Starlight (7 page)

She watched as he rubbed a weary hand across his forehead. “See what I mean? You effectively smash any argument I have against the two of us. Rather well, I might add.”

While he phoned Carl, Karen excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. She took longer than necessary, checking her appearance and applying fresh lip gloss and combing her hair. She felt so different with Rand and wondered if that tingling awareness between them affected her looks. Although she studied her reflection for several moments, she decided she looked exactly the same. Repressing a sigh of disappointment, she joined him.

“Carl is meeting me at your place in about twenty minutes,” he told her in the foyer of the restaurant. “I have a cab waiting.”

“That’s fine,” she agreed. “We’ll have time for coffee.”

Karen rested her head against his shoulder as they rode to her apartment. She could feel the roughness of his breath against her hair.

Once inside her apartment, Karen had no more desire for coffee than she had had for dinner. She hung up both their coats, suddenly feeling uneasy. “Make yourself at home. I’ll get the coffee going.”

As she turned toward the kitchen, Rand’s arm caught hers, drawing her back. “I don’t want coffee,” he murmured, pulling her close to him.

Without hesitation, Karen accepted his embrace, lifting her face to meet his kiss. It began sweet and gentle but deepened as he parted her mouth. The surge of passion that sprang between them was like a wind-driven wildfire. Her arms slid around his neck, her fingers wending through his hair.

His own hands were molding her hips and back against the contours of his body. It was a devastating kiss that left Karen as powerless as a newborn baby. It was very much like coming home after a long absence. They hadn’t kissed since the night of the Christmas party, and Karen discovered that the magnetic attraction between them had only been enhanced by lapsed time.

Ripples of desire continued as Rand nibbled the sensitive cord of her neck.
“Happy birthday, my lovely Andromeda,” he whispered huskily.

“When I was a little girl,” she began, her voice soft and trembling, “my mother insisted upon giving me kisses to count my birthday instead of spankings.”

Karen could feel Rand’s smile against her temple. “I’m afraid I haven’t the restraint to kiss you twenty-four times without falling prey to other temptations.”

Their lips met again in a fiery kiss that fused them together. Karen clung to him as the only solid form in a reeling world. When the kiss ended, she buried her face against his chest while he continued to rain soft kisses on her hair.

“Are you busy tomorrow?” he questioned, his voice no more even than her breathing.

“No,” she lied skillfully. Evan Forsyth had invited her and her sister to lunch. Judy and the boys were preparing a birthday dinner for her that evening with Matthew. But nothing mattered, not friends, not family. Nothing save Rand.

“Can I see you, then?”

“Yes.” She gloried in the eagerness of his request.

“Could you come to the campus—say, around eleven? I’ve got a class at nine-thirty.”

Karen was too full of happiness to speak. He wanted to see her again soon. They wouldn’t be separated for weeks, as had been the past pattern. “Yes, fine,” she murmured, seeking the intimate taste of his mouth upon hers again.

A light tap, then the doorbell, interrupted them. “That’ll be Carl,” Rand murmured thickly, continuing to hold her shoulders.

Involuntarily, Karen swayed toward him, not wishing to break the contact. Gently, he kissed her lightly one last time. “Until tomorrow,” he said, and paused. “My coat?”

“Oh, sorry.” She fumbled awkwardly and withdrew it from the closet. Before she could add another word, he was gone.

The doorbell chimed impatiently several times the next morning at about nine-thirty. Karen rushed to answer it, her bathrobe knotted tightly about her waist.

“Dad,” she exclaimed, letting him in. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be working.”

“ ’Tis a fine greeting for the man responsible for ye being here,” he scolded her lovingly. “I’ve come to wish ye a happy birthday.” He sauntered through the apartment to
the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Did ye notice I rang the bell?” he said as he pulled a chair from the kitchen table and sat.

“I’m real proud of you, Dad, real proud.” Her voice hinted sarcasm, but her smile negated any scorn by curving upward in a gentle smile. “Why aren’t you at work?” she quizzed again.

Matthew deposited a second spoonful of sugar into his mug before answering. “I didn’t feel like working,” he told her indifferently. “A man needs an excuse to take a day off every now and then. And what better excuse than my lass’s birthday?”

Karen poured herself a cup and sat opposite him at the tiny round table. She would have argued, but Matthew looked pale and drawn; perhaps a day’s vacation was a good idea.

“Twenty-four years,” he said with the glazed look that crossed his face when he was thinking of her mother. “Ye realize, when your mother was twenty-four, she was married, had Judy, and was pregnant with you.”

Karen sighed heavily. She’d hoped to avoid another one of her father’s tirades about her single status. “I know that, Dad.”

“You’re far behind her, lass. Even Judy had James and Carter before she was twenty-four.”

Karen stood abruptly and emptied her coffee in the kitchen sink. “I know that, too,” she said with a tight rein on her temper.

“There’s not much time remaining before people will begin thinking of you as unmarriageable. I’d hate to see ye an old maid.”

Karen’s eyes ballooned angrily. “That’s ridiculous,” she spat impatiently. With storm clouds gathering, hands on her hips, Karen squarely faced her father. “Why is it you and I can’t have a decent conversation anymore? You’re constantly bugging me about getting married, and I’m not about to jump into a relationship to satisfy your whims. It’s getting to the point I don’t even like being around you anymore. Would you kindly lay off?” she said forcefully.

Her father’s sad eyes met Karen’s fiery gaze, and once again she noted that her father looked like a man well past his prime, a man without purpose. Taking deep breaths to control her temper, she offered him a weak smile. “I love you, Dad. Let’s not argue, especially today. Okay?”

“Okay, lass.” He responded to her smile with one of his own. “How was the date with Rand last night?”

Telltale emotions flickered across her face. “Wonderful. In fact, I’m meeting him
this morning.” Pointedly, she checked her wristwatch.

“I thought you were having lunch with Evan. He seems to have invited the whole family except me.” If Matthew was hinting for an invitation, Karen wasn’t going to issue one. Both girls were aware that although the lunch had been planned to correspond with Karen’s birthday, the purpose was to discuss Matthew. The change in his personality over the past months had not gone unnoticed by his friends, and Evan was as worried as Karen and Judy.

“I am having lunch with Evan, but I’m meeting Rand first. That’s why I’ve got to get moving.”

“All right, lass, I’ll see you tonight.”

After surveying her wardrobe carefully, Karen chose designer jeans and a forest-green velour top. Since it was raining, she chose fashionable knee-high leather boots.

At precisely eleven, she entered Rand’s office building.

“May I help you?” his assistant, an elderly gray-haired woman, inquired politely.

“I’m Karen McAlister. I have an appointment with Dr. Prescott.”

The woman scanned the appointment schedule. “Yes, Dr. Prescott mentioned you this morning.” There was a hint of censure in her tone, and Karen wondered what inconvenience their meeting was causing.

“Follow me, please.” The cool smile displayed an efficient assistant’s welcome. She paused outside the door. “Dr. Prescott’s on the phone, but he’s asked that you be shown in immediately. Would you like a cup of coffee while you’re waiting?”

Politely, Karen declined. With her jittery nerves, she wasn’t beyond dumping the contents across Rand’s desk. She entered the office quietly so as not to disturb him. He gave no indication that he noticed her arrival, his full concentration directed at the person on the other end of the line. From the conversation, Karen assumed it was either his agent or his publisher.

She stood awkwardly in the middle of his office for several minutes, not wishing to sit, yet equally unwilling to feel like a child being disciplined. Her gaze swept the walls, resting on the degrees and certificates decorating the office. As she read their contents, her discomfort grew. On further investigation, she found Rand was the recipient of several prestigious awards. There was even a picture of him with the president of the United States. Nothing could have made her more aware of how separate their worlds were. A knot grew in the pit of her stomach as she read the contents of each framed accomplishment.

His achievements were astonishing, and Karen experienced a budding respect for the obstacles he’d overcome. She doubted there was any situation or crisis Rand couldn’t
surmount with patience and persistence. But her admiration did little to quell her uneasiness.

No wonder Rand questioned their relationship.

Depression, heavier than any yoke, weighted her shoulders. She actually felt her body droop under its burden. There could be no basis for a meaningful relationship between them.

Dismally, she moved to the picture window overlooking Commencement Bay. Oyster-gray clouds met murky waters in a thin overcast. Only a few brave souls weathered the promise of rain, their sailboats slicing through the water. Yet Karen was blind to the picturesque beauty that lay before her.

“I’m sorry, Karen.” Rand stood. “I didn’t mean to be so long.”

“No problem,” she murmured abjectly, refusing to face him.

As soon as she spoke, Rand came to stand behind her. His hands rested lightly on her shoulders, drawing her against him. Gently, his lips touched her hair.

Karen suppressed an overwhelming urge to turn and bury herself in his arms. Instead, she stared at the world outside the window, feeling wretched and small.

“You’re angry?” he asked, his tone suggesting surprise.

“I’m not,” she murmured unhappily.

“Obviously something is troubling you.”

Inhaling deeply, she faltered over the words. “I … I know why you asked me here today. It’s shown me without words why you haven’t wanted to see me again. I don’t blame you. I understand now.”

The grasp on her shoulders tightened, and, using his strength, he turned her to face him. “Just what are you implying?”

“I’m saying that I’ve never fully realized how important you are. You’re a respected professor, a noted author … a man of unquestionable financial insight. Do you realize I’m not so very different from the woman who ushered me into your office? Basically, I’m a nobody.”

“A nobody?” He openly scoffed. “If that’s the case, you’ve managed to wreak havoc on my life in short order.” His expression didn’t alter. “Do you really believe I invited you here to impress you with our differences?”

A lump rose in her throat, and she swallowed hard. It was ironic that she would argue with him without relenting a whit and then accept defeat after ten minutes in his office without a spoken word.

“Yes.” Her voice trembled slightly.

“It was never my intention to see you after the Christmas party,” he said
deliberately.

“I’m aware of that.”

“I said good-bye to you that night, and I meant it. But no woman has ever affected me the way you have, Karen. I’m not a romantic. The relationships I’ve had with women have been for the express purpose of satisfying a basic human need. That night with you shattered every preconceived idea I have regarding love and romance. You were gentle, sweet, and warm, more like the mythological Andromeda than a mere human. I knew then what could never be.”

“I’m hardly a goddess,” she interrupted with dry sarcasm.

He began again, his voice fervent. “I’m almost totally blind. I have no intention of maintaining a personal relationship with any woman. Not now, not ever. Even the attraction I feel for you will not convince me differently. You’re special, Karen, and you deserve the best … certainly not a blind man.”

Immediately, she bristled, but before she could say anything, Rand continued, “Maybe it’s best we end this testing time now. That choice is yours, but I won’t have you believing you’re not good enough for me.”

“Then why did you ask me here?” Her voice nearly failed her.

His features softened as the intensity left his face. “For this.” He withdrew a jeweler’s box from his pocket.

Hesitantly, Karen accepted the small case.

“It’s not wrapped, but happy birthday, anyway.”

Karen almost gasped when she lifted the lid. A lovely gold locket rested on a bed of purple velvet. It was old, but not an antique; the jeweler’s box and style were outdated, but the locket was obviously new.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, lifting the heart-shaped locket from the case to examine it more fully.

“Can you get it on okay? I doubt that I’ll be much use.”