He glanced up just then and groaned.
“What?” Kathleen asked, then guessed, “She’s here, isn’t she?”
“Just walked in,” Ben confirmed. “I imagine we can thank the maître d’ for that. I swear the man is on her payroll. He probably called her the instant we came through the door.”
“Took her a while to get here, if he did.”
“She probably hoped to catch us in a compromising position,” Ben said, then forced a smile as he stood up. “Destiny.” He gave her a kiss.
Kathleen gave her a weak smile. “Nice to see you, Destiny.”
Destiny beamed at them. “Please, don’t let me interrupt. I just came in to pick up a dinner to take back to the house. I didn’t feel much like cooking tonight.”
“Why don’t you have them serve it here?” Kathleen said. “You can join us.”
Even as she spoke, Ben was saying, “Don’t let us hold you up. Your food will get cold.”
Destiny gave him a scolding look, then smiled happily at Kathleen. “I’d love to join you, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”
Kathleen shot a fierce look at Ben. “Please stay.”
Ben sighed heavily and relented. “Have a seat,” he said pulling out a chair for his aunt.
“Thank you, darling. I must say I’m surprised to see the two of you here together.”
“Surprised?” Ben asked skeptically. “I imagine you already knew we were here before you ever walked through the door. In fact, my guess is that it’s what got you over here with that flimsy excuse about ordering takeout.”
Destiny’s gaze narrowed. “Are you suggesting I’m lying?”
“Just a little fib,” he said. “You’re not all that great at it, you know. You should give it up.”
Destiny turned to Kathleen. “See what I have to put up with. I get no respect from this man.”
“Oh, you get plenty of respect,” Ben countered. “I’m just on to you.”
Destiny sat back contentedly. “If you know why I’m here, that’ll save me the trouble of asking all those pesky questions. Just tell me how you two wound up here.”
“It was an accident,” Ben claimed at once. “We bumped into each other.”
“Alexandria is a long way from Middleburg. How did you just happen to be on the streets around here?” Destiny asked. “Were you coming to see me?”
“No,” Ben said at once.
Destiny chuckled. “I see. Then it was the thought of seafood that drew you?”
“Something like that,” Ben said.
Destiny regarded him smugly. “Something like that, indeed,” she said, a note of satisfaction in her voice.
Kathleen stole a look at Ben. He did not look happy. In fact, judging from his expression, she figured their gooses were pretty much cooked. Destiny would never give up now.
Chapter Six
Ben spent two days kicking himself for choosing to take Kathleen to that particular restaurant for dinner. He knew perfectly well that Destiny had sources there. That was where Richard had met Melanie, and his aunt had had every detail of that meeting before they’d finished their first cups of coffee. Ben knew because she’d gloated about it.
Since he should have guessed the risks, did that mean some part of him had wanted to be caught? Was he hoping in some totally perverse way that Destiny would keep meddling until both he and Kathleen were firmly on the hook?
Surely not, especially after just a couple of brief encounters. He might be in lust with Kathleen, but it certainly didn’t go beyond that, and beyond that is just where Destiny wanted him to go. He didn’t believe for one single second that this was about art, not from his aunt’s perspective, anyway.
But any relationship was doomed. He and Kathleen had discussed the situation and viewed it through clear eyes. It simply wasn’t meant to be. Period.
That didn’t mean he was having much success in ignoring the attraction. Goodness knows he was tempted to drag her into his arms about every ten seconds, but that was another thing they’d agreed on. Sex was a bad idea.
Not that they’d hold out forever, he concluded honestly, especially if they kept on seeing each other on one pretext or another. Proximity was about as dangerous for the two of them as holding a match near the wick on a stick of dynamite and simply hoping there wouldn’t be an explosion.
He was still pondering the entire situation over his morning coffee when he looked up and spotted Richard coming up the front steps. First Mack, now Richard. His brothers were apparently determined to get an unprecedented amount of enjoyment out of watching him squirm.