“What I know is that sometimes a reporter can be an ally, if you know when to talk and what to say,” she retorted. “Besides, I was already committed to taking the call before I knew why he was calling. As soon as I realized what he was after, I thought it would be wise to find out exactly what he’d heard. Once he started asking questions about you and me being at the cottage, I danced around the answers and hung up.”
Richard sighed. She was making too damned much sense to be flat-out lying. “Then you never confirmed the story?”
She scowled at him. “Do I look that stupid?”
“Then who the hell was so reliable that Forsythe would print the story without confirmation from one of us? Someone in your office?”
“No. Becky would never do something like that.”
“Not even in some misguided attempt to do you a favor?”
“Never.”
“Who else knew you were down there?” he demanded, then stared at her stricken face as understanding dawned on both of them. He said it first. “Destiny, of course.”
Even though she’d clearly been leaning in the same direction, Melanie looked genuinely shocked that he would accuse his aunt of betraying them. “Surely, she wouldn’t do such a thing?”
Richard’s laugh was forced. “Oh, yes, she would, especially if she thought planting that story in the paper would accomplish her goal.”
“Do you know what her goal is? Because frankly, I’m a little confused.”
“No, you’re not. You’ve already confronted her about it. She wants us together,” he said grimly. If he hadn’t known it before, he did now. This was the act of a very determined matchmaker.
“You mean me working for you,” Melanie replied, still trying for a positive spin.
“No, together together,” he said impatiently. “A couple.”
Melanie turned pale, and for the first time since entering his office, she sank onto a chair. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, yes. I know my aunt and she’s all but admitted as much, though if she’d been half as good at skirting the truth with Forsythe as she was with me, we wouldn’t be in this mess. That tells me she very deliberately spilled the beans.”
“This is crazy,” Melanie said. “She can’t just manipulate us into doing what she wants. We’re two reasonable adults who are perfectly capable of making our own decisions, and we’ve decided that we’re completely unsuited.” She met his gaze. “Haven’t we?”
“That was the way we left it this weekend,” Richard agreed.
“Then all we need to do is tell her that.”
“I did.”
“And?”
He dragged the paper out of the trash and waved it in her direction. “This was her response. She’s obviously not giving up.”
“She’s your aunt. Do something.”
Richard gave her a rueful look. He’d never been any good at thwarting Destiny when she was on a mission. It was smarter to give in than to wait to be mowed down. Maybe Melanie would have a better tactic.
“Any suggestions?” he asked.
He waited as her expression turned thoughtful, then forlorn.
“None,” she said finally. “You? You know her better than I do. Surely you can think of something to get her off this tangent.”
Short of strangling her, there weren’t a lot of viable options, even fewer he could live with. It struck Richard that they were simply going to have to play this out. He felt only minimally guilty that he didn’t feel nearly as bad about that as he probably should. Still, he managed a resigned air as he said grimly, “Then we have absolutely no choice. We give her what she wants.”
Melanie stared. “Huh?”
He grinned. “I thought you were quicker to catch on to things.”
“Not this,” she admitted. “This seems a little out there, like a publicity stunt that’s doomed to failure.”
“It’ll work. Trust me,” Richard said, injecting a note of certainty into his voice.
“Let me be sure I have this straight,” Melanie said, as if she were grappling with a Nobel Prize caliber physics theory. “You’re suggesting that you and I pretend to be together to get Destiny to back off?”
Watching the flash of heat in Melanie’s eyes, Richard began to warm to the idea. The part of himself he’d been struggling to ignore all weekend long was ecstatic about this new strategy, despite its obvious risks. In fact, he had no intention of looking too closely at the risks.
“That is exactly what I mean,” he said, trying not to sound too eager.
Melanie looked doubtful, not disgusted. He took that as a good sign.