warmth.
“What planet is this?” she murmured huskily. “No wonder Claudine was so uptight when you married me.”
Exuberant at her obvious pleasure, he tilted her head back to meet her dazed expression. “Claudia.” He sobered. “And it’s never been this way with anyone else. Only you.” And he knew it never would with anyone else.
A lazy, dreamy smile lit her generous mouth at his assertion, but it was quickly followed by a stricken look. She reached between them to touch his unrelieved tension. “Oh, no. What about you?”
Andrew gritted his teeth and removed her well-intended hand. “Just get your mother and Vince settled as quickly as possible. Tell them I got an important phone call.”
“Andrew, the phone hasn’t rung.” The little minx shot him a cheeky grin as she seemed to regain her equilibrium. “I’ll tell them you had an important call to make.”
Leaving him where he was, she scooped up the linens and made for the door. She leaned forward and brushed her full mouth against his, her tongue foraging swiftly. “Meet me in our room in ten minutes. And where’s that underwear Bitsy gave us?”
And then she was gone.
Ten minutes to more ecstasy.
“THAT GIRL IS MAKING a goddamned spectacle of all of us. Get rid of her.” A.W.’s order filled Andrew with a cold fury. Nonetheless, he leaned back in the leather club chair with an air of nonchalance. His Monday morning meeting regarding his partnership was off to a less-than-stellar start.
“That’s my wife you’re talking about. Not a piece of furniture you object to.” He stared his father down across the massive desk.
“Not much of a difference really. Think of wives as accessories, like a membership in a good golf club. They enhance who you are-show the world what you’re made of. Why the hell do you think I spend so much money on keeping your mother looking good?”
His father’s philosophy was nothing new to him, but suddenly he found himself sickened by the attitude.
“I love her.” What should have been an act came out as the gut-wrenching truth. Inwardly he reeled at the impact of the revelation.
A.W. smiled condescendingly. “Andrew, my boy, you’re thinking with that head between your legs, and it never makes good business decisions. You’re like me, son. You were born to practice law. You love it just like you love the power and prestige that goes with it.”
His father’s words struck a chord. He did love his work and everything that came with it. Since he’d been a small child, it had defined him. His adolescent fantasy had been his name on that brass plate downstairs. With desperation, he held on to his feelings for Kat. “Don’t talk about my wife that way. I love her.”
A.W. dismissed his assertion with a wave of his hand, as if it were a pesky gnat. “Infatuation. It’ll pass. But this firm’s been here for ninety years. It’s your heritage-it’s in your blood.”
“I don’t want to talk about Kat anymore. I want to talk about my partnership.”
“Ah, but the two are intertwined.”
“You wanted me married. I am. Now announce my partnership.”
A.W. stood and paced behind his desk, his hands clasped in back of him. “I’d like to. I really would. There’s just one problem.” He stopped pacing and faced Andrew. “You made a bad choice.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You joined the wrong country club, son. You bought a suit off the rack when you should’ve had one custom- made.” His eyes were flat and cold despite his jovial tone.
Andrew quelled his instinct to knock the supercilious look off his father’s face. “You’ve gone too far. You’ve always been manipulative, but I never expected you to be a cheat.”
“Drexall and Altman want you off their account. Let’s see, Ben Altman’s exact words were, ‘After that showing on Saturday evening, I don’t trust his judgment.”’ A.W. resumed his seat.
Andrew enunciated in brief, very impolite terms what Ben Altman could do.
“Ben would probably like that, but I’m afraid it’s physically impossible. What
Andrew paced to stand before the bookcase lining one wall. He stared at the leather-bound tomes with blind eyes. He didn’t care for A.W.’s power plays, but all things considered, wasn’t his father merely bumping up the time-line he and Kat had privately set? “And if I don’t divorce her?”
“Well, I fear I’d have to say I don’t think you have the sound judgment to be a partner in this firm.”
Andrew turned to face him. “You manipulative bastard.”
“You’re upset now, but you’ll thank me one day. This is for your own good. Trust me, son, I know you better than you know yourself. You
Andrew wanted to tell him to go to hell then and there, but he couldn’t. God help him but he didn’t trust his feelings for Kat enough. He couldn’t throw away the partnership he’d courted for so long. Instead he walked silently out of the polished mahogany door.
The intercom on the secretary’s desk buzzed. A.W.’s disembodied voice filled the room. “Sheila, put Andrew on my schedule for next Monday at the same time. And go ahead and begin the renovation on the office next to mine.”
KAT JUMPED TO HER FEET when she sighted her brother heading toward her table at Mama Leone’s and toed the shopping bag further under the table. Jackie definitely didn’t need to know about the stock of edible underwear she’d purchased earlier. Andrew, it seemed, was very fond of cherries.
They exchanged a brief hug.
“I’m glad you could make lunch today. How was the christening?” she asked.
“It was fine. The little guy’s cute. How was the soiree? What’d I miss?” quizzed Jackson.
Kat relayed an abbreviated version but still included the fish eggs sliding between Claudia’s cleavage. She and Jackson shared a conspiratorial smile. “You’re hell at a party, aren’t you, sis?”
Pulling apart a garlic roll, Kat shrugged as she popped a piece into her mouth. “I’m a weird magnet. I think it’s something to do with my natural force field.”
“Careful, Kat girl, you’re starting to sound like Mom.”
“Speaking of the weekend, she and Vince stopped by last night.”
“And?”
“Just the usual. His ’n’ her crystal pendants as a wedding gift. Our numbers update. They spent the night on the sofa because they were so enchanted with the karma there.”
“I’m sure Andrew thinks he’s surrounded by loonies.”
“Undoubtedly.” She grinned foolishly. She felt like singing. “I think he likes it.”
Jackson sliced her with his best interrogating-attorney look.
Kat continued. “I made a big mistake with Andrew. No, not that kind of mistake. He’s just not what I thought he’d be. Beneath that cool, starched shirt, he’s warm and caring and considerate. What am I going to do?”
“Exactly what are you saying?”
“This just sucks, but I think I’m in love. I’ve been listening to my behavior tapes several times a day now and it’s just not helping.”
“Have you mentioned this to Andrew? Maybe he feels the same way.”
“No. I know he cares about me, but that’s not the same thing as love. And I don’t want him to feel obligated to keep a wife and child he doesn’t want.”
“Kat girl, maybe I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he did marry you, and it was specifically so you could make a baby.”
“Exactly. Making a baby and keeping a baby-there’s just a tad of a difference between the two. Remember the contract you helped draft? Both Andrew and I were so up-front about everything up until now. I feel I’m not holding up my end of the bargain. I feel deceitful.”
