Unnatural Relations (Lust and Lies Series, Book 1) (7 page)

She gaped at him in shock. He wasn't kidding. He was seriously upset with her. "Howard! You know very well how I spent the afternoon! I shouldn't have to explain but since you've obviously lost your mind, I will."

She took a deep breath and propped her fists on her hips. "About a half hour after you left me in the garden, Russ came by to cut roses for your mother. He told me funny stories. About
you."
Her annoyance with him increased with each sentence and the way he kept backing away from her revealed that he was very aware of the mistake he'd made.

"I went back to his place and had a soda while he arranged the flowers. We were alone there for less than one hour, during which time we continued to talk about
you."
She accented her last word by poking her finger into his chest.

"He drove me up to the house because we were both headed this way. He did kiss the back of my hand, but it was done in fun, not passion. And, as you can see, I had more than enough time to shower and dress. Did I miss anything?" She was fully prepared to punch him in the nose if he said one wrong word.

He slumped down into the rocking chair in the corner of her room and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

His tone and expression were so pitiful, she walked over and sat down on his lap. "I do. You were jealous. I hear that sometimes happens when you're in love."

He shook his head and kept his eyes downcast. "It's more than that. Russ and I have always had a sort of ongoing competition. When we were kids, it was all in fun. But in the last few years, I don't know, it changed somehow. He actually got aggressive over the smallest things. I guess I was really afraid he would try to seduce you away from me."

She tipped his chin up to make him look at her. "You have no reason to be jealous of Russ. Not only because he's your friend but because I'm not the least bit attracted to him. Besides, as long as you make love to me like you did today, I'll never have any energy left for another man."

He gave her the smile she was going for. "If you keep looking at me like that, neither one of us is going to have enough energy left to go down to dinner."

He drew her head closer for a kiss but she jumped off his lap before he could deliver it. "Oh, no, you don't. I refuse to arrive downstairs late or mindless. There's already been enough talk about me for my first visit."

On the way to the dining room, he assured her he would clear up any misunderstanding with his parents, though he was certain they hadn't taken the gossip seriously anyway. Only he was foolish enough to be upset by it.

"Ah, here they are now," Mrs. Hamilton announced from the foot of the stairs. "We were just about to go into the dining room without you."

Mr. Hamilton pulled back his jacket sleeve, checked the time, and gave Howard a warning look that punctuated his wife's statement.

Barbara was positive it was no more than a minute or two after eight, but apparently being late in this house was a hanging offense. She was about to apologize when Chesterfield announced the arrival of a visitor.

"Simon Decker."

A medium-built, late-middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair hurried toward the group. He looked hot and flustered as he bobbed his head to each of the family members. "Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, Howard. Sorry I'm late. Crosstown traffic was murder. Had you called a little earlier—"

Mr. Hamilton loudly cleared his throat to cut off his guest's rambling. "Howard, present your guest so that we can go inside."

Barbara noted the flush on Howard's cheeks and squeezed his hand. He appeared to be more nervous than she was.

"Barbara, this is Simon Decker, my parents' attorney. His father was the Hamilton family retainer before him. Mr. Decker, it is my pleasure to present my future bride, Barbara Mancuso."

Decker's surprised gaze darted to each of Howard's parents before settling on Barbara. He slowly extended his hand to greet her as if he wasn't quite certain that was the proper thing to do. When she briefly touched her hand to his, his palm was damp.

"How do you do, Miss Mancuso. This is quite a surprise."

Mr. Hamilton made a show of looking at his watch and clearing his throat again.

"We can all get acquainted over dinner," Mrs. Hamilton declared with a bright smile, and smoothly took Barbara by the arm to lead her to the dining room ahead of the men.

As with brunch, dinner conversation was limited to impersonal, nonbusiness topics. Still unsure of herself, Barbara spoke only when directly addressed, and then kept her responses as brief and uncontroversial as possible. By the time coffee and dessert were served, Barbara had formed her character analyses for each person at the table.

Howard became the invisible man in his parents' presence.

Mr. Hamilton was stiffly formal, cold, egotistical and probably ruthless in both his business and family affairs. She had the feeling that the only way he would have acknowledged her was if Howard had brought her home as part of a business deal.

Mrs. Hamilton seemed to care deeply for her husband and son, but her social position had equal importance. She was basically a good woman, yet spoiled by wealth and power and probably used it to get what she wanted in life.

Optimist that she was, Barbara had no doubt she could straighten them all out in time.

Simon Decker was as close to a bad stereotype as she had ever seen. He was blatantly ingratiating, and there was something untrustworthy about the way he kept his eyelids partially lowered all the time while he sneaked peeks at everyone in the room, particularly the one young female servant. Did he really believe no one else noticed what he was doing? Barbara couldn't help but wonder if he was a competent attorney or if the Hamiltons retained him because it had become a family tradition.

The moment Mr. Hamilton swallowed the last spoonful of his mocha mousse, he excused himself and Decker, saying only that they had business to discuss and didn't want to be disturbed.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Mancuso," the attorney said as he hurriedly left the table to follow his client. "Congratulations, Howard."

"How nice," Mrs. Hamilton said, sitting back in her chair and folding her hands on her lap. "Now the three of us can get down to business as well. It takes a lot of work to plan a big wedding, so we need to begin immediately."

Barbara gave Howard a second to speak up, but he just sat there, stirring his coffee, so she took the initiative. "Howard and I have discussed it, and we decided against a big wedding. I always imagined my wedding taking place in my parents' backyard and—" The look of horror on Mrs. Hamilton's face cut off the rest of what she would have said.

"That... that's simply not possible," the woman stammered in a higher-pitched voice than normal. "A wedding for someone of Howard's status requires certain... I mean, it would be expected... What
would
people say?" Her widened eyes took on a glazed appearance and her pale complexion suddenly turned a bright shade of pink.

Howard bolted out of his chair, knelt beside her and grasped her hands. "Mother, please, don't be upset. It was just an idea we had to save you from having to work so hard. You already do much more than the doctor wants you to. But if it's that important to you, we can be married however you want."

Barbara was shocked by Howard's instant capitulation to his mother's wishes and dismissal of hers. Her shock turned to resentment when she noted how quickly the woman recuperated from her "spell" once she had her way.

As if there were no question of the bride's objecting, Mrs. Hamilton asked, "Which would you prefer, dear, May or June?"

Barbara narrowed her brows in confusion.
"May or June?
You mean a year from now? Oh, but Howard and I had planned—"

"Of course a year from now. It takes at least that long to plan for an event of this magnitude, and those
are
the only acceptable months for a wedding in this area."

Howard sat down beside Barbara again, but when he reached for her hand, she pulled it away. His mother continued to make pronouncements about who "absolutely must be included in the wedding party" and who should design the dresses but Barbara quit listening. It was either that or explode. The pleading look Howard gave her only made her angrier with him for being so easily manipulated.

Before thinking it through, she said something that she knew would upset both mother and son. "I can see that it would be best to leave all the plans in your hands, Mrs. Hamilton. You just tell me when and where to show up, and I'll do my best to be accommodating. For now, though, I wonder if you'd help us work something else out."

Howard looked worried, as he should have, but his mother was glowing. "But of course, dear," she said, clearly pleased. "I want you both to always feel comfortable coming to me for advice."

"That's so kind of you," Barbara said putting on her most grateful expression. "You see, once I saw how much artistic talent Howard had, I knew it would be a sin for him to throw it all away on a business career. I'm sure you agree that his idea for a cartoon series is absolutely brilliant and definitely worth a readjustment of his priorities."

Another rush of blood flowed to Mrs. Hamilton's face, immediately followed by some serious hyperventilating, but not a word came out of her mouth.

Howard's loyalties were clearly torn, but he made his choice. "Barbara! This was hardly the time—Calm down, Mother.
Please.
She didn't mean it the way it sounded."

Barbara clucked her tongue and got up from the table. "I'm going to my room, Howard. I'd like to speak with you alone, but I'll understand if you don't join me. After all, it's very difficult climbing stairs without a backbone."

Chapter 3

As Barbara stormed into her room, she was positive she was justified. By the time a half hour passed and Howard hadn't shown up, she was contemplating how to save a little face while she begged for another chance to prove that she wasn't an ill-mannered brat.

Because he didn't knock first, Howard caught her with tears streaking down her face.

"I'm sorry," they both said at once, then clung to each other while exchanging lengthier apologies. Howard confessed that he was so accustomed to catering to his mother's desires, he hadn't even realized what he was doing to Barbara. He promised it wouldn't happen again.

She admitted that she had behaved spitefully and that she understood his mother's attitude about the wedding, but she wanted a say in the planning also. He agreed, but suggested they not push the issue on this visit.

"Shouldn't you go to your room now?" Barbara whispered, though it was the last thing she wanted him to do.

"Don't you want me to sleep with you?"

That made her laugh. "You know I do. But you said the servants would talk and—"

"I don't give a fuck about the servants."

"Howard!
Such language! Your mother would have a seizure if she heard you."

"Fuck my mother too."

She ran her hand down his abdomen. "No, thanks. I'll stick with the Hamilton I've already got."

* * *

Barbara's intention to improve the Hamiltons' opinion of her was thwarted by time and circumstances. Both parents had left for church before she and Howard went down to breakfast, and weren't expected back until midday.

She and Howard took advantage of the unexpected free time by visiting Russ. As soon as Russ realized how possessive Howard was about his bride-to-be, he went out of his way to torment him. No matter how funny Russ was, however, Barbara was careful not to give Howard anything to be jealous over. As it was, he kept his hands on her the entire time, which only gave Russ something else to tease him about.

Midday passed without Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton returning to the house, and soon the time came for Barbara to leave for the train station. She had promised her boss she would continue working for a few more weeks and he was counting on her to be there the next day. It was left to Howard to make amends for her with his parents, but after their talk last night, she was certain he would handle it just fine.

The next weekend, Howard came down to New York and treated her to a delightful stay at the Waldorf. He assured her he was making progress with his mother about the date and size of the wedding, but it was probably best to give her another week before they both confronted her.