Instructing an Heiress (3 page)

Ryan frowned at a four-foot cat made out of holly. As he passed, he imagined the thing's eyeless face watching him with malevolent glee. "I don't know. Winston sounded pretty cryptic back there."
 

The path took a sharp turn to the left and dumped into a large clearing. In the center of the smooth grass stood the green, leafy elephants, posed as if in the act of lumbering across a meadow. The first sculpture was big, maybe ten feet to the back. A few feet away from it, a second, slightly smaller elephant loomed. Flying out from behind its head were bits and pieces of leaves and debris and a steady, low muttering. Ryan resisted the urge to wipe suddenly damp palms on the back of his slacks.

"Brace yourself." Squaring her shoulders, CK marched toward the front of the smaller elephant with as much raw courage as one of the animals the bushes pretended to be. Ryan couldn't say he felt the same. With apprehension riding him like a sadistic jockey, he lengthened his stride to catch up to her.

When he cleared the elephant, he sucked in a sharp breath of astonishment and came to a dumfounded stop. His courage hadn't failed him, he knew he'd walk through fire to see CK happy—taking this job had proved that. No, his shock sprang directly from the sight of Joshua Edward Franklin Kazner, otherwise known as the Captain.

Dressed in an 1811 French captain's uniform, minus the feathered hat which lay on a marble bench behind him, the Captain attacked a bushy baby elephant with a set of sharp-looking clippers and a frightening level of gusto. Stocky, but fit, with closely cropped white hair and an impressive mustache of the same color, he glanced at CK and then snipped off a sprig from the ear of the topiary.
 

He straightened up, pale green eyes assessing her from under the shadow of thick, white eyebrows. When that icy gaze shifted to Ryan, he found himself automatically snapping to attention like a green recruit.
 

The Captain jabbed his clippers in Ryan's direction. "This young man looks healthy and capable. Can I assume he is the one?"

CK stopped a couple feet away from the baby elephant, her finger tapping like crazy on her thigh. "The one what?"

"The one you intend to marry!"

Choking, Ryan dropped back a step, dismay shooting through him. "Sir?"
 

"Don't be gross," CK said, anger flashing in her eyes like fireworks. "This is my associate, Ryan Anderson."
 

"I work for her."

A muscle ticked along CK's jaw. "His contribution was a major factor in our sky-rocketing profits last quarter."

The Captain turned his beady gaze on Ryan. "What the devil kind of man are you? Why don't you want to marry my granddaughter?"

He stared at the older man and struggled to control his mounting anger and alarm. "We're just friends."
 

"Gay, huh? Pity."

"What? I'm not—"
 
CK gave him a warning glance. With a supreme act of will, Ryan kept his mouth shut. He was quickly gaining a healthy dislike for the Captain. As well as an understanding of CK's aversion to seeing her grandfather.
 

He pressed his mouth into a tight line and contented himself with making no effort to hide his dislike of the older man.

The Captain gave him a piercing once-over and then dismissed him to focus on CK, again. "What do you have to say for yourself?" he said, his voice edged with robust outrage.

"Regarding what, exactly?"

Her grandfather's face turned red and he waved the clippers at her. "What do you mean, regarding what, you impertinent jackanape! I informed you of my expectations six months ago in a memo. Do I see results? No sir! I do not! I see gay business associates who are no good to me in this matter!"

CK glared at him. "Maybe you addressed the memo to 'mister' and it got re-routed."

The Captain swept his hat off the bench and slapped it against his left thigh, raising a puff of dust. "These delay tactics will not be tolerated! What happened to that Jamison fool will not happen to me, by thunder. I will not see everything this family has worked for—" He sputtered to a stop and seemed to make an effort to get his temper under control.
 

"I still don't know what you're talking about," CK spat.

"I'm talking about your responsibilities. I'm talking about the future of this company!" he exploded.

CK braced her fists on her hips. "You handed the company over to me, remember?"

"With controlling stock."
 

"I run things, now, and business is booming."

"Except in this most crucial area."

"I had to reschedule crucial work to be here and I don't appreciate that."

The Captain lowered his clippers and glanced at Ryan. He didn't like the cagey gleam entering the older man's eyes. "You are dismissed, sir."
 

"Move a muscle and no per diem on that last client lunch. With Tracy," she said with satisfaction.

"No need for threats," Ryan said, bracing his legs apart and crossing his arms over his chest. A man could only take so much from obnoxious bastards.

"Get out, or you're fired," her grandfather replied. As if that mattered to Ryan.

CK took a step toward the Captain. "You didn't hire him. You can't fire him."

"Ownership of this company says I can."

"Eighteen percent growth since I hired him says you'd be a fool to."

They glowered at each other. Finally, the Captain gave a grudging nod. Ryan had never been so proud of CK.

"Nothing leaves this garden. Top secret, understand?" the old man said.

That was his cue. Nothing worse than family drama. Ryan turned to go.

CK grabbed his arm, her desperate grip sending a jolt of awareness over him. His heart rate jumped from the surprise of her small hand digging into his bicep.
 

Whatever the Captain was about to say, meant trouble. Maybe for both of them.

*
 
*
 
*

"Don't you dare leave," CK said, firmly holding on to Ryan. The dense bunching of muscle under her hand felt solid and reassuring and she wasn't giving that up. Not at a time like this. He nodded and she released him, turning her attention to the Captain.

She was so angry and embarrassed, every breath she took seemed to burn through her chest like lava. She couldn't believe he'd had the outrageous gall to suggest she and Ryan were together.
 

Not that she hadn't had her occasional fantasy about it, sure. A guy as gorgeous as Ryan inspired that in every woman who laid eyes on him. Which was exactly the point. With competition like that, what chance did she have?
 

Instead, she'd enjoyed a comfortable friendship with him that had lasted a thousand times longer than anything he'd ever experienced with any other woman and she liked it that way. No heartache, no awkwardness, just good, solid, brotherly affection. The Captain had almost spoiled that.
 

She'd seen the horror and panic that had exploded across Ryan's face when her grandfather had assumed they were together. Mentioning marriage to him was the kiss of death. She'd seen it happen over and over with the women he'd dated and she sure didn't want it happening to her. She didn't know what she'd do without Ryan in her life.

The Captain gave her another cagey look and then stalked to the Victorian-styled garden bench. After propping the clippers next to his gold-capped walking stick, he eased himself down and settled in comfortably.
 

Laying his hat across his lap, he gazed steadily at her. "Since my memos are obviously unworthy of your attention, let me spell this out for you. You have sadly neglected your most important role in this company. Indeed, your most important role in this family."

"I couldn't devote more time to Kazners if I installed a bedroom in my office," she said, sounding insulted.

"That would certainly expedite things," he said, impatiently.

Frustration boiled up in a hot wave through CK's stomach. "I have no idea what you're talking about. What the heck is your point?"

He sat forward, his eyes blazing, his expression furious. "The point is you, sir! You! The first born! The only born!"

She refused to be intimidated. "The girl who should have been a boy?" she answered, sharply.

"No, the devil take it! The girl who should know her duty and do it! I will not—the future of this family—of Kazners—!" He sputtered to a stop, frustration gripping his expression. "Do I make myself clear?"

"No, you miserable old bear!"

The Captain slammed his hat down on the bench, grabbed his cane, and launched to his feet. "I will dance at your wedding within the month and see the results of that sacred union within a year, or you will be cut off without a cent," he thundered, shaking the cane at her. "Without a cent, do you hear! No more money. No more Kazners. No more anything!"

Shock hit her like a bucket of ice water. CK staggered back. Lose Kazners? He couldn't mean it. Her job was her life. All she'd ever known.
 

She couldn't lose Kazners. Her knees gave out and she sagged toward Ryan.

He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her against him. "You can't threaten someone into marriage."
 

The sudden intimacy of his arm wrapped around her waist and the solid, muscular contours of his body pressing against her back sent a tremor of awareness vibrating through CK. The strength of it pushed her heart into overdrive and filled her with embarrassment.

 
Struggling out of his grip she pushed him roughly away. His look of dismay only fueled her rage and hurt and she turned on the Captain, a fierce determination firing her blood.
 

"I'll sue," she snapped.

The Captain gave her a smug smile. "My team of lawyers will block anything you can throw out there."

 
Her rage deepened. He was right and she knew it. Kazners employed the best and no one in their right mind would go up against them.
 

She scowled at him and yanked her jacket into place. "You impossible, stubborn, aggravating old—" She bit down on the word she so very much wanted to call him.

"I expect regular reports on your progress."

"I expect to be treated with a little more respect."

"By the end of the month and not a day more."

Ryan stepped up beside her and gave the Captain a disgusted look. "You can't make her get married."
 

"I can and I will. She's her own worst enemy, boy. I have to put a stop to it before it's too late." Her grandfather, the last of her family, scooped up his clippers and ambled over to the baby elephant as happy as a lark now that he'd succeeded in turning her day into a nightmare.

A hiss of frustration and hurt escaped from between her clenched teeth. "The only enemy I see right now is you."

CK spun on her heel and stormed from the garden.

*
 
*
 
*

"Don't put me through that, again." Ryan slumped against the seat of the limo, breathing hard. The soft leather of the Jaguar's upholstery plastered itself to the sweat seeping through his dress shirt. He sat forward, pulling loose of its grip and gave CK a hard look.

Across from him, she moved her thumb in a quick, angry rhythm over the screen of her iPhone. "What, chasing down the limo," she asked, absently, "or meeting the Captain?"

"Both." Ryan tugged his tie loose, hoping for air circulation. The Captain's palatial mansion faded into the background as the car glided smoothly out of the circular drive and onto the private road of the estate. He was glad when the trees blocked his view completely.
 

He glanced at CK and guilt chased around in his gut. Back in the garden, he'd grabbed her instinctively, afraid she was about to pass out. He hadn't expected his arm to slip around a small, slim waist, or to feel the press of a firm, curved bottom against his groin. Her unexpectedly feminine body had sent an equally surprising kick of lust through him that had hardened him instantly, making him feel like a world class jerk.
 

This was CK. His friend. One who obviously hadn't felt the same kick of awareness, judging from the way she'd scrambled to get away from him.
 

The whole thing had been a fluke, anyway, brought on by the trauma of her crazy grandfather's ultimatum. Could have happened to anyone.
 

What she needed now was his support. The girl didn't even have a boyfriend, for God's sake. How did her grandfather expect her to get married in a month?
 

He reached across the aisle, flipped open the cooler and grabbed a bottled water. "What's your next move?" he asked, keeping his tone casual.

"Find a dating service, I guess." She stared at her phone, then gave a long sigh and tossed it onto the seat beside her. "Who am I fooling? I don't have the slightest idea how to attract a man. All I know is how to be Kazners hard ass CEO."

"You're not a hard ass. Even with all the Palates."

"I know the reputation I have."
 

Her expression turned sad, reminding him of the look of hurt on her face when her grandfather told her his conditions. A twinge of sympathy poked him in the stomach.
 

He loosened his tie a little more, then gave up and untied it. "I do get sympathy cards now and then from concerned fellow-employees. 'Are you still alive? Has she cooked you for dinner?'" He winked at her and was rewarded by a small upward tug at the corner of her full mouth.
 

"Call his bluff," he said, stuffing his tie into his pants pocket.

Her smile evaporated. "I can't." She contemplated her hands, twining and untwining her fingers, endlessly.
 

He hadn't seen CK looking so lost since Freshman orientation when he'd noticed her sitting alone at the back of the auditorium. Her golden-red hair, glinting like a sunset in the glare of the artificial lights had caught his eye, but it was her forlorn little face that had brought out the big brother in him. The twitchy ache scuttled around in his gut, again, aggravating him. He had to fix this.