Guarding the Heiress

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she offered as she breezed into the room.

The creamy, smooth look of her skin combined with the fiery highlights of her hair and the curve-hugging little black dress was nothing short of inspiring. Unfortunately the thoughts it inspired were way out of line.

“What’s wrong?” she teased. “Didn’t you expect me to own a dress?”

Not quite that dress, he said to himself before saying to her, “I never underestimate a lady. I’m only surprised that you would bother on my account.”

She moved toward the door a little slower than what was normal for her. The shoes, he decided. The heels weren’t stilettos, but they were high-heeled when compared to the sneakers she seemed to prefer. Once at the door she turned back to him and smiled, a calculated twist of her lips that fell just shy of seductive. Another surprise. Or maybe she simply didn’t realize just how appealing she looked when she tried.

“No bother.” She lifted a speculative eyebrow. “Besides, this has certainly been the day for surprises.”

Indeed, he mused.

After settling Eddi into the passenger seat of his SUV, Doug moved around to the other side and climbed in. “Where to?”

“A place called Randy’s.” She quickly spouted off the directions, which weren’t complicated since Meadowbrook was a small town.

Within minutes of their arrival at the restaurant they were seated and their orders taken. Doug conceded that the place was better than he’d hoped for. On a Wednesday night the crowd was light, but the atmosphere was pleasant and private.

He waited for her to start firing questions at him but it didn’t happen. She seemed content just to sit and enjoy their relaxing surroundings. Maybe she expected him to make the first move.

“Do you have any questions regarding what I’ve told you so far?”

She studied him for a long moment as if contemplating how to proceed. He couldn’t quite read the emotion in her eyes but there was something there. Trepidation perhaps.

“I only have one question,” she said, her tone carefully devoid of inflection.

Doug’s instincts went on point. “What would that be?”

“What precisely is it that Mrs. D’Mar—my grandmother,” she amended, “wants from me?”

He inclined his head and quoted the agenda he’d been given. “She wants to be a part of your life. She wants to know you and for you to know the family business.”

That blue gaze narrowed slightly. “I don’t believe that’s all there is to it.”

Their server arrived and Doug waited until he’d placed the salads in front of them and hurried away before continuing, “What makes you say that?”

Eddi stared at her salad a moment then shifted that penetrating focus back to him. “That’s just too simple. She must want more. Surely she doesn’t expect me to actually handle business affairs. The only thing I know about jewelry is that I can’t afford any of the good stuff.”

Doug leaned back more fully in his chair and considered the lovely woman across the table for a moment before he replied, “A board of directors and a very savvy CEO run the day-to-day business. With that aside, what do you want or expect? It seems to me that you’ve come to some sort of decision.” And he did have that feeling. After she’d spoken to her father she appeared to have reached some conclusion. He felt a certain ease about her that hadn’t been there before. That’s why she’d agreed to dinner, he surmised.

“I’ve decided that if, in fact, I am heiress to such a great fortune that the least I can do is help my family.” She looked directly at him then. “My real family.”

Clarification hadn’t been necessary. He knew who she meant. “I can’t imagine that Mrs. D’Martine would expect otherwise.”

“Good, because that’s the only way I will get involved is if it helps my family.”

Doug figured that was as close to an agreement as they were going to get for the time being.