Read Online Call It Destiny by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online

rest of the way to his place in a companionable silence. The warm night enveloped them and the scent of the gardens was rich and enticing. Almost as tantalizing as the scent of the woman beside him, Jake thought.
    His fingers moved almost unconsciously on her back, tracing the beautiful line of her spine to the point where it disappeared beneath the fabric. Below that the womanly flare of her thighs beckoned. It required an effort of will not to let his hand stray inside the jewel-colored silk.
    „I have some cognac,“ Jake began as he unlocked the front door and ushered her inside.
    „That sounds delightful. Good heavens, I’m exhausted.“ With a delicately stifled yawn Heather dropped down in the black leather love seat that faced the fireplace. The hearth had been filled for the summer with dried flowers. It was nothing unique. The same maids who put the flowers on Jake’s hearth had put them on all the cottage hearths. In the winter, wood would be provided for the nippy evenings. The advantages of living in a fine hotel.
    Out of the corner of his eye Jake watched as Heather slipped off the incredibly high-heeled sandals she had been wearing all evening. The small faintly intimate act told him that she seemed to feel at home in his living room. A distinct flicker of satisfaction went through him as he poured the cognac and carried it across the Navaho rug.
    Heather curled into the love seat, drawing her stockinged feet up under the hem of the silk dress. She reached for her glass, her hazel eyes meeting Jake’s over the rim.
    „To us,“ he said, gently tapping the side of his glass against hers.
    „And to the Hacienda,“ she returned, sipping luxuriously. „It’s been a long evening.“
    „Yes.“
    Jake sat down beside her, casually allowing his thigh to come in contact with her curving knee. The sensation stirred the already circulating restlessness in him but he craved the contact. Like an addict, he told himself grimly. The more I’m around her the more I want of her.
    One more week. That thought seemed to be moving around inside his head tonight like loose shrapnel.
    „Do you think going away for a few days to Santa Fe is really necessary, Jake? After all, we’re already living in the kind of place people go for honeymoons,“ Heather joked softly.
    He became still, gazing down into his cognac. This wasn’t the first hesitation she had voiced about going away together. He wished he knew exactly what she was thinking. When he kissed her he could sense the beginnings of a response, but there was no way of knowing whether or not she’d allow herself to give in to that response next week or next month or six months from now. Heather Strand might once have been a creature of passionate impulse and spirited rebellion, but Jake knew she governed herself now with drive and determination. Her success in California and her cool poise could not have been bought with any other coin.
    But he wouldn’t have gotten where he was without the same type of currency. And for him the risk had been greater. There had been no rich welcoming family to fall back on in case he hadn’t succeeded. He knew how to get what he wanted just as Heather did, but Jake told himself that, out of necessity, he’d learned to play a rougher game than any Heather had been forced to learn, „Your family will expect us to go away for a while,“ he pointed out, seeking the most powerful argument he had at his disposal. Right now she seemed so anxious to please her family. Would she ever be equally anxious to please him? „So will the staff.“
    „I suppose so.“ She lifted one shoulder languidly beneath the beautifully hued silk. „Well, I think I can tolerate Santa Fe for a few days,“ she added with a flash of amusement. „I’ve never seen a town so devoted to being quaint and cute in my life as Santa Fe, New Mexico. Except possibly Carmel, California. We can go through the galleries and take in some of the concerts. It might be a