Call It Destiny (7 page)

„Heather, we’ll talk about this later. Tonight you’re supposed to be socializing, remember? Your family doesn’t want you being concerned with business until after the honeymoon.“
 

„I know,“ she said wryly. „It’s been getting rather annoying. Dad won’t even talk about the details of turning over the reins to me. Every time I bring up the subject he just goes on and on about what a fine management team you and I will make. So far I’ve put up with everyone’s efforts to keep me away from business until after the wedding, but frankly I’m beginning to chomp at the bit. I can’t wait to step into my new role. Oh, Jake, I love this place so much and it’s been a dream of mine so long to come back and assume dad’s position. After all these years it feels good to return to the family business. There’s a sense of heritage and tradition about it. I’ve missed that feeling in California.“
 

Jake’s face was stony. „There will be plenty of time to learn your new role after the wedding, Heather. Just be patient. You’re making your family very happy by going along with all this, you know.“ He nodded at the crowd around them.

„And you’re wondering when the party’s finally going to end, aren’t you, Jake?“ she teased lightly.

„Socializing isn’t my forte.“

„I’ve noticed. Cheer up. Everyone will probably start leaving in another hour. Let’s go see if there are any more of Julian’s goodies left.“

It was another hour and a half before the first guests started to leave; two hours before everyone had departed. But eventually Jake was able to pry Heather away from an in-depth postmortem of the successful event with her mother.

As they stepped out on the path that led to Heather’s private cottage, he had a few thoughts about persuading her to come to his place instead. When he had arrived two years ago Paul had told him to take his pick of the graciously designed cottages. He’d chosen a one-bedroom style that had the charm of a modern adobe look. Heather, to date, had only stepped foot inside on two occasions: once to ask him to join her for a swim and once to bring him an invitation from her mother to join the Strands for cocktails before dinner. On neither occasion had she stayed more than a few minutes.
 

„Would you like to go to my place for a nightcap?“ Jake tried carefully. The last thing he wanted to do at this stage was make her feel any sexual pressure. He’d gone far enough by crossing that six-month clause out of the contract. He’d been watching every move he made since then, allowing himself only casual kisses of greeting and a few rationed kisses of farewell at her door when he took her home at night. He knew he couldn’t risk alarming her in any way.

Only a week to go.

„All right.“

Her ready agreement took him by surprise. Perhaps he should have tried the invitation before. Jake felt a surge of eagerness. It was just barely possible she was going to accept the sensual attraction between them
without any fuss. It would make things a hell of a lot simpler if she did. Firmly he guided her onto another path; one that led in the direction of his cottage.
 

„You were the queen of the evening,“ he said after a moment of silence. „Your parents were very proud of you. Liz and Ann were delighted. They got a kick out of the way you charmed the socks off everyone in sight.“

Beside him Heather exhaled softly. „Everyone who showed up tonight did so for two reasons. One, they like my parents and wouldn’t want to offend them, and two, they wanted to see how I’d turned out.“ Her tone was dry but not bitter. „Since I will be taking my place here in the business community, I had to put on a good performance.“

„I don’t think it was all a performance. You’re in your element dealing with people, Heather. It comes naturally to you. You make them feel at ease, get them to talk. That’s a valuable talent. I wish I had some of it.“

„From the way my father talks about you, your own talents in finance and business administration more than make up for any lack of social skills you feel you have.“
 

„Very diplomatic,“ he approved. „Will it bother you, Heather?“

„Will what bother me?“

„Being married to a man who’s not as at ease with people as you are?“

He watched her consider the question, her face drawn in surprisingly contemplative lines. „No. To tell you the truth, I think the combination of two people who were overly social might be a bit much.“
 

„Brains as well as charm,“ he murmured, silently acknowledging that her answer came as something of a relief.

„Was that a compliment?“ she asked lightly.

„It was an observation your father made earlier this evening.“

„Ah, my father.“ She nodded, pleased. „He’s satisfied with the way I turned out, isn’t he, Jake?“

„Very.“ Wisely he decided not to add that he himself was pleased. She might find the remark patronizing. Hell, he was sure trying to watch his footwork these days. Trying to be so careful, so restrained. It was a strain, to say the least. Unable to resist, Jake put his hand on Heather’s waist, seeking the feel of her silky warm skin where it was bared by the plunging cut of the gown in back. She didn’t move away.

They walked the rest of the way to his place in a companionable silence. The warm night enveloped them and the scent of the gardens was rich and enticing. Almost as tantalizing as the scent of the woman beside him, Jake thought. His fingers moved almost unconsciously on her back, tracing the beautiful line of her spine to the point where it disappeared beneath the fabric. Below that the womanly flare of her thighs beckoned. It required an effort of will not to let his hand stray inside the jewel-colored silk.
 

„I have some cognac,“ Jake began as he unlocked the front door and ushered her inside.

„That sounds delightful. Good heavens, I’m exhausted.“ With a delicately stifled yawn Heather dropped down in the black leather love seat that faced the fireplace. The hearth had been filled for the summer with dried flowers. It was nothing unique. The same maids who put the flowers on Jake’s hearth had put them on all the cottage hearths. In the winter, wood would be provided for the nippy evenings. The advantages of living in a fine hotel.
 

Out of the corner of his eye Jake watched as Heather slipped off the incredibly high-heeled sandals she had been wearing all evening. The small faintly intimate act told him that she seemed to feel at home in his living room. A distinct flicker of satisfaction went through him as he poured the cognac and carried it across the Navaho rug.
 

Heather curled into the love seat, drawing her stockinged feet up under the hem of the silk dress. She reached for her glass, her hazel eyes meeting Jake’s over the rim.

„To us,“ he said, gently tapping the side of his glass against hers.

„And to the Hacienda,“ she returned, sipping luxuriously. „It’s been a long evening.“

„Yes.“

Jake sat down beside her, casually allowing his thigh to come in contact with her curving knee. The sensation stirred the already circulating restlessness in him but he craved the contact.
Like an addict,
he told himself grimly.
The more I’m around her the more I want of her.
 

One more week. That thought seemed to be moving around inside his head tonight like loose shrapnel.
 

„Do you think going away for a few days to Santa Fe is really necessary, Jake? After all, we’re already living in the kind of place people go for honeymoons,“ Heather joked softly.

He became still, gazing down into his cognac. This wasn’t the first hesitation she had voiced about going away together. He wished he knew exactly what she was thinking. When he kissed her he could sense the beginnings of a response, but there was no way of knowing whether or not she’d allow herself to give in to that response next week or next month or six months from now. Heather Strand might once have been a creature of passionate impulse and spirited rebellion, but Jake knew she governed herself now with drive and determination. Her success in California and her cool poise could not have been bought with any other coin.
 

But he wouldn’t have gotten where he was without the same type of currency. And for him the risk had been greater. There had been no rich welcoming family to fall back on in case he hadn’t succeeded. He knew how to get what he wanted just as Heather did, but Jake
told himself that, out of necessity, he’d learned to play a rougher game than any Heather had been forced to learn,
„Your family will expect us to go away for a while,“ he pointed out, seeking the most powerful argument he had at his disposal. Right now she seemed so anxious to please her family. Would she ever be equally anxious to please him? „So will the staff.“
 

„I suppose so.“ She lifted one shoulder languidly beneath the beautifully hued silk. „Well, I think I can tolerate Santa Fe for a few days,“ she added with a flash of amusement. „I’ve never seen a town so devoted to being quaint and cute in my life as Santa Fe, New Mexico. Except possibly Carmel, California. We can go through the galleries and take in some of the concerts. It might be a nice break for both of us before we come back here and get ready for the season.“
 

Jake’s head came up, his face momentarily expressing some of the annoyance and frustration he was unable to totally repress. „It’s supposed to be a honeymoon, not a ‘nice break.’“

„Jake-“

„Heather, I’ve told you I won’t push you. But in return I expect you to let things happen naturally.“

„Naturally
to a man generally means jumping into bed at the first opportunity, doesn’t it?“
 

She was teasing him, he thought. It was impossible to tell exactly what she was thinking. The only times he trusted his reading of her responses were those rare moments when he held her in his arms. The temptation to push past her barriers of self-confidence and poise welled up in him.

„Why are you fighting it, Heather?“

She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. „Because there’s something in you that I don’t quite understand yet. Something I don’t
know
about you. I can’t explain it any more clearly than that. I just know I need time.“
 

He brushed aside the impatience he felt and put out a hand to touch the side of her cheek. „There are things I don’t know or understand yet about you, either. But I think if we are honest with each other on this level…“ He set down his glass and leaned forward to brush his mouth lingeringly across hers. „I think if we are honest on this level,“ he continued in a voice that was thickening slightly, „the rest will follow.“
 

He let his lips hover above hers, watching both emotion and intelligence flicker in her hazel eyes. She did want him, he told himself exultantly. All he had to do was find a way to release her from the bonds of restraint she had placed on herself. He wanted to free the passionate rebel that must still be locked inside her somewhere.
 

Deliberately he lowered his mouth again, delighting in the small tremor that went through her when he crushed her lips beneath his own. She tasted of sweet womanly promise and of cognac; of late-night warmth and barriers that were not quite so strong at this hour. And when he thrust his tongue past her teeth, Jake was certain he tasted the beginnings of passion.

Slowly he crowded against her, removing the glass from her hand without lifting his mouth from hers. Her fingertips came up to sink into the fabric of his jacket and when he groaned in response she slid her hands inside.

„Your fingers feel so good on me,“ he growled against her mouth. „So good.“

„Oh, Jake….“

„Relax, honey. We’re going to take this slow. Slow and soft.“
But it will be thorough,
he vowed silently as the fierce desire stoked the fires that had been simmering in him all evening. It would be thorough; complete. And when it was over she would belong to him.
 

Holding her mouth gently captive he began to explore the alluring curve at the place where her throat and
shoulder merged. There was an intriguing vulnerability about her there. At his touch she twisted a little, whether in invitation or reaction he couldn’t be certain. But it felt good. The gentle curve of her breasts pressed against him and quite suddenly he was certain that the daring gown had no built-in bra.
 

But the lecture about her dress would have to come later. At the moment he was enjoying the garment too much. He moved more heavily against her, wanting to feel the length of her body under his. She seemed to sink obediently in the leather love seat, her softness accommodating the hard planes and angles of him.

Opening his mouth on hers, he invited her inside, and when her tongue hesitantly accepted the sensual invitation, Jake’s pulse pounded in reaction. Reining in his impulse to shred the light silk of her dress, he carefully drew his hand down its surface to find the sweet roundness of her breast.

He heard the catch in her breath as he let his palm graze enticingly over the hardening nipple.
 

„You feel so good,“ he muttered. The urge to see the taut tantalizing curve he was caressing made him reach for the sleeve of the silk dress. It slipped down her arm with satisfying ease and a moment later Heather was naked to the waist.
 

Jake felt the abrupt hesitation in her and raised his lead to meet her questioning, half-concealed gaze. „Do you like my touch, Heather?“ He used his thumb very gently on the revealing nipple.

„Isn’t it obvious what your touch is doing to me?“

„I’d like to hear you say it,“ he rasped, aware of the frency in himself.

„Yes,“ she breathed throatily. „I like your touch.“ She rapped her arms around his neck with abrupt demand, a low moan parting her lips as she pulled his head back to hers.

His head spinning with anticipation and skyrocketing need, Jake buried his lips against her throat and caught the tip of one of her breasts between his thumb and forefinger. She flinched at the caress and he knew it was because she was rapidly becoming gloriously sensitized.