‘If it has to,’ he grimaced. He was not the most patient of men when it came to getting something he wanted.
‘I think so, Richard.’ She was suddenly serious. ‘I told you about this new account I’m trying to acquire—I’d like to settle that before we’re married.’
‘Isn’t Melfords a little high for you to aim, darling?’ He quirked dark brows. ‘After all, it’s a multi-million-pound perfume industry.’
‘And I’m just a small not-very-well-known agency.’ She spoke the words he hadn’t. If there was one thing about Richard that annoyed her—and it was the only thing!—it was the way he liked to underestimate her work, treating her career almost like a hobby she would soon tire of. He was of the old school, a wife was to adorn his house and table, to warm his bed and body, not to go out to work or have a career of her own. But the agency was hers, she had worked it up from nothing into a successful business, and she had no intention of giving it up, not now or when they were married. ‘There was a rumour that Melfords were no longer satisfied with the work Hazeldene was doing for them. I made enquiries, and they didn’t deny the rumour. At the moment they haven’t said yes to the new ideas I sent them, but neither have they said no. The head of their advertising department told me that they’re considering them.’
‘Considering them, darling,’ Richard drawled. ‘You really mustn’t get your hopes up too high.’
Kate had told herself the same thing, but the fact that her ideas were even being considered had given her hope. If she did get the contract—and she was well aware it was only an if—then the fee she would receive for her work would make her a very rich woman in her own right. It would be the final irony if Brian had left her for nothing, if she had as much money as the rich widow he had made his wife.
‘I stand as much of a chance as anyone else,’ she told Richard confidently. ‘I have a good reputation, and some well-known and satisfied customers.’
‘But none as big as Melfords,’ he reasoned.
‘Perhaps not,’ she conceded, knowing that Richard’s own company was the largest on her books, a fact he was probably aware of too. ‘But maybe that’s why I stand a chance. All the big agencies tend to have similar ideas; I pride myself on my originality. You’re satisfied with your advertising, aren’t you, darling?’ she asked lightly.
‘Of course,’ he flushed. ‘Although I have to admit I would have given you the contract even if I weren’t; I was determined to have you from the first, Kate.’
‘Thank you,’ she smiled, although his words didn’t please her. She knew he meant to flatter, and yet in doing so he took away from her achievement as a businesswoman. ‘And now you have me, are you going to feed me?’ she mocked him.
‘Of course.’ He straightened. ‘We must celebrate our engagement properly, mustn’t we?’
And celebrate they did, going on to a club after their meal, dancing until the early hours of the morning when Kate told Richard she really would have to get home. Tomorrow was a working day for her, and although she was the boss she wasn’t just a figurehead, but took an interest in all of her clients, her personal service being part of the rapidly growing success of the agency. Clients didn’t like to feel that anyone was inaccessible to them, she had learnt over the years.
It was after two when they arrived at her flat, and Richard declined coming in for coffee, arranging to see her the following day. His decision not to come in pleased Kate; until that moment she had been unsure of what he would expect of her now that she wore his ring. From their first date she had made it clear that she had no intention of going to bed with him, and although he had respected that up to now she hadn’t been sure if it would still apply. He had clearly shown her that it did.
Her kiss goodnight was all the more passionate in her gratitude; she had decided, after the way Brian had taken advantage of her, and her impetuous time with Jared, that any other man that desired her now was going to have to marry her first. Richard was proving that he intended doing just that.
‘We’ll discuss the honeymoon tomorrow,’ he told her throatily. ‘How does a month in my bedroom sound?’
‘Only a month?’ she teased, her mouth bare of lip-gloss now, although her hair still remained in its sleek chignon, her eyes a luminous gold.
‘To start with,’ he growled. ‘After that I might let you out for short periods of time—as long as you make it up to me when you get back!’
Kate was smiling to herself as she went up to her flat. Richard had earnt his reputation as the playboy head of James Fashions, a succession of beautiful women passing through his life; she believed him when he said he intended their marriage to be a highly sensual one.
As she searched through her evening bag for her key the door suddenly swung open in front of her. Her startled gaze moved up from the bare feet, the denim-clad legs, the navy blue sweat-shirt and short leather jacket which emphasised the breadth of powerful shoulders. Lastly, the face, the ruggedly handsome face dominated by a roguish smile and laughing blue eyes, thick dark hair falling untidily over his forehead.
Jared’s presence in her flat was so unexpected that for a moment Kate was speechless, just stood there staring at him in numbed surprise.
‘You’d better come in.’ Jared grasped her arm and pulled her inside. ‘You look a little strange standing on your own doorstep in that way.’
As the door closed behind them Kate came out of her shock. This was the second time tonight that her door had opened to reveal this man—and this time he was standing on the wrong side of it! ‘What are you doing here?’ She threw her evening bag down on the side-table, the key superfluous now. ‘How did you get in?’ she glared at him furiously.
He threw himelf down into one of the armchairs, draping one of his legs over the arm, swinging his bare foot back and forth. ‘I told the caretaker I’m your brother,’ he told her cheerfully, without regret.
‘My brother?’ she exclaimed in disbelief, her eyes wide gold pools. ‘But I don’t have a brother!’
‘You do now,’ he grinned.
‘I—You—When I moved into this flat I told the management I don’t have any family here in England, least of all a brother—–’
‘You don’t?’
‘—and I consider this an invasion of my privacy. Ben had no right to let you in!’ she finished with a fierce glare.
‘Ben?’
‘The caretaker!’
‘Oh,’ Jared nodded understanding. ‘I have to tell you I was very convincing as your relative. I told him all about Great-Aunt Bertha and her recent demise.’
‘Geat-Aunt Bertha?’ she repeated dazedly. ‘But I don’t have a Great-Aunt Bertha!’
‘I know that,’ he laughed. ‘But Ben thinks you’re going to come into a considerable fortune now that she’s dead, that I’ve come here to tell you all about it. You must realise that he thought you would want to know as soon as possible that you’re a rich woman?’
‘Don’t worry,’ her mouth was tight. ‘I don’t intend making things difficult for Ben, but I will make sure he knows not to let in my long-lost brother again,’ she derided. ‘Do you realise how awkward this could have been if I’d brought Richard up with me?’
He shrugged. ‘I watched out of the window, he drove off as soon as you entered the building.’
Kate sighed her displeasure. ‘You have no right to be here. Didn’t I make it plain enough earlier this evening, I don’t want to see you again?’ She was breathing hard in her agitation.
Jared nodded. ‘I did seem to detect a certain amount of reluctance on your part. But I had nowhere else to go, and Gill was already otherwise engaged.’