Mr Destiny (10 page)

Alex laughed. “See? You just can't say it, can you?”

Kate sighed. “Okay. Maybe Harold and I aren't madly in love with each other. But we both know what we want in life. And we're
comfortable with each other. Being comfortable has to count for something.”

“Bedroom slippers are comfortable, Kate,” Alex said. “And speaking of the bedroom, that's another subject that should scare
the living crap out of you.”

“A great sex life doesn't guarantee a trouble-free marriage, Alex,” Kate said right back. “Look at you and John.”

“Oooh, that was a good one,” Eve said, a little tipsily. She lifted her martini glass in a toast to Kate.

“Touché,” Alex said. “But no woman in her right mind would marry a man she's never slept with.”

Eve sputtered in her drink. “Excuse me?” She wiped clumsily at her mouth with only a tiny corner of her linen napkin. “Do
I need to remind you that men and women have been entering into marriage without having premarital sex for thousands upon
thousands of years?” Eve slurred slightly, but she got her point across.

Alex glared at her. “I think I like you better when you don't have an opinion.”

Eve blinked innocently. “You're the one who's been telling me to be more assertive, Alex. I was just following
your
orders.”

Alex looked back at Kate. “What do you think Harold would say if you called him back and told him the real reason you agreed
to help Officer Petrocelli?”

Kate said, “And that would be?”

“Hot. Hunky. Wildly attractive?” Alex smiled. “Do you need any more descriptive adjectives?”

“Being attracted to someone and acting on that attraction are two different things, Alex.”

Alex grinned. “I know. So let's go straight to the ‘acting on that attraction’ part.”

“No!” Eve said with so much authority Kate and Alex both looked in her direction. “Leave Kate alone, Alex. I think we should
drop this entire conversation.”

Alex ignored her and looked back at Kate. “All I'm saying is, if you really are determined to go through with your being-comfortable
marriage, you at least owe yourself one last wild, hot, sextabulous fling.”

Kate shook her head. “You know I wouldn't do that.”

“Not even if Harold gave you his permission?”

Eve giggled.

Kate rolled her eyes.

Alex said, “I'm serious. Call Harold back. Tell him that because of his inability to function at the moment, you were wondering
if he had any problem with you having one last fling before you commit yourself to him for the rest of your life.”

“I will not!”

“Why not? He's impotent, right? He's incapable of having any
hard
feelings against you.”

“
Not
funny,” Kate warned.

“Oh, come on, Kate,” Alex said, grinning at her. “This could actually be a win-win situation for you. If Harold says yes,
that he does have a problem with your having one last fling, at least we'll know he's human and he does care about you other
than you just being a comfortable choice for a wife. And if he says no, he doesn't have a problem with you having one last
fling, you can have hot sex with Tony tomorrow night with Harold's blessing.”

Kate finally laughed. “You idiot. I am
not
calling Harold back.”

“Silly me. I forgot,” Alex said. “You've already had your one scheduled nightly phone call from Mr. Totally Anal. Just curious,
Kate. But are you ever allowed to call Harold?”

“I can call Harold anytime I want.”

“What's wrong with now?”

“Alex, stop this,” Eve said again.

But Kate grabbed her cell phone from the table and sent Alex a triumphant look. Her pleased look faded, however, as she scrolled
down her phone list looking for Harold's cell phone number.

Alex pounded the table with both fists in glee. “Are you freaking kidding me? You're going to marry this man? And you don't
even know his cell phone number?”

“Oh, shut up, Alex,” Kate said.

So maybe she hadn't called Harold often enough to commit his cell phone number to memory. She didn't have to call Harold.
He always called her.
Harold adores me, dammit!

Maybe her third apple martini was kicking in a little strongly at the moment, too. Which was why she felt the need to prove
to Alex once and for all that she and Harold were just as normal as any other engaged couple. That they could be just as spontaneous
as anyone else. And that even though Harold hadn't whisked her off to the bedroom yet, he would still
not
want her to have one last fling before their wedding!

Besides, Harold was on the verge of a breakthrough.

Dr. Markam said so herself.

Plus, Harold adored her.

He adores me, dammit!

The call to his mother had lasted much longer than Harold anticipated. But if he hurried, he would still have time for a hot
shower before he left for the evening.

He supposed some people might find it odd that he would never dream of taking a shower in anything less than a five-star hotel.
Especially since he had no qualms about having sex with women who sold their bodies to strangers for a living.

The difference was, any scum off the street could stay in the types of hotels that turned a blind eye to the activity he frequently
sought. But only men with his kind of money could afford the high-priced call girls he always selected for his in-the-bedroom
company.

He had just reached the bathroom door when his cell phone rang. Harold cursed, but walked back over to the bed and picked
up his phone. He expected the call to be from his office, a call he could ignore. The number that came up on his caller ID,
however, shocked him.

Kate?

It wasn't like Kate to call him back.

He'd already told her he was busy.

He checked his watch and cursed again. The desk clerk with all the right connections would be off duty in less than an hour.
If he missed the clerk, his entire night would be ruined.

He finally gave in and answered on the third ring.

“Kate? I told you I had a mountain of paperwork to do. What's the problem?”

He hadn't meant to snap.

But, dammit, he was running short on time.

“Sorry I bothered you!” she said, and hung up.

Perfect.

He kept forgetting Kate wasn't necessarily one of those mindless sheep. She had a feisty streak that could surface at a moment's
notice. She'd only been irritated with him once or twice, and he'd easily handled the situation. But that had been when he
wasn't rushed like he was tonight.

Reluctantly, Harold hit speed dial.

He willed himself to stay calm even as he watched the second hand tick, tick, tick around the face of his Rolex. When she
answered, Harold said, “I didn't mean to sound so abrupt. But I'm busy. You obviously called for a reason. What is it?”

She remained silent for so long he said, “Kate? Are you still there?”

“Yes, Harold, I'm still here,” she said, but the irritation in her voice was evident.

Harold willed himself to stay calm.

He couldn't pull it off.

“Well? Speak up, Kate. What did you want?”

“I wanted to ask you a question, Harold. And I don't appreciate your rude tone.”

Son of a bitch!

He didn't have time for this.

There was nothing that irritated him more than whining women and their stupid questions.

“Then ask me, Kate. I'm waiting.”

Her own tone sharpened when she said, “I was wondering why it never occurred to you that I might be attracted to the cop.”

Unbelievable.

Alex had to be behind this. He knew she was with Kate. Kate had told him when he called at seven that she and the girls were
out having drinks and were staying for dinner.

From the moment he met Kate, he and Alex had been playing their own mental chess game of sorts, with Kate as their pawn. The
funny thing was, he normally enjoyed playing Alex's game.

Just not now. Now, he had a more pressing engagement on his mind.

He glanced at his watch again, seething. “I'm not sure where you're going with this conversation, Kate, but…”

“I'm asking you a simple question, Harold. Why did it never cross your mind that I might be attracted to the cop?”

Another look at his watch escalated his blood pressure. “It never crossed my mind, because I have no interest whatsoever in
this cop! Now, if it's okay with you, I prefer to continue this conversation later.”

“And I prefer to continue this conversation now.”

What the hell is wrong with Kate? She's never been this irrational before. We've never even exchanged cross words in the entire
eight months we've been together.
He pictured Alex smiling over their first big squabble.

It infuriated him.

Before he could stop himself, Harold said, “If you're attracted to the cop, you do what you feel you have to do about it,
Kate. But I think you're smart enough to realize that a five-minute quickie with some dim-witted cop could never compare to
the life of luxury I can give you.”

He heard her gasp.

He didn't care at the moment.

Just like he didn't care if Kate had sex with someone else before they got married. After they got married—that would be a
different story. Kate would be his wife. Then he would put her up on a pedestal where she belonged and crush any man who came
near her.

“Exactly what are you saying, Harold?” she demanded.

His grip on the cell phone tightened. Even if he left at that very moment, there was a good possibility he might still miss
the desk clerk.

Fuck!

“Do I really need to spell it out for you, Kate?”

“Yes, Harold. Spell it out for stupid me. Plain and simple.”

She wants plain and simple?

I'll give her plain and simple!

“I won't ask. You don't tell, Kate,” Harold spat into the phone. “But when I get back home in two weeks, I want whatever you're
doing with this cop to be over. Then we'll finalize our wedding plans. We'll get married on schedule. And neither of us will
bring the subject up again!”

What?

Don't ask, don't tell?

Had Harold lost his mind?

A sick feeling in the pit of her stomach threatened to make her throw up. Worse yet, the wall of denial she'd been building
around herself from the moment she'd met Harold came tumbling down around her all at once.

Kate shuddered.

Without a doubt, she'd just gotten her first glimpse of the
real
Harold Trent Wellington when things didn't go exactly according to schedule.

I'm such an idiot.

To think she'd been stupid enough to fall for his lies and his long-winded declarations about how much he adored her. That
was really what had kept her holding on. The idea that Harold adored her completely. She'd been telling herself that Harold
genuinely cared about her and that a solid and comfortable marriage was all she really needed.

Until now.

Now there was no turning back.

Harold didn't adore her at all.

A man who adored you
did not
offer to adopt a freaking don't-ask-don't-tell policy and give you permission to sleep with another man.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harold,” Kate said, surprised at the calmness that had suddenly settled over her.
“There isn't going to be a wedding. Not in six weeks. Not ever. Make sure and jot that down somewhere on your precious schedule.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” he said. “We'll discuss this when I get back from Chicago.”

“We have nothing else to discuss,” Kate assured him. “It's over, Harold. Accept it.”

Kate hung up before he could argue.