved next to Julie and pulled her gently against him. She stiffened in his arms and shot him a fierce look, which he ignored. Both ladies' eyes widened in sudden comprehension and Ty swallowed the sour taste of guilt.

"We were just telling our little Julie how jealous we are that she gets to work with professional athletes. If I had known about the perks I would have gone into her line of work too." The ladies giggled like teenagers.

Ty rubbed his thumb over the sensitive skin inside Julie's elbow. She was pissed at him; he could feel it in the way she held herself.

On a positive note, though, he'd bet she wasn't thinking about her parents anymore. Putting on his best aw-shucks voice, he said, "Jocks aren't always easy to be around. It takes one hell of an image consultant to make us look good. We're mostly thinking about our muscles and the game."

"And big breasts," Julie muttered.

One woman frowned. "Excuse me, dear, what was that you just said?" Ty turned slightly and brushed an invisible speck off Julie's temple, which surprised her enough to keep her mouth shut for a second.

"She was saying we sweat a lot too."

Julie's blue eyes shot fire at him and he realized it was time for drastic measures. The band had just started playing a slow Sinatra tune and the dance floor was filling up.

"Excuse us. Julie promised me the first dance of the evening," he said, leading her away before she could disagree with him.

He pulled her into the center of the dance floor even though she'd made it very clear to him right from the start that she wasn't going to dance with him at parties, lest anyone misinterpret their relationship.

"What the hell are you doing?" she hissed into his ear.

"Dancing," he replied, even though he knew a smart-ass reply would just wind her up more. A muffled curse reverberated against his chest. "People are looking at us. Getting ideas." He pulled her closer and inhaled the scent of their lovemaking that clung to her skin. His cock reared up in his pants.

"I know. Let 'em look."

She looked at him, and where he expected anger, he saw confusion instead. He wanted to say something that would help her understand where he was coming from. Only problem was, he couldn't figure out how to string a coherent sentence together. Not when her curves were pressed against him and he was ready to run back upstairs for high-school-fantasy-night, part two.

"Ty," she said softly, "everyone is going to think we're together. You're acting like I'm your girlfriend, not a hired consultant."

Ty couldn't go on playing this game anymore. He wanted her. She wanted him. It was time for them to be together. For real.

"Then they're thinking right."

She sucked in a breath and two spots of red colored her cheekbones. "We had an agreement. This thing is supposed to be a secret. No strings, right?"

She pushed out of his arms and waded through the guests. He followed close behind her, out the french doors, down the steps, past a pond, onto a path that lead through a thick hedge. When they were far away from everyone else, he reached for her and spun her around. She was breathing hard and her anger was alive between them.

"How dare you?" she spat. "You of all people should know how hard it is for me to be here, in my parents' house, with everyone watching me. After what you just did, everyone is going to be talking about how sad it is that I let myself have a crush on you, the big superstar. That you'll dump me cold at the first sight of a new pair of overinflated breasts."

She slapped his hands away from her waist.

"Ever since I've been working with you, I've barely been maintaining my professional reputation. Do you want me to have to start all over again? Is that what this is all about?" His heart thudded in his chest. She was dead wrong about him. About his motives.

"I love you."

Her eyes grew big and he knew she needed to hear it again. And he needed to say it again, to let the truth sink into his bones.

"I love you, Julie."

She stumbled back a step, sat down hard on a stone bench, and he kneeled at her feet. She wouldn't look at him. He held her cold hands between his.

"I know we had an agreement," he admitted. "But things have changed." She lifted her chin, blinked at him. "How? How have they changed? You're still you and I'm still me." He moved to sit next to her on the bench. "At first we were playing a game of cat and mouse. We both wanted to see who would win. But that's not where we are anymore."

"Just because you like having sex with me doesn't mean you love me."

"I've liked having sex with lots of people."

Her eyes shot fire at him again. "Thanks for the reminder."

"But I haven't loved any of them." He brushed his thumb across her lower lip. "Just you." She leaned into his hand the slightest bit, and the vise grip around Ty's heart eased up.

"You've caught me off guard," she whispered. "I don't know what to think."

He pulled her onto his lap, then pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Trust me," he said against her soft mouth "We're going to be great together."

Julie's head was spinning. It was just like Ty to spring the word love on her. One minute he was helping her forget all of her old fears, and the next, so many new doubts were piling on top of each other. What about how deeply he'd hurt her before?

What about the throngs of beautiful women who waited for him at every game, outside his locker room, and on the lounge chairs around his swimming pool?

For so long, she'd held herself back from pleasure because she'd been so afraid of being hurt again. What if this was her one and only chance to really be happy?

Maybe it was time to take a chance—to let herself be with a man who said he loved her. And then, if things continued to go well—if he didn't leave her and she didn't lose all of her business because everyone thought she was a sucker for falling for a rich playboy quarterback—maybe she could even tell him how much she'd always loved him.

But for now, she'd just let herself fall into the net he was offering. All she knew for sure was that she loved the feel of his strong arms around her, his muscular thighs beneath hers. Just sitting on his lap made her wet and hungry for him.

She said, "Love me, Ty," and it seemed like she'd hardly drawn a breath before he'd repositioned her with her dress up around her hips and her legs wrapped around his waist. His fingers moved between them and she loved the way his knuckles brushed and teased her clit as his undid his zipper and pulled his cock free. A fresh wave of arousal flooded her as he slid on a condom, the thick head of his hard-on less than an inch from her pussy lips. And then he was sliding inside of her, huge and thick and hot. His hands were on her ass, pulling her up on his cock and then back down, harder and faster. She rode the long wave of her budding orgasm, everything inside of her wanting to believe he loved her.

That he would always love her.

As his thumb found her clitoris, he pushed her up and over the crest, and whispered, "I love you." The words lingered in her head long after her climax had subsided.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Julie barely registered her phone ringing the following morning as Ty stirred beneath her, mumbling something about leaving the damn phone off the hook from now on. She felt so wonderful with her head cradled in the crook of his arm, his heartbeat rhythmic and soothing in her ear. But after years of being the ultimate professional, she couldn't ignore the telephone. What if there was a fire she needed to put out for one of her clients?

And what, the warning voice in her head asked in a much louder voice, if the fire was in her own bed? Suddenly Julie was wide awake. She scooted up in bed and pulled the duvet up over her naked breasts. She knew it was ridiculous, that no one but Ty could see her right now. Still, as she reached for the phone she brushed her hair back from her eyes and straightened her spine.

"Julie Spencer," she said in as crisp a voice as she could manage on approximately three hours of sleep.

"Honey, I'm so happy for you!"

Julie's mother had never called her this early in the morning. Usually, she was in bed until late morning, due to one drink too many.

Fear shot up Julie's spine. What was going on?

"Thanks, Mother," she said in a falsely calm voice. "Do you mind my asking what you're so happy about?"

Her mother sighed. "Oh Julie, you always did hold your cards too close to your chest." Julie didn't say anything, just waited for her mother to get to the point.

"You found your prince charming, sweetie! None of my friends can stop talking about how gorgeous he is. And the way he looks at you makes me wish I was young and beautiful again." This was the point where Julie would have usually said something like, "You're still beautiful, Mother," but today the words just weren't there.

"It's no big deal," she said, wishing her mother wouldn't get so excited about her budding relationship with Ty. If things between them didn't work out, she didn't want to have to console her mother in addition to herself.

"Every mother wants to see her daughter fall in love with a strong, wonderful man. Not to mention filthy rich. I can't wait to see more of Ty!"

Her mother's giggle grated on Julie's sleep-deprived nerves, but before she could figure out a civil, nice-daughter response, her call waiting beeped.

"I've got a work call on the other line, Mother. I have to go." Julie clicked over.

"Good morning Miss Spencer," came Bobby's slow drawl."! hear you're taking special care of my number one boy."

Oh, God. "Ty's been doing great," she said in as crisp and professional a voice as she could manage, considering her client's "number one boy" was in her bed. Ty looked at her from beneath the arm over his eyes. "Who is it?" He sounded sleepy, lazy, and utterly unconcerned.

She shook her head, put her finger over her lips, and mouthed, "Bobby." Ty shifted onto his hip and the sheets slid from his torso, leaving a mouthwatering expanse of his skin and muscle.

"Who?"

She covered the mouth piece tighter. "Shh!" But it was too late.

"Now isn't this convenient? The two people I want to talk to are already gathered in one room."

"Bobby, I—" she began, but Ty had already bounded up out of the bed and grabbed the extension in her office next door.

"Hey, boss. You need something this fine morning?"

Ty's drawl was a match for Bobby's, even without the thick southern accent.

Julie felt like she was going to throw up. Or hyperventilate.

"You and your pretty lady just sit tight. I'll be right over." Julie's mouth opened. Then closed. Finally, she pushed a "Wonderful" out just before Bobby hung up on them both.

She flew out of the bed. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

Ty stood against the doorframe. "I never thought I'd hear you say that word once, let alone three times." He raked his gaze up, then down, her bare skin. "And it's a bonus that you're naked." Julie growled, then dashed into the bathroom. She threw her hair up into a bun and walked into a wall of cold water.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Of course she'd figured people would be interested in finding out more about her, the woman who had captured Ty's heart. She'd planned on setting up a meeting with Bobby first thing Monday morning to present her revised plan for the final week of her contract. But she'd gotten so caught up in Ty's "I love you" that the part of her brain that had always put her business first had stopped functioning altogether. In typical Ty fashion, he waited until steam started to rise from the shower to get in. Julie dropped the soap and then her razor. She couldn't stop shaking.

"Everything's going to be fine," Ty said.

"What do you care?" she accused. "You're not going to be fired." He shrugged. "Isn't that why they hired you? To turn me into a good boy so they wouldn't have to fire my ass?"

She flipped off the tap and roughly dried herself off with a towel. Ty gently took it from her.

"Why don't you let me do that, before you scar that gorgeous skin of yours?" What was she going to say to Bobby about her relationship with Ty? How could she possibly spin things so it looked like she was still doing her job? Because quite frankly, Julie wasn't at all sure that she was anymore.

Having sex countless times a day with a hot pro football player definitely wasn't listed by the IRS as "gainful employment."

"Now look," Ty said in a voice meant to calm her. "We haven't done anything wrong. You've worked your fine ass off to reform me, and even from my perspective I can see that you've done a fine job." She wasn't in a smiling mood, but it was nice hearing that she'd been successful at taming a wild mustang, straight from the horse's mouth.

"I don't recall seeing any contract that said you and I couldn't date." She bit her lip. "True."

"Being with a successful, beautiful woman like you makes a guy like me look good. Bobby's not stupid, even if he pretends he is. He'll see that my being with a babe like you is an asset." Julie wasn't sure what was worse. The fact that the man she was relying on to pay a boatload of her bills was about to pound on her door, or that her boyfriend was a jerk who actually referred to her as "a babe like you."

She spun away and reached for the first thing in her closet. What the hell had she been thinking being with a guy like Ty? Then she realized he was chuckling.

"Can't you take anything seriously for one second?" she yelled.

"Admit it," he said, "you're not thinking about Bobby anymore, are you?" She shoved him on the bed. "So all that 'your fine ass' and 'babe, you're an asset' stuff was merely a ploy to take my mind off of this horrible situation? You didn't say it because you're stuck in the fifties and can't stop picturing me in the kitchen with an apron on?"

"Better I'm with you than a stripper, right?"

Julie dragged a comb through her hair. She hated that he was right, hated that she was exactly the kind of woman she would have set Ty up with.

She'd brushed mascara over her pale lashes just as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Ty said, walking through her house as if he owned it. Julie let him go. If ever there was a morning for bright red lipstick, this was it. She emerged from her bedroom just as Ty opened the door.

"They've got great coffee on the corner, don't they?" Ty greeted his team's owner.

"I'll have to come back another time and find out."

"I'll brew a pot," Julie said, gesturing for Bobby to take the plush seat facing the park. Bobby waved away her offer. "A lovely offer, but unnecessary. Why don't you both sit down."

Julie was amazed by how quickly Bobby took control of everyone around him. She felt like an intruder in her own house, like she should see herself out when he was done reading her the riot act. She sat down on the hardest chair in her living room and primly crossed her legs, keeping her expression warm but closed. She wasn't stupid enough to frame herself for high crimes and misdemeanors. Ty, of course, flopped down on her sofa and kicked his legs up. Not a care in the world, that was always his game.

Bobby looked utterly at ease. "It's come to my attention," he said, "that you are no longer a man about town, Ty."

Ty grinned. "Julie's making an honest man out of me."

Julie bit down on the inside of her lip. Anything she'd say now would only make it worse. Maybe if she just sat here and smiled, everything would play out fine between Ty and his boss. And maybe cows would start flying soon.

"Hard to believe a smart gal like you would fall for a pro ballplayer," he said to her. "Especially my number one boy over here."

"You must not know Ty very well," she retorted, unable to toe the party line for the first time in her career. "He's more than just a ballplayer. More than just a commodity." Bobby looked back and forth between the two of them and smiled widely.

"True love is a blessed thing."

Julie glanced at Ty, shocked to find him nodding, even though he'd sworn his love to her just twelve hours ago.

"Sure is," he said and Julie forced herself to smile.

Bobby stood up. "I feel much better about everything now that I've confirmed the rumors about the two of you."

Julie stood and smoothed her skirt, more than happy to see Bobby to the door. That hadn't been bad at all. He hadn't yelled at her or fired her.

He stepped out into the hallway, then turned to face her with one final thought.

"But I hired you to clean up my boy's reputation, not to use him as your personal boy toy. Couldn't be better timing, making an honest man out of him before the season starts. I'll expect to see the announcement of your engagement ASAP."

Julie watched him walk away, trying to catch her breath.

In one short week, her entire world had imploded. Then again, she'd never been in such an intense relationship, one that overshadowed everything else.

The last thing she expected to see upon returning inside was Ty on her living room carpet doing an impossibly fast set of push-ups. She'd watched him work out in the gym for a week now, but he'd never moved with such intensity and speed.

He was panting loudly and his shirt was soaked with sweat, but he didn't let up, didn't stop moving even though his lungs and muscles had to be on fire.

Sweet Lord, he was the sexiest thing to ever drip on her carpet.

Ty glanced up at her. "Ninety-eight. Ninety-nine. One hundred." He rolled over onto his back and curled his legs into his chest as he sucked in air. "I'm afraid the push-ups didn't work. I'm still going to have to kill the bastard."

Julie had to ask, even though she didn't really want to know the answer. "Why?" Ty rolled out of the fetal position and grabbed her hand, pulling her down on the rug with him.

"I don't give a shit if he treats me like a two-year-old. But like hell if he's going to ever disrespect you again."

Julie shook her head. "It doesn't bother me," she lied. "Sometimes clients like to feel like they're smarter than you, like they have the upper hand. It's no big deal." But it was. Julie never would have put up with this kind of treatment from anyone else. The worst part was, deep down she knew exactly why she was letting herself play doormat: because the only other choice—resigning from the account with her pride intact—wasn't a choice at all. Not if it meant sending Ty back to his old life and returning to hers.

"We're not going to get married because some power-hungry ass wipe told us to," he said. Julie tilted her head down, stared at a piece of lint and worked like hell to fight back the sudden tears pooling behind her eyes.

"Of course we're not. He's just talking crazy."

They weren't going to get married. Not this week or next year. She knew that, had always known it. So why was she getting so upset about it?

Ty ripped off his damp shirt, balled it up, and threw it on the coffee table.

"I'm saying this all wrong, Julie."

Desperate to lighten the tension in the room, she said, "You did the right thing, not killing him. I don't know how much football they let you play in prison."

He grinned, but it was gone in a flash. "I don't give a crap about football right now. We need to talk about us. About getting married."

Her breath caught in her throat.

"When I ask you to marry me, it sure as hell isn't gong to be because my boss made me." When I ask you to marry me? Thank God she was sitting down.

"You and 1 need to settle this, figure out what we're doing," Ty continued. "Bobby's right about one thing: We need a game plan."

He was right. They needed a game plan not only for their private relationship, but their public one as well.

She needed to start working things out on paper. Which media outlets to call, which writer to give an exclusive to, an emergency meeting with her staff to fill them in and let them know the official comment. She jumped up. "Before you or I talk to anyone else, I need to draft a press release and get it out." Ty smiled. "Looks like the image consultant I love has found her way back into the building."