“Even then,” he insisted. “Maybe it’s most important of all then. And Destiny obviously knew that I’d mastered that lesson when she sent you charging down here. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have risked it.”
Melanie met his gaze and opened her mouth. Richard cut her off. “I don’t want to hear another apology. We both know you’re here because of my aunt. If anyone’s to blame for the awkwardness of the situation, it’s Destiny.”
“She was just trying to help both of us out,” Melanie replied. “You can hardly blame her for caring about you and for trying to do me a favor.”
“Yes, I can,” he said grimly. “When it takes the form of meddling, I most certainly can. If this was only about that contract, she’d have planted you in my office on Monday morning, not in this cottage on a Friday night, armed with my favorite wine and food.”
Melanie grimaced. “Maybe we shouldn’t go there. We don’t seem to see eye-to-eye on your aunt’s motivation. In fact, maybe I should go in the living room and sit in front of the fire and get some work done, and you can stay in here and do the same.”
Richard bit back a grin. “Retreating to neutral corners, as it were.”
“Exactly.”
“Maybe that’s not such a bad idea,” he said as he gazed directly into her eyes. He thought he detected a faint hint of longing there. Best not to give himself the chance to discover if he was right.
She stood there, looking undecided, then finally sighed. “See you later, then.”
“Yeah, see you later.” When she was almost out of sight, he called after her. “Melanie?”
She hesitated but didn’t turn back to face him. “Yes?”
“Anything in particular you’d like for dinner?”
She turned then, her expression perplexed. “There are choices?”
“Sure. Why would you think otherwise?”
“Destiny made it seem as if…”
“As if I would be starving if you didn’t show up down here,” Richard guessed. He grinned. “Told you what she was up to.”
Melanie nodded. “Damn but she’s good,” she said, sounding more admiring than annoyed.
“It’s something we should both keep in mind, don’t you think?” he responded.
“Oh, yes,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “I will definitely keep that in mind. As for dinner, surprise me.”
As if I could, Richard thought, but he nodded. Maybe when it came to dinner, he could come up with something totally unexpected. Lord knew, though, that the woman seemed able to read his mind when it came to anything else.
Melanie grabbed her cell phone and marched outside, oblivious to the cold. She punched in Destiny Carlton’s number, then waited for a connection. When it came, the signal was faint, but she could hear Destiny’s cheerful voice.
“You are one very sneaky woman,” Melanie accused, though without too much rancor.
“Melanie, darling. How are you? Are you stranded down there with Richard?” There was an unmistakably optimistic note in her voice.
“I’m sure you knew I would be,” Melanie grumbled.
“Not knew, hoped,” Destiny corrected. “Is it going well? Has he agreed to hire you yet?”
“No.”
“Oh,” Destiny said, clearly disappointed. “Maybe I should have a talk with him. Where is he?”
“In the kitchen working, and I am not letting you talk to him,” Melanie said. “I think you’ve done quite enough meddling for one weekend.”
“Has something gone wrong?” Destiny asked worriedly. “You two haven’t had words, have you?”
“Not the way you mean. What we have done is compare notes. Now I’m even more suspicious of your motives than I was the other day. In fact, I’m convinced that your intentions were not entirely aboveboard and honorable.”
“That’s a fine thing to say when I’ve only been trying to help you out,” Destiny said with indignation.
“Nice try,” Melanie retorted, not buying the huffy act for an instant. “And I’m sure that getting me this contract is at least a small part of what you’re after, but you want more out of this weekend, don’t you?”
“I have no idea what you’re suggesting,” the older woman claimed blithely. “Whoops, there’s my other line. I’m expecting an important call from Richard’s brother Mack. Have a lovely time down there, darling, and give Richard a kiss for me. Don’t you two dare leave until the roads are cleared. I don’t want to be worried sick that you’re skidding into a snowdrift.”
She was gone before Melanie could respond. Give the man a kiss for her, Melanie thought irritably. Right. That was exactly what Destiny was after, and the more kissing the better. She punched in Destiny’s number again, but this time the connection wouldn’t go through at all. Melanie sighed, jammed the cell phone back in her pocket and went inside.
Richard walked into the living room just then and regarded her quizzically. “What on earth were you doing outside without a coat?”
“Calling your aunt.”
His lips twitched. “And?”
“She denies that this was a setup for anything other than getting a business deal worked out.”
“What did you expect, that she’d admit to it?”
“Yes, I expected her to be honest.”
“I’m sure she was. In fact, I imagine if you went over every word that came out of her mouth, you wouldn’t find a single thing that wasn’t accurate and truthful.”
Melanie considered the conversation she’d just had with the maddening woman and concluded Richard was right. Destiny had skirted carefully around any outright lies, while admitting nothing. “She should be the one going into politics,” she muttered.
“Heaven help us if she chose to,” Richard said. “She doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and the political arena is crawling with idiots. Destiny’s completely nonpartisan when it comes to calling it as she sees it. After a few weeks, no political party would have her.”
“Just think how refreshing it would be to listen to her, though,” Melanie speculated.
“Refreshing is not the word I would have chosen,” Richard replied. “But, then, I’ve been listening to her most of my life and have seen what she’s like once she gets a bee in her bonnet. She’s relentless.”
“And you think that’s what we are, a bee in her bonnet?”
“I’d stake my life on it.”
“Well, too bad,” Melanie said forcefully. “She’s just going to have to lose this one. You and I have agreed on that.”
She looked up to find Richard staring at her, that disconcerting heat once again blazing in his eyes.
“Have we really?” he asked softly.
Her pulse leaped. “Yes, of course, we have,” she said, trying hard to sound irrefutably emphatic.
“Then Destiny will just have to accept it,” he said, with what sounded like a vague note of regret in his voice.
Melanie swallowed hard, trying not to choke on her own regrets. “Suddenly I’m starving,” she said. “Must be all that fresh air and exercise.”
Richard finally tore his gaze away. “I’ll start dinner then. Would you like a