Sweet Dream Lover

by Karen Sandler

  Sweat turned to icy chill as doom walked fingers down Mark’s spine. Kat was still a good twenty feet away and he didn’t have a prayer of reaching her in time. His only hope was to be there to comfort her in the aftermath.

  Phil smiled broadly at the crowd. “The Kandy for Kids campaign has demonstrated to the Roths and the Denhams the value of partnership and how two well-matched allies can join hands to create a whole greater than its parts.”

  Good, they were dragging this out, making a real show of it. Mark had advanced another five feet and he could just make out a path through the crowd leading to Kat. She seemed riveted on her father, her slender shoulders held so stiffly he could feel her tension.

  On the stage, Ian Denham bounced on the balls of his feet, his excitement barely contained. “Kandy for Kids will be ending in a month’s time, but it didn’t seem right to terminate this temporary marriage between Roth Confectionery and Denham Candy.”

  Kat knew. If she’d only suspected a moment ago, now certainty had settled on her. Four or five people still blocked Mark’s access to her, but he saw her sudden stillness, then her hand raised toward the stage as if to stem the tide of words.

  “Kat!” Mark shouted her name. She flicked a glance over at him, then returned her focus to the impending car accident up on stage.

  Phil Roth beamed. “Without further ado, we are thrilled to announce the merger of Roth Confectionery and Denham Candy.”

  Kat stumbled back as if her father had punched her in the gut. Desperate to get to her, Mark pushed past the last few onlookers between them. He took Kat’s hand, but when she looked up at him, she stared as if she didn’t know him.

  Mark’s father just rolled on. “And the first exciting new product to be released by the Denham-Roth Candy Company will be a wonderful new treat.” He gestured to the drummer on stage who rattled out a drum roll. “Chocolate Magic!”

  Kat sagged against him. “Oh, God. Oh my God.”

  Mark pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay, baby. Just hang on to me.”

  “How could he?” Tears choked her voice. “How could...?”

  He rubbed her back, tried to soothe away her shudders. “They wanted it a long time.”

  “But, I told him...” She took in a shaky breath. “Anyone but Denham.”

  He ignored the pain that stabbed through him. “I wanted to tell you. Prepare you.”

  She went rigid. “You what?”

  Damn, he was an idiot. “It doesn’t matter.”

  She shoved away from him. If her brown eyes had been lasers, he’d be a crispy critter. “You knew?”

  The confession stuck in his throat. He squeezed it out in a wimpy squeak. “Yeah.”

  “You knew. You schtupped me and you knew.” She nearly shrieked the words. “And you didn’t bother to tell me.”

  “I meant to.” The band had started up again and he had to shout to be heard. “I tried to.”

  “Not very damn hard!” She whacked her hands against his chest with surprising strength, then took off through the crowd.

  * * * * *

  “Uh-oh.” Fritz grabbed Norma’s hand. “Trouble in paradise.”

  They watched Kat slam her fists against Mark’s chest then make a mad dash for the exit. Mark went after her, a linebacker scattering the opposing team.

  “This might not be a bad thing,” Norma said hopefully. Fritz tugged her after him. “Can’t take the chance.”

  By the time they reached the parking garage elevators, both Mark and Kat were gone. An eternity later, they were racing for Norma’s car.

  “Where would she go?” Fritz asked as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Her condo?”

  Norma shook her head. “Roth is home to her, more than the condo. I’ll bet you ten pounds of chocolate creams she’s headed for her office.”

  Neither Kat’s Camry nor Mark’s BMW were in sight when they pulled up to the attendant kiosk to pay their parking fee. “Let’s hope you’re right,” Fritz said as he roared off in the direction of Roth headquarters.

  When they arrived, Kat’s Camry was in the CEO slot, Mark’s roadster parked haphazardly beside it. Norma put a hand on Fritz’s arm. “Park my car behind theirs. Block them in.”

  Fritz shut off the engine and they stepped from the car. He listened to the silence. “No shouting. They’re not down here.”

  “Upstairs,” Norma gasped, heading for the elevator.

  They heard Mark’s voice and his pounding on her door all the way down the hall. “Damn it, Katarina! Let me in!”

  Norma didn’t hesitate. She grabbed her keys from Fritz and marched to Kat’s office door. Nudging Mark aside, she deftly unlocked the door and pulled it open. Fritz caught a glimpse of Kat inside, behind her desk, shooting daggers at them all as Mark entered.

  The moment the door shut behind him, Norma locked it again then coolly turned to Fritz. “Help with that desk, please.”

  Fritz laughed as he understood her intention. “You are absolutely devious. And the most incredible woman in the world.”

  She smiled at the compliment, her cheeks dimpling. Then with a surprising strength, she hefted her end of her desk. Together, they moved it against the door, trapping Kat and Mark inside.

  * * * * *

  There he stood in her office, big as life, looking too damned delectable in his dark suit and tailored cream shirt. Kat couldn’t believe the audacity of the man. Or the duplicitousness of her assistant, who had let him in. Her life was tumbling into chaos and she didn’t have a friend left.

  “Get the hell out,” she demanded. “No.”

  Rising from behind her desk, Kat headed for the door. She tried the knob. Locked. With impatient irritation, she retrieved her keys from her desk and unlocked the door. Now the knob turned, but the door wouldn’t budge.

  “It’s stuck. It won’t open.”

  “Never mind the door, Kat. We have to talk.”

  She rounded on him, hand clenched in a fist, fighting the urge to swing. “We have nothing to talk about. Traitor.”

  She went back to the door, throwing her body against it. “Damn it!” she screamed at the immobile hunk of oak. “Norma! Let me out!”

  No answer from her faithless assistant. Mark took her arm, but she shook him off. “Fritz was right! The damn therapist was right!”

  He reached for her again. “Kat.”

  “I don’t trust you.” She wrenched away from him. “Because you’re untrustworthy. The lowest of the low. A snake!”

  “Kat, I screwed up.”

  “You think?” Kat screeched.

  “I found out about the merger this morning, I should have told you then. I shouldn’t have let them.”

  “Who knew?” She saw the reluctance in his face, took his arms and shook him. “How many knew?”

  He put his hands on her shoulders, his touch so gentle her throat tightened. “Everyone, likely.”

  She blinked back tears. “Everyone but me.”

  He stroked her hair. “I didn’t know either until this morning.”

  Face buried in her hands, she moaned, “Chocolate Magic was mine. How could they steal it from me?”

  “No one’s stealing it, sweetheart.”

  She backed away from him. “I’m not your sweetheart.”

  He moved toward her, implacable. She backed across the room, but he followed. “Denying it won’t help you, Kat. Won’t change how I feel. How you feel.”

  “No,” she whispered. “You walked away. You didn’t even try. I asked for the damn divorce and you just said yes.”

  “Because you were miserable. You hated me. You hated the marriage.”

  “I didn’t hate you. I mean, I did, but...” She shook her head, wishing she could shake away the pain as easily. “I won’t revisit this. Not any of it.”

  “What do you want, Kat?” He grabbed her shoulders. “You want me to say it hurt to leave you? Yes, it hurt. It was agony.”

  She slapped her palms against his chest. “But you di
dn’t fight. You just backed down.” She slammed her hands against him again. “You let me go.” Her third blow stung her palms and she screamed, “You didn’t even try to change my mind!” She dropped her hands, tears streaming, despondent as a lonely child.

  He pulled away, crossing his arms over his chest. “It wasn’t up to me to change your mind.”

  “But I wanted you to.” She shook her head. “Damn, how childish is that?”

  He stared down at the floor, shoulders slumped. He was a million miles away, lost to her. She’d finally done it. Pushed him away, irretrievably, and her sense of desolation grew, threatening to overwhelm her. If the pain inside her increased another iota, she’d die, expire on the spot.

  So immersed in her pity party, she almost didn’t hear his softly spoken words. “We fought so much.”

  They had. Screaming matches where angry words flew between them. Shouting through the walls of separate bedrooms when they couldn’t stand to sleep in the same room. Except the passion would always flare, bringing them back together.

  Now she felt sick at the rage they’d exchanged, the fury of their doomed marriage. It had been exactly what she’d witnessed as a child, had sworn she’d never do herself.

  The enormity of what she’d destroyed overwhelmed her. “Oh my God.” She sank against the edge of her desk.

  Mark moved close enough to touch, but he kept his hands to himself. “I didn’t know, Kat. I didn’t know you wanted me to fight for you.”

  The insistent tears spilled down her face. “I didn’t know, either. I just thought...my parents split when I was so young. I didn’t know people could stay together.”

  He swiped away her tears with his thumb. “I didn’t know people could fight and still stay together. My parents never did.”

  “Your parents fought.” She met his gaze. “At least once. I heard them.”

  He shook his head. “You couldn’t have.”

  “Your twelfth birthday. You were out by the dock and I went in for a soda. Your mother threw a coffee mug at your dad.”

  His mouth dropped open in shock. “They told me that mug fell off the shelf.”

  She shrugged. “Good thing your dad ducked.”

  A ghost of a smile curved his lips, then he sighed, staring out at the lights of Seattle beyond her office window. “Even so, they managed it, Kat. Staying together. Your own parents, too, once they found the right people.”

  “But they’re different,” Kat said. “Special.”

  “You’re special, Kat.”

  “Not that way. They all know something, a secret or...” She grasped for the words. “All I know is it’s something I’ll never understand.” She swallowed against a dry throat. “I’m not smart enough or...I just can’t.”

  If he was distant before, now he was in another universe. He stood frozen a moment, then turned toward the door, covered the distance with two long strides.

  Her heart thundered in her ears. “Where are you going?”

  He rapped on the door, calling through the thick oak, “Let me out. We’re finished.”

  She couldn’t move, her feet rooted to the spot. She heard the sound of something heavy being moved on the other side of the door, waited for the turning of the lock. Damned coward that she was, she couldn’t watch him leave. She squeezed her eyes shut.

  But when she didn’t hear the door, or hear his footsteps leaving, she opened her eyes again. Mark still stood there, a white envelope in his hand, a quizzical expression on his face.

  “They pushed it under the door.” He held it out to her. “It’s for you.”

  In the aftermath of her terror that he’d leave her, Kat’s legs had transformed into pillars of trembling jelly. “Can’t move,” she gasped out. “Sorry.”

  Two tentative steps toward her and he was close enough for her to take the white rectangle from him. “Th-thanks.”

  She nearly shredded the envelope as she tore it open. Inside was a rumpled sheet of paper in a familiar shade of lavender.

  As she unfolded it, Mark grabbed for it. “Don’t read that!”

  She turned away, keeping it from his grasp. She read the printed title across the top. “List ten qualities* that first attracted you to your partner.”

  “Kat, please don’t.”

  “Her sense of humor,” she read aloud. “Her determination. Her generosity.” She narrowed her gaze on Mark. “Who did you write these for?”

  “Who the hell do you think, Kat?”

  “You always hated my jokes,” she said.

  He glowered, then flicked an impatient hand at her. “Go ahead. Just read the damn thing.”

  She continued. “Her kindness. Her sweetness. I’m not the least bit sweet.”

  He raised one brow. She tipped her head back down to the list.

  Her wild temper. Her vulnerability. “I’m not the least bit—” She cut the words off, kept reading. Her strength. Her inner beauty. Her throat grew tight, but she forced herself to read the last one aloud. “The way she touches my heart.”

  Persistent tears brimming in her eyes, she lifted her gaze to his. “Mark...”

  His blue eyes fixed on her face. “What?”

  The air left her lungs, and she had to drag in breath to speak. “Don’t leave me.”

  He didn’t give any ground. “Why?”

  “Because...because...” Her fingernails nearly tore through the lavender sheet. “This scares the hell out of me. I’m positive by saying it out loud I’ll jinx it, now or later.”

  “Say it anyway.”

  “Because I know so many ways to screw things up,” Kat said. “I probably won’t even say it right.”

  “Three little words, Kat.”

  Three words. Piece of cake. She could do it.

  It was the hardest thing she ever did. “I love you.”

  He grabbed her tight, squeezing the living daylights out of her. She was dizzy with elation, crazy with love. Until realization tapped on her shoulder and she wriggled loose.

  He didn’t quite let her go. “What?” He gave her a look of pure innocence.

  Which she didn’t believe for an instant. “Your turn.”

  “My turn, what?”

  Growling, she gave him a hard poke in the ribs. “Give, buster.”

  “I really don’t know what—”

  A full-fledged punch cut off his wind. “Now. Or you’re not getting any tonight.”

  “I love you,” he gasped, then he pulled her back in his arms and just held her, rocking her gently. As she buried her face against his chest, she felt the doubt creep back.

  “I still might mess it up.” She held her breath as she waited for his response. “I might ruin everything.”

  “You won’t,” he said with a steady certainty. “No matter what you do, how much you yell, what you say, this time I’ll never let you go.”

  As his conviction registered, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both, the tears making her hiccup so badly she could barely take a breath. Mark pounded on her office door, shouting through it, “Norma! Fritz! Let us out!”

  There was a scuffle through the door, an exchange of voices. Mark squeezed her hand, then yelled, “We love each other. We’re getting married again. Open the damn door!”

  The screech of something heavy being moved, then the door edged open. Hand in hand, Kat and Mark squeezed through past Norma’s desk.

  Fritz’s arm around her waist, Norma stood beaming. “Can we make it a double wedding?” she asked.

  Epilogue

  Smartly attired in her birthday suit, Kat leaned against the fluffy pillows on her bed, Mark sprawled beside her. She felt so damn good, she could probably light the condo’s small bedroom with her high-wattage afterglow.

  They’d both had a busy day at the Denham-Roth headquarters, and by six, with autumn darkness already fallen, they were eager to head home to the condo. After a quick dinner and an even quicker quickie they retrieved the briefcases for a little homework in bed. Hu
bby snuggled up beside her, a package of Chocolate Magic in her lap, Kat read through the September sales report as she shared bites of butterscotch fudge with Mark.

  He licked a dollop off her finger, then sneaked a peek at the report’s summary page. “Unbelievable. Fritz’s toy line did even better in September than August.”

  Fritz’s Critter Carvings had become the new craze over the summer, with kids lining up at toy stores for the latest edition.

  “Have you seen the Christmas release? Santa’s sleigh loaded with removable miniature toys.”

  “And Mint Melties in Santa’s bag. Your dad brought by the prototype.”

  Kat scooped up a last fingerful of fudge and was about to bring it to her mouth when Mark grabbed her wrist. He’d sucked her finger clean before she could so much as protest.

  She wagged her finger at him. “That was unforgivable.”

  Wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, he brought her close for a kiss. “I’ll make it up to you.”

  He tasted of butterscotch as his tongue dipped into her mouth. She shifted to straddle him, maintaining the contact as she groped on his nightstand. She came up with the other package of Chocolate Magic they’d brought into the bedroom.

  Scooting away from him, she ripped the plastic off the package. Mark made a grab for it, but she kept it out of his reach. She carefully removed the separator and tipped the chocolate marshmallow crumbles into the cream.

  Mark pouted as she stirred in the crumbles. “That was a dirty trick.”

  “All’s fair in love and chocolate,” she told him as the fudge formed. “I’ll give you a bite.”

  The wedding had been three months ago in mid-July and they’d already had their share of fireworks. But they had a mutual understanding. They’d never end the day angry with each other. Somehow, they worked things out and usually finished their arguments by making love.

  She fed him a healthy gob of marshmallow fudge. “You’re sure about this baby thing?” she asked. “We could wait another year.”

  “I’m sure. As long as you are.”

  “Absolutely.”

  The broken condom had been a false alarm. Kat had been relieved not to have to attend her wedding in the throes of morning sickness, but disappointed she wasn’t pregnant after all. They’d agreed to give it the old college try for a baby. Which meant more lovemaking. Always a good thing.