Merger By Matrimony

‘It’s all right,’ she said on a sigh. ‘Would you mind…? I can’t breathe with you so close…’

Callum swiftly withdrew, but only to drag a chair in front of hers, which gave her a reprieve of several inches more but not enough.

‘Look,’ she said in a steadier voice, ‘there’s no need to apologise. I know I’m not…not what men…’ She paused and sucked in her breath, then expelled it a little shakily. ‘I realise that I’m not feminine and frilly and the sort of woman that men…I’ve never known what it was like to date boys and flirt.’ A fleeting glance at a face that was far too concerned for her comfort, then some more frantic twisting of the handkerchief. ‘I mean, my lifestyle has taught me how to be strong. I’ve always had to be, you see. Weakness isn’t something that goes down too well when you’re in the middle of nowhere and someone might be depending on you to administer medicine to them or sew some stitches or draw out toxin from a snake bite.’

He stroked her hair, running his fingers through it in a soothing, rhythmic way.

‘You should try looking in the mirror some time,’ he murmured.

‘Not many of them are long enough to fit all of me in.’ She tried an unsuccessful laugh and thought with a certain amount of envy of her stepcousin. She was the sort of woman oozing feminine attraction. Soft and small and girlishly sexy. There was nothing feigned about her and nature had kindly lent her a huge helping hand at birth in the form of a tiny, neat body and the kind of face that would always have men running behind her like lap-dogs. Big, strong men like the one in front of her now. She’d read enough articles in magazines about men and their need to act as protector to their women. Not too many about men who liked women who could protect themselves and at a pinch could probably do a passable job at protecting them in the bargain.

Perhaps she should just sell the damned company and head back to where she belonged. This big, new world was too big for her. She felt like the country mouse on its ruinous trip to visit the town mouse.

The sound of the doorbell clanged into the brief silence between them and she jumped as though she had been scalded. He started as well and muttered an oath under his breath; then he stood up and waited till she had risen shakily to her feet.

Relief washed over her. She was not one for spouting forth confidences. When it came to her thoughts and her feelings, Destiny was adept at keeping her counsel. She could scarcely believe that Callum Ross had somehow broken through her reserve and extracted depths of self-pity which she’d never known even existed.

Now, she just wanted him out. She practically shovelled him to the front door.

‘Are you sure you won’t come with us tomorrow evening?’ he asked, taking his time even though he must be able to sense her urgency to get rid of him.

‘Quite sure.’

‘When do you expect to come to a decision about the company?’

Destiny shrugged, back in control of her wayward feelings. ‘I’m spending a week there going through things with the directors and Derek; then I’m going to talk to the accountant and try and get an honest opinion of whether the company’s salvageable or not.’

‘It’s not, without a huge injection of capital—which you haven’t got. You don’t have to talk to your accountant for that information. You can just talk to me.’

‘I hope to have come to some kind of decision once I’ve done that,’ she carried on, ignoring his interruption. She reached out to open the front door and he grasped her wrist. Her eyes, he noticed, were still pink, even though her voice was steady. She had lost control and he sensed that she had surprised herself. Surprised herself because she was not a woman who frequently lost control or resorted to any feminine wiles such as the random shedding of tears to stir the heartstrings. For a minute she’d allowed him into her world, and he could taste his own desire to find out more like a drug coursing through his veins.

Her wrist caught between his fingers felt hot and his breathing was sluggish.

‘Would you mind letting me go?’ Her green eyes were polite and cautious, and for a second he wondered how she would react if he told her that he really would mind.

‘Why don’t we meet over dinner to discuss details of…the company?’ he said. He edged towards the door, opened it slightly and nodded to his driver. ‘Hate getting you out here at this ungodly hour but it won’t do a thing, George. Completely useless piece of machinery. Give it a go, would you?’ His hand was still gripping hers.

‘There’s nothing to discuss until—’