A Place to Belong

Downstairs, Janice took one look at her brother and burst into laughter. If the glare he gave her hadn't been so intense, she wasn't sure when she would have quit laughing. As it was, she tried to compose herself.

"Isn't that the same clothes you had on yesterday, dear brother?" Janice asked, trying to act coy.

Ty just glared even harder.

"Oh, come on, Ty! Tell me you didn't enjoy yourself!" Janice goaded.

But when Janice looked into Ty's eyes, she saw something there that stopped her teasing. "Ty? Are you ok?" she asked.

"Why does everybody keep asking me that?" Ty practically yelled. "I'm fine -- and I'm going home! I'll be back when you see me." And with that, he stormed out of the hotel.

Later that morning, when Marti arrived at the front desk to check out, Janice tried to stop her. "The convention has two more days! What do you mean, you are leaving early?" Janice asked in somewhat of a panic. Ty hadn't come back and if Marti left before he saw her, Janice wasn't sure what he would do. He might not have been in the mood to talk earlier, but she had a feeling he would be wanting to talk soon -- and he would be wanting to talk to Marti!

"I'm sorry Janice. My employees managed to stab me in the back yesterday and I can't just sit back and let that slide. I have to go home and deal with the issue at hand," Marti said, trying to sound matter of fact. She was longing to ask about Ty, assuming that Janice would know him since he was the bartender in the hotel she managed. But Marti couldn't figure out a way to keep from getting Ty in trouble. So she simply signed the check out slip, picked up her bag and walked out of the building where so much of her life had changed.

Looking down at the registration form in her hand, Janice smiled. At least she knew where to send Ty when he did show back up!

Ty Stewart stood looking out the window of his sprawling ranch style house. But he didn't see any of the sights before him. All he could see was images from the night he had just spent in some stranger's arms. What could he have been thinking?

Ty had gone over the events of the previous evening almost non stop since his eyes had first opened this morning. Best he could figure, his dear sister Janice had set him up -- insisting that she had no one else who could deliver the room service tray and that the food would get cold. Hell, the food never even got touched.

Once Marti had opened the door, Ty had known that he had to kiss her. He wanted to run away. He told himself to hand her the tray and get the hell away from her. But when she opened the door wide and indicated that he could come in and sit the tray down, his body had betrayed him and he had walked right into her room.

And it was in Marti's room that Ty's life had taken a tailspin. Now he was standing here, staring into space wondering what in the world he was supposed to do next. His thoughts raced round and round in circles, never coming to any solid conclusions on that subject.

It wasn't that Ty didn't have any ideas about what he wanted to do next. He had plenty. He wanted to get back on his motorcycle, drive back into town, go back to the hotel, march back up to Marti's room and ravish her again and again. Ty also wanted to stop by the front desk at the hotel and strangle his sister with her all too knowing smile. Ty snorted to himself as he realized that he was just about as likely to do one of those plans as the other. And it looked like neither would be happening anytime too soon. Ty continued to stare blankly as the midday skies darkened above him and thunder began rumbling in the distance.

Marti Hampton wasn't fairing much better in her own quest to concentrate. She had managed to drive the hour it took to get back to her own apartment, but after unpacking her car, she found herself wandering aimlessly around. For some reason, the place that she had called home for the past ten years, suddenly didn't feel very comfortable. In fact, it was downright stifling. Finally, in desperation, Marti grabbed her car keys and headed toward her beloved hosiery mill -- surely the familiarity of her first love would chase away the memories of last night.

When Marti pulled up at the mill, she was surprised to see a car parked in her dad's parking space. Although the space wasn't officially marked, everyone knew that Marti's dad had parked his car in the same spot for as long as anyone could remember. And even though Hugh Hampton was now officially retired and no longer owner of Hampton Hosiery, the spot still sat empty if Hugh wasn't parked in it.

Frowning, Marti walked in to check with the receptionist about who would have the audacity or the ignorance to park in such a sacred spot. But the receptionist wasn't at her desk. Shaking her head and resolving to work it out as soon as she could, Marti pushed open the door to her office.

For a moment, Marti felt like she was caught in a time warp. After her father had retired, he had insisted that she move into his office. But Marti found herself still expecting to see her dad sitting in the chair behind the big desk every time she opened the door.

And this time when she opened the door, that was exactly where her dad was - sitting right where Marti expected him to be! But he wasn't supposed to be here -- he was on a cruise. Wasn't he?

"Daddy???" Marti asked in shock.

Jumping up and circling the desk quickly, Hugh Hampton grabbed Marti up into a bear hug. "Baby girl! You look . . . " Hugh's booming voice trailed off as he actually looked Marti in the face. "Well, you look . . . how do you look Marti?" Hugh finally asked, confusion evident in his voice.

"Daddy," Marti said sternly, "What are you doing here?"

Hugh Hampton grinned his million dollar grin and sheepishly said, "I was just checking up on how you were getting along . . . "

"Who called you and told you?" Marti asked with her hands upon her hips.

The look on Hugh's face told Marti that her suspicions were right -- someone had called Hugh about the incident at the trade show the day before. It irritated Marti that Hugh didn't trust her abilities enough -- that he had hightailed it right back to make sure everything was handled appropriately.

Marti was so caught up in her feelings of annoyance that she totally missed the huge smile that split her daddy's face. But his words brought her back to reality and made her realize that she was wrong about the reason for Hugh's presence. "Steve Benedict called me! I've never been more proud of you in my life!" And with that, Hugh picked Marti up and swung her around and around.

By the time Hugh sat Marti back on her feet, Marti was giggling. "Oh, Daddy! You should have been there. It was so . . . well, I'm just not sure what the right word is. But what about your cruise and where is your bride?"

Marti stared in wonder as the blush stole up her father's cheeks. The man was so in love with his new wife that every time someone mentioned her existence, he blushed. Marti listened as her father explained that he and Katie had grown tired of the trip after a few countries and had headed back home They had actually gotten back home on the first night of the trade show and he had been planning on driving up to surprise Marti the next day.

"However, now I don't have to do that! Cause you managed to bring the show home -- in a most authoritative way too from what I understand!" Hugh finished brightly.

Although Hugh was handling the whole situation well, Marti knew that he had a great deal of concern about the hosiery mill. He had built the company up from the ground and Marti was certain that he didn't want to see if suddenly fail due to his daughter's incompetence. It was comforting that her own welfare came first to her father, but she was realistic enough to realize that the mill ran a close second.

"Dad, I hope you aren't too upset about what I did," Marti began after sitting down on the couch in the corner of her office. Hugh sat down beside her and Marti continued, "I did what I thought was right under the circumstances. But, Daddy, I really didn't enjoy it."

Hugh smiled warmly, "It isn't all fun and games, darling. I am proud of you for handling the situation and not letting it get out of control. And I know it was hard. Sometimes it is like that."

Marti and Hugh talked for the next half hour, planning strategy for the meeting Marti had called for her employees in her office the following morning. They decided that Hugh would not come to the meeting, since that might cause some of the employees to think that Marti wasn't really completely in charge. But Hugh had dealt with tough issues before and Marti welcomed his input on how to handle this situation.

It was getting close to supper time before Marti and her dad's discussion began to wind down. Marti glanced at her watch and realized that she was keeping her dad from his beloved Katie. "Dad! You better get home- Katie will be worried about you," Marti said.

Hugh smiled broadly at Marti. "Thanks, hon. I do need to be getting back. Remember that I am proud of you -- you are doing a great job." As he turned to go, Hugh seemed to remember something. Turning back to Marti, he frowned, "Marti, when you first came in here, you had a look on your face. It was a look I've never seen on you. Did anything else happen at the trade show? Something you aren't telling me about?"

Marti's breathe caught in her throat. Almost an hour had passed since she had let any thought of Ty Stewart cross her mind. She had stayed focused on her company and refused to give in to the memories calling for her attention during the past 60 minutes. But with her dad's question, the floodgates threw themselves open and everything from the night before came rushing to the front of Marti's mind.

A blush stole up Marti's own cheeks as she lowered her eyes from her dad's. "No, dad," Marti lied. "Nothing happened."

It was fairly obvious that Hugh Hampton did not believe his daughter from the look on his face. But it was equally obvious that he wasn't going to push her on the matter. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "Well, if you need to talk about anything, you know where to find me." And with a quick kiss on Marti's forehead, Hugh headed out of the building.

Marti sighed in resignation. She had really hoped that the power of her hosiery mill would keep thoughts of Ty at bay. But it hadn't worked out that way. Now she was sitting in her office, knee deep in plans for her company and how she was going to deal with all the pieces of that puzzle, and all she could think about was the way the big man's hair had felt, the way his lips had caressed her and the way he had focused the entire night's attention onto her and her needs. Boy, what a change the morning light had brought!

After another hour of fairly useless paper shuffling, Marti gave up and headed home. A couple of over the counter sleeping pills and she was out for the night.

"What the hell do you mean, she is gone?" Ty's booming voice carried across the hotel lobby. Janice scowled at him and motioned him toward her office.

Closing her door behind them, Janice nodded toward the chair across from her desk. "Would you keep it down? Not everyone here needs to know that you botched your night of romance!" Janice snapped at her brother. The flash of pain that crossed her brother's face made her instantly contrite. "I'm sorry, Ty. That was uncalled for. But you have to lower your voice. I really don't want to upset everyone in the hotel by having a huge scary looking man yelling in the lobby."

Ty looked down at himself. Scary? He really hadn't thought about that when he had thrown on his leather jacket and headed back to the hotel. But, combined with his black jeans, black t-shirt, black biker boots and black motorcycle helmet he was carrying, he imagined that he did look a little foreboding. Ok -- maybe a lot foreboding.

"Sis, look, I really don't want your fashion advice right now, ok? Just tell me where she is," Ty said, as calmly as he could muster.

"She's gone, Ty," Janice repeated.

Ty pursed his lips together to keep from screaming at his sister. Was she just trying to be obstinate? He had managed to stay away the entire day yesterday, so he wouldn't interrupt Marti's work. But today he was back to talk to her before she left. And now Janice was telling him that Marti wasn't here. "The convention isn't over until today. Where is she?" he asked.

Finally, Janice continued, "She checked out yesterday. She lives in Montgomery. Here's her address. I hope you have some clue how many laws I am breaking by giving you this information. It came off of her registration card, and that isn't exactly public property."

Janice held out a card with the information on it. Ty snatched it from her hand like it was a lifeline. Jumping up, he leaned over Janice's desk and kissed her squarely on the nose. "You're the best, sis!" Then he was out the door.

But Ty didn't head straight to Montgomery. It was mid morning and although he might have Marti's home address, he had no clue where she worked. Forcing himself to turn his bike back toward his own home, he resolved to spend the day being productive. There were a few home repairs he had been putting off so he would focus on them. A little handiwork would hopefully keep his mind off how soft Marti's skin felt to his touch...

It was already dark when Ty parked his motorcycle in the parking lot at the address his sister had given him. Although he had managed to get a few things done, Ty had spent most of the afternoon staring out into space, his mind refusing to stop replaying the events from two nights ago.

Ty had planned to come up with some way to woo Marti. Maybe send her some roses, call her up and ask her out on a date, hell . . .he didn't know. But instead, he found himself sitting in front of her apartment building, clueless about what he should do next. And the truth was, that was exactly why he was here -- he was here because he didn't know what else to do.

Hell, he didn't even know if she was home, because he didn't know what kind of car she drove. He must be out of his mind. Shaking his head in resignation, he put his feet on the the ground and began backing the bike out of the parking spot -- he would not sit here and torture himself. He could do that just as well at his own home.

But as the back of the bike cleared the rear of the car beside him, brakes squealed as another car came to a complete stop behind him. Cursing under his breath about drivers not watching, Ty turned to glare at the car.

But it was the driver of the car that caused Ty's eyes to widen. Sitting in the driver's seat was none other than Marti Hampton. There was a look of confusion on her face. Ty realized that she couldn't possibly know who he was -- he was still wearing his helmet. But there was some sort of recognition on her face that was causing her to not move away from blocking his exit.

Ty watched as she reached over into the passenger's seat, bent her head over something then turned back to face Ty. Without bothering to see if she was blocking anyone else, Marti pushed open the door of her car and stepped out.

Ty's eyes ran up and down over her body. She was wearing a full length skirt with dressy blouse. He imagined the matching suit jacket was inside her car. Normally, he would have snarled at such obvious "dress for success" maneuvers, but somehow, he understood after the scene he had witnessed in the motel, why Marti would choose to dress like that. She was a professional and needed to look the part.

But Ty didn't have a lot of time to ponder all the specifics of Marti's career, because she was very purposefully walking up to him. Confident that she didn't know it was him, he assumed she was either going to ask him if he was ok, or be upset because she thought he had been careless.

Ty didn't lift the face shield on his helmet, relying on it and the darkness to cover any recognizable part of his identity. He figured he would just nod at her to get her to go away and she wouldn't be able to recognize his voice either.

But Marti didn't speak as she walked up directly in front of Ty. She didn't even seem to try to discern who she was dealing with. Ty frowned as Marti just stood there, looking over him and his bike. Then, without a word, she held out the piece of paper she was holding in her hand.

Cautiously, Ty reached out with his gloved hand to take the paper -- it was some sort of business card. Marti spun on her heel, got back in her car, put the car in gear and drove off down the parking lot.

Ty looked at the card in his hand. It was Marti's business card. Ty flipped the card over to see Marti's handwriting. It said, "Apartment 211". Feeling his frown grow even deeper, Ty craned his head over the nearby cars to see where Marti had parked. It was several rows away. She was just getting out of her car and heading into the building. She was carrying her briefcase in one hand and in the other, a bag from a local restaurant that he assumed contained her supper. She didn't even glance back at him.

Was the woman in the habit of just inviting strange men into her bed? Hell, she had him just two nights ago and tonight she was soliciting an unknown biker. Anger flew through Ty's veins. He pushed the bike forward and popped down the kick stand. He would damn well tell her what he thought of such foolishness.

Marti had barely gotten into her apartment before the giggles started. It had been a really long day at the office, facing each employee who had betrayed her. But as soon as she had seen that bike in the parking lot, it was all forgotten. God, how she hoped she hadn't been wrong. If that wasn't Ty, she was going to have to do some high powered talking to keep that biker out of her apartment. But every cell in her body had jumped when she had seen that bike. She KNEW it was Ty!

Just as she expected, as soon as she laid down her briefcase and sat down her supper, there was a pounding on her door. She had been careful to lock it with the chain, so she could at least look out to see who was there. Looking through the peephole, she realized that he was still wearing his helmet. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door a small amount, letting the chain hold it shut.

"May I help you?" Marti asked casually, as though this were an everyday occurrence.

At first, she wasn't sure how her motorcyclist was going to answer her. Finally, he held up the card she had given him. Now was the moment of truth. If this wasn't Ty, she was about to let a stranger into her home. But she knew in her heart that this was Ty.

She closed the door, dropped the chain and reopened it. "Would you like to come in?" Marti asked.

As Ty pushed past her, she smelled his scent. Yep -- this was definitely her man!

As Ty stood in the floor of her living room, looking rather ominous in his biker black, with his gloves and helmet still on, Marti realized that she was taking a rather stupid chance. Even if this was Ty, she didn't know if he was a serial killer or not. But she did know one thing -- her heart was pounding with the excitement of seeing him again.

After what seemed an eternity of them standing there looking at each other, Ty began removing his gloves. He dropped them on the nearby table, then reached for the strap on his helmet. Sliding it off over his head, he seemed to be waiting for a reaction from Marti. But all she could do was sigh. He was really here.

Ty realized that Marti wasn't flinching. In fact, she was looking like the cat who ate the proverbial canary....

Lifting off his helmet, Ty really meant to look stern. He really meant to give his Marti a firm lecture about inviting strange men into her apartment. But the look of sheer happiness that exploded over her face when she saw his helmet come off made Ty forget what he had meant to say.