The Merger Mogul (19 page)

As he
approached the condo he noticed Mandy lying on a lounger in the sun again. 
While he had used her as a willing source of relief yesterday, today he felt a
compassion for her stir in him.  She obviously didn’t know her value if
she would just throw herself at a man she barely knew.  He walked over to
her and crouched by her chair.

“Hi Mandy.”
She looked up from the book she was reading but
didn’t greet him.  Daniel could tell that she was hurt by his abrupt
departure the night before but she hid her eyes behind designer sunglasses.

“I just wanted
to apologize for running out on you last night.  I never should have
stayed in the first place because I’m seeing someone at home.”  He
detected a slight softening in her. “And, anyway, I’m sorry that I used you in
that way.  You’re much too valuable to be treated like that by me or anyone
else.  I hope you know that.”

He heard a
slight sniff and saw a tear running down her face.

“No-one has
ever said anything like that to me.  Thank you Daniel.”

“Friends?” he
asked holding out a hand.

“Friends,” she
said with a slight smile, taking it.

“I’ll treat you
to dinner tonight and then I’ll see you safely to your door.  OK?”

“OK,” said
Mandy smiling.

Daniel got to
his feet with a smile.  That felt good.

Entering the
quiet coolness of his condo Daniel felt a sudden desire to read more of
John.  Taking his Bible out to the patio he
propped
his feet up and began to read. If his business colleagues could see him now
they would never believe it. He was soon engrossed in a story where Jesus was
talking to a woman at a well. Jesus had told the woman to go and call her
husband and come back.  The woman replied that she had no husband. Jesus
said to her: “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you
have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. 
What you have said is quite true.”

Daniel had a
sudden understanding that this was a word of knowledge, as KT had called it.
Something that Jesus couldn’t have known unless God revealed it to him. 
That was the same thing that had happened to him. He remembered that Richard
had sent him an e-mail with the recording of the prophetic words he had
received but he’d never listened to it. He went and turned on his lap top which
he’d brought, waiting impatiently for it to boot up. Thank goodness there was
wireless in the building.  That’s one of the things he liked about
Barbados; it had all the modern conveniences he needed but was still quite
quaint and not overly commercial.

He soon
scrolled through his e-mails and found the message.  He had to follow a
link to listen to it online. He was still blown away at how accurate it was. He
could even see that some of it was already beginning to happen.  God was
in fact giving him a new heart as he’d said. He now had compassion for a
beautiful young lady who didn’t know her worth. Maybe it was his new heart that
stopped him that night with KT because in the past he would just have seduced
her without a pang of conscience.

He wondered
what God meant when he said that he wanted to use him to do great things for
him in the business world. He certainly wanted to do great things and to help
his clients.
But how?
And what did “oneness”
mean?  He was no closer to understanding that.

He wanted to
talk to KT but she would be at work.  The question came back to plague him
again.
Should he tell her or not?
  Would she
forgive him? He desperately wished he could relive yesterday.  He couldn’t
tell her over the phone, he’d wait until he saw her again.

He found his
camera and went onto the patio to take some pictures of the view to e-mail to
KT. He’d call her tonight when he was sure she’d be at home.

Daniel almost
regretted asking Mandy to dinner only because he had to wait even longer to
call KT.  He made sure he had an early booking and dropped Mandy at her door
at about 10.00 p.m. promising to meet her parents another time.  As soon
as he reached his own condo Daniel called KT. He could hardly wait to talk to
her.

“Hello?”
answered a male voice. Daniel didn’t respond for a couple of seconds.  His
brain was trying to comprehend why some man would be answering KT’s phone at
this time of the night when she said that she never had guys in her
apartment. 

“Hello?” The
person said again.

“Sorry, I must
have the wrong number,” apologized Daniel.

“This is
Kathryn Taylor’s apartment.”

“What?”
Daniel’s blood pressure went up. Who
was
that man and
what was he doing in KT’s apartment?

“I’d like to
speak to KT,” Daniel demanded.

“May I say
who’s
calling?”

“No you may
not!” he said abruptly.

“Well I’m
afraid you can’t speak to her.”  Daniel was about to lose it when he heard
an exclamation and scuffling on the other end and then KT said breathlessly,
“Hello?”

“Who is that
man in your apartment?” he demanded. He was surprised at the possessiveness in
his voice and the jealously surging through him. As if he had any right to feel
that way after his own behavior.

“Hello Daniel,
I’m fine, thank you and how are you doing?”

“I’m serious
KT. Who is that man?”

“Not that it’s
any of your business but that’s my brother Paul.  He and his wife are here
for dinner. What gives you the right to question me anyway? Judging me by your
own standards?” He winced. That was more accurate than she knew!

“I’m sorry KT,
you’re right.  I had no right to question you like that.  When I
heard his voice I just lost it.  I was being possessive when I really have
no claims on you, but I’d like to.”

“What do you
mean by that?” KT held her breath waiting for his reply.

“Listen I can’t
have this conversation on the phone.  Why don’t you and a friend fly in next
weekend?  You can come Friday after work and fly out Sunday night. 
Or better yet see if you can get a couple of days of holiday and stay for a
week.”

KT was really
tempted.  She had a week of holiday due to her. She’d see if Des could go
with her or else she’d ask one of her friends from cell group.

“I’ll see
Daniel.”

“Is that a
yes?”

“It’s a maybe.”

“Great! 
At least it’s not a
no
. As soon as you know for sure
call Margaret and get her to book the flights for you.”

“I can’t do
that! She doesn’t work for me, she works for you.  And besides, what would
she think?” protested KT.

“OK, I’ll deal
with Margaret.  I can’t wait to see you KT.”

“It’s not
definite Daniel.  I’ll have to see if I can get the time off.” He heard
murmuring in the background and he could just imagine what her brother was
saying.  Daniel hoped that he wouldn’t try to change KT’s mind.

“I’ll be
praying that you can come,” he said.

“Did you say
praying?” asked KT in amazement.

“Yes, I said
praying.  I’ve even been reading John.”

“That’s wonderful
Daniel,” said KT quietly.

“I miss you
KT,” Daniel confessed.

“Ditto,” she
said and he smiled, knowing that her big brother was still within earshot.

“Drop me an
e-mail as soon as you know something.”

“I will. 
Bye Daniel.” She caught herself about to say “Love you”. She realized that she
did love Daniel but she wasn’t sure how serious he was about her. KT hung up
the phone with a big smile on her face.

“What’s that
smile about?” demanded Paul.

“He misses me,”
said KT dreamily.

“Please KT, he
probably says that to all the girls.”

“Thanks Paul,”
she said drily.  “He wants me to fly out to Barbados for a week.”

“That’s out of
the question!  Have you lost it KT?”

“Paul you can’t
tell me what to do. And no I haven’t lost it.  I’ll take a friend if I go.”

“I think
Michaela and I better come with you and make sure you don’t get into any
trouble.”

“You and
Michaela would come to Barbados with me?” KT asked excitedly.  “That would
be wonderful. I’m sure Daniel would put you up.  Although I think he only
has two bedrooms.  You guys could have one and I’ll share Daniel’s.”

Paul was about
to burst a blood vessel when he realized that KT was teasing him and started to
smile.

“I’ll see if I
can arrange to be out of the office for a week and I’ll let you know.”

“I need to find
out how soon I can take my week off as well.”  KT started to feel really
excited at the thought of going to Barbados and seeing Daniel.  She
wondered what he meant when he said that he’d like to have claims on her.

Daniel waited impatiently
outside the arrival lounge at
Grantley
Adams
International Airport as the doors slid open and some tourists walked
out.  He still couldn’t believe that KT was actually somewhere on the
other side of those doors.  When she’d called him last Friday to say that
she could get a week off he was amazed at how excited he felt.  He
couldn’t recall looking forward to anything so much in a long time.  Even
the thought of Paul coming didn’t deter him.  He was even prepared to give
up his room and sleep on the couch so that Paul and his wife could have the
guest room and KT could have his.  He liked the idea of KT sleeping in his
bed, even if he wasn’t in it with her.  He may be getting to know God for
the first time in his life but that didn’t mean he didn’t still desire
KT.  It did mean though that he would try to do things God’s way which
meant not trying to sleep with her before they were married and he was now
certain that he wanted to marry KT. He just wasn’t sure if she’d feel the same
way once he told her about Mandy but he had to tell her. 

He saw the
doors slide back again and this time KT walked through them looking around a
bit uncertainly.  She was absolutely stunning in jeans, short black boots
and a black jacket with a long coat slung over her arm and pulling a flowered
suitcase.  Just behind her was a tall guy with her coloring and short
curly hair who was obviously her brother Paul.  His wife Michaela, a
beautiful Latin woman, was next to him and reached only to his shoulder.

Daniel waved
and KT caught sight of him.  The smile that lit up her face made him even
more certain of his decision.  His heart started to race like a
schoolboy’s as he made his way towards her and held out his arms. KT walked
into them as if she belonged there and in fact it felt like a homecoming for
both of them. No words were necessary. Daniel hugged her tightly and buried his
face in her hair.
Vanilla.
  How he had missed
that! He just kept holding her as strong emotions passed through him. He really
didn’t care what Paul thought at this moment. He felt that he never wanted to
let KT go again.

He heard
someone clearing their throat and reluctantly released KT from his arms but
kept one of her hands.

“Hi KT,” he
finally said drinking her in with his eyes. His hug had already said everything
he needed to say.

“Hi Daniel,” KT
said softly obviously moved by his greeting. “This is my brother Paul and his
wife Michaela.”

Daniel shook
hands with Paul and gave Michaela a brief kiss on the cheek. 

“Welcome to Barbados.
I’ve hired an SUV now that you’re here.  Let me take you to the car park
and then I’ll go and pay the parking fee.”

“Thanks for
having us Daniel,” Paul said.  He would really have preferred to stay at a
hotel rather than accepting Daniel’s offer but he certainly didn’t want KT
staying at Daniel’s apartment alone.  She may be 25 years old but she was
still his baby sister and he really didn’t trust Daniel Tennant.  KT
believed he had changed, but Paul needed to see it to believe it for himself.
He grudgingly admitted that he seemed genuinely pleased to see KT and hadn’t
even released her hand yet even as he took her suitcase and wheeled it to the
Range Rover that he’d hired.  It would be interesting to see what the week
turned out to be.

Daniel opened
the door to the condo and allowed the others to precede him. The drive from the
airport had taken forty-five minutes on the ABC highway. Traffic in Barbados
was getting to be just as bad as anywhere else in the world but, when he led
them onto the patio, it was worth the trip. They looked over the wooden balcony
and feasted their eyes on the aquamarine waves, stretching from the horizon to
where they gently lapped against the white sand of the West Coast.

“This is
wonderful,” said KT excitedly.  “I can’t believe I’m here!” she added
turning to Daniel.

“I can’t
believe it either but I’m glad you are,” he agreed hugging her again.

 “That is
getting to be a habit,” complained Paul half-jokingly.

“You’d better
get used to it,” returned Daniel pulling KT to his side. KT smiled up at him
while Paul frowned and opened his mouth to say something.

“Be good,
Paul,” cautioned Michaela who was very much in KT’s corner when it came to
Daniel.

“Can I get you
a drink now or would you like to see your rooms?”

“Drink first
and then room,” said KT “but you don’t have to wait on us, just show me where
everything is and I’ll get the drinks.”

Daniel was only
too happy to do that as he led KT into the kitchen where he had her all to
himself.  Pushing her back against a counter he nuzzled below her ear,
nibbled on the lobe and then dropped kisses all across her cheek to the corner
of her lips.  KT shivered slightly and turned her mouth towards
Daniel’s.  That was all the encouragement he needed.  So much for not
touching her he thought.  He couldn’t stop doing that any more than he
could stop breathing.