“I don’t understand. If you know how I feel about Vina, how can you even contemplate asking me to escort her on a…a…manhunt?”
“You’ve been a good friend to her, Travis. It’s difficult for Vina to see past that,” Lucinda explained. “She’s young. She needs time to mature, to learn the difference between infatuation and love. God willing, Victor and I will be around to give all our daughters a…nudge in the right direction. But if anything should happen…if we are unable to…”
“What Lucinda is trying to say,” Victor interjected, “is that we would love to see your relationship with Vina develop into a permanent one. And, although we respect you for not pushing her into something she’s not ready for yet, we wanted to help…pave the way.”
Travis’ brows furrowed. “Pave the way?”
“For when the time is right,” Lucinda said. “You see, we hatched a little plan for our daughters. In five years, Victor will be retiring and the girls will take over the company, but we wanted to ensure that work wouldn’t consume their lives. Hopefully, we’ll be around to oversee it ourselves, but this Will is our way of making sure it happens regardless.”
Travis bit back a groan of frustration. “Make sure what happens?”
“Have patience,” Lucinda smiled, “I’m getting there. Our girls value their independence. They are confident in themselves and their ability to make their own choices, but they are also a little hard headed. If we came right out and told Vina we thought you two would make a splendid match before she came to that conclusion herself, she would fight it every inch of the way.
“Knowing all our daughters would react in the same manner, we engineered a way to get each of them alone with their prospective partners in a romantic setting. Away from the influence of friends and family, and without the worries of their job responsibilities, they will have nothing to focus on but finding their own true love. We are providing you with the time and place to romance Vina, but it will be totally up to you to make her see that her heart belongs to you.”
Travis had been blown away by the cunning method they’d devised to get their daughters to fall for, what they considered, the right man. He was also extremely grateful they had seen him as the perfect match for Vina. And he certainly wasn’t going to argue against a plan that would stack the cards in his favor. In the end, Travis agreed to it because he was confident Vina would be his long before Victor retired.
What he hadn’t counted on was Vina’s dogged determination to work her way up the corporate ladder, as well as making a huge success of their joint investment project. She put in impossibly long hours, and when she did manage to have some free time, Travis’ own thriving business prevented him from taking advantage of it. Their friendship hadn’t suffered, but their tight work schedules deprived him of any opportunities to take their relationship any further.
The deaths of Lucinda and Victor Moore provided him with the opportunity he’d lacked before, but the cost to all of them was horrendous. Initially, his gut reaction was to tell Sheldon he couldn’t go through with it. Essentially, he would be benefiting from their death, and that didn’t settle very well in his heart or mind. As desperate as he was to have Vina fall in love with him, Travis felt he would be capitalizing on her parents’ death and taking advantage of her vulnerability.
Sheldon Davis had talked to him briefly at the funeral services and contacted him a few days later to set up a meeting time. Travis hadn’t realized how young the Moore’s attorney was until he sat in Sheldon’s office and observed him as he flipped to the appropriate pages of the Wills. He was surprised that Victor hadn’t selected one of the senior partners; given his vast wealth, it seemed logical he’d want to go with someone with more experience to handle his affairs.
His attention migrated to the numerous plaques on the wall behind the desk. Travis quickly retracted his opinion that Mr. Davis was any less competent than the elder members of the firm. It was an impressive display of the man’s accomplishments, and if Travis had any lingering doubts as to how sharp Sheldon’s mind was, they were dispelled a moment later.
Sheldon looked up and made eye contact, immediately picking up on Travis’ reluctance to follow through with the terms of the Will. Half a dozen legitimate excuses ran through his mind, including the one where Vina herself was likely to veto the whole idea. But before he was able to voice a single objection, Sheldon launched into a persuasive argument.
Travis listened in silence while Sheldon reminded him it was what Victor and Lucinda wanted, and that he’d made a promise to them to fulfill their last wishes. Guilt was not a factor, he was assured, because their daughter’s happiness was more important to them than anything in the world. Money wasn’t an issue, either. The trip and accommodations were already paid for, including an allotment for clothes and incidentals that would be needed for the trip.
Traveler’s checks, a moderate amount of cash, and a charge card that apparently had the sky as a limit, would be handed over to him the day prior to their flight. Vina would be armed with the same financial freedom. Travis had no choice.
Victor and Lucinda had thought of everything, with the possible exception of Vina’s refusal to participate. Although, he imagined they’d coached their young attorney well. No matter what excuse the Moore sisters offered, Mr. Sheldon Davis would effortlessly counter it. The phone call Travis had just received was proof of that. In two weeks, Vina and her sisters would travel to different parts of the world with the escorts chosen by their parents.
Travis pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial. If this was going to work, he couldn’t jet off to Venice and simply hope for the best. He needed to be proactive, and that meant using the next two weeks to remove the friendship barrier that kept Vina from seeing him as a man she could love.
“Hey, I was just thinking about you,” Vina answered on the first ring.
“Hmmmm, let me guess. You’re working up a devious plot to kidnap me and take me to some foreign country so you can have your wicked way with me.”
“I’ve always known you were a man of many talents,” she said with a laugh, “but I never realized you were a mind reader too.”
Travis smiled into the phone. “Do you trust yourself to be alone with me for an entire month? I do have a reputation with the ladies for being irresistible, you know.”
“At the risk of shattering your fragile ego, those women haven’t nursed you through a hangover or gotten a whiff of you after a game of racket ball.”
“Now that hurts,” he affected a wounded tone. “And here I was, calling to offer my services out of the goodness of my heart.”
“Uh, huh. Just what type of services do you have in mind?”
“Well, it just so happens that we will be arriving in Venice a few days before the annual Venice Carnival. We’re talking operas, plays, parties, masquerade balls…exclusive events where you’ll be hobnobbing with some of the wealthiest and most respected names in Italy.”
“Hobnobbing?” Vina teased.
“Hush, woman, you’re derailing my train of thought. What I’m getting at, is that these people will have attended events like this most of their lives. They’ll know all the steps to the dances of that period, like the minuet and rondo. So it occurred to me that if Prince Charming asks you to dance, you would have to turn him down…or chance embarrassing yourself when you tromped all over his feet.”
“Are you saying you know both those dances, and that you’re willing to teach me?”
“Why do you sound so suspicious? You know I’ve traveled to Italy several times.”
“I know,” Vina said, “but I’m having trouble picturing you in a feather mask and tights as you lead your partner in the minuet.”
“Is that a yes on the dance lessons?”
“Only if you’re not afraid of getting your feet tromped on.”
“Bravery is just another one of my admirable qualities,” Travis advised her.
“Good. Then you can brave the fir
st lesson tonight. How does seven o’clock at your place sound?”
“It’s a date,” Travis replied, silently applauding his own brilliance. “Speaking of dates; there is one more thing I thought of. Now, I don’t want you to take this wrong, but…” he let his voice trail off and waited for Vina to take the bait.
“Honestly, Travis, since when have you held back from telling me exactly what you think?”
Since the summer you turned sixteen and I fell hopelessly in love with you. His chest tightened, trapping the air in his lungs. Thank God he phoned Vina instead of meeting her in person because he might have been stupid enough to pull her into his arms and blurt out the words. Just stick to the plan, Malone.
“Okay, but remember I’m only saying this because I care about you. I know how hard you’ve been working the past few years, which hasn’t left much time for dating. I also know you tend to clam up when you’re nervous. You have a wonderful sense of humor and a sharp mind, but you freeze when you’re on a date, and that’s why…” Travis stopped himself, but the damage had already been done.
“That’s why I never get asked out for a second date,” she finished for him.
He hadn’t meant to hurt Vina, but the hollowness in her voice told him that he had. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, that came out all wrong. Being shy around men isn’t a fatal character flaw; you just need more practice, that’s all. What I’m proposing is that along with the dance lessons, we can go out on a few dates. It might help you pinpoint where things…fall apart, and I could help you work through it.”
“You’d really do that for me?”
“Hey, that’s what friends are for,” Travis said, practically choking on the lump of guilt that was stuck in his throat. He didn’t like deceiving her, but the end justified the means…didn’t it?
***
Vina absently disconnected the call. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about the proposal Travis had just presented. Who ever heard of going on practice dates? Then again, she could use all the help she could get. Her last several dates had been disasters and she hadn’t gotten up the nerve to accept another one since…well, she couldn’t remember when.
It really was sweet of Travis to volunteer his time to help her out, especially when she knew how difficult it was for him to get away from work. What she wouldn’t give to find a man like Travis Malone to love her. Well, not exactly like Travis. The man had some serious commitment issues. Vina knew for a fact that most of his relationships, if you could call them that, did the big crash and burn after a couple of weeks.
Still, Travis was utterly gorgeous and had a heart of gold, at least where family and friends were concerned. She doubted any of the women who had briefly shared his bed held such a high opinion of him. It sounded cruel, but it was their own fault for thinking they could change Travis. He was always upfront with the women he dated, and made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in a long term relationship.
It never ceased to amaze Vina when they continued to pursue him, long after he’d lost interest and moved on to someone else. Some of them had even been jealous of her relationship with Travis, which was ridiculous because he’d never once tried to push the boundaries of their friendship. Besides, based on his taste for tall, leggy blondes, Vina wasn’t his type.
Not that she wanted to be added to the lengthy list of girlfriends, Vina told herself. And if there were times when she tried to imagine what it would feel like to be kissed by Travis, it was only because she was curious as to what all the fuss was about. Getting romantically involved with him would be like jumping from a plane without a parachute. Sure, it felt heavenly while your head was still in the clouds, and the free fall was exhilarating, but eventually the ground was going to rise up to meet you.
No, Vina trusted Travis with her life, but she wasn’t foolish enough to trust him with her heart. After all, you can’t put paper in a shredder and expect it to come out in one piece, now can you?
Chapter 3
Thirty years old and he couldn’t remember ever being nervous at the prospect of spending the evening with a beautiful young woman. So why was he suffering from a bad case of the jitters now? Vina had been to his house more times than he could count. She’d even spent the night in one of the guest rooms on several occasions, although that usually resulted in a frustrating and restless night for him.
Lights bounced across his living room wall when Vina turned into his driveway, flicking off a moment later. Travis tilted his head, mentally tracing her movements by the sound of her soft tread as she climbed the stairs to his deck. He heard her shuffle across the deck, and then two dull thuds when Vina kicked her shoes off just outside the sliding glass door. She paused for second, as she always did, and breathed in the scent of the ocean before pushing the screen door open and slipping inside.
His pulse accelerated when she spied him and angled a warm smile his way. What was it about this woman that made his heart pound and his breathe come up short? Granted, Vina was beautiful, but he’d dated a lot of women who were equally beautiful and much more sophisticated. The sultry femme fatales he usually spent time with were tall and thin; sheer elegance from the tip of their painted toe nails to the top of their glossy, bleach-blonde roots.
Vina was down to earth. She was…real. Maybe that’s what he found so appealing about her; there was no pretension in anything she said or did, no hidden agenda, no cold calculation in her approach to their relationship. And there was no need for pretense on his part either, no practiced lines or forced compliments to be doled out at regular intervals. Vina neither wanted nor expected to be flattered, which was a source of amusement for Travis, because even the smallest of compliments brought a rush of color to her cheeks.
His eyes made an appreciative sweep over her curvaceous form. She looked exceptionally lovely today in a pair of snug blue jeans that emphasized her narrow waist and the womanly flair of her hips. The stretchy knit sweater that hugged her generous breasts was the same shade of dusty rose that colored her lips. It made him ache to touch her in a way that had nothing to do with friendship and everything to do with satisfying his need to possess Vina and make her his own.
She wasn’t wearing any make-up and had pulled her long hair back into a ponytail, making her look younger than her twenty-five years. The women Travis dated would have been mortified to be seen without their faces painted or dressed in such casual attire, but to him, Vina looked as luscious and ripe as a Georgia peach. And every bit as mouth watering.
It drained every ounce of will power to let go of her after accepting the warm hug she gave him. Every male hormone in his body begged him to keep Vina locked in his arms and kiss her senseless, but the last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. For his own peace of mind, Travis moved away from her to put some distance between himself and temptation.
Vina dropped her purse on the coffee table and studied him for a moment. “Are you okay with this, Travis?”
“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m not talking about the dance lessons. Are you okay with everything else?”
Travis grinned. “You mean an all expenses paid trip to Venice with a beautiful woman that I just happen to adore? It’s going to be tough, but I think I can manage.”
“You’re being very cavalier, but it is an awful lot to ask of you,” Vina replied. “With the business booming at Malone’s and the opening of the new restaurant, I know you can’t really afford to take off for a month. So, if you want to…bow out, I’ll understand.”
“I made a promise to your parents, Vina, and I intend to keep it.”
Vina visibly bristled. “If you’re only doing this because you feel obligated to, I’m sure I can find someone to take your place.”
Jealousy wasn’t an emotion Travis was familiar with, but he recognized the sharp pang of green spearing through his chest for what it was. He hadn’t liked it when Vina went out on dates, but she rarely went out with the same man more than twice. And since she’d never ex
pressed a real interest in any of them, there had been no reason for the possessive kind of jealousy he was feeling now.
“Are you saying you don’t want me to go?” Travis forced the words out.
“Of course I want you to go. But it won’t be any fun for either of us if you resent being emotionally blackmailed into doing it.”
Travis arched a brow. “Who said anything about being blackmailed, emotional or otherwise?”
“You said my parents made you promise, and the only way they could get you to take that much time away from your business responsibilities was to guilt you into it.”
“If that’s what is bothering you, then you’re worrying for nothing. I wasn’t coerced into making the promise. They asked me to watch over you because they trusted me, and I accepted because I wanted to.”
“You really mean that?” Vina asked with a tremulous smile.
“You know I do,” he said softy.
VINA IN VENICE (THE 5 SISTERS) Page 3
