Principles And Pleasures. Margaret Allison
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shook her head. Hands beside me, hands beside me… Why did he keep looking at her like that? She cleared her throat. “I heard you were working at a ski resort in Switzerland.”
“More or less,” he said.
More or less. She wouldn’t have expected him to maintain a full-time job. She knew his type. Play by day and by night. She guessed he was still keeping the same hours he’d kept in Colorado. Saving his energy for his women. Only now Josh was probably dating women half his age.
He said, “I’m flattered you kept tabs on me.”
Meredith felt as if she was being baited. “I wasn’t keeping tabs,” she replied. “I must’ve heard Carly mention it.”
He nodded toward the bench. “Have a seat,” he said. “I’d like to talk to you.”
But she didn’t move. She’d had enough small talk. “You never said what brought you back to Aspen.”
“Business.”
What kind of business would a ski instructor have? But still, that did not mean he had returned for Carly. In fact, the idea of Josh Adams returning to confess his love for Carly was preposterous. He and Carly had been friends, nothing more. What would inspire him to come back…
“Meredith?” He was looking at her curiously. “Are you all right?”
She had to laugh. Josh would, too, if he knew what she and her mother had been thinking. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but I thought for a moment that your reason for returning might have something to do with Carly.”
Josh wasn’t smiling. “It does.”
Meredith felt a lump lodge in her throat. It was not jealousy, she told herself quickly. She could not be jealous that Josh had come back for her sister and not her. After all, he and Carly were friends. She and Josh were…well, they were nothing.
“She’s getting married, you know,” she said.
“Yes,” he said. “I know.” His face darkened. He met her gaze directly, as if daring her. “I wanted to…”
But Meredith didn’t let him finish. She read his reaction as confirmation of her fears. “Leave her alone,” she blurted.
“What?”
“She’s happy. You’ll just confuse her.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stood and walked toward her.
She held his eyes. “I think you do.” She could see the muscles in his jaw tighten. She knew she was making him angry but she couldn’t stop herself.
Meredith stepped back. “Do you want money? Is that it?”
“Is that what you think?” He stepped closer to her. So close, he was almost touching her. His eyes glared at her, burning a hole.
“Because she’s not quite the heiress these days. In fact, if she doesn’t get married, she may not have any money at all.”
“I see,” he said.
Meredith was no longer the naive little schoolgirl. She was once again the head of Cartwright Enterprises. Past history aside, she was not about to let some playboy ruin her future. “So we understand each other?” she said to Josh.
“I understand you perfectly, yes. You’re saying that Carly has to marry to save your ass.”
“I beg your pardon?”
He glanced toward the house. His breath was white in the frosty air. “I’m touched by how important your sister’s happiness is to you.”
His words hung in the air. He was being sarcastic.
“She loves Mark.”
“So what are you so worried about? Surely she has some time for an old friend,” he said.
“Because she’s…she’s Carly. And Mark may not be so understanding.”
“It sounds like perhaps they shouldn’t be getting married.”
“I’m asking you as a…as a friend. Please go.”
“I’m sorry, Meredith. As a friend,” he said, as if he found the word distasteful, “I can’t do that.”
This was the man she dreamed about? The one with whom she compared all others? “I’m sorry, too,” she said. She spun on her heels and began to walk away.
“Meredith,” said Josh.
She stopped. But she did not turn around.
“Please tell Carly I’ll see her tomorrow.”
She stood still for a moment and then walked slowly back to the house, her head held high.
How dare she?
Josh sat on the bench, taking a few moments to compose himself. He had heard the rumors. Meredith Cartwright was so desperate to save her company that she had sold her sister. And, unfortunately, it appeared to be true. Meredith wanted Carly to marry Mark Duran so that she could get her hands on Durasnow.
And she thought that he, Josh, might interrupt the deal. She was right, of course. But he had not come back to steal Carly. He had done something much worse.
He had returned for Durasnow.
He had wanted Durasnow for years—he’d been the first to express an interest. But once Carly and Mark became engaged, the Durans had informed him that they’d felt obligated to entertain bids from Cartwright Enterprises. When Josh had read that Meredith had publicly declared her intention to buy Durasnow, he’d known the Durans had been less than honest. The writing was on the wall: the Durans would play Josh against Meredith, bidding up the price. In the end, neither would win. So Josh had come back to broker a deal. Perhaps he and Meredith could join forces and buy Durasnow together.
But Meredith was right in a way. He had come tonight because he’d wanted to see Carly. After all, he had not spoken with Meredith since their night together. He had tried to contact her several times but she’d never returned his phone calls. But her reputation was well-known. She was a stubbornly independent woman. So he had hoped that perhaps Carly might act as go-between, brokering a deal between Europrize and Cartwright.
Meredith, obviously, had no idea who he was. She assumed he was still the same playboy that had left Aspen.
The mere thought of his former lifestyle was enough to put a smile on his face. How things had changed.
It had not been an easy transition. Shortly after his night with Meredith, his aunt died. He had been surprised to learn that she, a waitress of seemingly meager means, had managed to save fifty thousand dollars. The instructions she’d left in her will had been simple. Make me proud. His friends had encouraged him to use the money for travel, to continue his life uninterrupted. But he’d had no intention of frivolously spending the money for which his aunt had worked.
His aunt had given him a new chance at life, a chance to remake himself. And he preferred not to have any reminders of the boy he once was.
Not that his life growing up had been all bad. Without the experience he’d gained, he never would have started his business. He knew his old friends had been surprised to learn that he’d been able to utilize the skills he’d learned in his former life and turn them into a multi-million dollar business that had made him one of the richest men in Europe.
His company, Europrize, had developed several interactive video games that had been sold to a major technology company, leaving him with more than enough money to buy out the richest men in Aspen. But he was just getting started. His newest venture, buying and renovating ski resorts, was already bringing in revenues. But their earning capability was limited to the season. If he could stretch out the season a month or so on each side, especially if his was the only ski resort open, the business would boom.
Which