Dusky Rose

by Joanna Scott

  Dusky Rose

  By

  Joanna Scott

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Dusky Rose

  Marriage to a stranger… Laura had been half in love with David from the moment they met, but her opinion of his employer, D. Jonathan Lattimer, was far from complimentary.

  Then one morning she awoke to find herself married—to David Jonathan Lattimer! Trapped in marriage to a man she had sworn to hate, a man who thought she had trapped him, how could Laura ever explain that she loved her husband?

  He was a stranger to her—no longer the gentle man who had kissed and courted her. But even as he made plans to tear her from his life, she knew he was the only man who would ever fill her heart.

  To my husband and my son

  © 1980, Joanna Scott

  © 1982, Cover Illustration, Edito-Service S.A., Geneva

  Published by Edito-Service S.A., Geneva,

  by arrangement with the Silhouette Division

  of Simon & Schuster

  ISBN 2-8302-0239-2

  Chapter 1

  The early morning fog was a shadowy gray veil hovering above the San Francisco horizon. The rooftops of the towering buildings dominating Montgomery Street were totally invisible as Laura trudged up the hill toward the imposing concrete mass known as the Lattimer Building, corporate headquarters of one of the world's largest conglomerates.

  She rapped lightly at the locked glass door until the security guard came forward to admit her. He tipped his hat in greeting.

  "How are you today, Miss Canaday? Are you here to spruce up our lobby?"

  "Yes, Mr. Leonardi, it's so much easier to do my work when the building is empty."

  "I know what you mean, Miss Canaday. Most days this place is like a railway station… people coming and going in all directions… buzzing around like so many bees in a hive. But on weekends, it's as calm and quiet as a church yard."

  Laura laughed as she signed her name in the entry log. "That may be true, but I don't think Mr. Lattimer would make a very good reverend, considering his scandalous reputation."

  Mr. Leonardi was chuckling to himself as Laura walked through the small entryway into the elegant marble lobby.

  A multitude of huge green plants sprouted from every corner of the sterile room, providing a vibrant touch of life in the oppressive silence of the deserted steel and glass building. It was Saturday morning and the army of workers who usually populated the lobby and elevators of the Lattimer Corporation's home office were enjoying a weekend reprieve.

  Laura walked gingerly between the profusion of plants, pausing now and then to check the soil moisture in each pot and clip off any brittle, brown-edged leaves.

  Her bright blue eyes darkened with anger as she knelt beside a white clay planter containing the gently drooping leaves of a large Ficus Benjamina tree. The corners of her soft coral lips turned down in petulant indignation as she discovered the numerous cigarette stubs and gum wrappers littering the moss-covered soil beneath the graceful branches of the tree. Sighing in exasperation, she reached her white cotton gloved hands into the planter and began removing each unsightly piece of litter from the ash laden soil at the base of the plant. As she worked, she became totally absorbed and her irate features gradually melted into tenderness.

  "Poor baby, these inconsiderate people treat your home as their trash bin. They don't deserve a beautiful plant like you," she said, as she began to aerate the hardened soil.

  She was so thoroughly engrossed in her work that she failed to notice the tall, muscular man who walked soundlessly from the mailroom into the lobby. He stopped a few feet away from where Laura was working and began studying her as she pushed back the softly curling tendrils which had escaped the pale blue ribbon holding her long brown hair. She was a petite, slender girl whose delicate bone structure and translucent complexion gave her the appearance of a dainty, porcelain doll. This fragility was accentuated by her close-fitting striped madras shirt and faded blue jeans, which clung to each softly feminine curve of her body.

  The man's firmly set mouth widened into a droll grin as he crossed his arms and leaned casually against the wall, staring down at Laura with amused interest.

  "Do you always talk to plants?" he asked, smiling at her with a wicked enjoyment that he did not attempt to conceal.

  Laura's hands froze as she turned her head and looked at a pair of long, lean, camel-colored trouser legs. Her gaze traveled upward over narrow masculine hips, girded by a thick leather belt with a heavy metal buckle. Above the belt she saw the bold stripes of a red and blue rugby shirt that stretched across the taut rippling muscles of his powerfully built chest. She looked past the firmly set jaw, frankly amused mouth and proud aquiline nose, until she encountered the commanding depths of his dark brown eyes. Here her travels came to an end when his piercingly intent dusky eyes seized hers and held them tightly in a paralyzing, hypnotic spell.

  As Laura stared, spellbound, into his darkly forbidding eyes, the droll smile slowly disappeared from the man's lips and his features froze as if he too were powerless before the electrifying force passing between them. The faint feeling permeating Laura's body was unlike anything she had ever experienced before and she realized that if she did not look away quickly, she would be drawn toward him like a helpless moth moving toward a brightly burning flame.

  When she finally forced herself to tear her eyes away from the magnetic captivity of his powerful gaze, Laura felt the tingling heat of an embarrassed blush spread rapidly through her body and into her cheeks. Her voice was low and trembling when at last she gained sufficient control to speak.

  "I didn't think anyone else was here today. It's Saturday, you know, and the building is usually deserted."

  The fact that Laura had looked away from him did not make her visitor cease his own searching observation of her and he seemed to be relishing her embarrassed discomfort. He kept his eyes glued to her in an arrogant manner that sent undulating waves of heat racing through her body.

  "I had to check out something in the mailroom. I thought I'd best get it done before Monday's rush. But why are you here? It seems to me that an attractive young girl like you could find a better way to spend her weekend than talking to plants."

  Laura laughed in spite of her determination to remain serious and in control of her emotions. The man's renewed, easy manner had a curiously contagious quality about it.

  "I'm the Plant Lady," she said. "My sister and I own the flower shop on the corner. Lattimer Corporation bought these plants from us with the provision that I come by often enough to keep them healthy. If Mr. D. Jonathan Lattimer were ever to see one wilted leaf, I expect that my plants and I would soon be out on the street."

  The man standing above Laura looked strangely perturbed as he raised his dark brows questioningly. "It sounds as if you're not too fond of Mr. D. Jonathan Lattimer."

  "Oh, I've never met him," Laura said, as she climbed the stepladder she had kept in the building and began to mist the leaves of the freshly cleansed plant. "And I'd just as soon keep it that way. I hear that he's a cold, demanding person and not at all the type you'd like to pass an afternoon with. In any case, I'm not about to incur his wrath by letting him discover a sickly plant. Lattimer Corporation is one of our biggest accounts and we need the money too much to lose its business by angering the chairman of the board."

  The man's relaxed mouth became quietly serious. "I don't think you could mak
e anyone angry and I'm doubly sure that Jon Lattimer would never put you out on the street."

  "Oh, I know Mr. Lattimer has a reputation for being quite a ladies' man," said Laura, "but I'm not at all his type."

  The man's eyes glinted with interest as it became obvious that he was enjoying the conversation. "Really?" he said. "And just what is Lattimer's taste in women?"

  Laura continued misting the plant as she spoke. "Oh, you know, the tall, sultry, sophisticated type. He prefers fashion models and actresses. I'm sure he would find a hayseed from Carmel too boring for words."

  "My, my, you certainly know a lot about a man you've never even met."

  "Well," Laura said, "many of our customers work for Lattimer Corporation, and Mr. Lattimer's exploits with the opposite sex are a favorite topic of conversation among his employees, especially the women. You'd be surprised at the number of them who are madly in love with the man. He's considered quite a catch, you know. But those girls don't stand a chance. He's not about to waste his time on some silly secretary when every debutante in the country is dying for the chance to become his wife."

  By now the man had seated himself comfortably against the wall, drawn his long legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. His dark eyes twinkled with interest and the corners of his lips tilted with candid amusement as he listened to Laura speak.

  "What about you, wouldn't you like to marry Jon Lattimer?"

  Laura laughed, "Me? Marry Mr. Lattimer? That's an idea that would send him into hysterics if he ever heard it. He doesn't even know I exist and if he did, I'm sure he'd never have any romantic interest in me."

  "Don't underestimate yourself. You're really quite attractive, you know. I'm sure Jon Lattimer or any other man would enjoy your company immensely."

  His quiet compliment only made Laura more agitated as she stretched to mist the leaves on the uppermost branches of the tree. In her confused state, she leaned out too far and lost her balance. She would have fallen to the marble floor, had not the strong arms of her companion reached out, as he quickly stood up catching her and drawing her swiftly against his lean, muscular chest. It was almost as if he'd been patiently waiting for this opportunity to clasp her willowy form to the steely hardness of his body.

  Laura's hands had sought the security of his shoulders in an attempt to break her fall and now they clung to his neck like a vine seeking the strength of a towering oak.

  Her heart beat wildly as she slowly lifted her face and their eyes met with a driving intensity that created sparks in the silent air around them. She felt his powerful arms move to encircle her in an iron grip as he brought his lips down to meet hers with a penetrating force that sent cascades of excitement racing through her body. Laura knew that she should push him away, but her lips responded to his with a will of their own, encouraging the passion which her mind sought to deny. His arms held her so close that she was unable to separate her own quickening pulse from the deep throbbing beats of his swiftly racing heart. She felt herself becoming completely limp beneath the masterful probing of his sensuous lips.

  Her head was spinning madly as she felt his lips soften and gently release hers. Then the pressure of his arms slackened as he nestled her in the crook of his elbow while his eyes traveled the length of her quivering body.

  "I guess introductions are in order," he said, smiling wickedly down at her in that arrogantly relaxed manner she had already come to think of as his. "My name's David."

  Laura finally regained enough composure to work her way out of his arms. He straightened as she moved away and she could see that he was at least a foot taller than her own five-foot-two. Her voice was low and breathless and she turned her flushed face away from his as she gathered her thoughts to speak.

  "I'm Laura Canaday… I don't know what happened to me… I'm not usually in the habit of kissing strangers."

  "Please don't apologize," David said, smiling broadly. "It was my pleasure and I can't help feeling that you enjoyed it too."

  Once again David's bold manner had Laura completely at a loss and she began to collect her gardening supplies. She tried desperately to calm herself as she placed the tools in the large wicker basket beside her. Laura thanked David when he reached down and handed her the small copper misting can which had been the cause of her embarrassment, but she could not lift her eyes to meet his.

  "Don't tell me you're going to carry that heavy basket all the way back to your flower shop? And the ladder, too?"

  "No, I'll just slide them over to the maintenance closet at the end of the corridor. I keep them there until I need them again."

  "Well," David said, "I guess I'll be leaving too. It was nice meeting you."

  Laura said "Good-bye" without lifting her eyes, but she couldn't help noticing how eager he seemed to get away from her. She was flooded with shame as she realized that the kiss which had affected her so strongly had been of very little importance to him; the thought left her suddenly chilled with loneliness.

  Laura put her supplies into the closet and walked toward the exit. As she signed out of the building, she searched for David's name in the log book at the security guard's desk, but the guard's hand covered the page and obscured her view. The realization that she didn't even know David's full name only increased her inexplicable sense of loss.

  She left the Lattimer Building and looked up and down the deserted streets, hoping to catch a last glimpse of the man who had kissed her with such untamed passion just minutes before. But he was nowhere in sight and, as Laura walked slowly back to the flower shop, a painful emptiness expanded to fill her heart.

  She opened the door of the shop and the tinkling bell announced her presence to her sister, Midge, who was deeply engrossed in arranging a bouquet of spring flowers in a white, milk glass bowl.

  She looked up as Laura walked through the door, then put down the flowers she was holding and walked quickly toward Laura.

  "Laura, what's happened? You're pale as a ghost." Placing her arm around Laura's shoulder, she walked her to the back of the shop, where they sat down on the small red velvet chairs Midge used to seat clients planning weddings or large banquets.

  "Everything is all right," Laura said. "I'm fine, really. It's just that there was a mailroom worker in the Lattimer Building and… he sort of unnerved me a bit."

  Midge raised her eyebrows questioningly at Laura. "What happened? Was he rude to you? You never know what to expect from some of these young fellows."

  "He wasn't that young. I'd say he was about thirty-five, and he wasn't really rude to me." Laura blushed as she thought that she could hardly call him rude, considering her own behavior.

  "It's just that he started talking to me while I was working and it made me nervous."

  "Well, as long as nothing really happened, just try to forget it and put it behind you."

  Laura heard what her sister had said and thought, If only I could put it behind me; but that was easier said than done. Shivers of fear and delight ran up her spine as she thought about David, yet he had been able to leave without giving her even a backward glance.

  "Laura, stop daydreaming," Midge said. "I've just finished my last flower arrangement of the day. Let's deliver it and head for home. Remember, Steven has arranged a date for you with another accountant from his office and you promised that you'd try to be pleasant. It's just not normal for an attractive, twenty-two year old girl to stay home alone every night reading horticultural books. You're never going to meet a man if you spend all your time around plants."

  Laura laughed lightly as she thought about the exciting man she had, in fact, met while she was working with her plants. Although the episode had obviously meant nothing to David, Laura knew that she would never forget the way his lips had burned into hers and the strange security she had felt within his powerful arms. None of the men Midge had ever introduced her to had made her feel that way, but she certainly wasn't about to tell Midge what had really happened this morning. Her cheeks flushed as she r
emembered that kiss.

  That evening, Laura dressed in a beige suede pant-suit which had the soft appearance of lustrous velvet. The brown turtleneck sweater beneath her suit was accented by a variety of simple gold chains in differing lengths. Her hair softly framed her face and turned under to rest casually on her shoulders.

  As usual, Laura was finished dressing before Midge, so she answered the door when Steven rang the bell. Steven Garrigan was a tall, fairheaded man with a lanky build that give him a gangling, boyish appearance. He was an accountant with Johnston Brothers, a large firm that had offices in most of the world's major cities. He was a serious and hard worker, and seemed slated for rapid advancement with the firm. He planted a brotherly kiss on Laura's cheek and said, "Isn't Midge ready yet?"

  Laura shook her head, "I guess you'd better get used to Midge's lateness if you're going to marry her; it's about the only bad habit she has."

  Steven smiled. "Maybe she'll change after we're married." Then he turned to the stocky man with glasses, who had been waiting patiently behind him. "Say, I'm forgetting my manners. Laura, this is Roger Addison. We work together at Johnston Brothers and he's been very anxious to meet you."

  "I can't tell you how happy I am to meet you. Steven has told me a lot about you and I can see that he wasn't exaggerating."

  Laura blushed at Roger's compliment. Then she led the two men into the living room which, like the rest of the apartment, was furnished with used furniture that Laura and Midge had found at second-hand furniture stores. Each piece had been carefully selected and refinished until the room had the warm look that only thoughtful planning could produce.

  Roger and Steven waited until Laura had seated herself, then sank into the soft cushions of the crewel covered couch.

  Laura had just suggested that Steven mix some drinks for Roger and himself when Midge emerged from the bedroom. Her short black hair clung to her head in tight little curls, giving her a pixie-like appearance. She was dressed in an emerald green corduroy pantsuit which emphasized her flashing green eyes. Laura could see the look of approval on Steven's face as he kissed Midge softly on the cheek. She knew that Midge, with her tactful manner and businesslike mind, would make the ideal wife for Steven. They looked so perfectly content together that Laura felt a small twinge of envy sneaking into her heart.