Destiny Unleashed (10 page)

“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 her
self 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.

A
fter 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 muted 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?”

“The fuzzy slippers don’t scare me,” he said wryly. “What were you doing before I interrupted your evening?”

“Listening to this lovely, unexpected concert,” she told him.

“And before that?”

“I was curled up with a good book, if you must know. The days are long past when I felt the need to be out reveling till the wee hours of the morning on New Year’s Eve.”

He smiled at the obvious attempt to prove she was succumbing to middle-aged stuffiness. “That must be because there’s no one around stimulating enough to keep you awake,” he teased.

“And you intend to change that?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m not a girl any longer, William. I’m a mature woman. I don’t have to be on the go constantly or surrounded by people to feel alive.”

“Not people, Destiny. One person,” he said lightly, holding up the champagne. “Would you like some?”

“One glass,” she said, her expression filled with caution.

He lifted a brow. “Are you afraid I intend to ply you with champagne and steal corporate secrets?”

She shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Filled with a sudden surge of anger at the injustice of the accusation, William set the bottle down carefully. He waited for an entire minute, pretending to concentrate on the music, before he finally looked her in the eye. “You can’t possibly believe that,” he said quietly.

“Why can’t I?” she retorted, her jaw set stubbornly. “It’s true, isn’t it? You used things you learned from me to hurt my family.”

“That’s absurd,” he said furiously. “It’s been years
since we’ve even seen each other, Destiny, and how often did we ever discuss business back then? Beyond knowing that Carlton Industries was in your family, I knew nothing of its holdings then. Nor did you, for that matter.”

She kept her gaze steady, obviously intent on not backing down even when confronted with the facts.

“Come on, Destiny, answer me,” he insisted. “And be honest. Did we ever once lie awake nights while you poured out Carlton secrets? Who’s revising history to suit them now?”

“We must have,” she said, though her voice lacked conviction. “Otherwise you couldn’t have pulled off half of the sneak attacks you’ve made on the company.”

He stared at her, nearly struck dumb by the fact that she actually believed that she was somehow responsible for leaking information to him. “Have you been blaming yourself all this time for the actions I’ve taken in recent years against Carlton Industries? Is that what brought you charging over here?”

Her eyes flashed dangerously. “Yes, if you must know. The constant disasters in the European division are making people question my nephew’s leadership. Since everything that’s happened over here has been my fault because of my connection to you, it’s up to me to make it right.”

William had to fight the hysterical laughter that was bubbling up inside him. “Destiny, it wasn’t like that. Not at all.”

“Words, William. Just words. Your actions speak loudly enough to the contrary. You’re simply not to be trusted. I must remember that.”

He could see that she honestly believed what she was saying. “Okay, let’s get to the bottom of this. I won’t let you make yourself out as some sort of traitor,” he said. “Sit down.”

She sat primly on the edge of the sofa, her hands folded in her lap, her entire demeanor radiating skepticism. William sat next to her, close, but not so close as to make her more skittish than she already was.

“Now, look me in the eye,” he commanded, and waited until she did. “Have you ever known me to lie to you?”

The answer was a long time coming, but Destiny was too honest to tell anything less than the truth, or at least the truth as she saw it. “No,” she finally admitted. Her eyes flashed with barely banked anger as she added, “That only means I never caught you.”

William choked back an exasperated retort. “I have
never
lied to you,” he said emphatically. “And I never will.”

“But you
have
attacked my family’s business,” she said. “You can hardly deny that.”

“No,” he agreed calmly. “I can’t deny that. Do you know why I’ve done that?”

“Because you’re a typically greedy and vicious businessman and you wanted to get back at me.”

The accusation stung, but he could see how it would seem that way to her. “I understand why that would be your interpretation,” he said.

She gave him a scathing look. “Is there any other?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.”

“Then, please, enlighten me.”

“This had nothing at all to do with retaliation. I simply wanted to get your attention, Destiny. I wanted
you mad enough to come over here and confront me. I wanted to get everything out in the open between us, to say all the things we should have said years ago and didn’t.”

She stared at him with openmouthed astonishment. “This was some sort of game? All of those bids were simply meant to get my attention?”

He nodded. “It’s been a rather successful game, as it turns out.”

The first hint of doubt flickered in her eyes. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because if you search your heart, you’ll know I’m telling you the truth.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier just to come to the States and see me?”

William shrugged. “Probably. And if I’d come to my senses years ago, that’s what I would have done. Since I didn’t, this seemed to make more sense.”

“But why, William? Why did it even matter after all this time?”

Now it was his turn to look astonished. “I thought that was obvious.”

“Not to me.”

He hadn’t intended to get into this yet. He’d wanted time to woo her, to show her how he felt, not just say the words. Unfortunately, it seemed he didn’t have a choice, if he wasn’t to derail his whole plan right here and now.

He looked her directly in the eyes and reached for her hands, holding them tightly so she couldn’t immediately pull away. “Because I’m still in love with you, of course. Never stopped loving you, to be brutally honest about it.”

Her mouth gaped. “You’re still in love with me,” she echoed weakly, then blinked as an odd flash of light lit the room. “What on earth was that?”

He nearly laughed at her astounded expression. “What?”

“That light.”

“It was nothing, I’m sure. Now, stop trying to change the subject. You asked why I did everything I’ve done and I’ve told you. I love you,” he repeated.

“But that’s not possible,” she said flatly.

“Of course it is,” he said, annoyed.

“No, no, it isn’t.” She stared at him, obviously flustered. “I think you’d better go, William. Now.”

He stared at her, but she was obviously serious. “You actually want me to leave now?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because this is all wrong. You almost had me believing you, but then I remembered one thing.”

“What? What on earth could you have remembered that would make you question my sincerity?” he asked, exasperated by her attitude. “We’re two mature adults who’ve wasted far too much time as it is. We’ve both been alone because we were too foolish and filled with pride to reach out to the one person we loved.”

“Speak for yourself,” she muttered.

He ignored her. “It’s time to get our cards on the table, Destiny. It’s time to move forward to claim the happiness we deserve.”

Destiny looked as if he’d suggested sunbathing nude in Hyde Park. “Absolutely not,” she said fiercely.

“Why are you fighting this?”

“Because…” she said, looking miserable. “Because I can’t risk trusting you. Not for a minute. Have you forgotten Fortnum Travel, William, because believe me, I haven’t. If you have your way, you’ll steal it right out from under us.”