serious, at least for him. Until he understood why that was, he was going to be doing a delicate balancing act between convincing Destiny the romance was real and assuring Melanie that it was not. Damn, but subterfuge was complicated. That’s why he’d spent his life avoiding it, in business and in his personal life.
“Did you and Melanie enjoy your evening?” Destiny asked without preamble. The glint of anticipation in her eyes suggested she was hoping for some very juicy details.
“Very much,” he said neutrally.
“Did you do anything special?”
Richard gave her a sharp look. “You know about dinner, don’t you?”
His aunt grinned. “That you flew it in from her favorite teen hangout in Ohio? Yes, I did hear about that. I must commend you, Richard. It was a nice touch, something I might have dreamed up had you asked for my input.”
“Is everybody in my company on your payroll, too?”
“If you’re asking if they all spy for me, the answer is no. I just make it my business to stay well-informed where my nephews are concerned. It’s amazing how cooperative some people are willing to be when you’re pleasant to them.”
He heard the implied criticism, but he was in no mood for it. “You need to get your own life and stay out of mine.”
She shrugged. “Maybe one of these days, when I’m satisfied that you, Mack and Ben are happy.”
“We’d be a lot happier without you poking around in our personal lives.”
“Really?” she asked doubtfully. “You’d never have met Melanie if not for me. Can you honestly say you were happier before she came along?”
“I was at peace,” he said, trying to recall what that had felt like. Probably lonely, if he were to be totally honest about it. Melanie hadn’t been around all that long, but he was already having difficulty imagining his life without her.
“Darling, that’s not the same thing at all,” Destiny said. “In fact, it seems to me you had a little too much peace in your life.”
“I was content with that,” he said, even though he knew he was not only lying but wasting his breath.
“Well, Melanie’s in your life now,” Destiny said breezily. “I hope you won’t do anything foolish to ruin it.”
“I doubt you’ll give me a chance,” he muttered.
She chuckled. “Not if I can help it. Christmas is coming, you know. Will Melanie be joining us next week?”
“You mean for the traditional Carlton excess?”
She frowned at the edge in his voice. “I love the holidays. Sue me. And despite your sour mood this morning, you usually do, as well.”
She was right, though Richard had no intention of giving her the satisfaction of admitting it. “I assume if I don’t invite Melanie myself, you’ll do it behind my back,” he grumbled, even though he’d already planned to include Melanie in their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations. Let Destiny believe he was making a huge concession just for her benefit.
“I’m hoping that it won’t be necessary for me to go behind your back,” she said mildly. “Remember dinner’s at eight on Christmas Eve. Then I expect you all back for brunch at eleven on Christmas Day. We’ll open our gifts then. Be sure to get something special for Melanie. Do it yourself. Don’t leave it to Winifred.”
“I think I can remember the schedule,” he said, ignoring the barb about assigning his shopping to his secretary. “We’ve been doing the same thing for twenty years.”
“Tradition is important. Someday you’ll appreciate that.”
Richard supposed that was possible. He’d never given it much thought before. For a moment his imagination took flight and he pictured years of family traditions created with Melanie for their family. As soon as the thought crept in, he stamped it out. He was getting carried away. If he wasn’t careful, this whole charade thing was going to get out of hand. Maybe that’s what Melanie had been trying to tell him last night, that it was already out of hand. If so, he was very much afraid she’d gotten it exactly right.
“Richard’s on line one,” Becky announced with surprisingly good cheer when Melanie walked into her house after a meeting with a client she’d been putting off ever since Richard’s business had taken over most of the minutes of her day.
Becky held out the phone. “You want to take it here?” she asked, her expression hopeful.
Melanie shook her head. “I’ll get it in a sec,” she said, wanting to figuratively catch her breath before speaking to the man who’d literally taken it away the night before with his wildly impulsive gesture.
“Once you two have talked, you can tell me all about dinner last night,” Becky added. “I can’t wait to hear every little detail. I’ve asked, but Richard doesn’t seem inclined to spill the beans on whether he got lucky.”
“Good God, please tell me you didn’t ask him that,” Melanie said.
“Not in those exact words,” Becky said, grinning.
At last, some evidence of discretion and good sense, Melanie thought. Avoiding Becky’s probing questions was also a rather powerful incentive for keeping Richard on hold indefinitely. She did not want to engage in a postmortem with a woman who knew her as well as Becky did. Becky would see straight through any attempts to deny that she was falling for Richard.
“I think I’ll take the call in my office,” Melanie said, walking into the room and firmly closing the door behind her.
She heard Becky’s indignant gasp as the door clicked shut.
When Melanie felt reasonably composed, she picked up the receiver. “Good morning,” she said briskly, determined to keep things cool and professional this morning, the exact opposite of the way they’d been the night before. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m just back from a meeting.”
“No problem. How are you?”
“Doing great. You?”
“Fine,” he said, sounding amused. “Is Becky standing over your shoulder listening to every word? She seems awfully curious about last night.”
“I think that’s to be expected under the circumstances, since you saw fit to take her into your confidence.”
“You have a point,” he conceded. “I won’t make that mistake again. You didn’t say, though. Is she there?”
“No, as a matter of fact, I shut the door to my office. I don’t think she can hear me, though I imagine her ear’s pressed against the door,” she said a bit more loudly.
The comment was greeted by an indignant huff from the outer office.
“Now, then what can I do for you?” she asked Richard.
“We need to talk about Christmas,” he said. “It’s next week.”
Melanie
