Page 12 of Richard

*****

Richard let himself into his empty and silent townhouse. It was located in a fairly isolated part of the neighborhood. He relished his privacy and was always aware that a man of his status and wealth, he was subjected to people trying to come at him.

He didn’t believe he had enemies, but he was not stupid enough to believe that having come so far in life, he was without an enemy or two. He had received more than his fair share of fan letters that had ranged from a mild declaration of love to proposals of marriage. Some had been threatening but not followed on.

Dropping his key fob into the ceramic bowl on the entrance table, he headed straight to the almost empty living room, where a massive fireplace took up most of one wall. It was the middle of fall and very soon, there would be a fire burning in the hearth.

Going straight for the recessed bar, he touched the knob, and the lacquer cabinet slid out. Plucking the bottle of scotch, he poured a generous amount into the squat glass and took it with him over to one of the butter-colored sofas facing the hearth.

The talk with Lenny had disturbed him more than he cared to admit. He had been troubled by his friend’s appearance and the reflections on his life and the mistakes he made.

On top of his uncanny lust for a woman he had just met, it was causing him a hell of a lot of discomfort. Twirling the glass between his palms, he stared at the liquid broodingly. He had told Lenny that he would not be pursuing an interest in that direction. It would not be prudent, because of who they were.

And the carousel of baggage she carried with her. He was too busy and not interested enough—he stopped there and laughed harshly. Not interested enough. Hell, he was more than interested. It had been hard for him to let her leave his office andthat was after one meeting.

If he was being honest with himself, he had been intrigued from the moment he laid eyes on her at the restaurant. There was something about her that had touched the core of him. Seeing her up close had magnified that.

He had felt the absurd impulse to reach out and take her in his arms and kiss away the haunted look on her lovely face. And that was why he had hustled her out, saying that he had an engagement.

Tossing back the drink, he resolved to stay away from her. He would contact her via phone or email and limit their meetings. With that in mind, he finished the drink and made his way upstairs.

*****

“You look like crap,” Babs said bluntly as soon as she sailed into Collette’s office the next morning. “What the hell is wrong withyou?”

“I can always depend on you to be honest,” Collette muttered as she took another sip of the strong black coffee. She had spent most of last night tossing and turning on her bed, which had felt as if she was sleeping on a pile of rocks, and woke up this morning with a vicious headache.

“You should be as happy as clams after managing to bag that account. I have been doing happy dances most of the night and this morning.” Babs plopped down in front of her desk. “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

“Nuh uh.” The woman shook her head, a determined look stamped on her plain face. “You are going to have to do better than that, honey. You have that meeting with the legendary Lenny Bolt, and you need to look your best. What’s going on?”

Taking another sip of coffee, she leaned back in the chair andclosed her eyes.

“Trevor called last night.”

Muttering several obscenities, Babs slammed a fist into the opposite palm. “Change your damn number. Or better yet, don’t answer his calls.”

“I thought it was you calling back and did not check the screen.”

Rubbing her hands up and down her designer black pants, Babs stared at the younger woman. She couldn’t understand why she was still hung up on that creep. “I thought you were over the bastard.”

“I am. I was. It’s just that seeing Janice the week before and getting a call from him, one behind the other, it just–”She heaved out a breath. “It brought it all back.”

“What did he want?”

“He said he made a mistake and said that he still loves me.”

Babs glared at her. “And I hope you told him where to shove that pile of crap. You cannot go back there, honey, I will not let you.”

Collette smiled wanly. “You don’t have to remind me. I almost married the guy, was in love with him for years, and was carrying his baby, so there was a bond there, and something like that is hard to shake.”

“Want to go back to therapy?”

She shook her head. “I am going to be heavily involved with this project; it’s going to take my mind off things. You know work is my therapy.”

“Going to tell me about the other legend?” Babs asked curiously.“What’s Richard McBride like?”

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