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Henry ignored the hint. “Why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off and go meet him? And don’t worry about bringing him back here. Tomorrow will be soon enough for him to start getting acquainted with the details.”
“I’m busy, Henry.”
“Too busy to greet your fiancé? All right, my dear. If you can’t break away, you can’t.”
Eve folded her arms and looked at him suspiciously. When Henry started sounding saintly, it was generally time to duck for cover.
He sat down opposite her desk and gestured at the papers scattered across her desk. “So tell me about this ad campaign we’re going to be running.” His eyes were bright and expectant.
Eve was stuck, and she knew it. The truth was that if she’d had to take a quiz on the new slogans which the ad agency had suggested to promote Birmingham on State, she would have flunked, despite the fact that she’d been looking at the ad mockups all afternoon.
And it was apparent Henry knew it, too. Something about the solid way he was occupying the chair said he’d planted himself for the rest of the afternoon—or as long as it took to drive her out.
“Fine,” she said, pushing her papers away. “I’ll go to the airport. I don’t know why I’m going, as I’m fairly sure David will be able to recognize his own name on the sign the limo driver will be holding up. But since you insist—”
“Don’t hurry back,” Henry suggested. “Show him around the city a little, introduce him to his new home.”
“I am not a tour guide.”
“Then take him out for dinner. Everybody’s got to eat.”
After that, Eve couldn’t wait to get out of the store before Henry could add to his list. And just in case he had afterthoughts, she turned off her cell phone as she went out the door.
Unfortunately, the cab she hailed just outside the store made record time on the freeway, and so here she was—sitting in a lounge at O’Hare with sixty minutes to waste. She hadn’t even had the sense to bundle the ad campaign into a briefcase to bring along, so she had nothing to do but think.
And thinking too much, she had long ago discovered, could be a dangerous activity. She had tried not to think about David in the last month, since he’d caught his plane back to Atlanta after their fateful lunch. The idea that in less than a week she was going to commit herself for life to a total stranger was just too much to contemplate.
Well, not quite a total stranger, she reflected. They’d talked on the phone several times.
Though it might be more accurate to say a few times.
“As long as you’re being truthful,” she muttered, “you might as well admit you’ve only exchanged words with him three times since you agreed to marry him.”
And those occasions had been when Henry had handed her the phone. Neither Eve nor David had initiated the contacts, and the conversations had been terse and stilted. The fact was that they didn’t know each other any better now than they had when they’d struck their bargain.
Not that it mattered much how well they knew each other, she reminded herself. Even though the actual wedding was still a few days off, they were committed. The legal papers regarding Birmingham on State were drawn, waiting only to be signed. The marriage license was ready.
David wouldn’t back out, that was certain. Once the business had been placed within his reach, he would have married a boa constrictor rather than let the business slip away.
And as for Eve…
She had made up her mind months ago, when Henry had first hinted at his plan. Long before she’d ever met David Elliot. Since it didn’t matter to her anymore who she married, she might as well please her grandfather and preserve the business which meant so much to both of them. So she had made a conscious decision to trust Henry’s judgment.
Not that it had been such an enormous leap of faith to believe in her grandfather’s wisdom, because one thing was dead certain: the man Henry had selected for her couldn’t possibly turn out to be a more unfortunate choice than her own had.
Travis...
Allowing herself to think about Travis Tate was like probing a sensitive spot on a tooth. The pain was no longer constant, as it had been in the beginning. But the agony of grief and loss could flare up—as it had today—at the slightest reminder, without warning and without giving her any chance to brace herself against it.
Still, it was a little easier to bear now. With time, Eve told herself, perhaps it would recede even more, until someday it might be nothing more than a low-level but ever-present heartache. And it was a little comfort—though very little—to know that she had done the right thing. As much as the decision had hurt, she couldn’t have lived with herself had she done anything else.
A woman sitting nearby tossed a magazine toward the wastebasket—but missed—as she went to greet a passenger. Eve watched them walk toward the door, then picked up the discarded magazine and began to flip through the pages, hardly seeing the articles. Every few minutes a new gush of passengers came down the concourse, and she glanced up not at them but at the monitor overhead, where the flight from Atlanta was still listed as expected to arrive on time.
There was no question in her mind that she had made the right choice—the only choice—where Travis was concerned. But that didn’t mean she could ever put it all behind her.
A woman couldn’t stop loving someone simply because he was out of her reach. Caring wasn’t like a faucet, to be turned on and off at will. It was more like an artesian spring bubbling up when and where it willed, unstopping and unstoppable.
Of course, the fact that she had given her heart so completely to Travis meant there was no chance of another love in her life. Eve had accepted that, but it wasn’t something she cared to explain. Even Henry didn’t know the entire story, and she wasn’t about to tell every man who invited her out for dinner that she could never be interested in him because she was permanently and forever in love with someone else.
As a matter of fact, in the months since she had made her decision about Travis, it had been even more difficult than usual for her to remain aloof from other men. The male of the species seemed to find the world-weary and obviously uninterested Eve more attractive—or perhaps just more of a challenge—than ever before.
I have my reasons, she had told David, for wanting the protection of a wedding ring. Once married, she would no longer have to be on guard every instant for fear that some man would think she was flirting, leading him on, indicating an interest she was far from feeling.
The possibility that she was interested in him would never occur to David, of course, because he knew better. That was why he would make such an ideal husband. The bargain they had struck certainly wasn’t doing him any harm—the benefits he was getting from the marriage were immense. And since neither of them was under any illusion that their marriage would ever be anything verging on romance, there would be no need to pretend or to be on guard against a slip of the tongue or an action that might be misinterpreted.
Not even Henry was unrealistic enough to hope that they had fallen in love at first sight. Or that they’d do so any other time along the way, either. And though he’d no doubt be saddened when he realized, somewhere down the road, that the heir he hoped for wasn’t going to materialize—well, even the most intimate of marriages didn’t always produce offspring. Being childless didn’t prove anything.
The arrangement was perfect, Eve told herself. And the case of nerves that she was suffering was nothing more than any woman felt on taking such an irrevocable action. It didn’t indicate doubt.
In fact, she wished that she’d been able to convince Henry to hold the wedding tonight and have it over with. What was the sense of waiting any longer?
Another stream of passengers strode by, but Eve was paying no attention. She was watching a man in a dark blue uniform who had just taken up his stance at the edge of the waiting area, holding a sign that said Elliot. The limo driver, right on time.
It would be pretty funny, Eve thought, if David spotted the driver but walked right past her. For a moment, she toyed with the idea of staying where she was, her magazine hiding her face, and waiting until they’d gone. She could always tell Henry that she’d missed David in all the airport traffic….
A passenger stopped abruptly beside her, momentarily blocking the man behind him and making him dodge and swear, but Eve didn’t notice him at all until he spoke softly. “Eve?”
She jerked around to face him. That voice, she thought. It can’t be— “Travis?”
“Eve,” he said, and there was a tremor in his usually smooth voice. “My darling Eve. How did you know…from my secretary, of course. That’s how you found out I’d be coming in today. I didn’t know you were keeping in touch with her.”
She shook her head. But she couldn’t keep herself from looking at him, drinking in the sight of him. He looked more elegant than ever, she thought, his tailoring perfect and every white-blond hair in place, with a trench coat slung casually over his arm and a slim alligator-skin sample case in one hand.
“I didn’t dare to hope,” he said, and his voice cracked. “I’ve longed for you so, my darling. I’ve tried to do as you asked. I’ve tried so hard, but it simply hasn’t worked. I can’t stop thinking of you, dreaming of you, wanting you. And you obviously can’t forget me either, or you wouldn’t be here to meet me.” He sounded triumphant. “Let me hear you say it, Eve. Tell me you’re here because you’ve changed your mind.”
If only I could change my mind, she thought, but I can’t—because nothing is different. She summoned every ounce of courage and self-control she possessed. “I’m not here to meet you, Travis.”
He seemed to falter for an instant before regaining his conviction. “But of course you are. Why else would you be sitting here?” He put out an arm as if to draw her against him. “It’s not exactly the hot spot of the city.”
The agony and the uncertainty and the self-questioning that had haunted Eve in the days while she was making her decision swept over her again in waves. It was all starting over again, she thought in despair. She felt herself wavering, moved by the way his voice had trembled with earnestness. Perhaps she’d been wrong after all to turn her back on what they’d shared, to deny them the chance at a life together….
No, she told herself firmly. Her decision, made with such grief and pain and logic, could not have been wrong. This momentary vacillation was the madness.
But how was she going to convince Travis of that, when she was having trouble persuading herself?
Something beyond Travis caught her eye, and she looked over his shoulder at a passenger who was coming down the concourse. A tall, broad-shouldered, ever-so-slightly rumpled passenger—but then David wasn’t in the habit, as Travis was, of spending hours every day on airliners.
David, she thought, and relief surged through her.
She tossed aside the magazine she’d been holding, ducked past Travis, and ran to meet David. She saw his eyebrows go up slightly just as she flung herself against him with her face lifted to his. “Kiss me,” she said in an urgent undertone.
He dropped his briefcase, his arms closed around her, and his mouth came down, hard and demanding, on hers.
This is a good man to have around in an emergency, Eve thought. No questions, no hesitation, just prompt and effective action.
His first kiss was long and deep and hot, the assured embrace of a lover who hadn’t the slightest doubt that his caress would be welcomed and encouraged. Very effective action, in fact. Eve was feeling a little shaky herself, and she couldn’t begin to imagine what this must look like to a casual observer.
David ended the kiss, held her a fraction of an inch away from him for a moment, and then, as if she had stirred a hunger that wouldn’t allow him to let her go, pulled her even closer, wrapping her more tightly in his arms, and kissed her as if the first caress had been only a casual greeting.
By the time he finally raised his head, Eve’s brain was as full of static as a badly tuned radio. She could hear bits of conversation from people in the concourse, but she was having trouble making sense of the words. “Lucky guy,” one man observed in a low tone. “That’s quite a welcome home, buddy.” And a woman sniffed and said to her companion, “Really! Did you see where he’d put his hands? These young people—don’t they realize others aren’t interested in watching their bedroom acrobatics in public?”
That at least answered her question about how their display had appeared to bystanders, Eve thought philosophically.
Trying not to be obvious about it, she glanced over her shoulder, but she couldn’t catch sight of Travis.
“If you’re looking for the guy you were talking to,” David said, “he stuck around to watch for a bit, then he just melted away. I’m assuming, of course, that was the desired effect.”
He sounded as calm as if he’d just given her a peck on the cheek. And he still had hold of her arm, as if he was afraid she’d collapse if he let go.
“I’m perfectly capable of standing up on my own,” Eve said.
He immediately let go of her and stooped to pick up the thick, well-worn briefcase he’d dropped when she flung herself against him. “Don’t forget your magazine.”
“What? Oh, it’s not mine.”
“Really? When I first caught sight of you, you were holding it as if you were defending it with your life. Or maybe more like it was a shield to protect you. I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me what that little scene was all about.”
No, Eve thought, and almost said so before she realized that it was absolutely necessary to give him some kind of explanation. “It was just…” She stopped. “He was just somebody that I thought shouldn’t know about our…our…”
“Our little agreement,” David said helpfully. “You know, I was already starting to wonder whether you weren’t being too optimistic about how much of a public image we’ll have to maintain in order to be convincing as a married couple. Merely sharing living space might satisfy Henry for the moment, but what about other people? Like…whoever it was you were impressing there.”
He was obviously waiting for a name. Let him wait, Eve thought. “As far as public image is concerned, we do have to talk about it. I suppose we need to go claim your bags?” She signaled the driver, who touched his cap and led the way toward baggage claim.
Eve looked doubtfully at the two suitcases David pointed out as they came down the conveyer belt. “You travel awfully light.”
Without a word, the driver picked up the two bags.
“I shipped a few things.” David’s hand came to rest easily on the small of Eve’s back, guiding her toward the exit.
She could feel shivers rushing both up and down her spine from the place where his fingertips rested, and told herself briskly not to be silly. There was no reason a mere polite touch should make her body quiver all over again as that kiss had.
“Oh, of course,” she said. “I’d forgotten I gave you the address. Well, if there’s anything you need in the meantime, I’m sure the hotel will have it.”
“Hotel?”
“Henry made a reservation for you at the Englin.” She felt color rising in her cheeks. “He thought it wouldn’t be quite the thing for you to move into my place till after the wedding, and his penthouse isn’t much more than an efficiency—there’s no room for a guest. But the Englin is one of the city’s better hotels.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“It’s only for a few days, anyway, until the wedding.” She took a deep breath. “I should warn you about the wedding, I suppose.”
He helped her into the back of the limousine and settled into the leather seat beside her. “What about it?”
“Well, I thought the sensible thing would be to have it today and get it over with, and I had the arrangements almost completed when Henry got hold of the whole thing.”
David’s eyebrows went up. “Are we having white satin and orange blossom in the local cathedral after all?”
“No, thank heaven he was reasonable about all of that. But he thinks a private ceremony with just us and a judge looks like we’re hiding something, so he’s insisting that we have a few guests and a small reception.”
He didn’t answer immediately, and she looked at him quizzically.
“That’s not quite true,” David said finally. “It’s nice of Henry to take the responsibility, and I know he thinks it’s a good idea because he told me so. But he isn’t the one who’s insisting. I am.”
The shock of his announcement caused Eve to lose her balance as the limousine pulled away from the terminal. David slid an arm around her shoulders to steady her.
She pulled away from him, staring. “What do you mean, you’re insisting?”
“Don’t panic. I’m not any wilder about six-foot-tall wedding cakes and organs pounding out wedding marches than you are.”
“Then why—”
“Because all this is going to be difficult enough to pull off. Let’s not make it harder by appearing too ashamed of ourselves to stand up in public.”
“Oh.” Eve felt a little flattened. “Well, I suppose that makes sense. But we could still have had the wedding today.”
“I also think it would be a good idea for us all to have a few days to check out how we fit together before we do anything irrevocable.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Eve scoffed. “You wouldn’t back out now. You’d embrace an alligator before you’d let this chance go by. And speaking of embraces—”
“Let me guess,” he said without looking at her. “You want to be certain I didn’t interpret that little demonstration in the airport as any kind of an invitation.”
She tried to be unobtrusive about her sigh of relief. “Exactly. It’s not that I really expected you’d misunderstand, but—”
“Well, it’ll be easy enough to avoid any problems in the future. We can work up some regular plays, like a football team, and then you can just signal me with the numbers.”
The limo driver’s voice came over the intercom, sounding tinny. “Excuse me, Miss. Is the plan still to go to the Englin first?”
Eve looked out the window. She hadn’t realized they were already in the Loop. “Yes, please.” She glanced at David. “Henry suggested I give you a tour of the city and take you out for dinner. He seemed to think we needed a little privacy.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but I suppose—”
He interrupted. “Thank you very much, but no. I’m a little tired.”
Eve frowned, puzzled. He didn’t sound tired; he sounded as if he were an amateur actor reciting a brand-new set of lines. What was going on?
It wasn’t late, but the autumn afternoon had already faded and in the caverns of the city, between the skyscrapers, it was rapidly growing dark. Inside the car, it was dim enough that she had trouble reading David’s expression.
