Now he’d gone and compounded his mistake by deciding to drag a perfectly nice woman into his aunt’s web of intrigue, when he should have been doing everything in his power to keep the two of them as far apart as humanly possible. His head pounded just thinking about what dinner was going to be like.
Hoping for backup, he picked up the phone and called his brother Mack.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the newly proclaimed Romeo of the family,” Mack taunted when he heard Richard’s voice.
“Go to hell.”
Mack laughed. Mack was used to having his name bandied all over town, linked with a different socialite each time. Richard was not.
“As soon as you’re through enjoying this, I have a favor to ask,” Richard announced grimly.
“Anything,” Mack said, instantly sober. “You know that. Should I go over to the paper and put the fear of God into Pete Forsythe? I’ve been dying to have a legitimate excuse for a long time now. Unfortunately, most of what he reports about me is true. The man’s a menace to the privacy of all bachelors.”
“Not worth getting your knuckles roughed up,” Richard said.
“I wasn’t planning to resort to brute force, despite my reputation from the football field,” Mack said, sounding wounded that Richard thought so little of him. “I can be intimidating in other ways.”
Richard chuckled despite his lousy mood. “Believe me, I am aware of that. Actually, though, I was hoping you’d back me up at Destiny’s tonight. Intimidate her a little.”
“Oh, no,” Mack said. “She is obviously on one of her matchmaking tears. When she gets this way, I prefer flying under her radar.”
“Believe me, she’s going to be too busy focusing on me tonight to worry about you,” Richard told him. “I’m taking Melanie Hart to dinner.”
Mack whistled. “Oh, brother, you are living dangerously, aren’t you? Or is something really going on between you and this woman?”
“There is nothing going on,” Richard assured him. “But I want Destiny to think otherwise.”
“Why the hell would you want that?”
“I’m hoping Destiny will back off if she’s convinced I’m doing exactly what she wanted,” Richard explained. “And if you tell another living, breathing soul I said that, I’ll make sure that Destiny tries to hook you up with the most avaricious, impossible female in this entire region. Believe me, I know some of the worst. I’ll give her a list of candidates guaranteed to make your life miserable.”
“Speaking of intimidation,” Mack said quietly, “you’re not bad at it yourself.”
“Thank you. Will you be there?”
“How could I possibly refuse such a gracious invitation to dine with my family?” Mack said with a sarcastic bite to his voice. “Are you calling Ben?”
“No, I think you’ll do for now.”
“But baby brother might enjoy this,” Mack objected. “He’s never seen you on the ropes before. We’ve always thought you were invincible, afraid of nothing.”
“Very amusing. Besides, Ben doesn’t enjoy anything that means he has to leave his farm in Middle-burg and stop brooding for an entire evening. On top of that, he’s too honest for conspiracies.”
“And I’m not?” Mack inquired with a touch of indignation.
“Not even close. You thrive on them. That’s why you’re so good at using sneaky, clever tactics to lure the best, most unavailable football talent to your team,” Richard said. “Seven-thirty, okay?”
“Despite the number of times you’ve insulted me in this conversation, I’ll be there,” Mack promised. “Hope I can keep a straight face.”
“Consider the alternative,” Richard told him grimly.
After he’d hung up, he kept staring at the phone. He loved his brother. He knew Mack would go to the mat for him or for Ben, but an actor? No way. It was entirely possible he’d just made his second-worst mistake of the day. Apparently he was on a real roll.
Melanie had anticipated a barrage of last-minute instructions from Richard on the drive to his aunt’s. Instead, beyond an approving once-over and a friendly-enough greeting when he’d picked her up, he’d remained stoically silent. It was getting on her nerves.
“Don’t you think maybe we should go over our plan?” she asked finally.
He glanced at her then, the line of his jaw hard. “You think I actually have a plan?”
“I was hoping for one, yes. You have a reputation for being very organized, for leaving nothing to chance.”