Chapter 3
Carly Jennings had been a child star. She had started out in the business when she was barely two years old.
With an ambitious mother who was determined to live vicariously through her daughter, the little girl had been pushed, primped, and started wearing makeup at that tender age.
Beauty pageants had led to auditions, hours and hours of grueling posing, walking, and speech lessons had been the order of her life.
While other girls of her age had been playing with dolls and being little girls, Carly had to grow up fast. By the time she was ten, she had had minor roles in several TV shows and a coveted spot in a major big screen movie.
Her unusual coloring, raven black hair and violet eyes drew people's attention to her and were brutally utilized by her ambitious mother.
When she turned sixteen she was also addicted to "recreational drugs." That was the end of that era. She was in and out of rehab and tried to kill herself when she was eighteen.
In a surprising twist and a will to live, she turned her life around and fired her mother as her manager.
Kyle knew the story well. He and others had read about it in the various magazines. Now at thirty-two, she was at the top of her game and had confessed to him that she still felt shaky inside. They had been seeing each other for the past six months and had become friends as well as lovers.
The papers gleefully photographed them every time they stepped out in public, and it was established they were a couple.
The sex was very good. Carly was passionate and witty. She had a way of laughing at herself. She was also smart and very intelligent. He had been leading up to asking her to marry him. But now he was going to have to break things off with her and it pissed him off.
He had pleaded with his grandfather, telling him about Carly and how they would give him plenty of heirs. "She's a beautiful woman, inside and out." He knew his tone was desperate but did not care. He wanted out of the ridiculous arrangement with a woman he could not stand.
They had not been in touch with each other after the disastrous meeting and he had made sure to avoid her. But his arguments had fallen on deaf ears and the ultimatum stood. The wedding was to take place in two weeks on Thanksgiving Day, right at the manor and would be attended by only family.
He had chosen the restaurant because of its intimacy and the fact that a friend owned it. They could eat in peace, and he could tell her the unwelcome news.
He had arrived early to try and settle himself and somehow find the right words.
His hands fisted on the checkered tablecloth as he fought to control his temper and anguish.
The trap was closing in and that woman was going on as if it was business as usual.
Apparently she had accepted the terms. Ingrid Ryder was determined to keep her position in the company, even if it meant shackling herself with a man who had only contempt for her.
Pushing back his chair, he rose and did not have to force a smile as Carly glided into the dimly lit room.
She was wearing a purple wool dress that clung to her delicate curves.
The maitre d', obviously besotted, took her jacket, blushing a vivid red when she turned her trademark smile on the hapless man.
"I see you're still turning the male population inside out." Taking her hands, he lifted them to his lips, blue eyes twinkling. Her heady scent wafted around them, and her smile warmed his troubled heart. He liked to believe he was in love with her.
"It's what I do." She leaned in to kiss him on the lips before gracefully sliding into her place. "Love the ambience." She murmured, staring at him beneath lowered lashes.
"I wanted privacy. What are you having?" He signaled to the hovering waiter.
"Everything. I recommend the lobster Lorraine."
"Then that's what we'll have." Picking up her glass of water, she studied his handsome face and felt her heart quickening.
He was good for her, she mused. She knew of his reputation as a womanizer, but that did not bother her.
After all, she had had her fair share of men and was ready to take the plunge.
She was a little concerned that his exalted family would not approve of her, but she had ways around it. "How have you been?"
"I've been better." He picked up his utensils, his movements restless. They had not seen each other in a week because she had had to fly to Antigua for a photoshoot.
"What's wrong?"
This time the smile was forced. "I would like us to have the meal before I commence. Tell me about Antigua."
Following his lead, she dove into an interesting and witty monologue about her trip. Within minutes, she had him laughing at the antics of some of the natives. Their meals had arrived, and they lapsed into silence as they enjoyed it.
Declining the rich chocolate parfait, they settled for coffee instead. "I received a proposal of marriage."
His heart bumped against his ribs at the mention of the subject he was about to broach.
"Oh?" Taking a sip of his coffee, he gazed at her. "Anyone I know?"
"A wealthy Antiguan gentleman." Her eyes laughed at him. "I told him I was spoken for. Am I spoken for darling?"
Now was the time to come clean. He had just opened his mouth to spill when someone across the room caught his attention.
He must be seeing things, he thought viciously as he stared at the familiar face.
The man with her whispered something in her ear and had her laughing.
Even from where he was seated, he could see the dimples winking in her cheeks.
Her thick heavy coil of hair fell around her shoulders and the dress she had on clung to her generous curves. She appeared to be enjoying herself. Ingrid Ryder did not look like a woman who was feeling the pinch of the arrangement that had been forced on them.
He started to rise and march over there to have it out with her, when he remembered he had his own companion and the nasty bit of news to relate to her. He could not help but wonder if the man leaning across the table was her lover.
It didn't matter. He did not give a damn about her.
"Darling?" Carly's sultry voice drew him back from his troubled and angry thoughts. She was also tracking where his eyes had been. "Isn't that an associate of yours?"
Very soon, she's going to be my wife, he thought bitterly. It was time, he realized wearily. He had to tell her now.
Reaching for her delicate hands, he studied the elegant fingers and automatically massaged her knuckles.
He knew she loved jewelry, and her favorite stones were diamonds and lapis lazuli.
She always said they matched her eyes. She was wearing two exquisitely cut stones on her right hand and three more on the left.
"I'm sorry." He began.
A slight frown touched her brow. "About?"
"I'm getting married." It was said baldly. He wanted it out, because it felt as if the words were choking him.
"I'm sorry, what?" Her fingers jerked in his as she stared at him. "I don't understand."
He gripped her fingers and wished he was anywhere else. "My family." He cleared his throat. "My grandfather made an arrangement." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm to be married in two weeks, on Thanksgiving Day."
She stared at him and for a minute thought if he was joking, if this was something to make her jealous, but he looked deadly serious. And miserable. She would appreciate that later on, but for now, what she felt was anger and despair. Her dream of becoming Mrs. Kyle McCreary going up in smoke.
"Who?" She asked dully.
When his eyes tracked over to the woman seated with the man across the room, her eyes widened.
She certainly was not Kyle's type. He liked them thin.
This woman was black. Granted she had an enviable complexion and was sort of attractive.
From where she was sitting, Carly could objectively admire the clingy wool draped over the voluptuous curves. And she could also see a dimple.
Suddenly the woman turned, and their eyes met and held. Carly saw the smile vanish as she switched her gaze to Kyle before turning back to her companion.
"Her? Are you kidding me?"
"Her name is Ingrid Ryder."
Understanding dawned slowly. "The other half of the corporation. A merger. A business arrangement." Bitterness laced her sultry voice. "You couldn't say no?"
He shook his head, eyes darkened. "I tried. Grandfather holds the purse strings. He controls everything and they both decided, her grandfather and mine, that they need to keep the company together."
"Darling." She gripped his hands earnestly. "I have money."
"No." He shook his head. "This is something I have to do."
"And she agreed to it?"
"Looks like it."
"They seem cozy." She jerked a sullen shoulder to the couple and had his gaze drifting over.
She had seen him and aside from giving him a cursory look, she had dismissed him and turned back to her companion.
"It doesn't matter. This is just business." The bitterness was heavy in his tone and gave her hope. Twining her fingers through his, she brought his gaze back to hers. "I'm not giving up."
Across the crowded restaurant, Ingrid was trying to pretend she was not aware of the man and woman seated in the plush booth, holding hands.
She recognized her of course. Who didn't? Carly Jennings, the violet eyed beauty to dazzle the screen and Kyle McCreary's current lover.
She wondered caustically how he was telling her what was going on.
"Isn't that Kyle McCreary and Carly Jennings?"
"My soon to be husband." Picking up her wine glass, she took a sip and then another. "Small world. Of all the restaurants..."
Derek's hazel eyes studied her face. "You don't seem very nettled about this unusual arrangement."
Her response was a shrug. "It's done. I want to keep my position and that's the only way I will be able to."
"You sound almost resigned."