by Delia Latham
Destiny suspected her friend’s reaction had more to do with a culmination of pent-up emotions than any particular fondness for Marlon Shark. Karyn had identified him as one of the janitorial assistants at Ace Accounting firm, where she worked.
“I’m so sorry it was someone you liked, even a little.” Destiny didn’t know what else to say. “But the police have him now, and you’re safe. At least you don’t need to worry about him coming after you again.”
“I know, I know. It’s just that he always seemed so lonely, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. I tried to be nice…I guess that was my mistake.” Her sniffles quieted somewhat, until another thought upset her and she emitted a little strangled whimper. “Where’s Cameron? You called him, right?” At Destiny’s reluctant nod, she sniffed again. “He hasn’t been to visit me at all!”
Destiny sighed, having no answer for her. She made a silent vow to give Cameron another call when she got home. His obvious lack of concern disappointed and surprised her. After watching her friend’s tears wash the cuts and bruises on her face, she was in just the right mood to let him know what she thought.
The police had gone, after a few cursory questions, taking Marlon Shark and his nasty note with them.
Across the room, Clay paced, casting an occasional worried glance their way. Destiny smothered a grin, knowing how deeply he was affected by the tears of a woman—any woman. She gave her friend’s shoulder a gentle squeeze and left her in Claire’s capable hands while she crossed to his side.
She kept her voice low, not wanting her words to embarrass him. “You were a real hero tonight, Gallagher.” He’d just have to deal with the adoration in her eyes—she couldn’t tuck it out of sight.
Even as predictable color rose from his neck upward, a muscle twitched in his jaw. He blew out a heavy gust of breath and took her by the shoulders. His blue-gray eyes burned into hers. “You gave me the scare of my life, lady! I don’t want to have to live through something like that ever again.”
He tugged her to him, apparently unconcerned that his mother and Karyn were in the room. Burying his face in her hair, he held her so tight she could feel his heartbeat. She snuggled against the wide expanse of his chest, loving the masculine smell of him, basking in the assurance of safety his huge embrace provided. There was something to be said for being hugged by a man Clay’s size.
“Well, if it gets this kind of reaction, maybe I’ll just make a habit of scaring you senseless,” she teased.
A low growl emitted from Clay’s throat. He loosened his hold just enough to fix her with a glare that actually managed to be frightening in a completely thrilling sort of way. “You will not do this again—ever!” It was a quiet roar, but a roar nonetheless.
Destiny reached up to pull one corner of his oh-so-yummy lip away from his teeth, and then grinned.
He eyed her as if he might be thinking of bringing in a straight jacket. “Mind telling me what that was all about?”
“Just checking for fangs, tiger.”
One dark brow shot up. His chuckle was evil—she could think of no other word for it. “I’ll show you fangs, lady!” With that, he pulled her close once more and lowered his mouth to within an inch of hers, so close she felt his warm breath against her lips. She was glad of his unyielding stranglehold, otherwise her useless knees would have dropped her right to the floor.
But with Clay’s arms around her like a velvet vice, the only place she was in danger of falling was in love. She couldn’t breathe until his lips met hers, and then she couldn’t think, either. With no mind or muscle of her own, she melted against him.
“Come up for air, you two!” Claire’s whispered admonishment was accompanied by a sharp thump to her son’s shoulder.
Clay’s kiss had transported Destiny to another world, and she found it difficult to focus after being jerked so abruptly back into the real one. Had it been only a moment, or an hour’s worth of them? She blinked at Clay’s mom, who made an obvious effort to set her features into a disapproving scowl. She failed miserably.
“Karyn’s finally sleeping. That tranquilizer they gave her must have kicked in. Perhaps we should leave so we won’t disturb her—not that the two of you even know she’s here.”
They all crept out quietly, closing the door behind them. In the hall, Clay wrapped one arm around his mother’s shoulder and the other around Destiny’s and turned them to face him. “I want you both to know that you stole at least ten years off my life today. What prompted the two of you to go gallivanting around Castle Creek General, of all places? Had you no idea whatsoever that he’d be trying to get close to Karyn again?”
Claire reached up and swatted at his huge hand as if it were an annoying bug on her shoulder. “Don’t you take that tone with me, young man!” She jerked free of his touch and marched toward the elevator. “The last I recall, I still don’t need to ask your permission before I visit a friend in the hospital.”
“Argh!” Clay’s frustrated groan turned to an accusing scowl when Destiny giggled. “That woman’s stubbornness is off the charts!”
“So it runs in the family?” She grinned and took his face between her hands, forcing him to look down at her. “Relax, Gallagher. We’re both fine, OK? It was probably not the smartest move either of us has ever made, coming here. I’ll give you that much. But…it worked out OK. Claire and I have our own Superman, you know!”
Jaw rigid, arms crossed defiantly, he stared up at the ceiling. “It was too close for comfort,” he muttered.
Still, she felt him relax a bit. Slipping her hand in his, she urged him toward the elevator, where Claire waited, nose in the air and lips tight as a purse string.
“Sorry, Mom.” Clay brushed her cheek with his lips and gave her a one-armed hug. “I shouldn’t have been such a grump. You just scared me, that’s all.”
“Well…” Her eyes lost a bit of the steely glint that reminded Destiny so much of her son.
The doors clanked shut and Clay punched the down button then pulled Destiny into the circle of his other arm, so that he held them both tight against his sides. “Come on, Mom, forgive me, OK? After all, I just found a felon holding a gun on the two gals I love most in the entire world. Isn’t a fellow allowed a bit of overreaction at a time like that?”
Claire succumbed to her son’s cajoling. Their laughter rang out in the closed-in space of the elevator, but Destiny heard only the pounding of her own heart.
Did Clay just say he loved me?
Destiny's Dream
23
Destiny dialed Cameron’s number for the dozenth time. She’d made numerous calls to his apartment since last night. Just after noon, she gave in and called his job, only to be told the young man hadn’t shown up for a couple of days. Now, listening to the increasingly familiar message on his answering machine, Destiny’s mild irritation worked up into righteous indignation. Karyn was supposed to be his “significant other,” if nothing else.
She couldn’t stop thinking about the verbal bomb Clay had dropped on her the night before—almost certainly without realizing it. With that cluttering her mind, she was unable to clear it sufficiently to create any real anger. She was half glad when the answering machine came on and she could leave a snippy little message without worrying about ticking off one of her clients while defending another.
“Want to go back to that fancy French restaurant?” Clay lounged against the doorframe, watching her through hooded eyes as she replaced the receiver. “We could have fun annoying Luc Jaussaud, and maybe even take time out to enjoy the candlelight and…” He reached for something out of her sight. “Roses.”
He held an elegant crystal vase filled with at least two dozen beautiful red buds.
“Clay, they’re gorgeous!”
He set the flowers on a nearby table, and she hurried over to bury her face in them, inhaling their sweet fragrance. When at last she looked up, something in his face made her swallow hard. “What’s the occasion?”
He t
ilted her chin up. “Well, I think the fact that you escaped with your life last night is a good enough starting place, don’t you?” Taking her hands, he pulled her into his arms. “I don’t think I could have gone on living if…if…” He choked, and Destiny raised her eyes, stunned to find tears on his cheeks. He shot her that heart-stopping crooked smile of his. “Sorry I’m such a pansy.”
Mesmerized, Destiny lifted a finger to his eye, where another glistening drop of moisture hung suspended from insanely long eyelashes. It dropped onto her fingertip, and she fixed her gaze on his, pressing the finger to her own trembling lips before delicately tasting the salty moisture with the tip of her tongue. “There’s nothing in the least flower-like about you, Gallagher.” Her voice was hoarse, but she didn’t even mind that it gave away how deeply his emotion had moved her. “Right about now, I’m thinking you’re running pretty close to perfect.”
Groaning, he crushed her to him, hungrily seeking her lips with his own. Destiny wrapped her hands around his neck, responding to the ardor in his embrace. But all too soon he pulled away in an obvious attempt to cool down a much-too-heated situation.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you, lady?” Clay’s gruff voice betrayed the depth of his feeling. “Any idea at all?”
Destiny didn’t even try to hide the stars she knew must be shining in her eyes. “Did you just say you love me, Gallagher?”
“With all my heart and soul. Always have, always will.”
“I’m glad.”
Clay chuckled. “That’s it? You’re glad I love you?”
“Yep. More glad than you know. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait before I said it myself.”
“Oh, you were going to tell me that I love you?” Clay teased.
She whacked him playfully on one muscular arm. “No! That I love you.”
He pulled her back into his arms and rested his chin on her hair. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to say those words. I guess I’m a coward. How was I supposed to live if you couldn’t say them back to me?”
“Guess we’ll never know, will we?’”
“I hope not!” He stroked her cheek. “I have something to tell you. I think you’ll be happy to hear it.”
She tilted her head, curious. “I’m listening.”
“Not until you get spiffed up, lady. I’ll tell you while we torment Jaussaud.” He eased her out of his arms, obviously reluctant to let her go. “Now go do your thing. I know you want to do the frou-frou bit—not that you need it.” He shrugged, looking her over with a wicked gleam in his eye. “You can go as you are, if you like. You look downright yummy to me!”
Destiny stepped close again. Weaving the fingers of both hands through his hair, she drew his face close to her own, assuming a mockingly sultry expression. Brushing her lips against his ear, she whispered, “Not a chance, Gallagher. I plan to knock your socks off!”
Slipping from his arms, she glided across the room, pausing at the doorway to glance back at him. “You can breathe now.”
The low rumble of his laughter followed as she waltzed down the hallway and closed the guestroom door, leaning against it for support the moment it closed.
That’s when she remembered the scanty wardrobe available to her here at Claire’s house. If she planned on knocking anyone’s socks off, she needed to make a trip home. Flying around the room, she gathered up the few belongings she’d brought over and stuffed them into a tote. With Shark behind bars, her own house was safe again. Clay could no longer object to her getting ready there. She could sleep in her own bed tonight.
****
Clay watched the candlelight playing on the perfect lines of her face. Illuminated by the flickering flames, Destiny’s green eyes took on an exotic appeal. She smiled, and the upward tilt of her full lips thrust him headlong into an almost tactile memory of the kisses they’d shared earlier in the day. He felt again the softness of her mouth, and the curves of her body against his.
“You’re staring, Gallagher.”
She didn’t sound like she really minded, so he nodded dumbly, and was rewarded with one of her irresistible giggles. “Well, stop it!”
“Why?”
“Because I feel like everyone in the room is following your lead.”
He made a quick assessment of the tables in their immediate vicinity. “That’s because they are. All the men are bowled over by your beauty, and the women are giving you the evil eye. They’re jealous. Every last female in this room wishes she looked like you.”
Their hands lay entwined atop the table as they awaited the single dessert they had ordered to share. The candlelight covered it almost too well, but knowing her as he did, he was sure she blushed. He shook his head, unable to pull his gaze from her face.
Surely she knew he was being dramatic—though only a little.
Destiny had lived up to her promise to knock his socks off tonight. She wore a slim dress of emerald silk, delicately accented with shiny beads and sequins of the same color. When he first saw her in it, her oh-so-expressive eyes had been uncertain, obviously seeking his approval. She’d taken his breath away. The gown could not be faulted for modesty, yet the way Destiny wore it…
“OK, that’s enough!” She pulled one hand free of his and tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. Her gaze flitted around the room. “I say we ask them to turn the lights on.”
“Not for all the tea in China,” Clay muttered. “Besides, you don’t seriously think you’d look any less tempting, even with every bulb in the place on high?”
“I said stop it!” She was blushing—and clearly now, despite the lighting. “I’m serious, Gallagher.”
He relented, though not without one last slow wink. Hard to believe a woman of Destiny May’s age and beauty could be so innocent regarding her own appeal.
“So what do you want to talk about, then?”
“I don’t care. Anything except me.” She rolled her eyes just before her lips curved into a familiar impish grin. “Oh, I know! Am I the only one who picked up on the humor in that creep’s name?”
Clay chuckled, remembering his internal laughter upon first hearing the name of the scoundrel who’d been making such a pain of himself. “You mean Marlon the needle-nosed Shark? I knew there was something fishy about that guy.”
“Nerve-racking” didn’t even adequately describe what they’d been through the past few days. Perhaps it was the indescribable relief of knowing it was over that turned their initial chuckles to uncontrollable guffaws. Whatever the catalyst, both were wiping their eyes and struggling to gain control of themselves when Luc Jaussaud appeared with their dessert. The Frenchman’s timing was every bit as flawless as ever.
Bowing slightly, he bestowed a cool smile on Clay. “Monsieur.” He placed small dishes of crème brûlée before each of them. It spoke well of his professional intuition that he had divided the single order sans request. “Mademoiselle,” he said, bowing in Destiny’s direction.
Though she returned Jaussaud’s smile, Clay saw the mortification in her eyes. She worried about embarrassing her sister, giggling like a teenager in the city’s most prestigious eatery, and caught, yet again, by none other than the snooty owner of said establishment.
Unlike their previous visit, however, the restaurateur seemed unruffled by their merriment. “It is good to see you both so…how is it you say, hmm?…complètement de la joie. Yes, full of joy! You are so happy, always.”
Clay grinned, recognizing the man’s inclination to bow to money and power. He doubted the man would be carrying any tales to the Clevengers.
“Thank you, Luc.” He deliberately established a first-name basis, knowing it would seal the man’s loyalty, and therefore his silence. “The food was…” Touching forefinger to thumb in a gesture of satisfaction, he nodded slightly. “Simply délicieux, my friend.”
“Merci.” Jaussaud’s smile held warmth. “Enjoy your dessert.”
They watched him float away, a white napkin still
folded over one arm. Clay dipped his fork into the flan and waited.
“Did you just charm that man, Gallagher?”
“Mmmm.” Clay rolled the delicious custard on his tongue. “Try your dessert. It’s outstanding.”
She picked up her fork, but narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re downright dangerous. I’ll have to keep both eyes open around you at all times. Mmmm!” Both eyes did indeed open wide as her fork reached her lips. “Heavenly.”
“Beyond words.” Clay completely agreed, but the crème brûlée had nothing to do with it.
Destiny's Dream
24
“Do you need to go by Mom’s place for anything? Like maybe a nice, warm bed?” Clay drove beneath the speed limit, not bothering to hide his reluctance to take her home.
Destiny squeezed the hand she held. The evenings were beginning to hold a definite chill, and Clay had insisted on tucking her in under a light car blanket. She allowed him to pamper her, rolling her eyes all the while, and promptly freeing one arm so she could hold his hand.
“I’ll be fine at home, Clay—I wish you’d stop worrying. They’re not going to release Marlon Shark any time soon, are they?”
Clay frowned. “I hope not, but you never know what kind of technicality might lead to that very thing. What could it possibly hurt for you to stay with Mom another night or two, just until we know he’s behind bars for a good long while?”
“Fine. It’s Wednesday. I’ll stay with Claire through Friday.” She narrowed her eyes and raised a warning finger. “But I’m going home Saturday morning. No arguments.”
