by Debra Webb
It had felt real.
Abruptly she remembered John asking her if any part of what they’d shared last weekend was real to her? God, he couldn’t have come to her last night seeking revenge!
No. Her heart wouldn’t believe that. He wasn’t that kind of man. She knew him better than that.
“John Calhoun’s office,” a new voice said.
“I’d like to speak to John, please.” Amy winced at the truly pathetic sound of her voice. Already she sounded like the dumpee in a recently terminated relationship.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Calhoun is in Chicago this morning.”
Amy’s mouth felt so dry she could hardly manage the next question. “When…” she cleared her throat “…when will he be back in the office?”
“I’m afraid he won’t be back until late this after noon, would you like to leave a message?”
She had to know exactly where he was. She stiffened her spine and went for broke. “This is Amy Wells from the Colby Agency, I really need to speak with him sometime today.”
“Ms. Wells, he’ll be in Chicago all day most likely. But if it’s urgent I could put a call in to the Winterborne office. They’ll know how to find him. He’s finalizing plans there.”
“That’s okay. I’ll call back.” Amy hung up without saying goodbye. Her throat had closed…tears stung her eyes.
His secretary didn’t recognize her name which meant John hadn’t mentioned her. He was still in Chicago…was with the Winterbornes right now. Why? The merger was finalized. He’d said so himself…unless, there were other plans to finalize.
Amy squeezed her eyes shut and held on to the edge of her desk until the wave of agony passed. When she could focus again she turned to her work. She wouldn’t think about this now. It simply couldn’t be true. John wouldn’t have lied to her like that. But you lied to him, a little voice taunted. Still, she refused to think the worst…yet.
She’d just wait for him to call.
JOHN’S PLANE finally lifted off at noon. It had taken far longer to smooth everything over with Edgar Winterborne than he’d expected. He’d decided he wasn’t going to let his father face that battle alone. The man had been hell-bent on marrying off his daughter. Well, if he did, it damn sure wouldn’t be to John. He’d seen all he cared to of the young woman yesterday. She was way too wild for him.
A smile tickled the corners of his mouth when his thoughts turned back to Amy. God, he’d hated to leave her this morning. She’d looked so beautiful lying there. It had taken every ounce of courage he possessed to leave her without taking her yet again. He’d lost count of the times they’d made love and still—even now—he wanted her. He’d had to fight the urge to drop by her office and see her before catching his plane.
But if he had he wouldn’t have been able to leave. And he had to get his affairs in order before the weekend. He had big plans. He wanted to make this weekend truly special. All he had to do was pull it together. His father could take over things at the office. Nate would oversee the final legal details on the merger. And John would propose to Amy again. This time he wasn’t taking anything but yes for an answer.
What felt like a lifetime later his plane touched down in Dallas. He couldn’t get a limo fast enough. And then the drive to his office seemed to take an eternity. His blood pressure had to be nearing stroke level. He had less than twenty-four hours to get everything in order. He wanted to be back on the plane by this time tomorrow, headed toward the woman he loved.
The moment he stepped off the elevator on the executive floor of his office building he knew something was very wrong. Greetings were curt, gazes were averted.
What the hell was going on here?
Had somebody died and no one had told him?
His first thought was his father but he knew someone would have found him if his father had taken ill.
His secretary had apparently gone to a late lunch, so John walked straight into his office without bothering to look for his messages.
His father and Nate stood waiting for him, both looking as if the world had ended.
“What’s going on?” He tossed his briefcase and hat aside.
“Tell him,” J.R. said to Nate.
John frowned. What the hell was this? His father had just looked at Nate as if he were road kill.
“Tell me what?” John looked from his father to Nate.
“I…I can explain everything,” Nate stuttered, his flustered expression a first in John’s memory. He couldn’t recall ever having seen Nate so rattled.
“I’d suggest you get started then,” J.R. snarled.
John sent a pointed glare in his father’s direction. “Tell me what the hell is going on?”
J.R. grabbed a newspaper from John’s desk and shoved it at him. “This is what’s going on.”
John accepted the paper then straightened it enough to see what the fuss was about. The first thing his gaze landed on was the picture of them coming out of Winterborne’s office yesterday morning. That didn’t actually surprise him. The merger was big news. Then he read the headlines.
“Son of a…” His words flowed to a stop as his brain absorbed the full implications of the article. “Who the hell printed this bullshit?” Then he saw the name at the top of the page. Chicago Tribune.
Amy.
“Tell him what you did,” J.R. snapped at Nate. “Tell him or I will.”
John didn’t give a damn what anyone had done. He had to call Amy. He rushed around behind his desk, ignoring the argument escalating between Nate and his father. He stabbed all the right numbers…he’d already memorized every number that would put him in contact with her.
“Amy Wells, please,” he said as soon as the receptionist had finished her spiel.
“I’m afraid she’s not in at the moment, sir. May I take a message?”
John hung up without another word. She probably wouldn’t take his call. He couldn’t blame her. “Who’s responsible for this?” he roared, fury all but devouring him where he stood.
Nate blinked twice. “I…I am.”
The only thing that kept John from rocketing over his desk and beating the man to a pulp was the fact that Nate was thirty years older than John and he couldn’t bring himself to do that.
“I tried to stop it,” Nate said. He shook his head. “I thought you were going to ruin everything! I…I was afraid that if you went after the Wells girl Edgar would call the whole deal off.”
“Tell him how you leaked the so-called wedding plans to that reporter. How you told him right where to be and at what time so he could snap that picture!”
John glanced at his red-faced father. They all needed to calm down. Though he’d like to strangle Nate at the moment, risking his father, or even Nate for that matter, having a coronary wasn’t worth it. He could fix this.
“I did,” Nate admitted, shaking his head. “I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought it would help. I didn’t know that you really loved her. I thought it was just an infatuation that would pass.”
John took a long deep breath and tried to think what to do. How to rectify this the quickest. If she wouldn’t take his calls…
“I tried to stop it,” Nate went on. “As soon as I realized the truth I tried to stop it.”
John held up a hand for him to cool it. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now I have to make this right.” He looked at his father. “If she saw that paper this morning that means she’s spent the entire day believing a lie.” He knew just how that felt. He blinked, not certain he could contain the emotion. She’d been so hesitant to tell him she loved him. Clearly, she’d been afraid to believe. “After last night…she has to be…”
He didn’t have to say more. “I’ll have the pilot fire up the jet,” his father said. “What else can I do?”
John scrubbed a hand over his face and thought about that, then he looked from his father to Nate and back. “I’m going to need both of you.”
Nate bobbed his head up and down. “Wha
tever you need, John. I’ll help you make this right.”
“You’re damn straight you will,” he said. “Now, let’s figure this out.”
AMY SHIFTED the papers around on her desk, then re-shifted them. She sighed. God, she wanted to go home and just lie down and cry. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her throbbing forehead. Her head ached, her heart ached, and her stomach roiled like crazy. Mildred and Elaine had insisted on dragging her out for a late lunch though she’d wanted to stay by the phone. She’d been ashamed to tell Mildred what was going on. But the woman was no fool, she’d sensed that something wasn’t right with Amy. Bless her heart, she’d gone out of her way to keep Amy distracted for more than an hour.
But now she was alone with her thoughts. She still believed in John. She knew how the media could trump up a story. Just because they exited a building together meant nothing. They’d been in a meeting together, that would make sense. And someone who’d heard the rumors that a marriage had, at one time, been in the works could have leaked that info. That didn’t make it true.
Amy fished the newspaper from her trash bin and smoothed out the crumpled page. Regina Winterborne was gorgeous. And rich. She had everything to offer. Except a personality, Amy mused. Oh yeah, and morals. She chewed her lower lip. She knew John. He loved her. She was sure of it.
But as the afternoon wore on without a call from him her certainty slipped bit by bit.
At least she still had her job.
She could be happy with that.
It looked more and more as though she didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
“VICTORIA, you have a call from a J. R. Calhoun,” Elaine said over the intercom.
“Thank you, Elaine.” Victoria wondered why Mr. Calhoun would be calling her. To her knowledge they had resolved all issues related to last weekend’s little mishap. “Yes, Mr. Calhoun, what can I do for you?”
“Mrs. Colby, I need your help.”
The man sounded breathless, desperate almost. She didn’t bother to correct him regarding her name. He would have no idea that she’d married. “What is it you need, Mr. Calhoun?”
“My son is on his way there now. I need you to make sure Amy Wells doesn’t leave the office.”
Now he had her curiosity peaked. “Why would you want me to do that?” Was there something going on that Victoria didn’t know about? Obviously.
“Well, ma’am,” J.R. said in that unmistakable Texas drawl. “That little filly is going to be my daughter-in-law. I don’t think she knows it yet and she might have reason to run scared. So if you’d keep her steady until John gets there, I’d surely appreciate it.”
Victoria lifted a skeptical brow. “Well, I’ll certainly try, Mr. Calhoun.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Colby. He’ll be there within the hour, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.”
After Mr. Calhoun had said his goodbye, Victoria hung up and considered that wind turbulence and heavy afternoon traffic once he was on the ground were far more of a concern to John than the creek rising, but she understood what his father had meant.
She pressed the intercom button and asked Mildred to step into her office, and five seconds later she breezed through the door.
“I have that report ready for you.” Mildred placed the neatly printed document in Victoria’s in-box. “Was there something you needed?”
Victoria eyed her suspiciously. “Actually there is.”
Mildred waited, not showing the first hint of uneasiness.
“What’s going on with Amy and this John Calhoun?”
Mildred blushed just a little. “Well, I’m not privy to all the details, but I think our Amy is in love with him.” Mildred’s expression turned pained. “There may be a problem though.”
Victoria shook her head. “There’s no problem. The gentleman is on his way here now. We’re supposed to keep Amy from leaving until he arrives.”
Mildred’s eyes went wide. “He’s coming here? Why?”
Victoria sighed. “He’s going to propose, which means we’re going to lose her.” Oh, hell, there was that true-love thing again. A burst of pink warmed Victoria’s cheeks as she thought of Lucas. The Fourth of July celebration hadn’t been the only fireworks taking place this past weekend.
“Oh my.” Mildred wrung her hands. “That girl is like a daughter to me.” She shrugged then. “But if they’re in love…”
Victoria waved her off. “I know, I know. Keep her busy until her suitor arrives. We’ll just let destiny have its way.”
As if she or anyone else could stand in the way of fate.
Victoria smiled. That was just part of the roller-coaster ride of life.
IT WAS past five o’clock. Amy just wanted to go home. Everyone else in research had already gone.
If Mildred thought of one more thing for her to do…She huffed as she ran the last set of copies. This was Elaine’s job now. Amy was in research, not in clerical anymore.
She harrumphed. The perfect ending to the perfectly crappy day. At least the menial tasks had kept her mind off—
No, she refused to even think his name.
He hadn’t called.
For all she knew he could be off on his honeymoon by now.
She furiously blinked at the emotion that tried to brim. Fine. She hoped he enjoyed his life with that…that hellcat. She would make him miserable. Amy couldn’t help feeling sorry for him at the thought.
But she quickly tamped down the wasted emotion. Who was going to feel sorry for her? Nobody, by God, because she had her career. She would go on. She didn’t need the perfect man. She didn’t need the fantasy.
She didn’t need anything but work.
“Amy!”
She rolled her eyes. Mildred. If she had more copies to run, Amy was just going to walk out without even saying good-night.
She set the stacks of copies in the bin for Elaine to pick up tomorrow and dusted her hands off. At least she was through with that enormous pile. Now, to see what the heck Mildred wanted this time.
She marched into the lobby ready to hunt down the sweet old lady and tell her to give it a rest.
Amy drew up short just inside the door.
Roses.
Red roses.
Everywhere.
Dozens upon dozens of huge bouquets, all lavished with greenery and baby’s breath. All embellished with enormous red bows.
“I think I have some explaining to do.”
She swung around to face the man who’d spoken. John had just walked out of Victoria’s office. He wore his usual designer suit, but the Stetson was nowhere to be seen. And there was that smile. Breathtakingly gorgeous.
“John.” The word came out a whisper…a thought spoken.
He was here. And no sign of that witch Regina. And all the flowers. She looked around the room. “What is all this?”
He moved toward her, taking her hands when he paused in front of her. “It’s to make up for Nate’s mistake. He was the one who orchestrated those headlines. He didn’t mean to hurt you…he just got caught up in the fever of the merger. I don’t want you to be sore at him…I know it’s a lot to ask, but, deep down, he’s a good man.”
Amy was having trouble focusing, her mind was awhirl with confusion and…happiness. “So you weren’t with Regina this morning when I tried to call you?”
A frown furrowed across his handsome brow. “You tried to call?”
She nodded. “Oh, but I didn’t leave a message.”
“I was with Edgar Winterborne most of the morning. I wanted to be sure that he understood that business was all his family and my family have in common. I didn’t want any questions where you and I stand.”
“Where do we stand?” she managed to ask, in spite of her heart pounding so hard she could scarcely hear herself think.
He dropped down onto one knee. “I’ll ask you again.” He smiled and reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew the most beautiful ring she’d ever laid eyes on. “Amy, would you
be my wife?”
For two beats she couldn’t speak, then an awful reality crashed in on her new bliss. “But where will we live? I don’t want to give up my job. I…I…”
He squeezed her hand in his. “Not to worry. We’ll get a house here as well. I’ll manage. I have reliable folks who can run things in Texas when I’m not around.”
“But…” She had to be sure he understood what her career entailed. “Later I may be away for days at a time on assignments.”
“I’ll take advantage of those times to work around the ranch. Otherwise, I’ll set up an office here. With this new merger, it’ll be necessary anyway.”
She started to tremble. Tears pushed past her lashes. She was very close to being overwhelmed.
“So, is it yes or no?” he asked tentatively.
She might be tied in knots emotionally but Amy knew exactly what she wanted. “The answer is yes!” She wanted John Calhoun. She wanted the fantasy. She wanted it all.
Cheers and thunderous clapping rent the air as Victoria, Mildred and a dozen other Colby Agency personnel spilled into the room.
John stood and pulled her into his arms. “Good answer,” he whispered, and then he kissed her.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7161-0
ROMANCING THE TYCOON
Copyright © 2004 by Debra Webb.
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
