Envy (22 page)

Well, that was _one reason why.

The other was harder for her to acknowledge: There was just enough of Nadine remaining in her to want to be married before she died. She didn't want to grow old alone. Somewhere between power lunches and sundown specials, a single woman became a spinster.

Through her twenties and thirties, she had scorned the very idea of matrimony. To anybody who would listen she claimed no interest whatsoever in monogamy and the marriage bed. What a fucking

#--literally--bore. ##################375

But the truth was that, for all the men who had shared her bed, who had sighed and cried and groaned and crowed between her thighs, not one, not a single one, had ever asked her to be his wife.

And, to be brutally honest, Noah hadn't actually proposed, either. He wasn't the hearts-and-flowers-and-bended-knee type. She had more diamond rings than she had fingers and toes.

How their plans for matrimony had come about was that she had told him she wanted to marry him. And Nadia never took no for an answer.

Now her future husband's present wife was finishing a cappuccino that she hadn't wanted.

Usually Nadia could sweet-talk or browbeat someone out of a tidbit of information that she could expand into an item for her column, but Maris had remained stubbornly mute about her secret project. She seemed disinclined to talk on any level about the nature of the book or about the writer.

Not that Nadia gave a flip about Maris's silly secret project. The purpose of this lunch had been to keep Maris derailed, unaware, and blissfully ignorant of what Nadia and Noah were doing with WorldView behind her back.

But Maris had tipped her hand. Noah should be warned that she might not be as malleable and naive as she looked. Nadia hoped her suspicion of an affair had been quelled, because the last thing they needed in these important final weeks was a jealous wife breathing down their necks.

"Anything else, Maris?" she offered graciously. "Another cappuccino?"

"No, thank you. I should get back to the office. I'm playing catch-up after being away, as I knew I would be."

"Then why'd you come?" The question was out before Nadia realized she was going to ask it. But having done so, she owned up to being curious. Why had Maris accepted her invitation?

"For a long time now, we've detested the sight of one another. But we always played polite,"

Maris said. "I hate phoniness, especially in myself." She looked inward for a second, then added, "Or maybe I'm just disgusted with lies and liars. In any case, I thought it was time to tell you to your face that I'm on to you."

Nadia took it all in, then smiled

#wryly. "Fair enough." As they made ###377

their way to the entrance, she said, "You'll still feed me industry news items, won't you?"

"News. Not gossip."

"When you're ready to reveal this mysterious author and book, will you give me the scoop?"

"The author is very publicity-shy. I doubt--was

"Nadia, what a nice surprise."

Nadia turned at the greeting and found herself looking into the colorless countenance of Morris Blume, the last person on earth she would choose to bump into when Maris Matherly-Reed was standing beside her. She didn't find the surprise nice at all.

"How are you, Morris?" She extended her hand to him but kept her tone aloof and uninviting.

"I recommend the sea bass."

"And I recommend the martinis," he said, raising his frosted glass. "In fact, I coached the bartender here on how to make one just right."

"Stirred or shaken?"

"Shaken."

Maris had moved to the coat check to retrieve her raincoat, so Nadia felt free to engage in a mild flirtation. It wouldn't be smart to be too aloof. Her dinner with him at the Rainbow Room had been enjoyable. If she gave him the brush-off now, he would wonder why.

"Gin or vodka?"

"Vodka. Straight up and extra dirty."

One of her artfully waxed eyebrows arched.

"I like the sound of that."

"Here." He lifted the pick from his glass and extended it toward her mouth.

Keeping her eyes on his, she touched the tip of her tongue to the olive, then closed her lips around it and sucked it into her mouth. "Hmm. My favorite thing."

"Join me in one?"

"I'm afraid I can't, Morris. Rain check?"

"I'll call."

She flashed him her most promising smile.

It had been mastered after years of practice and was now practically habitual. She told him to enjoy his lunch and turned away to rejoin Maris.

To her consternation, the smile worked too well.

#Blume trailed her, making an ########379

introduction to Maris unavoidable. She executed it with as much casualness as she could affect.

As the two shook hands, Blume said, "I've long been an admirer of your publishing house."

"And a suitor," Maris remarked.

He grinned disarmingly. "So you've read the numerous letters I've written to your esteemed father?"

"Along with his replies."

"Do you agree with him?"

"Wholeheartedly. While we're flattered that an entity like WorldView is interested in merging with us, we like ourselves the way we are."

"So your husband told me during our last meeting."

CHAPTER 17

Noah was reviewing the company's most recent shipping invoices when his wife stormed into his office and slammed the door behind her, stunning his secretary.

She tossed her handbag and damp raincoat into the nearest chair and strode to the edge of his desk. She'd been testy and despondent since her return from Georgia last evening, but she had never looked better. Today she was dressed in a suit tailored for office wear, but it was a form-fitting one he'd always admired. Time spent on the beach had put some color in her cheeks and stripped it from her hair. Sun-bleached strands framed her face, giving her a youthful, healthy appearance.

Her expression, however, wasn't sunny.

"Hello, Maris. How was your lunch?"

"I was just introduced to WorldView's whiz kid, Morris Blume. He told me to give you his regards."

_Goddamn _Nadia! he thought. Why hadn't she called to warn him of this? Then he remembered: He had given Cindy strict instructions to hold his calls until after he'd had time to review the financial statements stacked on his desk--

ironically because of WorldView. He'd been going over the charts and columns entry by entry, becoming intimately familiar with them, seeking potential trouble spots which might cause Blume and company concern. Should they pose any questions, Noah wanted

#to have an explanation ready. #############381

Remaining as unflappable as possible, he said,

"How nice of Mr. Blume to remember me."

"Apparently it wasn't that much of a stretch for him, Noah, given you two had a recent meeting." She braced herself on his desk with stiff arms and leaned toward him, her eyes flashing.

"What meeting is he talking about, Noah? And why wasn't I informed of it? _What meeting?"

He stood up and came around the desk.

"Maris, kindly calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down."

"All right, then, I'm asking you to.

Please."

He reached out to take her by the shoulders, but she backed away and slung off his extended hands.

"Would you like a glass of water?"

"I would like an explanation," she said, enunciating each word. "You know how Dad and I feel about conglomerates like World View."

"I share your opinion." He hiked his hip over the corner of his desk and placidly folded his hands on his thigh, although he would have liked to wrap them around her slender neck. "That's why I agreed to the meeting with WorldView."

She shook her head in disbelief, as though up until that time she had been clinging to the hope that Blume was lying. "You met with those jackals? You actually did? Behind my back and without my knowledge?"

Noah sighed and gave her a pained look.

"Yes, I met with them. But before you go into orbit, can you be reasonable and give me an opportunity to explain?" He took her fuming silence for permission to continue.

"Blume's flunkies had been hounding me for months. They called until I stopped taking or returning their calls. With no regard for that blatant hint, they began faxing me until I got tired of throwing the damn things away.

"They made nuisances of themselves until I determined that the most expedient way to handle the situation was to attend a meeting and tell Blume to his baby's-ass face that we were not interested in anything he had to offer by way of a merger. Period.

End of discussion. I don't think I could have made our position any clearer. I didn't tell you about it because you were extremely busy and didn't need any additional stress."

"I'm always busy."

"The meeting was inconsequential."

###"I hardly think so." ##############383

"And, frankly," he said, "I anticipated that you would react emotionally rather than rationally. I predicted that you would fly off the handle and lose all perspective. I hoped to avoid a scene such as this."

"This isn't a _scene, Noah. This is a private conversation between husband and wife, between business partners. Two relationships that should come with an implied trust."

"Exactly," he said, raising his voice to match the level of hers. "Which is why I'm amazed, both as your husband and your business partner, by your apparent lack of trust in me."

"Chalk it up to my reacting emotionally, flying off the handle, and going into orbit!"

"Which are fair analogies, Maris. You came barging in here and practically accused me of treason against Matherly Press."

"At the very least you consorted with the enemy!"

A knock on the door brought them around.

Daniel was standing on the threshold, leaning heavily on his cane. "I'm exercising one privilege of old age, which is to intrude when uninvited."

Noah shot his cuffs. "Of course you're welcome, Daniel. Maris has just returned from lunch. We were having a discussion about--was

"I heard. From all the way down the hall."

Daniel came in and closed the door. "Maris is upset about the meeting you had with WorldView."

She reacted with a start. "You knew about it?"

"Noah told me of his decision to meet with them. I thought it was a sound idea and was glad he was going instead of me. I don't think I could have stomached it."

"Why wasn't I informed?"

She addressed the question to both of them, but Noah answered. "You were leaving for Georgia. Daniel and I could see how excited you were about this project and were afraid that if you knew about WorldView you'd change your plans. There was no reason to bother you with it."

"I'm not a child." She glowered at him, then at Daniel.

"We made a mistake in judgment,"

Daniel conceded. "It wasn't our intention to slight you."

"I don't feel slighted, I feel

babied. I don't need protection, Dad.

#Or coddling. Or special favors. ###385

When it comes to business, I'm not a daughter or a wife, I'm an officer of this corporation.

"I should have been consulted on something this major, I don't care how busy I was or what my travel plans were. You were remiss and just plain wrong to exclude me from those discussions. I'm also mad as hell at both of you for letting me be made a fool of in front of Morris Blume and Nadia Schuller."

"I apologize," Daniel said.

"So do I," Noah echoed. "I'm terribly sorry that you were embarrassed today at lunch. I take full responsibility for that."

She didn't verbally accept their apologies, but Daniel took her silence as a tacit pardon. "Are we still on for dinner tonight?

Maxine's making pot roast."

"We'll see you at seven," Noah confirmed. Daniel split an uneasy glance between them and then left them alone.

Maris went to the window and turned her back to the room. Noah remained where he was, still perched on the corner of his desk. Several minutes passed before she spoke. "I'm sorry I lost my temper."

"It hasn't been that long ago that I told you how beautiful you are when you're angry."

She came around quickly and angrily. "Don't patronize me, Noah."

"Don't be so goddamn sensitive," he snapped.

"I resent belittling, sexist remarks like that."

"That's a sexist remark? Can't I pay you a compliment without your reading something into it?"

"Not when we're fighting."

It was upsetting, and a little alarming, that his charm seemed to have lost some of its effectiveness.

"What's with you, Maris? Since you got back yesterday, you've been as prickly as a porcupine. If working on this project," he said, slinging out his hand as though to shake off a contagion, "is going to cause a chronic case of PMS--was

"And that's not sexist?"

?--then I recommend you--was

"This has nothing to do with that!"

"Then what?"

"Nadia."

###"Nadia?" ######################387

"Did she know about your meeting with Blume?"

He covered his discomfiture with a short laugh.

"What? You think I called up our local gossip columnist and leaked the story?"

Folding her arms across her middle, Maris turned back to the window. "You're lying."

He came off the desk. "I beg your pardon?"

"She knew, Noah. Nadia's the most conniving woman I've even met, and ordinarily she makes no secret of it. In fact, she takes pride in it. But when Blume mentioned his meeting with you, she blanched, looking as though she'd just been exposed. Then she couldn't hustle me away from him and out of there fast enough. As we said good-bye, she oozed goodwill, but nervously."

She came around slowly. "She knew."

The look she gave him was so damned

superior, it enraged him. He felt blood rushing to his head. He imagined capillaries bursting behind his eyeballs. Fury pulsated through him. Only by an act of will could he keep his voice from revealing it.

"Why would I tell Nadia, Maris? There was nothing to tell. If Nadia knew, she heard it from Blume. I've seen them with their heads together on more than one occasion. They probably stroke each other for inside information."

"Yes, that's how it works," she whispered as though to herself. When she refocused on him, she asked, "If Blume told her, why didn't she write about it in her column?"

"That's simple. WorldView owns a chain of newspapers that carry her column. She couldn't risk inflaming them by blabbing that David had thumbed his nose at Goliath, which is exactly what my meeting with them amounted to. If I'd known it was going to cause this much hullabaloo, I'd have continued avoiding them. I swear to God, I thought that meeting would be the end of their persistence."

"She confessed."

His heart knocked against his chest. It was difficult to keep his features impassive.

"What? Who? Confessed what?"

"I told Nadia that I was on to her. That I could see through her and knew that she had designs on you."

"Designs?" he repeated with amusement.

#"What quaint phraseology." ########389

"I didn't use it to be cute, Noah,"

she said testily. "Today I had lunch with a woman who told me to my face that she wants to sleep with you."

He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.

"Maris. For God's sake. Nadia wants to sleep with every man. She's made it her life's quest. She's one giant, raging hormone.

She's come on to me, sure. Do you think I'm that easily flattered? She also comes on to waiters and doormen and probably to her garbage collector."

"A lot of men find her attractive."

"She is. But I didn't have an affair with her when I was single, and I sure as hell wouldn't jeopardize my marriage to you by having one with her now." He sighed and shook his head ruefully. "Is that what all this has been about?

You let Nadia upset you?"

"No. I was more upset over the WorldView thing than I was about Nadia. If you want Nadia, then you deserve her."

He forced himself to smile. "I'm glad you gave me an opportunity to explain both misunderstandings. These things shouldn't fester. It's bad for our marriage."

He gave her a few moments to ruminate on that, then smiled the tentative smile of a scolded puppy. "If that's the end of the interrogation, I'd like to hug my interrogator."

Since she didn't raise any barriers, either real or suggested, he joined her where she stood and placed his arms around her. He pressed his face into her hair. "I was angry when I made that ludicrous statement about chronic PMS, but it has a basis of truth, doesn't it? You're not yourself." He stroked her back. "Was that little island so horrible?"

"I wondered if you were ever going to express any interest in my trip."

"That's unfair, Maris. Since your return, you haven't exactly invited conversation.

You've been sullen and standoffish. In fact, I've considered approaching you with a chain and whip."

Undaunted by her failure to laugh, he kissed her temple. "How was your trip? What's the island like?"

"Not horrible at all. Different."

"From what?"

###He felt her shrug. "It's hard ####391

to explain. Just different."

"And the author, was he as difficult to work with as you expected?"

"More difficult than I expected."

"We've got an impressive slate of books to publish next year from our authors under contract. Why bother with this recluse?"

"Because he writes well. Very well."

"But is he worth the difficulty he puts you through?"

"I won't give up on this book, Noah."

"I'm only thinking of you. If working with him makes you edgy and--was

"It doesn't."

Luckily she couldn't see his expression or she would have realized how close she came to being slapped senseless for interrupting him. He took a moment to tamp down his anger before asking in a deceptively pleasant voice, "What is this literary marvel's name?"

"I'm sworn to secrecy."

"Isn't he carrying the anonymity to a ludicrous degree?"

"There's a reason. He's disabled."

"How so?"

"I really can't talk about it, Noah. I can't betray his trust."

"Are you sure your opinion of the writing hasn't been swayed by his disability?"

"I loved the writing before I knew about his circumstances, which don't affect his talent.

He'd be talented in any form. In spite of all the difficulty working with him imposes, I'm enjoying the work. It's going to be good for me. I'm getting to flex some editorial muscle. Over the last few years, I've become fat and lazy."

"A little lazy, maybe, but not fat."

He slid his hands over her butt, a caress he knew she liked and that usually evoked an agreeable response. This time it was less effective. "I was speaking metaphorically, Noah."

"I realize that. Still ..." He bent his head and kissed her, first on the cheek, then her mouth.

He wanted to be assured that her outburst wasn't an indicator of something more serious, specifically that she doubted his loyalty to Matherly Press.

She returned the kiss. Not with the fervor he

#sought, perhaps, but when he pulled back she ##393

smiled up at him, assuaging his concern.

"If these financials didn't need my attention," he growled, "I'd be tempted to lock the door and take you right here."