“But I’ve told you I love you,” she argued. “I’ve said the words.”
“In passing, yes, as if they meant no more than ‘how are you?’ or ‘what’s the weather like?”’
The accusation stung, but she couldn’t immediately deny it. She did tend to say the words casually, dropping them in at the least intimate moments. As well, she scattered them thoughtlessly around with her friends.
“Love you. Bye,” was her ready line whenever she ended a phone call, whether to family, a neighbor or the friendly owner of their favorite restaurant. No wonder William considered the words alone to have little meaning.
Filled with chagrin, she met his gaze. “I’m sorry. I never realized how it must appear to you. I never made it seem as if there was any distinction at all between you and the butcher.”
He laughed then, breaking the somber mood. “Trust me, I know that I hold a different place in your heart than the butcher.”
She grinned at him. “Not when he’s offering a special on lamb chops. Then I truly do adore him.”
“Adore, perhaps, but not love, Destiny. Not the kind of love I’m beginning to believe you feel for me.”
“No, not that,” she agreed, leaning forward and putting a hand on his cheek. “I’m sorry I’m so careless about your feelings. I suppose it’s because I’m still scared that I’ve got this all wrong, that it’s too good to be true.”
“Even after all this time?”
“Even now,” she confirmed.
“What will it take to convince you that I will never even notice another woman if you are in the room?”
“Time, I suppose.”
“Then isn’t it lucky that we have years and years ahead of us?” he said.
But they hadn’t had years and years, of course, Destiny remembered as she closed the book and returned it to the shelf. They’d had barely another twelve months, as it had turned out.
She traced a finger along the spine of the book, tempted still to buy it, but filled with misgivings over the memories it was likely to dredge up.
“I’ll buy it for you,” William said quietly, coming up behind her. “I have a copy on my shelves, as well. The first time I saw it, I knew I had to have it.”
Destiny didn’t turn around. She didn’t want him to catch the flush of embarrassment in her cheeks over having been caught indulging in pure sentimentality.
“No, thanks. I was just browsing and noticed the title.”
“Oh? It looked more as if you were lost in thought, perhaps remembering another place, another time.”
She did face him then. “Please don’t make anything of this. You’d be mistaken.”
He nodded slowly and the spark in his eyes dimmed just a bit. “Were you here spying on the competition, then? Checking out our extensive inventory to see what Jameson’s is missing?”
“I could spend all day and not know that,” she said tartly. “You could use some organization in here, William. Not that I’m trying to tell you how to run your business, of course.”
“Of course,” he said solemnly, even as the corners of his mouth tilted up in a barely suppressed grin. “I know you would never dream of doing such a thing.”
He gave her a knowing look. “Since you’re in the neighborhood, would you like to come along with me for tea? There’s a Harcourt Tea Shoppe in the next block.”
Destiny feigned amazement. “Really? How perfectly lovely! As a matter of fact, I would love a cup of tea.”
He laughed, obviously not buying the act. “I suspect you have the address jotted down on a paper in your purse,” he chided. “And if I hadn’t come along to invite you, you’d have gone there on your own.”
She shrugged. “It does pay to know the competition.”
“When it comes to books and tea, you’re no competition for me, Destiny. Accept that, why don’t you?”
“Perhaps we aren’t,” she conceded. “Not yet, anyway, but we will be, William. Make no mistake about that. It’s one of the goals I’ve set for myself for the New Year. I promised you fair warning, so there it is.”
“Then I’ll be sure to keep my guard up.”
He guided her out of the store, waving to the clerk behind the desk as they went. Something in the girl’s expression made Destiny instantly suspicious.
“You knew I was in the store, didn’t you? This wasn’t a chance meeting at all.”
“And if I did?”
“Did you give all of your clerks my photo like some sort of wanted poster and tell them to call you at once if I crossed the threshold?”
He laughed. “You don’t worry me that much, Destiny. Not when it comes to business, anyway. When it comes to a few other areas of my life, you worry me quite a lot.”
She studied him with a narrowed gaze. “Meaning?”
“Best not to go there,” he said. “Not just yet, anyway. You’re still skittish.” He stopped in front of the tearoom. “We’re here. Do you want to step back and get a first impression before we go inside?”
She gave him a sour look. “As a matter of fact, I do,” she said, taking a good long look at the friendly facade, gilt lettering on the window and the well-nurtured pots of plants outside the doorway. They were evergreens now, lit with tiny white lights, but she imagined in summer those pots would be filled with colorful flowers. There was a bright blue-and-white awning over the window, as well, to give customers a place to wait in the rain for a passing taxi. All in all the effect was charming and cheerful.
“I like it,” she admitted. “I’d want to come here often.”
“Most of our customers are regulars,” he said. “We make it a point to know them by name and preferences.”
“That is the mark of an outstanding retailer, isn’t it? It’s all about excellent customer service.”
“I always thought so,” William agreed. “But in this day and age, it’s becoming more and more of a rarity.” He grinned at her. “Now, if you’ve had enough of a first impression, shall we go inside and have tea?”
“You’re not absolutely terrified that I’ll steal your list of suppliers?”
“Not in the slightest,” he said easily. “I intend to steal your pen, if I catch you trying to take notes.”
“And you think I don’t have sufficient memory left to keep it all in my head?” she asked with a hint of indignation.
“I’m sure your memory is quite adequate,” he soothed, his eyes twinkling. “I merely intend to keep it focused on other things.”
“Such as?”
He bent and kissed her then, the touch of his lips so wonderfully familiar, so wickedly persuasive, that all thoughts of tea did, indeed, vanish.
He stood back eventually and studied her, then gave a little nod of satisfaction. “I think that accomplished what I set out to do,” he said, his expression entirely too smug.
“Orange pekoe, Ceylon, Darjeeling,” Destiny immediately recited. “English breakfast, Earl Grey.”
William laughed. “Lucky guesses,” he said easily. “No respectable tea shop would be without those.”
Destiny grinned, despite herself. “You can’t spend the whole time we’re in here kissing me,” she reminded him. “And I see the selections are posted in rather large lettering behind the counter. I won’t even require my glasses.”
“Don’t tempt me to try to prove you wrong,” he warned. “It seems like a fine idea to me, to say nothing of a rather clever strategy.”
“I won’t allow it,” she said simply. “We can’t have people all over London talking about us. How would it look if someone spotted us and spread the word that two business rivals were kissing like crazy in plain sight of God and everyone?”
“Perhaps it would look as if we’d finally come to our senses,” William said.
Destiny stared at him, taken aback. And then she couldn’t seem to stop herself from laughing. Perhaps it would at that.
“Sir, I know you told me not to call again about anything having to do with your aunt, but
I felt I must,” Chester said, his tone more dire than ever. “If I heard about this all the way in Devon, then who knows what’s being said around London.”
“Said about what?” Richard asked reluctantly. He knew that Chester was not a stupid man. If he was taking the risk of ignoring Richard’s warning, then the news was bound to be upsetting.
“It’s your aunt and Harcourt, sir. They’ve been seen about town together.”
Richard bit back the desire to curse. “So?” he asked mildly, not wanting to let on to Chester, of all people, how disconcerting he found the news.
“In what some might consider to be a compromising situation,” Chester went on boldly.
“Are you certain this is something more than idle gossip?” Richard asked, almost terrified to hear just what Chester considered to be compromising.
“Absolutely, sir, or I wouldn’t be calling. The person who called me saw the two of them together yesterday.”
“Where?”
“In one of Harcourt’s little tea emporiums.”
“And they were together?” Richard asked. “They didn’t just happen to bump into each other there?”
“There was a kiss that suggested they were very much together,” Chester reported. “Quite steamy, if you know what I mean.”
Richard knew exactly what he meant. “I’ll deal with it,” Richard said tightly.
“I hope I did the right thing by calling, Mr. Carlton.”
“Yes,” Richard said grimly. “In this instance, you did exactly the right thing.”
After he’d hung up, Richard sat staring at the phone, trying to make himself pick it back up to call London and give Destiny the blistering lecture she deserved. Keeping the enemy close, indeed! She’d crossed a line, dammit! Pretty soon, she’d make herself the laughingstock of London, if people got the idea that a Carlton executive was quite literally sleeping with the enemy.
“What on earth is wrong?” Melanie asked, regarding him worriedly. “You look furious enough to commit murder.”
“I am, but how the devil can I, when it’s Destiny who deserves killing?”
“Uh-oh. Tell me what’s happened.”
Richard gave her the condensed version, which was really all he had, anyway.
“Leave it alone,” Melanie advised.
He stared at her. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“By packing up the baby, getting in the car with me and going out to the farm to see Ben,” she suggested.
“And letting him deal with Destiny?” he inquired hopefully.
“No, you idiot. Using that time to forget all about it.”
“I can’t do that,” he said bleakly.
“Oh, yes, you can. If Destiny wants to kiss William or be kissed by William, there is not a blessed thing you can do to stop it. If you try, you’ll only insult her and alienate her.”
He considered his wife’s advice. He knew she was right. Making a huge deal out of this would only make Destiny more determined than ever to follow whatever insane course she was on with Harcourt.
“You’re absolutely certain that I have to let this go, pretend I never heard about it?”
“That’s what I would do,” she said flatly.
“And if she gets in over her head?”
“She’ll figure that out and extricate herself. Give her a little credit, Richard. She did a pretty good job of managing to get you, Mack and Ben to adulthood, and she was flying by the seat of her pants then, too.”
“I suppose.”
She laughed and nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. “You know.”
He pulled her onto his lap. “What would I do without you?”
“You’ll never have to find out,” she assured him.
“Do we have to go to Ben’s?”
“I told him and Kathleen we’d be there,” she said.
“Too bad.”
She grinned. “Not as bad as you’re thinking. I’d say we have at least an hour till our daughter wakes up from her nap.”
Richard grinned. “Hooray for naps! Want to take one?”
Melanie gave him a wicked smile and took his hand, already heading for the stairs. “Not exactly.”
He laughed. “I really do love the way you think.”
Suddenly all thoughts of London, the European division and even Destiny and that snake Harcourt were the furthest things from his mind. To accomplish all that, he was pretty sure his wife had to be a magician. But then he’d known all along how remarkable she was. He was just beginning to see, though, how her clever talents could make all the stresses in his life miraculously vanish.
10
After the kiss, William had been all but certain it would be easy to persuade Destiny to spend New Year’s Eve with him. In fact, he’d been counting on the occasion to remind her that they, too, could have a fresh beginning. But rather than accepting with the expected alacrity, she’d flatly turned him down. Several times, in fact.
She’d made no excuses, no apologies. She’d simply said no. He’d finally concluded it was precisely because of the kiss, a defensive reaction he hadn’t anticipated at all. Years ago, she would never have been thrown off kilter by a kiss. He should have taken heart at that and counted himself lucky, but he was annoyed, instead.
It wasn’t that he minded spending the evening without a companion. There were parties all over town where he’d be welcomed as an available man to balance out the numbers. Nor did he really object to being at home on his own. The point was that he wanted more than anything to start this new year with Destiny, the way he intended to finish it and every other year from here on out.
He sat around most of the morning mulling over his options. The only one that appealed to him was the one least likely to appeal to Destiny: him turning up on her doorstep uninvited. She would be furious, no question about it. Unless, of course, she wasn’t even home. His ego was secure enough for him to believe, though, that if she wasn’t with him, she wasn’t going out with anyone.
So, perhaps there was a way, he finally decided after long and careful thought. As soon as the idea formed, he was on the phone making the arrangements. Heaven help him if it was all a wasted effort and she truly was spending the evening out, but he was convinced the gamble was worth the expense.
By eight he was dressed in his tuxedo. By eight-fifteen, he was outside her flat, ready for the first arrival, a florist laden down with bouquets of spring flowers. He’d had to move heaven and earth to find them and to get them delivered at this hour.
When the deliveryman came out of the building five minutes later, he gave William a nod. “She loved them. Took her by surprise, you did. I imagine it was worth the pretty penny you had to pay.”
“Let’s hope so,” William said, knowing that the battle was far from over.
The musicians arrived next, a trio who’d come with flutes and an eclectic repertoire of Destiny’s favorite Mozart sonatas and lively Irish tunes. He spoke to the singer, Ian, whom he’d known for a number of years, then sent them inside and waited. When they hadn’t come scrambling right back out after fifteen minutes, he breathed his first sigh of relief. So far, at least, Destiny hadn’t rejected anything out of hand. He took that as a promising sign.
Yet another delivery van pulled up then, ready with the five-course meal William had ordered from one of Carlton Industries’ own restaurants. There were bottles of iced champagne, as well. He paid the driver and told him, “I’ll take it from here.”
This was going to be the tricky part, getting inside her apartment with limbs intact, rather than having the door slammed on his leg. He doubted she’d bother to call an ambulance.
Inside the building, he rode the elevator to her floor, then rolled the cart down the hall. He could hear the flutes playing inside and hoped she was being soothed by the concert. It might make the rest easier.
He set the food-service cart up outside her door, rang the bell, then stood just out of view and waited until the door finally opened. He heard her mu
ted gasp when she saw the lavish display of sterling and crystal, as well as all the tempting covered dishes.
“You might as well come on in, William. I know you’re out there lurking in the shadows somewhere,” she said.
She was obviously trying hard to sound more resigned and annoyed than pleased. Even so, she hadn’t entirely been able to mask her delight. At least one thing about her hadn’t changed. She still loved surprises.
William stepped out of hiding, then had to bite his tongue at the sight of her. She was in her bathrobe, fuzzy slippers on her feet, her face devoid of makeup. It was testament to her maturity and self-confidence that she didn’t look the least bit embarrassed to be caught at less than her best. Personally, this was the look he liked best, a bit rumpled and sexy and approachable. He’d had a hard time getting used to his once-carefree Destiny in the prim power suits she’d been wearing since her arrival in London.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
“Ha!”
“You do,” he insisted. “I always loved you in your nightclothes.”
“And out of them,” she murmured, even as color promptly flooded her cheeks. “Come on in and you can tell me what possessed you to do something this insane.”
“It’s not insane to want to surprise you, especially on New Year’s Eve.”
“Even after I’d repeatedly turned down your invitations?” she asked. “For all you knew, I could have had a hot date here tonight. It takes a certain amount of insanity to ignore the message, don’t you think? Or wouldn’t you have minded if I’d shared all this with another man?”
“I prefer to think of it as determination,” he responded. “And, yes, I most definitely would have minded if you’d shared it with anyone other than me.”
“Determination?” she echoed, obviously amused. “Yes, that makes perfect sense. It shows you in a better light.”
He laughed. “Well, it’s evident that you don’t have a date lurking in the bedroom, so will you accept my company, after all?”
She met his gaze, indecision written all over her face. “Will you take me as I am?”
Destiny Unleashed Page 12