In the living room, he saw that Caroline had thoughtfully done her best to make up one of the love seats for him, with a pillow and blankets. He settled his six-feet-one inches into the makeshift bed as best as he was able, groaning and silently cursing whatever fool had screwed up the reservation so that he and Caroline had wound up in the honeymoon cabin instead of one with two bedrooms.
As he drifted into slumber, Nick thought that if he ever discovered the identity of the person responsible, he would wring the idiot’s damned neck!
Nine
As Kate Fortune gazed out the wide bank of windows in her penthouse office at Fortune Cosmetics, she couldn’t repress a delighted giggle. She would have given anything to have seen the expressions on Caroline’s and Nick’s faces when they had realized they had been installed in the honeymoon cabin at Maplewood Lodge.
Of course, Kate hadn’t been able to direct her secretary, Louise Rhymer, to make such a reservation—or even to make it herself, for that matter. Although she had known both Louise and Will Bentley, the proprietor of Maplewood Lodge, for years and trusted their discretion, still, it was possible that they would inadvertently let something slip to someone and then the newlyweds might have learned what Kate had done.
Even so, she had managed the affair easily enough. She had instructed her housekeeper to make the arrangements—knowing that if anything ever got out, she could blame the mix-up on Mrs. Brant.
Now, as Kate glanced at the dreary gray winter sky, she wondered if it was snowing across the border in Canada, at the Maplewood Lodge. She certainly hoped so, hoped that Caroline and Nick were stuck in their one-bedroom cabin, alone with each other—and doing what came naturally between a handsome man and a beautiful woman in such a situation.
Their marriage was simply not going to end in an annulment or a divorce—not if she could help it!
Already, rumors about Caroline and Nick having eloped were circulating through Fortune Cosmetics. And although Kate had not confirmed any of the gossip, she had not denied it, either, merely smiled mysteriously at the polite, carefully phrased questions, so that it would become generally known throughout the company that if such an event had occurred, she would not be disapproving. She had instructed Jake and Sterling to take the same tack.
Passing Paul Andersen in one of the long corridors earlier in the day, Kate had nodded and positively beamed at him, knowing from the expression on his face that he had heard the news about Caroline and Nick and was dying to be told it wasn’t true.
Not a chance, Paul, you idiot, Kate had thought smugly to herself as she had strolled briskly by him. You’re lucky you even still have a job here at Fortune Cosmetics after breaking my granddaughter’s heart!
Surreptitiously peeking back over her shoulder, Kate had taken a great deal of satisfaction in seeing Paul stick a finger under his collar and run it back and forth, as though his tie were choking him. Over the years, she had learned how, with a glance cast just so, to do that to people who had displeased her, making them wonder nervously if she was about to fire them. On more than one occasion, she had done so, because she would not tolerate any employee who couldn’t cut the mustard at Fortune Cosmetics. Those who excelled at their jobs were equally as quick to be rewarded.
Be tough but fair, her late husband, Ben, had always been fond of saying, and Kate had adopted that motto for her own.
Now, turning from the windows, Kate abruptly strode purposefully from her office. She could have just called down to the laboratory. But she knew she would get nothing over the telephone from the stolid Otto Mueller. Face-to-face, however, he would not find it so easy to fob her off in Nick’s absence. And even though only a few days had passed since Nick’s formal presentation about her secret youth formula, she just had to know how Fabulous Face was progressing, whether or not they were any closer to discovering the identity of Ingredient X.
“Good morning, Otto.” Kate greeted the heavyset chemist pleasantly and smiled warmly as she entered the laboratory, causing him inwardly to groan.
Like everyone else at Fortune Cosmetics, Otto knew that when his employer chirruped as brightly and charmingly as a bird, it was wise to be on guard. In response, he grunted taciturnly before pointedly turning his attention once more to his work.
“Otto, I want to know if we’ve eliminated any more possibilities for Ingredient X within the last few days.” Kate was undeterred by his terseness.
“Yes.” He nodded, volunteering no further information.
“Oh, for pity’s sake, Otto! Your loyalty and discretion are admirable. But how many times do I have to remind you that you work for me—and not Nick Valkov! Now, I want to know about Ingredient X!”
“Amazon,” the chemist finally said reluctantly.
“Amazon? Well, what in the hell is that supposed to mean? Explain yourself. I swear, getting more than a word or two out of you is like pulling teeth. Are you referring to the Amazon jungle?”
“Yes.” Otto sighed heavily, knowing he was going to have to talk to her, whether he wanted to or not. Then Nick would be mad when he returned to the laboratory, because he didn’t like anyone—not even Kate—meddling in his domain. And then Otto would like as not find himself on the receiving end of another one of Nick’s pranks. “I think that’s where Ingredient X is going to be found. But I can’t say for sure, you understand. I still have more tests to run.”
“How many tests?”
“I don’t know. But several. As Nick and I both have pointed out to you many times before, science cannot be rushed, Mrs. Fortune. You don’t want us to make a mistake in here, do you? Accidentally turn your Fabulous Face into Frightening Face?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then you simply must be patient,” the chemist insisted stubbornly.
“Well, still, what are we talking about here, Otto? Days? Weeks? Months?”
“Weeks, maybe—if you’re lucky. And if you leave me in peace to get on with my work!” Otto glowered at her, indicating the beakers and test tubes, the microscope and slides, and the ream of notes arrayed before him.
Scowling back and tapping her foot impatiently, Kate debated pressing him further. But she knew from the mulish set of his jaw that she would likely get nothing more from him—the obstinate old goat! If he weren’t so brilliant, she would send him packing, she fumed.
It never occurred to Kate that in all the departments at Fortune Cosmetics, she had people in charge who shared many of her own traits, that she actually secretly enjoyed these little skirmishes with Otto and various other of her employees. They kept her sharp, on her toes.
More than once, she had been tempted to play some trick on Otto, in order to disconcert him, he was so impossibly down to earth. Nevertheless, she had steadfastly resisted the impulse, deeming it undignified for a woman in her position. She knew Nick, however, was not so restrained, and she chuckled whenever she happened to hear the latest joke he had pulled on his fellow chemist.
Last time, Nick had poured some harmless chemical into the laboratory’s coffeepot. Otto had gone around half the day with a discolored mouth and tongue. Agnes Grimsby, who ran the company’s cafeteria and was sweet on the chemist, had nearly fainted when she had seen him at lunch—especially when Nick had slyly suggested that Agnes’s cooking was to blame for the mishap.
“All right, Otto. I can take a hint,” Kate declared tartly. “Go on back to your tests. But mind you notify me the moment you’ve made any further progress.”
Already, Kate was mulling over the germ of an idea with regard to Ingredient X. The secret youth formula was her baby. She had dreamed of it for years—and now that it was finally nearing completion, she ought to be the one who provided the last piece of the equation.
Once she knew what that was, she would fly down to the Amazon, piloting the corporate jet herself, Kate decided. She couldn’t tell anyone, not even Sterling, of her plan, however. All her family and friends would be violently opposed to the scheme. They would point out what
a long, tiring trip it was, how she was too elderly to undertake such a strenuous journey, especially at the plane’s controls herself. But Kate knew that thanks to a regular regime of exercise, she was fitter than a lot of women decades younger than she.
Yes, she would go to the Amazon jungle herself.
Amelia Earhart had nothing on Kate Fortune!
Ten
To Caroline and Nick, the week at Maplewood Lodge seemed to pass all too quickly, despite the fact that the pace of life in the cabin was actually slow. The winter continued to be abysmally cold, the sky sullen and misty, the days gray and dreary. More than once, the newlyweds awakened to fresh snowfall that draped the swells and hollows of the earth like a pristine blanket. The boughs of the trees wept teardrops in the form of icicles, and a hard layer of rime encrusted the ground.
Still, the weather did not deter Caroline and Nick from going outside. They took sleigh rides accompanied by the musical jingle of the bells on the horses’ harnesses, and long walks in the woods, fogging the air with their breath. They built a big snow bride and groom in the front yard of the cabin, and from behind walls of snow heaped high, they conducted vigorous battles with snowballs, which ended in them rolling on the ground, laughing, sodden and breathless.
Inside, they would take turns in the bathroom, stripping off their wet clothes, then bundling up in clean, warm garments, after which they would curl up before the cheerfully blazing fireplace, cups of hot chocolate in hand. They played cards and board games from the stock in the antique cupboard and music on the stereo. CNN kept them apprised of the news, and they talked endlessly.
Caroline had never before lived with a man. In fact, she had not lived with anyone since she had moved away from home during her college years to make her own way in the world. She had not realized until now how very alone she had been, how much she had missed the company of another human being. It was pleasant to have someone to share the household chores with, to carry on a conversation with, to take pride in her accomplishments.
“Caro baby!” Nick called more than once. “Hurry! Your commercial’s on!”
Each time, she ran dutifully into the living room, where her sister Allie’s face would smile back at her from the television screen and the voice-over would promote Fortune Cosmetics’ foundation or mascara, lipstick or nail polish. Despite that Caroline had viewed the advertisements umpteen times, that she had, in fact, been responsible for the original concept, she still never tired of seeing them, and was secretly thrilled by this physical evidence of her success.
“I remember developing that color…Cinnamon Stick,” Nick observed as, on the television screen, Allie puckered up her lips to blow a playful kiss at the handsome, admiring man in the scene.
“It’s one of our most popular shades of lipstick and nail polish,” Caroline said, feeling warm clear down to her toes at the idea that Nick was proud of her work, that it was her he thought of when he saw the commercials—not Allie, not Kate—but her, Caroline.
“Hmmm. Is that so?” Nick lifted one thick, dark brow. “Well, I’ve got a notion brewing for a new color when we get back to work—and I bet it will wind up outselling all the others. In fact, I’ve already got a name for it.”
“Oh?” she replied archly, sauntering toward him. “Since when do chemists name products at Fortune Cosmetics? And just what were you thinking of calling it, anyway?”
“Caroline’s Kiss. I’ve got something in mind that’s sweet and spicy and sensual all at the same time.” Reaching out from where he lounged upon the floor, Nick grabbed Caroline’s ankle, pulling her foot from beneath her so she toppled into his lap. Rolling her over, he pressed her down upon the rug. “And I don’t expect to have any arguments with the marketing department about it.”
“Uh-huh. Well, don’t think that just because you’re married to the vice president, you’re going to receive any special privileges at the company—because you’re not,” Caroline insisted, her heart hammering at the feel of his hard, lean, muscular body lying atop her soft, slender, one. His lips were just inches from her own. His eyes danced and smoldered like the embers that flew from the fire blazing in the hearth.
“Oh, I’m not, am I? Well, we’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?” Nick muttered huskily before his mouth claimed hers, his tongue insidiously parting her lips and shooting deep between them, seeking and savoring.
Involuntarily, Caroline moaned and opened her mouth pliantly to his. Of their own accord, her arms slipped up to twine around his neck. Her fingers burrowed through his thick, dark hair. Inside her, desire awakened and burgeoned. No matter how hard she had tried to fight her attraction to Nick, it seemed he had only to touch her like this and she softened and melted like candle wax. Her body felt weak and boneless as his lips moved on hers, growing fiercer, more insistent. His tongue followed the contours of her mouth. His teeth nibbled her lower lip, causing an electric tingle to radiate through her.
Caroline knew she ought not let him kiss her like this. It would only lead to trouble in the end, she thought, disheartened. He had made it clear to her that he believed attraction was purely physical, relied solely on chemistry, on pheromones—and had nothing whatsoever to do with the mind or emotions at all. And she just couldn’t think that way. Like it or not, she knew that despite herself, Nick stirred more than just a biological response in her. This past week, she had begun to have feelings toward him.
More than once, she had totally forgotten that theirs was a marriage of convenience, that her grandmother and father had as much as hired Nick to wed her, so the secret youth formula would be saved. She mustn’t keep forgetting that, Caroline had told herself on each of those occasions—just as she did now. But emotions just weren’t something she could turn on and off like a faucet, especially when she was lying in his arms like this and he was making her feel womanly and desirable. Still, she didn’t want to be used and hurt, to have her heart broken again.
“Nick…Nick…” she murmured as his mouth slanted hotly across her cheek to her temple. “You—you mustn’t do this. We mustn’t do it.”
“Why not?” He nipped her earlobe gently, his breath warm against her skin, sending a shiver through her. “You’re my wife, Caro. I’m your husband.”
“I—I know…but in name only, remember? And I just can’t put that fact aside and forget it simply because you want me to at the moment, Nick. Once your troubles with the INS are over, we’ll be over. You know that,” she reminded him quietly.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Reluctantly, sighing heavily, he rolled off her, helping her sit up. Inwardly, he groaned as his gaze took in her mussed hair, her flushed cheeks, the pulse that beat erratically at the delicate hollow of her slender throat. Keeping his hands off her was proving increasingly difficult. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted her. “I’m sorry, Caro. I don’t have any excuse—except that a man would have to be dead not to desire you, and I’m very much alive.” And in my prime and not accustomed to living like a monk, either, he added mentally, although he didn’t speak the words aloud.
Caroline laughed tremulously. “I guess I should be flattered, actually. Look, Nick, it’s late, so I think I’ll go ahead and take a bath, then turn in.”
“Yeah, all right, fine. I’ll…ah…just read for a while, listen to some music until you’re done. I don’t get much rest on that love seat, anyway.”
She flushed at that, upset. “You know I’ve offered several times to let you have the bed. It just doesn’t make sense for you to sleep out here when I’m smaller and would do just fine on the love seat.”
“No.” He shook his head. “My ‘Old World tendencies,’ as you call them, are not so marked that they include forcing my wife to sleep on a couch. Besides, what’s one more night, anyway?”
The reminder that they were going home tomorrow depressed Caroline no end. For the first time that she could remember, she wasn’t anxious, eager, to return to work. She wished she and Nick had been able to
take more than a week off for their honeymoon, that they could have stayed here at Maplewood Lodge for a month or more. But that wasn’t possible. The secret youth formula was too important to Kate for her to tolerate their absence any longer than that—even if she had arranged their honeymoon in the first place.
Sighing as heavily as Nick had just moments ago, Caroline rose and headed for the bathroom. A short while later, she slipped into bed, feeling strangely as though she were on the verge of tears. She hadn’t been as happy in a long time as she had this week. She should have let Nick make love to her, she reflected as she struggled beneath the covers. It was silly to kid herself that she had done the right thing in stopping him—because her heart said otherwise.
As she drifted toward sleep, unbidden into her mind came the thought, the fear, that she was foolishly falling in love with her hired husband.
Eleven
Caroline awoke abruptly, her teeth chattering. Despite the covers under which she huddled, she was freezing. The bedroom felt as though it were thirty degrees below zero. Turning on the lamp, she could see that her breath made white clouds in the air.
“Ni—Ni—Nick,” she called, shivering violently and chafing her arms in an effort to warm them.
“Here I am. Hang on, baby.” He strode through the doorway, carrying an armful of logs, which he dumped on the fieldstone fireplace in the bedroom before beginning to stack them in the hearth.
“Wh—wh—what’s happened?” Caroline asked.
“The heat’s gone off in the cabin. I phoned the front desk, but it seems there’re no maintenance personnel on duty after midnight, so there’s nobody to fix the furnace until tomorrow morning. We’ll have to warm up the old-fashioned way. No, don’t get out of bed, Caro! For heaven’s sake, do you want to catch your death of cold? Get back under those blankets. There’s nothing you can do to help me. I’ll handle it.”
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