The Beautiful Widow (11 page)

‘Who wouldn’t like it? It’s wonderful.’

‘Reserve your opinion until you’ve seen inside. The setting is perfect but the house itself needs some work doing to it. The kitchen’s small and outdated and the house itself is tired. I’ve got some ideas but I’d like your take on it.’

Toni nodded. She didn’t care what the inside was like; this house was the sort of place dreams were made of.

Once inside she could see what Steel meant, but she could also envisage the house as it could be if it was sympathetically restored and the layout reworked a little. Downstairs there were a number of rooms but the kitchen was indeed very small. Upstairs there were
eight good-size bedrooms but only one bathroom. It was clear nothing had been done to the house for decades. The view from the ground at the back of the property was breathtaking. She hadn’t realised they were on a hill, but the lawns and flowerbeds and mature bushes and trees gently sloped down to the wood Steel had spoken of, and beyond that was rolling countryside for miles and miles.

‘Spectacular, eh?’

They were standing outside the French doors leading from the main reception room on a patio that had seen better days. The blue sky above, the white sparkling world beneath and, not least, Steel standing so close she was vitally aware of the height and breadth and faint delicious smell emanating from the big frame caused her voice to wobble slightly as she said, ‘Utterly.’

‘So, can you see me here, Toni?’ His voice was level, almost flat, and he didn’t look at her as he spoke, keeping his eyes on the countryside spread out in front of them like an enormous beautiful picture.

She didn’t reply immediately, considering exactly what to say. ‘Yes,’ she said at last, ‘but—’

‘But?’ He gazed at her with hooded eyes. ‘Always a but.’

‘This is an enormous house for just one person. Wouldn’t it be better to consider either a smaller property or an apartment somewhere outside the city, if that’s what you want?’

He didn’t reply to this. ‘But you think I could suit this house?’

It was a strange way to put it. Normally one would ask if the house could suit them, but in this case he was absolutely right, Toni thought. This house was so special and so beautiful it shouldn’t have to fit in with
anyone—the boot had to be on the other foot. And the fact he’d put it that way made her voice firm when she said, ‘Yes, I do. You’ve fallen in love with it, haven’t you?’

He was very still for a moment. ‘I’ve never been in love before but, yes, I think I am.’

Toni nodded. ‘Then all the work and changes will be worth it. You must go with your heart for once.’

‘My thoughts exactly.’ Steel’s silver-blue gaze followed a magpie that had just swooped over the trees onto the lawn carrying a morsel of something or other in its beak, which it now proceeded to eat. Six months and this woman had turned his life upside down and she was completely unaware of it. It had taken him weeks, probably a couple of months to adjust to the knowledge that Toni George was different.

Women abounded in London; beautiful, available and willing women, and he’d had his share until the day she had walked into his apartment and he’d looked into her eyes. Strange, but he couldn’t put his finger on what made her special. She was very lovely, intelligent and gutsy, but those attributes could be laid at the feet of several women he knew. Women who carried no baggage and who definitely didn’t have four-year-old twins in tow.

He’d sent the little girls a present each on their birthday—which he knew had taken Toni aback—and received in return two handmade cards of people with sticks for arms and legs and two scrawls at the bottom of the cards that were apparently their names. After that he had tried to take a big step backwards but it hadn’t worked; nothing had. The more he’d got to know her, the more he had wanted her, which was a first for him. Normally he slept with a woman and then got to know
her, which finished with him not wanting her. And now he was faced with the prospect of loving someone who certainly didn’t love him back and who had no intention of letting a man into her life or anywhere near her family.

Steel smiled to himself. How many of his exes would take secret satisfaction in his predicament? The love-'em-and-leave-'em Steel Landry hoisted by his own petard. But he was damned if he was going to roll over and accept the situation. She’d responded to him sexually that night in June, which was a start, and she’d wanted him as much as he’d wanted her. He could make her love him. He’d been patient for months now, preparing the ground; this was the next stage. And to hell with the rule that he didn’t mix work and pleasure. Being the boss had to mean something and in this case it was that rules were breakable.

One of the things that had amazed him about her was the lack of bitterness about her former husband. In spite of the way he’d treated her, she didn’t hate the louse. True, it had made her wary and suspicious of the opposite sex, but that was to his advantage in a way. It kept the other wolves at bay.

He glanced down at her now, reaching out a hand and brushing a strand of hair from the silky skin of her cheek. He heard her quickly indrawn breath and his heart thumped crazily. Yes, she was far from indifferent to him as a man, but he didn’t want to just take this woman to bed. He wanted
her.
‘Let’s go and get some lunch and you can tell me some of the ideas I know are already buzzing about in that clever little head of yours,’ he said smoothly. ‘I noticed a nice pub shortly before we turned off into this side road, which is called

Magpie Lane, incidentally. Appropriate address for a family house, don’t you think?’

It was a moment before she shrugged. ‘Magpies are quite vicious birds, aren’t they? Part of the crow family, I believe.’

‘They do what’s necessary to get by. Same as the rest of us. All’s fair in love and war.’

‘That’s such a male reply,’ she said stiffly.

‘But I am a male, Toni, and don’t tell me you haven’t noticed, an observant, intelligent woman like you. I’m very much a male and I make no apology for it.’ He opened the French doors as he spoke and when she stepped past him into the house he heard a muffled ‘Huh', which made the corners of his mouth twitch. He had no illusions winning her over was going to be easy; she was as prickly as a cactus with as many spikes for keeping him at bay, but he was going to strip those little spines away one by one until he got what he wanted, which was her, naked and pliant in his arms and wholly his, soul, mind and body.

T
HE PUB WAS ALL BRASSES
and oak beams. Toni was not unaware of the little stir Steel caused in the two buxom barmaids, or the way they practically fought to serve him when he went to order drinks once they’d found a table close to the roaring log fire. He came back with a glass of wine for her and an apple juice for himself and two menus, sitting down and smiling at her as he murmured, ‘I’ve surprised you today, haven’t I?’

She eyed him warily. ‘A little, I suppose.’

‘Another surprise. I’ve decided we’ll take the day off.’

‘What?’
She sat up straighter. ‘What on earth for?’

‘It’s not often I decide to buy a house. I want to celebrate.’ His smile widened, a little like a shark’s. ‘Besides which, I want to get a few facts and figures clear in my head before I make an offer. If I got into the office there’s too much distraction.’

He saw her expression relax slightly. ‘Oh, I see. You mean we’ll still be working but on the ideas for this house.’

‘If you want to put it like that.’

Her brows came together for an instant and she took a sip of wine. ‘Steel—’

‘Decide what you want to eat so we can order and
then you can tell me your plans for each room.’ He picked up his own menu and pretended to be absorbed in it, only raising his head when one of the barmaids came across with a pad and pencil to take their order, practically drooling as she looked at Steel.

The meal decided, he met her gaze. ‘So? Tell me your thoughts thus far.’ The flames from the crackling fire in the big old hearth were picking out the red tints in her dark brown hair, her pale creamy skin and red lips a delicious contrast. Before she could speak, he murmured, ‘Rose Red. From the fairy tale, you know? Has anyone ever told you that you look like Rose Red?’

She stared at him for a moment. ‘The first thing to be tackled is the kitchen. It’s too small and hopelessly outdated. I suggest you knock through into the old scullery and also the room next door, which is currently a breakfast room. That would give you a huge space to play around with, and if you go for Shaker-style units with pretty handles and granite worktops, and perhaps natural slate tiles on the floor, they’ll fit in with the beamed ceiling and feel to the property. There’ll be ample space for a kitchen table and chairs and so on.’

Steel nodded. ‘Go on.’

‘Apart from the original sitting room, which is quite wonderful as it is, there seems to be several small rooms downstairs as a result of the extension done to the original building. You don’t need a morning room and a snug, not when you have a dining room and study and second sitting room already. If you sacrifice the morning room to extend the entrance hall to make more space as you come into the house, the snug could be changed into a downstairs cloakroom.’ She paused for breath.

‘Could all that be done without ruining the original features?’ Steel asked thoughtfully.

Toni nodded, her face animated as it always was when she was starting a new project. ‘Absolutely, and I know of a wonderful reclamation yard as well as a supplier of beautiful limestone that would look just right in the entrance hall. Upstairs if you sacrificed two of the bedrooms and divided each into two bathrooms, four bedrooms could have an en-suite. I’ll draw that up for you later. And the master bedroom is more than big enough to incorporate an en-suite as it is. That would just leave the one bedroom next to the present bathroom and it would be easy to knock through. This would mean six bedrooms all with en-suites, which I think is preferable to eight without.’

‘I agree.’ He smiled. ‘I was right to bring you.’

‘The main sitting room, or drawing room I suppose, would be more imposing if four-panel doors were used to create a double-width entrance, but that’s just a suggestion. It’s fine as it is. But overall I think you need to be careful to create a look that’s easy and timeless, something opulent and in keeping with the period feel but not heavy or dark. The mullioned windows are beautiful but they don’t let in as much light as modern ones, so we need to concentrate on pale fabrics—creams and duck-egg blue and ochre for example—and do away with all those dark, patterned carpets. There are wonderful floorboards underneath them—I’ve checked. They’d only need to be sanded and sealed, and rather than hide them you could enhance them with rugs. Thick, luxurious ones in light shades.’

She came up for air to find Steel smiling at her.

‘What?’ she asked warily. Why was he looking at her like that?

‘Sounds great. You’re in charge.’

‘In charge?’ she echoed faintly. The way he’d said it.

‘From start to finish and down to the last teaspoon in my new kitchen. Run with it. Forget the other projects. I can get those sorted. I want you to concentrate on this from now on. I only want to know if there’s a problem. Otherwise, you have a free hand on the alterations, colours, fabrics, everything. And I don’t want to see it until it’s finished, OK?’

Her face registered alarm. ‘Steel, this is your home we’re talking about. You’ll have to choose the kitchen you want and so on. I couldn’t possibly presume to speak for you; you might hate my taste.’

‘No.’ He grinned at her, but for once she was too wound up to notice. ‘I trust you implicitly.’

‘It’s not a question of
trust.
It’s a matter of taste.’

‘But you have perfect taste, Toni,’ he said solemnly.

‘You know what I mean. It’s not like these are apartments or something. I couldn’t take over completely.’

‘You can’t do your job?’ He raised one eyebrow.

‘This is not my job,’ she protested adamantly.

‘You are employed by me as an interior designer and I’ve asked you to be in sole charge of a job from beginning to end. It’s as simple as that. I have no experience in creating a family home, which is what I’m wanting here; furthermore I’d find the details tiresome. You have free rein with the financial side and money is not a problem.’

‘But you must see that the house will be as I’d like it, which isn’t necessarily how you’d feel comfortable. I shall need to consult you on furniture and fittings at least.’

‘No.’ He settled back in his chair, his eyes bright silver as he gave a small laugh, low in his throat. ‘And forget what the apartment in London looks like. I want a change, OK? Like I said, this house is essentially a
family home—you can feel it in the very brickwork. Obviously I’m not a family man but that’s of no matter. When people walk through the front door I want them to feel a woman’s touch in the place, something warm and welcoming. My sister and her husband will visit often; I want their child to feel completely at home here.’

Toni grabbed at his last words for normality; she was feeling knocked sideways by the responsibility of what he was suggesting. ‘How is Annie?’ she asked weakly. ‘The baby must be due any time.’ Cowardly to change the subject, she knew, but she’d come back to his amazing declaration when she’d had time to think about it.

‘As we speak,’ he agreed. ‘Far from coming early, it now seems to want to remain where it is. She was due a couple of days ago but the doctors are satisfied all is well.’

‘At least it’s given them a chance to get everything ready.’ Annie and her husband hadn’t wanted to know the sex of the baby and so Jeff had arranged for the room they’d designated as a nursery to be painted in a pale lemon, according to Steel, who had insisted on buying all the baby furniture and equipment as his present to his nephew or niece.

Their meal came in the next moment but, although her steak pie was delicious, Toni found she’d lost her appetite. Steel had well and truly stepped out of his box this time and it disturbed her. He always disturbed her, but this time it was different.

A family home. She worried at the thought as she ate, like a dog with a bone.
Was
there someone in his life he’d kept hidden from gossiping tongues? A woman he perhaps felt he could settle down with? Someone special? And she’d have to be special to keep Steel. Someone very sure of herself, the way women constantly
threw themselves at him, with a wit and intelligence to match his. Beautiful and confident enough to deal with any women determined to oust her from his affections, and strong enough to cope if the worst happened and he grew tired of her. A wonder woman, in fact.

She chewed slowly, the steak tasting like sawdust in her mouth. And why was she so upset at the notion of Steel with another woman? She would never want to be with someone like him in a month of Sundays.

The thought carried no weight, simply reminding her of her inadequacies. She was ordinary and always had been; he must have always been extraordinary to get to where he was now, and it would need a woman of the same ilk to hold him.

She found her insides were trembling.
From the prospect of renovating and overseeing the job of making his house into a warm, inviting family home?
No.
From imagining Steel living there with the woman who had captured his heart?
Maybe. Almost certainly. Which made her the biggest idiot in the world.

She pushed her plate away, the meal half eaten, and made the excuse she’d had a big breakfast as Steel raised his eyebrows and asked if she’d like something else.

As he shamelessly reached for her plate and deposited the contents on his own, she watched him as he tucked into the food with every appearance of enjoyment. What was it to her if he had met someone or did meet someone in the future? And why was she thinking like this today?

One of the barmaids appeared at his elbow, ostensibly to ask if they’d like more drinks, but as Toni watched the young girl flutter her eyelids at Steel she noted none of the other diners got such good treatment. The barmaid’s blatant come-on confirmed everything Toni had been
thinking and surprisingly steadied her. It was an answer to a question her mind wouldn’t let her formulate.

She managed her treacle pudding and custard, and, when Steel’s eyebrows rose again, smiled, before she said, ‘I’m a dessert girl. I always have been.’

‘Annie’s the same. It used to be a battle to get her to eat her meat and veg if she knew a nice pudding was waiting.’

‘You always speak of Annie as though she was your daughter rather than your sister.’ It was out before she had thought and when she realised how personal it sounded she blushed a bright pink. He had no need to explain anything to her.

Steel didn’t seem to notice. Quietly, he said, ‘I guess that’s true in a way. I brought Annie up after our parents died and I’ve always felt responsible for her.’

‘That must have been hard at times when you were younger, before she met her husband.’ Part of her couldn’t believe she had the temerity to delve like this; the other part desperately wanted to know what he would say. ‘Didn’t you feel tied down?’

He looked down at the glass in his hand, clearly thinking about what she had said. His black lashes were thick and long for a man, thought Toni, but they only added to his masculinity somehow. A touch of softness emphasising the hardness.

‘At the time I think I just got on with it,’ he said after a moment or two. ‘And I did still manage to have girlfriends. I wouldn’t want you to run away with the impression I was a monk or anything. But after she met Jeff I have to admit I felt a weight had been lifted off me. Not that I didn’t love her and want to take care of her,’ he added quickly, ‘and no one forced me to do it. There were other members of the wider family who
would have taken her off my hands but I didn’t want that. And I’ve never regretted those years. Not once.’

But they’d taken their toll. She realised he was letting her see a part of him that few people—if any—saw, and her heart swelled with an indescribable feeling before she took check of herself. This was still Steel Landry, she cautioned. Bachelor extraordinaire and magnet to any woman who set eyes on him. Keeping her voice even and bland, she said, ‘Which is why you value your freedom now, of course.’

‘Why I have done in the past, yes.’

Her breath stopped. He
did
have a woman, someone so precious he’d kept her from public gaze. That was what this ‘family’ house was all about. The knife-like pain that shot through her made her stomach muscles clench.

The waitress popped up again like a genie out of a bottle with their coffee, and in spite of the girl’s gooey glances at Steel Toni silently blessed her for the much-needed moments to pull herself together. As the waitress sashayed off Toni took refuge in the mundane. ‘They must be really excited now the time is so close when they’ll see their first child.’

‘I guess so.’ He nodded slowly.

‘Have they decided on names yet?’ she asked woodenly.

‘Names?’ he echoed abstractedly, his eyes on her face.

‘Annie and Jeff? For the baby?’ She couldn’t blame him for his blank expression. One minute they’d been talking nitty-gritty ‘feeling’ stuff, and the next.

He didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘Charles for a boy, Eve for a girl, at the last count, but it changes with the wind.

We’ve had every name beginning from A to Z; Annie’s had too much time to think.’

‘Poor Annie. The last few months have been difficult for her.’

‘Poor Jeff. This weepy thing women go through in pregnancy has thrown him for six. He can cope with concepts that blow the normal human mind and technology that would have floored Einstein as easy as pie, but Annie crying sends him into a spin.’

‘That’s because he loves her,’ Toni said quietly.

‘Yes, he does.’ Steel gave a crooked smile. ‘He loves her very much.’

There
was
someone. She knew it. Toni took a gulp of her coffee and scalded the back of her throat. He was so different today, so not the Steel of office hours. And this was the man all his girlfriends saw; someone infinitely more devastating than even the powerful, ruthless tycoon she had become accustomed to. No wonder his women became obsessed with keeping him, as the unfortunate Barbara had done. How would you get over someone like Steel? Or perhaps you never did.

Suddenly she felt she was in one of those dreams where she knew it was imperative to escape the unseen threat bearing down on her but only to find her legs were like lead and she was unable to run. She blinked, taking a deep breath, and the panic receded, leaving her slightly shaky.