Mistaken Identities by Tressie Lockwood, Dahlia Rose Page A

Should he confront her about the conversation or let it go for now? He had already invaded her privacy with the investigator, and of course the past, as she said, still lay between them. Last night had been good— very good. What he wanted was to continue things where they were, and if a confrontation came about later, so be it. For now, he would let things flow.
    He turned back to the bathroom door and opened it this time. Tonya jumped on seeing him, and he caught the guilt in her brown eyes. Temptation to bring up her conversation washed over him, but he wrestled for control and smiled. Drawing her into his embrace registered more surprise in her face, and he didn’t regret his decision.
    He raised her chin and kissed her lips. “Spend the day with me.”
    A spark ignited in her eyes, but then she pulled away. “Don’t you ever work?”
    “I promise you a good time.”
    “Is that a no?”
    He chuckled. “I’m the boss.”
    She raised an eyebrow at him, but he could feel that she intended to give in. “So you neglect your duties and leave all the hard work to the employees?”
    “Are you turning me down?”
    “I don’t know…”
    He zipped her off her feet to hold against him. She squealed and squirmed.
    “Stop it, Gray. You’re naked.”
    “You didn’t complain last night.”
    “I’m not complaining now.”
    He pressed his lips close to her ear. “Mm, maybe we should stay in all day.”
    “You’re trying to kill me, sir, and I’m not having it.” She protested, but he saw the interest. After a few moments, he set her on her feet. If she decided to stay, it would be with a clear head. She turned and stepped back into his arms, and he welcomed the soft body aligned with his. “Okay, why not? I don’t have anything else to take care of. But I don’t want to lay in bed all day—well, not all day.”
    He grinned and smacked her ass.
    She pretended to protest and then asked, “What will we do?”
    “How does a helicopter ride sound?”
    Her mouth fell open. “Come again?”
    “As I said, I promise a good time. Wait and see.”
    Grayson had taken ladies up in the helicopter before, but there was no one he wanted there more than Tonya. He had his license to fly, but he would forego it this time to make sure he could hold her if she became too afraid. He didn’t want to have to focus on piloting the craft, but rather on her.
    The sightseeing tour would consist of a forty-minute helicopter ride around the Lake Wylie area. He would show her a few sights in the Charlotte area like Carowinds, the Ballantyne area, the nuclear power plant, and of course, the lake. Afterward, he planned to take her to lunch.
    While he sped along the freeway, he considered his plan. “Would you rather take the Lake Wylie tour or the one that departs from the rooftop deck of the Charlotte Plaza Uptown Hotel?”
    “What’s the difference?” Her fingers curled into her palms on her lap, and he reached across to take one hand in his.
    He told her about the sights with the Lake Wylie tour. “The one from the hotel is shorter, only fifteen minutes. We could also do Lake Norman, which has five hundred miles of shoreline, but that’s also a fifteen minute trip.”
    “Um, I think Lake Norman sounds great.”
    He grinned. “Fifteen minutes?”
    She laughed. “What? I’m nervous. I’m excited, but scared out of my wits.”
    “Soooo, you won’t let me pilot you?”
    She blinked at him, and he kissed her fingers.
    “I’m serious. I can pilot a helicopter.”
    “You trained for it?”
    He burst out laughing. “Of course. Tonya, I wouldn’t risk your life. Not for anything.”
    Her gaze shifted away from his, and she bowed her head. He thought she would free her hand from his grip, but she let him hold it as they continued down the road. In the last few years, and even before she left, he’d never felt so positive and full of hope. Yet in spite of it, the niggling of the past came in. His feelings for her were clouded,