by Linda Cajio
It occurred to him that she hadn’t answered his proposal, but by then he’d reached his bedroom. Catherine was in his arms, in love with him, and he knew he already had his answer.
He kept one arm around her bare back, but let go of her legs, her thighs sliding against his and taking his breath away at the same moment.
He ran his hands along her spine, her, flesh like silk under his fingers. “I think I asked you into my bed those years ago to keep you from marrying the pond scum.”
“It took you long enough to do anything about it,” she said, unfastening his shirt studs.
“You didn’t help matters.” He unhooked the halter from around her neck. The bodice dropped to her waist, exposing her breasts to his gaze. Her nipples were tight already.
“Never,” he said hoarsely, “wear this dress again for anyone except me.”
“Never,” she promised, pushing his shirt open. She rubbed her breasts against his chest. “I love you, Miles.”
His control broke. He took her lips in an all-encompassing kiss. Her tongue mated with his, driving him to the brink of insanity. She would always do that to him, and he didn’t want it any other way. He loved her.
Clothes disappeared in a frenzy of hands. Every touch was a renewal and discovery. Every kiss a commitment. Catherine became one with him, each thrust a wild promise of the future.
And all wrapped in the passion was the tender thread of love.
Catherine slowly surfaced. Morning sunlight streamed through the windows. Her first thought was that it had all been a dream. Her second was the realization that she was in Miles’s bed, naked and contented, lying atop a naked and contented Miles.
Everything came rushing back to her.
He had said words she never thought she’d hear from him. It was what she had wanted for so long, and her willpower had dissolved instantly. She had no doubt that he did love her. She smiled to herself, remembering that he’d been as surprised as she at the spontaneous acknowledgment.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, his voice husky with sleep.
“Just thinking,” she murmured, recalling, too, the way he had whispered “I love you” later like a litany. No, like a discovery of something wonderful. The words had touched her so deeply, she had been branded by them. How could she not be?
“Thinking is dangerous,” he said. “Especially with you.”
“Are you starting another fight?”
He grinned and ran his hand along her backside. “Only if we can make up like this.” His grin faded. “Catherine, promise me Earth Angel has made her last protest. Ever.”
“I promise.”
“I’m trusting you to keep it this time.”
“I’ll keep it.”
Her throat tightened, though. There was that word. “Trust.” She believed he loved her, but she was almost afraid to take that first tentative step toward trust. He had said he was a changed man from before. He had been very solicitous when he’d thought she was ill. He had spoken out at the board meetings for environmental changes. He had even put up the sign and got arrested for her. She had to admit he was meeting her halfway. She could only do the same. Besides, if they were ever going to trust each other, it had to start now.
“Catherine, you never answered my proposal.”
The hesitancy in his voice was obvious. She glanced at him and saw his worried expression. It figured, she thought. Now she found herself reluctant to make a commitment.
“I thought you wanted to see where the relationship was going,” she said.
He smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t want to rush you. I know what I want, and I don’t want to lose you. I love you. Marry me.”
If she said yes, her surrender to him would be complete.
She drew in a deep breath. “Yes.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her head was spinning by the time he released her.
“Just don’t ever say no,” he whispered, nuzzling her throat.
Sensual pleasure surged through her, and she couldn’t think straight. She didn’t want to.
Much later, Miles said, “I wonder how the reception went after we left.”
“We could always have hung around,” she commented.
“You probably would have stood on a table and announced you were the Earth Angel.”
“Mmmm. Now there’s a thought.”
“Catherine,” he began in warning.
She laughed and snuggled in his arms.
“As long as it’s only a thought.” He was silent for a moment. “When we left, Byrne was making a complete fool of himself with the media.”
She shuddered, thinking of the news reports.
“We had better get started taking advantage of that,” Miles went on. “Once we get you installed as chairperson, I’ll call Bob Ross from Kimble Industries. He owes me for a bank deal, so I think I can lure him away to become Wagner’s chief executive officer …”
Catherine shut her eyes. Miles hadn’t changed all that much. Clearly, he was on a course that would give him behind-the-scenes control of Wagner Oil. She couldn’t allow that. She had to believe he loved her. There was just too much evidence proving it. She wanted desperately to trust him, to trust that his marriage proposal wasn’t connected in any way to the business. She wanted to know she had surrendered everything to a man who wanted her for herself.
What she needed was proof.
“… I’ve looked at the corporation bylaws,” he was saying, “and two directors can also call an emergency meeting. I think you and I can do that. Everyone was more than ready to remove Byrne when I talked to them last night. I think they’ve all seen the light.”
A brilliant idea flashed through her head. Catherine swallowed back a jolt of fear, but it grew in her mind, clicking into place like the last pieces of a puzzle. It would put the company into caring hands, and prove whether or not his proposal was motivated by business. If he truly loved her, he would even understand. And if he didn’t …
She only hoped Miles would see the light after she was done.
The atmosphere in the conference room was grim.
Miles glanced around at the faces of the Wagner board of directors. Each one was set with a cold expression—except Byrne’s. He was sweating profusely. Miles almost felt sorry for the man. The various newspapers on the conference table were filled with his attack on the media at the reception. The videotapes next to the newspapers were worse, with the TV news reports of Byrne’s performance. He and Catherine had missed quite a show, evidently.
She sat across from him now, looking quiet, subdued, and beautiful in a pale green outfit. Only Catherine could turn soft colors into a power suit, he mused. He knew she was nervous and unsure of her abilities to chair Wagner Oil. But he knew different, and he had never been prouder of her. She had fought him every step of the way, but now it was over and she was his. He still felt as if he’d been hit on the forehead with a sledgehammer and the granite had fallen away from his eyes. She was a unique woman, and the moment he’d said he loved her, he’d known that was what had been happening all along.
People at the table looked expectantly at him. He and Catherine had spent two days huddled in separate rooms, talking the relatives into this meeting. They all wanted it short and sweet. As the director who’d called the meeting, Miles cleared his throat and opened it. “It is obvious that board management at Wagner Oil cannot continue as it has. We have to change our tactics, our entire method of doing business, and we need someone who understands that.”
“That’s been very obvious for a long time,” Catherine’s father said.
Miles smothered a wry smile. When the man came around, he really came around. He still wasn’t quite convinced that his own daughter was the best choice, but he was convinced the bank held the voting strings.
“We’ll lose our shirts,” Byrne said, smacking the table with his palm.
“We’re already losing them,” Catherine said coolly.
“And Wagner
cannot afford to lose more,” Miles said, turning to Byrne. “I’m sorry, Byrne, but I have no choice but to call for your resignation.”
“No! No!” Byrne shouted, banging on the table.
“A resignation would be best for you,” Sylvia said, sympathy in her voice. “You know we’re in trouble, and we all know you want what’s best for Wagner Oil.”
“You’re all just jealous of me because Father put me in charge.” Byrne’s eyes were bulging. “You always have been.”
Miles shook his head. “Allan wasn’t my father, Byrne. I have no ties. I move Byrne be removed from the board of directors.
Several voices sounded. Privately, Miles was relieved there was more than one. There would be fewer hard feelings afterward. “All in favor?” he asked.
The ayes were firm and nearly unanimous. Byrne collapsed in defeat. Nobody looked at him. Nobody said a word. He got up and left the room, finally gaining the dignity he had needed as chairman. Even though he knew it was the only option, Miles couldn’t help feeling guilty.
From across the table, Catherine looked sadly at him, and he smiled to reassure her. To his surprise, there were tears in her eyes. He had known this action upset her, but he hadn’t expected her to react like this. If she blamed him … he didn’t think he could handle it.
“Uncle Byrne will still receive his salary and bonuses in a stock and profit-sharing package,” she said.
Miles nodded. “Agreed.”
He would find out in another second if his life was in ruin, he thought, realizing it was time to nominate her. He opened his mouth.
“I nominate Sylvia for the post of chairperson.”
Miles blinked. The voice wasn’t his, and the name wasn’t the one he’d expected to say. It was Catherine who spoke.
Everything inside him went cold.
“Second!”
The voices were fast and furious. Miles stared around the table, bewildered by the turn of events and unable to stop them. No one would look directly at him. Instead, they deliberately looked away.
“All in favor?” Catherine asked.
“Aye.” Every damn one of them said it.
“Catherine!” Miles roared, realizing she had engineered a coup behind his back.
She never flinched, as the rest of her family practically ducked for cover. “I had to, Miles. You were planning to control the company through me. I couldn’t allow that.”
“I was not!” He leaped to his feet, shoving back his chair. “Never would I do something so underhanded, but you can’t help thinking that, can you?”
“Miles, unconsciously you were,” she replied, her voice steady. “Think of all the plans you had for me—”
“To help you!”
She smiled sadly. “You would have been running the show, even if you didn’t realize it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me of your concerns about my running the corporation through you?”
She didn’t answer.
“The consortium won’t tolerate it,” he reminded her.
“Yes, they will,” she shot back confidently. “Sylvia is much more competent and experienced than I am, and she understands the need for environmental safety and for developing new fuels. She’s the best person for the chairmanship. And you’ll grant the extension because the consortium can’t really afford the loss if we folded, and you know it. Miles, I love you. I needed to know you love me for me, not anything to do with Wagner Oil.”
The words were a slap in the face.
“This is a damned test, isn’t it?” he asked, furious.
“I—I have to know,” she said, lifting her chin.
She was so beautiful and so treacherous, he thought. And she had played him for a fool. Well, she’d done it for the last time.
“You hand me all this bull,” he said, “about trust and commitment, but you’re the one who can’t trust and you’re the one who can’t make a commitment. You’re the one who can’t pass the test, Catherine.”
He stalked out of the room.
Now she knew.
Catherine swiped at the renewed tears, angry that she didn’t seem to be able to stop them. This time it was Miles who wasn’t answering calls. He wasn’t at the house, either. Or so his housekeeper said when she’d gone there. Miles seemed to have vanished off the face of Philadelphia.
Maybe it was for the better, she thought, rolling over on her bed. What could she have said to him, anyway? He must hate her for what she’d done. And yet she hadn’t known what else to do. She didn’t have enough experience or knowledge to have kept him from running Wagner Oil, if that was what he’d wanted. And she had to be sure there was no business in the marriage proposal. Why couldn’t he understand that?
The telephone rang, and she snatched it up, her heart pounding excitedly. “Hello.”
“My grandson has disappeared for the last two days,” Lettice said. “The bank’s been calling, looking for him.”
Catherine’s heart sank. “I don’t know where he is. We—we had a fight.”
“A board fight.” Lettice harrumphed in disapproval. “I heard about it from your aunt Sylvia. I leave you two alone, and you make a hash of everything.”
“I didn’t make a hash,” Catherine began, then sighed. “I did. Lettice, I … Miles was going to run the company through me. At least, that’s how he made everything sound. I couldn’t let him do that.”
“Of course you couldn’t, dear,” Lettice said. “It would be just like him, and he’d never realize it. He always was a controller. That’s why he’s such a good banker. Your job was to snap him out of it. That’s why you’re so good for him. And he’s good for you.”
Catherine paused. “But we’re so different.”
“Naturally. It makes life exciting.” Lettice was quiet for a long moment. “Never ever let that get away from you.”
Catherine understood the words completely. “I should have told Miles how I felt. I wasn’t ready for the job.”
“Well, he’s a steamroller at times. So go and find him and explain.”
Catherine broke into fresh tears. “But I did explain. At the meeting. And he stormed off.”
“Typical. So go find him and seduce him. He’s bound to forgive you after that.”
“But that’s the point, dammit! I don’t know where to look.”
“Try his club, or the house we have in Maine. He’s been known to go there upon occasion. He may have even gone to his brother Devlin’s. In fact, try there first. If he’s there, he ought to be more than ready to come home …”
A strange noise began to filter through her windows. Someone was playing a boom box with the volume turned up to maximum. Still listening but barely able to hear Lettice rattling off more places where she could find Miles, Catherine got up to close the windows until the rude and very deaf person passed by.
Then she realized the rude and deaf person was playing “Earth Angel.”
She pushed aside the curtains and looked out. There on the pavement below her was Miles, sitting on the open top of a limousine with a boom box blaring and a huge bouquet of flowers on his lap. A group had gathered around the limo, and in true Philadelphia fashion, people were dancing.
She dropped the phone, flung up her window screen, and stuck her head out. “Miles! Miles!”
He turned down the volume. Peace filled the air, broken only by the groans of the dancers.
“What are you doing?” she called out.
He grinned at her. “Coming after you. I figured if it was good enough for Richard Gere, then it’s good enough for me. Besides, if I waited for you, I’d be a dead man.”
“I couldn’t find you.” The tears started again. She pushed them away with her fingers.
“I was … thinking at my brother’s, but I hate—” His words were overrun by the dancers calling for him to turn the music back on.
Catherine frowned. She thought he’d said “fish,” but couldn’t be sure. It didn’t matter.
“I love you. Can
I come in?” he shouted.
“Oh!” She laughed. “Yes!”
Everyone applauded.
She raced down the stairs and opened the front door. Miles was already there. The music was playing again behind him. He stepped inside, pulled her into his arms, and slammed the door shut.
“Miles, I’m sorry,” she whispered, just before his mouth covered hers.
The kiss was filled with longing and love. It rocked through her like a tidal wave, and she clung to him, feeling the strong flesh and bone so real beneath her fingers.
Finally he lifted his head. “Maybe you were a little right about my trying to run the company.”
“I suppose that’s about as far as you’ll go with an apology,” she murmured, kissing his cheek.
“Just about,” he agreed, his voice hoarse with growing passion. “I didn’t realize what I was doing, Catherine. You were right about Sylvia. She’ll be excellent.”
“I know.” She ran her hands down his shirtfront. “Next time, I’ll talk to you first. I should have told you how I felt. I was unfair to you. I do trust you, Miles.”
He chuckled dryly. “There’s nothing left to not trust me with.”
“My heart is left,” she corrected him. “It’s the most vulnerable of all.”
He held her tightly. “I’ll keep it safe next to mine.”
“That’s all I ask.”
When they surfaced again, he said, “Let’s go. The limo’s waiting.”
“Where are we going?”
“To my house, where you belong.”
She smiled. Then she remembered. “Your grandmother. She’s on the phone.”
“She’ll hang up eventually.”
“But the bank’s looking for you.”
He opened the front door. “It can wait. I can’t. We have to go do something very natural and environmentally safe.”
“My, you have changed.”
“All from the love of a good woman. And you are very good. Promise you’ll drive me crazy for the rest of my life.”
She grinned. “I guarantee it.”
Epilogue
“Wagner Oil is up four points on the market.”
Catherine swung around from the bath she was filling. Miles stood in the doorway, holding a newspaper.