Boardroom Proposal

by Way, Margaret

  His abundant vitality was diminished, his handsome face full of strain.

  “How are you?” She drew back and their eyes met. Locked, as though each was looking into the other’s soul.

  “How right you were, Evie.” He shook his head sadly. “Do we ever know?”

  Spontaneously she took his hand, leading him into the small living room. “Come in. Can I get you anything at all?”

  “Maybe some tender loving care.” The flashing smile was a mere shadow of itself. “I’ve missed you, Evie.” It was said with a sudden injection of fierceness.

  “I’ve missed you, too.” She was full of anguish for him. “I haven’t been able to get you out of mind. How is Susan?” she said with genuine pity.

  “Devastated, as you can imagine. It’ll take quite a while for reality to hit. Here, sit down beside me.” He caught her back to him, the need in his eyes warming the blood in her veins. Then when he had her on the sofa, he leaned forward and buried his face in her breast.

  “Evie.”

  She had never known anything so intimate. She who had felt herself abandoned by him. “I wanted to come before but you can’t know what it’s been like.” He sounded deeply troubled. “Dad’s affairs are enormously involved. It’ll take months to work it all out. Maybe even years. Susan is distraught. I gather they had an argument of some sort, but she won’t speak about it.”

  Eve felt a sudden pang of anxiety. “You have no idea?”

  “Sometimes imagining is far worse than reality,” he said in a sombre voice. “I only know Dad was far from relaxed. I sometimes thought he hardly heard a word I said.”

  “He might have been feeling ill.” Eve felt frightened.

  “God knows.” His dark eyes were bleak. “Not enough to say anything. Andy Stewart, our geologist, felt it, too. Something was nagging at him. Now we’ll never know.”

  “I’m so sorry, Drew.”

  “Just let me hold you,” he said. “This isn’t really happening, Evie, is it? It’s a dream.”

  “Sudden death is like that.” Eve’s thoughts, as always, turned to her mother.

  “You’re all right?” Now he could see the extent of her own unhappiness.

  “Of course, I was worried about you.” She knew all about desolation and grief. Loss and agony.

  “I really do love you, Evie,” he said.

  She went hot all over. “Hush!” She ran her finger across his mouth a little frantically as if to stop him. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” His voice that had carried signs of grief now sounded strong and calm. “I think I must have fallen in love with you the moment I saw you. Something about you held me spellbound. Like a painting. Now I’ve got to know you so well.”

  Despair and joy warred in her. “Drew, we’ve only known one another such a very short time.” She faltered briefly. “I’m afraid of so much emotion.”

  “I know that.” A deep protectiveness flared in him. “I’ve tried to be as gentle with you as I know how. You’re a little in love with me, Evie.”

  “I am?” She tried to smile, her face very soft and full of heart.

  “Yes, you know you are. You’ve got shadows under your lovely eyes. Don’t they have something to do with me?”

  “They have everything to do with you,” she admitted, and suddenly kissed the hand that was caressing her cheek. “I thought you weren’t going to contact me at all.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “You must know I would.”

  “It doesn’t matter now,” Eve said huskily, and made to move. She had to get him something to eat. Always very lean, he had lost weight, the creases in his cheeks more pronounced.

  “Don’t get up,” he said in a slow deep voice that set every nerve quivering. “It’s very important to me to have you beside me.”

  “I only wanted to get you something to eat.”

  “Darling Evie, I’m ravenous for you,” he said, and pulled her right into his arms. “You’re so warm and sweet, flowing with comfort. Sometimes I think I’ve only loved two people absolutely completely. You and my mother. Does that sound terrible? With Dad gone and Anne and her husband away. Of course I love them, too. Hell, it’s impossible to explain. Kiss me, Evie. Put me back together.”

  Her green eyes filled with tears, showing the depths of her own emotional intensity.

  “Evie.” His hand encircled her nape. “There’s nobody. Just nobody like you. You’re a jewel. My jewel.”

  She moaned a little as he rocked her, placing her head very gently in the crook of his arm. Then he lowered his head with quickening desire, catching up her mouth with his own, feeling her beauty and tenderness flow all over him, this marvellous, mysterious girl.

  “I’ll never let you go,” he muttered, his mouth moving across her face but always returning to her mouth. This was what he wanted. This was what he needed. His whole body throbbed. Such passion lay below her serene exterior. She was all excitement but in such a natural way, a combination of delicacy and a woman’s unique power. It was true what he had said. He had been drawn to her on a glittering magnetic current. Now it was impossible to get away.

  He held her so close he could feel her lifeblood pounding in her, matching the wild rush of his own. He couldn’t imagine not having her, his hands finding the gentle contours of her breasts. There was such an elegance to her, a proportion, the long delicate bones, her fragile ankles and beautifully turned legs. Her full skirt had eased up and now he sought the satin curve of her hip, such hunger raging through him he thought he couldn’t live with it.

  “Where’s Ben, Evie?” he asked urgently, betraying his intentions.

  The air was so fraught, so impassioned, between them, he spoke in undertones.

  She opened her eyes, a hint of panic in them. “He won’t be home until late. Drew, we’re going to have to stop now.”

  “I can’t, Evie. I’m sorry. Don’t ask me to. You belong to me.” Then he questioned, “Could you fall pregnant?”

  “Is that what you want?” She was on the edge of total surrender even when she tried to hide it.

  “Our child would fill me with wonderment,” he said in a voice full of emotion, “but I don’t want to do a thing wrong. I want to marry you, Evie. I want to glory in you on our wedding day. I want to carry the sight of you as a bride through all the days of my life. I want our first child to arrive in good time. But right now I need you so badly, I can almost feel to hell with everything! Except I couldn’t bear to hurt you.”

  An incredible new world billowed up before her. Drew’s wife? Her shock and the avalanche of emotion was too great to be contained. Marriage was a tremendous thing. A frightening thing. It could lead to heaven. Or hell. “I can’t marry you,” she said when her emotions were soaring.

  “You don’t think I’m going to settle for mistress?” He spoke with the first sign of humour.

  “Drew, you’re mad.”

  “Yes, I am,” he agreed. “Mad for you. Will you let me make love to you?”

  There was no other answer she could give. “Yes,” she whispered while the world tilted. If I have nothing else, she thought, I’ll have this to remember for the rest of my life.

  He carried her through to her bedroom, laying her on the bed, his hands gentling her, honeying her with their exquisite strength, sliding off her clothes in this quite ordinary room that now seemed beautiful, unfamiliar, suffused with gold and amber.

  “Let me look at you.” He bent over her, so young and vulnerable, his dark eyes brilliant with the pleasure the sight of her gave him. Then he began kissing her, slow exploratory kisses all over her body, while enraptured little sounds sighed out of her. So this was what it was like to be caught up in a great passion. It was worth all the pain.

  He was the consummate lover. Even with no experience at all Eve couldn’t fail to grasp that. He was bringing her, oh, so slowly to the extremes of yearning, protracting the ecstasy, until she w
as helplessly calling his name. Then he turned her, locked her to his own now naked body, passion burning stronger than any grief.

  “For the first time, Eve,” he whispered, finding her innocence enchanting.

  “The first time,” she said, locking away the powerful sight of him inside her head.

  “You’re the only woman I love,” he said with intense feeling. “Everything’s fine. I’ll go very slowly.” He stroked her breast while feverishly she opened her mouth to his kiss. There was nothing and no one to hold on to. But Drew.

  It was perfect. Dazzling joy. Above all. It was love.

  Everything changed after that, though Eve did her level best to remain in the background, fairly sure no one inside the corporation knew of their involvement. She was adept at hiding her feelings. As was Drew, she observed. But then everyone was subdued, Sir David’s state funeral still very much in everyone’s mind.

  Such a brief space of time for so much to have changed, Eve thought. She was torn between wonderment and the scary feeling life was speeding out of her control. Drew being Drew was so very sure of himself. But she was faced with a whole lot of unresolved feelings. She had even begun to look like a different person as though the overwhelming excitement of their sex life, for Drew wanted her to be with him often, showed in her manner, her speech and the hectic blossoming of her looks. Her abundant hair glowed, so did her eyes and her skin. She looked like she had been made over inside and out.

  “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Ben asked over supper.

  “I suppose it shows.”

  “Heck, yes,” Ben exclaimed. “The fellow who said love puts a bloom on a woman was right.”

  “Charm, I think it was,” Eve corrected. “Charm puts a bloom on a woman. I’m sure it was J. M. Barrie.”

  “As in ‘Peter Pan’? I’m crazy about Julia Roberts.” Ben made the leap to the movie, based on the book, where the enchanting actress played Tinkerbell.

  “He’s asked me to marry him,” Eve now confided, thinking it was high time to let her brother know. She kept so much boxed up inside herself. And this was something so profoundly life changing.

  “Good God!” Ben’s hazel eyes leapt to hers. “When was this?”

  “A few weeks ago.”

  “And you’ve been holding out on me?”

  “I can’t seem to get it straight in my mind.” Eve stretched out an apologetic hand. “You know what I’m like.”

  “Hell, Evie, I think you’ll have to do something about it.” Ben frowned. “Drew Forsythe is talking marriage?”

  “That’s what I said.” Eve bit her full bottom lip, still not believing it.

  “Wow! I knew you were getting together but I didn’t know you were that close.”

  “Probably his father’s death precipitated it,” Eve said, her stomach churning with unspecified anxieties. As was to be expected, the bereft Lady Forsythe was leaning on Drew for support. Even Carol Forsythe seemed to be always on hand to offer Drew sympathy.

  “So what’s the big problem?” Ben asked. “Surely you’re not worrying about me?”

  “Of course I worry about you,” Eve said.

  Ben watched her with concern. “Nothing will separate us, Evie, but I don’t expect you to defer your happiness because of me. Besides, I’ll have Lisa to comfort me.” He grinned.

  “You’re just friends.”

  “You’re kidding.” Ben barked out a laugh. “We’ve moved beyond that, Evie. I’m a red-blooded male.”

  “Don’t let a love affair complicate your life,” she warned.

  “What if I said Lisa is happy to wait?” Ben watched her.

  “I’d better have a talk to Lisa,” Eve said with a mixture of concern and humour.

  “Have you told her about Drew?”

  “The first and only person I’ve told is you,” Eve admitted.

  “That’s fine. But why do you look threatened?” Ben knew his sister so well.

  “I don’t mean to sound a coward but I’m a little frightened of what’s happening to me, Ben. Drew is so positive I don’t think I have the strength to withstand him.”

  “I can understand that. It’s very easy to visualise. He’s such a dynamo. I could hit it off with Drew as a brother-in-law, no trouble.”

  “He’s been married before,” Eve said, haunted by the fact. “And Carol is still circling.”

  “Maybe, but that’s not the point. They couldn’t hit it off. They’re divorced. Surely you can accept that?”

  “If I’m honest I’d say acceptance isn’t one of my strengths. I’m in love with him, Ben, but I have to face the fact I don’t know him that well.”

  “You’re just making excuses,” Ben said, almost sadly. “What’s really worrying you, Evie? Something is locked away there.”

  She hesitated, but only for a moment, desperately wanting to unburden herself. “Never mention it, Ben,” she said, “but I think his stepmother is in love with him, as well.”

  Ben ran an agitated hand through his hair so it stood up wildly. “Get away with you. I thought all that was straightened out.”

  “No, I think I was always right.”

  “Maybe it’s just a fantasy,” Ben suggested. “Like women fall in love with their doctors. He’s being very supportive at this time. You have a tender heart, Evie, you know how she must feel.”

  “Absolutely.” Eve sighed deeply but not without irony. “Maybe my being in love with Drew is a perfect fantasy, as well.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  SHORT months after Sir David’s death, construction had started on the small exclusive resort that was to fund the research centre. The centre itself was finally through the red tape but work would not commence until the following year by which time the resort would be nearing completion. There would be no Sir David to preside at the unveiling. The project that had meant so much to him would be brought to completion by his son.

  Eve still remained as David’s executive assistant, but there were many departments involved in the project: legal, public relations, a team from finance and the environment, architects, engineers, all doing their utmost to ensure the project would come in on time and stand as a fitting memorial. It was so very work-intensive, Eve was torn between an acute disappointment and a kind of relief she and Drew never had a moment alone. She herself was kept busy on the developmental program liaising with all the other groups.

  “I think it’s high time you had a break.” Drew appraised her pale face after a late-night meeting “I want to take a look at what’s happening at the resort. It would be good to have a day or two to ourselves. Pack a bag for tomorrow morning. We’ll go up in the company jet. You might schedule that for ten sharp, okay?” he said as he came to his feet, starting to rebutton his shirt at the neck and adjusting his tie.

  “No problem.” Tired as she was, Eve found it difficult not to jump for joy. Long months of concentration had gone into all the planning. It would be wonderful to simply sit back and relax with Drew at her side.

  It didn’t work out like that. When Drew arrived in the office after an early morning appointment with the banks, he was accompanied by Lady Forsythe wearing a beautiful resort-style pants suit, exactly the same colour as her eyes.

  “Drew, have you got a minute?” his secretary begged almost frantically. “There are papers to be signed before you go.”

  Drew frowned and pulled away while Susan continued on to where Eve was standing. “Hello there, Eve.” She greeted Eve with a friendly smile. “It looks like we’re going to be companions for a few days.”

  Eve felt her heart sink. Still, she managed to sound pleasant. “You’re coming to the resort, Lady Forsythe?”

  “I pleaded with Drew to let me come,” Susan confided. “I can think of no better way to honour David more than by this project. He discussed it with me so often. Of course I have a professional interest, as well. Public relations was my area. And please, call me Susan.”

  Eve made a little sound as though she recog
nised the honour. “Thank you, I’ll be happy to, Susan.”

  “Drew isn’t heeding my advice,” Susan suddenly said, implying concern. “He has to slow down.”

  “There’s a tremendous amount of work in his job.” Eve wanted to say he was a dynamo.

  “And I know he’s very glad of all your assistance.”

  Eve was relegated to second secretary. “We’re a team. Actually all of us have been working pretty well day and night to ensure the project comes in on time.”

  “And I’m thrilled,” Susan said in a delighted voice. “Drew has already asked me to open it.”

  Eve was surprised how dismayed she felt. But why? Susan was Sir David’s widow. It was a time-honoured gesture. Maybe she wondered why Drew hadn’t told her. For that matter, when had Drew told Susan he was flying north? He’d only told her the night before. Obviously they were more intimate than Drew admitted. It occurred to Eve as she tried to swallow on the knot in her throat, she wanted to back out of this trip now that Susan was going. Susan’s presence would ensure far less freedom and require a lot of polite conversation. Though she liked Susan for always being so friendly, she and Lady Forsythe led very different lives.

  “I couldn’t help that,” Drew told Eve in a murmured aside as they were about to board the company jet.

  “It’s only natural Susan wants to see it,” Eve said, her face smooth and calm. She knew what it was doing to her. No one else needed to know. Not even Drew.

  Inside the aircraft they all snapped on seat belts embossed with the TCR logo. The jet was cleared for takeoff and began taxiing down the runway rapidly gathering speed. Whatever Susan’s private feelings regarding the exact relationship between Drew and Eve, her manner, pleasant though it was, clearly implied she had a higher place in the scheme of things. She was Lady Forsythe, Sir David’s widow, and family.

  As the aircraft lifted into the air Susan, seated on the leather banquette in the aft cabin, pulled a charming little face and lightly touched Drew’s shoulder as though he must know she had a few little qualms about flying.

  Eve, in her own comfortable padded armchair bolted like everything else to the floor, pulled out a report she was working on, resting it on the removable tray. They could have a private conversation if they wished.