here. But we both know you can’t make me stay against my will. And the truth is, there’s nothing I can do here, anyway. I’ve seen for myself that my father is happy with your mother. I would hurt him by trying to interfere. And if he wants to sell Lark Engineering to you, that’s his business. It’s clear you’re not trying to cheat him out of the firm.”
“I didn’t bring you down here so that you could protect your father. We both know he can take care of himself. I got you down here so that we could start over again, Maggie, and you know it. Furthermore, if you’re honest with yourself for once, you’ll admit that’s whyyou used that ticket so damn fast once I’d given you a good enough excuse.”
He was right and that jolted her. She had known all along that her father could take care of himself, even against the likes of Rafe Cassidy. Everyone involved had politely let her pretend that she had rushed down here to rescue Connor but everyone knew the truth.
“This is extremely humiliating,” Margaret said.
“If it makes you feel any better, take it from me you don’t know what I was going through yesterday morning at the airport waiting to see if you were on that flight. I was afraid to even call your apartment in Seattle in case you answered the phone. How’s that for proof that you have an equal ability to make me feel like an idiot?”
The intensity of his words shook her. She bit her lip and then reached out hesitantly to touch his hand. When he glanced down she withdrew her fingers immediately. “Rafe, it won’t work. We might have managed a long-distance affair. For a while. But we’ll never manage a marriage. Your mother was right all along.”
“Stop saying that, damn it. She was wrong and she admits it. Why do you keep quoting something she said a year ago as if it were carved in stone?”
“Because she was right a year ago. You’re a driven man when it comes to business or anything else you decide you want. This morning she told me more about why you’re driven but that doesn’t change anything. It just helps explain why you are the way you are.”
Rafe swore in disgust. “She gave you some tripe about me being somewhat, uh, aggressive in business because I had to work so hard to rescue Cassidy and Company, didn’t she? Julie says that’s her current theory on my behavior.”
“Well, yes. And you’re not
somewhat
aggressive, Rafe, you’re a real predator. What’s more, you get downright hostile when someone steals your prey the way you think I helped Moorcroft do last year.”
“Look, maybe I’d better make one thing clear here. My mother likes to think I’m the way I am—I mean, was—because of what happened after Dad was killed. But the truth is, I was like that long before I took over Cassidy and Company. Dad knew it. Hell, I was born that way, according to my father. Same as he was.”
Margaret nodded sadly. “You didn’t change so that you could salvage the company, you managed to salvage the company because you were already strong enough and aggressive enough to do it.”
“But things are different now. I’ve changed. I keep telling you that. Give me a chance, Maggie.”
“Last night I thought I could.”
“You call having an affair with me giving me a chance?” he demanded incredulously.
She nodded. “It was a way to try again. A way that left us both free to change our minds without breaking any promises. It would have given us time to observe each other and reassess the situation.”
“Hell.” He ran his hand through his hair in a gesture of pure frustration. “I don’t need any more time, Maggie. I’ve been reassessing this damned situation for months.”
“Well, I do need time.”
“This isn’t just a question of my work habits, is it?” he asked shrewdly. “The truth is you aren’t going to forgive me for what happened between us last year, are you?”
“You’ve never asked me to forgive you, Rafe.” She smiled bleakly.
“I didn’t bring you down here so that you could protect your father. We both know he can take care of himself. I got you down here so that we could start over again, Maggie, and you know it. Furthermore, if you’re honest with yourself for once, you’ll admit that’s whyyou used that ticket so damn fast once I’d given you a good enough excuse.”
He was right and that jolted her. She had known all along that her father could take care of himself, even against the likes of Rafe Cassidy. Everyone involved had politely let her pretend that she had rushed down here to rescue Connor but everyone knew the truth.
“This is extremely humiliating,” Margaret said.
“If it makes you feel any better, take it from me you don’t know what I was going through yesterday morning at the airport waiting to see if you were on that flight. I was afraid to even call your apartment in Seattle in case you answered the phone. How’s that for proof that you have an equal ability to make me feel like an idiot?”
The intensity of his words shook her. She bit her lip and then reached out hesitantly to touch his hand. When he glanced down she withdrew her fingers immediately. “Rafe, it won’t work. We might have managed a long-distance affair. For a while. But we’ll never manage a marriage. Your mother was right all along.”
“Stop saying that, damn it. She was wrong and she admits it. Why do you keep quoting something she said a year ago as if it were carved in stone?”
“Because she was right a year ago. You’re a driven man when it comes to business or anything else you decide you want. This morning she told me more about why you’re driven but that doesn’t change anything. It just helps explain why you are the way you are.”
Rafe swore in disgust. “She gave you some tripe about me being somewhat, uh, aggressive in business because I had to work so hard to rescue Cassidy and Company, didn’t she? Julie says that’s her current theory on my behavior.”
“Well, yes. And you’re not
somewhat
aggressive, Rafe, you’re a real predator. What’s more, you get downright hostile when someone steals your prey the way you think I helped Moorcroft do last year.”
“Look, maybe I’d better make one thing clear here. My mother likes to think I’m the way I am—I mean, was—because of what happened after Dad was killed. But the truth is, I was like that long before I took over Cassidy and Company. Dad knew it. Hell, I was born that way, according to my father. Same as he was.”
Margaret nodded sadly. “You didn’t change so that you could salvage the company, you managed to salvage the company because you were already strong enough and aggressive enough to do it.”
“But things are different now. I’ve changed. I keep telling you that. Give me a chance, Maggie.”
“Last night I thought I could.”
“You call having an affair with me giving me a chance?” he demanded incredulously.
She nodded. “It was a way to try again. A way that left us both free to change our minds without breaking any promises. It would have given us time to observe each other and reassess the situation.”
“Hell.” He ran his hand through his hair in a gesture of pure frustration. “I don’t need any more time, Maggie. I’ve been reassessing this damned situation for months.”
“Well, I do need time.”
“This isn’t just a question of my work habits, is it?” he asked shrewdly. “The truth is you aren’t going to forgive me for what happened between us last year, are you?”
“You’ve never asked me to forgive you, Rafe.” She smiled bleakly.
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