Читать книгу The Magnate's Takeover: The Magnate's Takeover - Mary McBride - Страница 14

After their meeting and a brief tour of Heaven’s Gate, Father James walked Libby and Doug out to the parking lot. The priest had listened intently to their proposal and seemed to be fascinated by it even though the fine points hadn’t been worked out yet. In all honesty, the plan was barely past the light bulb over the head stage, but Libby and Doug had been eager and enthusiastic in their presentation, if not burdened by the details. Obviously the fifty thousand dollars provided Father James with more than a little incentive to take it under consideration.

“I’ll present it to my board of directors when we meet early next week,” he told them. “And I expect they’ll be equally intrigued and enthusiastic.”

Libby tried hard to hide her disappointment at the delay. “I don’t suppose you could do it any sooner.”

He gave her a patient, practically angelic smile, one he must’ve used a hundred or more times a day in this facility, and then he shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

“That’s plenty soon,” Doug said. “And remember, both of you, we still have to present this plan to Elizabeth, and Lord only knows—pardon me, Father—how she’ll respond. She can be downright cranky and stubborn as all get-out sometimes.”

Libby rolled her eyes.

Father James gazed heavenward a moment, then said, “Well, I’ve been known to get cranky and stubborn myself. If this is meant to be, my friends, it will happen. Perhaps we should simply leave it at that for the time being.”

Easier said than done, Libby thought on the drive home. It wasn’t going to be so easy for her to put the brakes on her big plan, even if only until next week. Now which one of them was going to make a heartfelt presentation to Aunt Elizabeth, she wondered.

Afternoon westbound traffic was fairly light, so she used her right hand to flip open her cell phone which now registered two additional calls, both of them from David. Libby couldn’t help but smile. Persistent fellow, her handsome architect, wasn’t he? And, oh my, she thought, how she adored it.

Doug pointed to her phone. “That wouldn’t be your new suitor, would it, Libby?”

She nodded.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

Libby laughed. “Well, as Father James would say, All in good time, my dear Doug. All in good time.”

As it turned out, Libby didn’t have to return David’s calls. He was waiting at the Haven View—arms crossed and one hip lodged against his Jag—when she and Doug got back.

Libby’s heartbeat immediately picked up speed. How was it possible, she wondered, that this man looked better, more handsome and even more desirable every time she laid eyes on him? At this rate, she would surely go into cardiac arrest at the mere sight of him in a week or so. She could only hope that she caused a similar, significant drumbeat inside his hardcarved chest.

By the time she’d parked the minivan in back of the office, he was standing next to the driver’s side door, reaching out to open it.

“Hey,” she said, sliding from behind the wheel and practically into his arms. “I was just going to call you.”

“So you got my calls?”

She laughed. “I got them all. Yes. They very nearly melted my cell phone.”

“I missed you.”

Well, jeez, now, in addition to her phone, he was melting her heart. “I’m glad,” she said softly. “I missed you, too. Hey, I want you to meet somebody very special to me.”

By now, Doug had climbed out of the passenger side of the van and was walking toward them, looking once again like a grinning Cheshire cat.

“Doug, I’d like you to meet David,” she said. “David, this is Doug, the very best father in the world.”

They shook hands, and Doug immediately said, “I’ve heard a lot about you, young man. Libby tells me you designed that gorgeous building across the street.”

David lowered his head and consulted the pebbles beneath his feet for a moment before he said, “Yes, sir.”

“Well, let me congratulate you.” Doug angled his head northward. “She’s a real beauty.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I’ll leave you two alone. I never did finish up today’s mail in the office so I guess I better get to it.” Doug kissed Libby’s forehead, then turned to walk away.

“Nice guy,” David said softly.

Libby nodded. “Yes, he is.”

“I really did miss you today.” He reached out to touch the back of his fingertips to her cheek.

There was a slightly yearning quality to his voice that Libby had never heard before, and judging from the expression on his face, he really had missed her.

“Good,” she said. “I’m glad you did.”

“Come back to the hotel with me,” he said, pulling her into his arms and burying his face in her neck. “We can play in the hot tub again, and then see what else the kitchen can come up with for our dinner.”

Libby made a little humming sound deep in her throat. “That sounds divine, but…”

He lifted his head. “But what?”

“I just hate to leave Doug alone this evening.”

“Is he ill?”

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. The man’s healthy as a horse. It’s just that we’re working on this wonderful idea, and there’s so much to discuss.”

“What sort of idea?” he asked.

“Well…”

Just then Doug walked around the rear corner of the office, jingling a set of car keys in his hand. “I’m off to see Elizabeth now, Libby. I’ll probably stay there and have supper with her while I tell her about today. If you don’t need me back here, I’ll just go on home afterward, honey.”

“Give her my love,” Libby said. “And let me know what she says, Doug, will you? As soon as you can.”

“Will do.” He appeared only a bit stiff and awkward as he angled into the driver’s seat of his old Pontiac. “Nice meeting you, David,” he said just before turning the key in the ignition.

“Hope to see you again, sir,” David responded before he smiled down at Libby. “Looks to me like somebody’s a free woman this evening.”

The free woman laughed, a luscious sound if ever David had heard one, then took his hand to lead him around the office and into the center of the pebbled drive. The place was deserted. As it should have been, David thought.

Libby made a broad and sweeping gesture with her arm.

“Pick a cabin, my dear. Any cabin,” she said. “Or choose a number between one and six.”

“What?”

“Choose a cabin, David. We’ve got the whole place to ourselves.” She grinned up at him. “My personal choice would be Three, since it’s my lucky number, not to mention the fact that the shower in there still works pretty well.”

David decided that his brain was probably operating inefficiently because his bloodstream was shunting its contents below his waist at the moment. She wanted to make love here, in this squalor, rather than in the silk sheets and wall-to-wall splendor of the Marquis across the street? Make love here? Was she nuts?

Maybe the better question from David’s point of view was could he even perform here under the circumstances, knowing he was making a concerted effort to acquire the crummy Haven View in order to tear it down.

Early this afternoon, after going through the paperwork, he’d sent Jeff, in the guise of a real-estate investor, to pay a visit to Libby’s aunt Elizabeth in the rehab facility, where he had offered the woman whatever price she wanted for the place. “Name your price,” Jeff had told her mere seconds before the old lady called the front desk to have this shady weasel escorted from her room.

Having struck out with Aunt Elizabeth, David then opted for plan B, and had directed Jeff to prepare a statement for the municipal council, requesting this acreage to be officially designated as blighted, and thus eligible for condemnation and immediate demolition.

The proposal to the municipal council also included the Halstrom’s promise to develop the condemned property, its subsequent usage to be determined at a later date. Jeff was probably working on the document right this minute, dotting i’s and crossing t’s.

David let go of a long sigh. It wasn’t that he didn’t know he was working at cross purposes with Libby, but suddenly his deception hit him quite physically. He could feel his erection withering at the mere thought of Libby’s reaction to this news. She’d hate him for it. And the sad fact was that she’d have every right to hate him.

“I need to make a quick call,” he said, reaching for his phone, then flicking it open and hitting Jeff’s number. “This will only take me a minute.”

She was still smiling when she said, “Well, you better make it fast, mister, or else I reserve the right to choose the cabin.”

He tried to smile back, but his face felt nearly frozen. When Jeff picked up the call on the third ring, David said simply, “Stop working on the current project. I’ll get back to you about it later. Understand?”

Jeff uttered a surprised, almost strangled yes, then David snapped the phone closed and dropped it back into his pocket.

“Project?” Libby’s lovely face was turned up to his, curiosity sparkling in her blue eyes. “Are you working on another hotel, David?”

“Something like that,” he said, finally managing to smile. “But at the moment, my love, I’m working on something much more important.”

“What?” she asked.

“This.”

He gathered her up, held her closely against his chest, and said, “Show me the way to lucky Number Three.”

Libby lingered in the shower, almost too embarrassed to leave the bathroom and face David. Had she ever had a worse idea in her entire life? Why would anyone ask the man responsible for the mirrored and glorious piece of architecture across the highway, the man who’d wined and dined her in its glorious penthouse, to even set foot in this chamber of horrors? What had she been thinking?

The door had opened with a long, drawn-out squeak comparable to a Boris Karloff movie, and then, as they stepped inside, the powerful odor of pine and Lysol had smacked both of them in the face. David, bless his heart, had tried not to cough, but it wasn’t possible. Libby herself had had an immediate sneezing fit before running into the bathroom and locking the door.

Now, the fluorescent light over the sink was making an odd, erratic buzzing sound and the toilet, just to the right of the tub, gurgled every once in a while even though she hadn’t used it. The plastic shower curtain, with its sand dollars and starfish and various ocean flora, looked so pitiful hanging there that Libby had to keep her eyes closed most of the time she was in the shower.

For one grim and painful moment, she decided that tearing this whole wretched place down was the obvious and only solution. Surely she could make her aunt Elizabeth see that.

But then she knew it was impossible. Aunt Elizabeth, as always, would stand her ground—this ground—her precious turf—the same way she always did when she insisted that Uncle Joe would soon be coming home. Libby couldn’t make her change. Lord knew Doug hadn’t been able to change her in all their decades together.

When all was said and done, there really wasn’t much Libby could do other than go with the flow. And the flow right now, coming down from the shower head, seemed to be welling up in the tub because of a drain that wasn’t working properly. She swore under her breath, then yanked the faucets off, hardly caring at the moment if she broke them or not.

She grabbed a towel—thin from years of wear and washing—and did her best to dry off. After raking her fingers through her damp hair, she wrapped the ratty towel around herself and opened the door.

David was sitting on the edge of a twin bed, leaning forward to change channels on the small television, something he probably hadn’t done in years.

“Welcome to 1970,” Libby said only half in jest. “Do you feel like you’re in a time warp? Like you’ve been transported back several decades?”

“Nope,” he answered as he punched off the television, then reached out his arms toward her. “I feel like Prince Charming waiting for his Cinderella.”

“David,” Libby said softly, hugging her towel tightly around herself. “I’m truly sorry that I insisted on this. I have no idea why it seemed so important to me, but I’m ready to leave, this very minute, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

He stood, and then took several strides across the gold shag carpet, closing the distance between them. “Actually, I’d prefer to make love to you, Libby darlin’. Here. Now.”

She tilted her head up, passed the tip of her tongue across her lips, inviting his kiss. Craving his kiss. “Yes,” she said. “Here. And right now.”

What did it matter where she was, she thought, when David’s kisses made her forget who she was. She released her grip on the damp towel and let it drop to the floor.

David stepped back. Without even touching her, he ravished her with just his eyes, whose color had deepened to a dark forest green. And his gaze alone caused Libby’s stomach to clench with a ravenous hunger, as if she hadn’t eaten for weeks. She’d never wanted a man the way she wanted this one. She never even knew, in all her thirty years, that such all-consuming desire was possible.

As he had before, David loved her slowly, exploring every part of her body as if she were the first woman he’d ever encountered, while leading her to discover sensations she’d never felt before.

And as before, it was Libby who, when pushed to the edge by his slow hands, by his warm tongue, by the feel of him so hard and deep inside of her, pulled David with her for the long tumble through magnificent fireworks and bright shooting stars.

Libby let herself drift into sleep, thinking she never wanted this man to leave her. If he did, she just might have to follow him if it meant going to the ends of the earth.