She considered for a moment, then she pulled her handbag from under her arm, opened it, and extracted the cards Denys had given her earlier. The first thing to do was to keep her part of the bargain she’d proposed and find herself an agent. And perhaps, she thought, tapping the white card against the smooth kid of her gloved palm, she’d learn some valuable information and gain some ideas in the process.
Chapter 10
Denys thought he’d made it plain to Lola that they could never be partners, and that kiss, though unintended, had provided ample proof of the reasons why. He soon discovered, however, that despite everything, she remained undeterred.
First thing Monday morning, he received her formal written request calling for a meeting, making him more determined than ever to find a way out of this. But his options were limited. The only means of escape he could see were to sell his family’s share, buy her out, or find some way to break the partnership agreement. The first he still refused to consider, and the second he’d already tried, so the third was his only hope. He discussed the matter at length with his solicitors and spent two days poring over the partnership agreement, but to no avail, and he began to fear he might be stuck with Lola for good.
But then a note came from his friend Nick, inviting him to a private dinner at White’s with Jack Featherstone and their other two closest friends, and Denys’s spirits revived a bit. Being acquainted with Lola already, the other four men knew she was chaos in a corset. And they’d seen Denys’s disastrous liaison with her play out in full, so they would appreciate why he had to keep that woman as far from him and his family as possible. And they were all men of business. They might have valuable advice to offer. He accepted Nick’s invitation with alacrity.
The following night, he waited until after they had dined and the port had made its first journey around the table before he opened the topic weighing so heavily on his mind.
“Lola’s back in town.” Those words would impel any man to need a drink, and he immediately downed his port in one draught.
The initial response of his friends varied. Nick nodded, not seeming surprised, probably because his wife, Belinda, was one of the most influential ladies of society and heard every scrap of news almost the moment it happened. Stuart, the Duke of Margrave, raised one dark eyebrow with ducal impassivity and said nothing. James, the Earl of Hayward, gave a low whistle. Jack, ever irrepressible, actually laughed.
“You seem a bit rattled by this, old boy,” he said. “Is there a problem?”
Denys stared at the man seated beside him, unable to believe Jack could ask such a question. “Lola’s back. She’s here,” he added, as his friend merely grinned. “In London.”
“I heard you. No need to keep reiterating the point.” Jack faced him, settling back against the arm of his chair, drink in hand. “But I’m not sure how it signifies.”
Denys proceeded to explain, but even after he’d offered an account of the past week’s events—carefully edited, of course—Jack’s amusement wasn’t dimmed in the slightest. “By Jove, Denys, what a lucky chap you are.”
“Lucky?”
“Yes. You’re a bachelor, and you’re in business with a beautiful, desirable woman. What single man wouldn’t think himself fortunate in such circumstances?”
“This one,” Denys assured him, and took up the port decanter to refill his glass. “I’d prefer the devil for a partner. Not,” he added glumly, “that there’s much of a difference in this case.”
“It’ll be a difficult transition at first, no doubt,” Nick said from his other side, as Denys passed him the decanter. “You’ll be dealing with someone who isn’t halfway around the world, allowing you to make all the decisions on your own.”
“That’s not my objection.”
“Then what is?”
“She has this notion we should make peace. Bury the past and work together. As colleagues.” He paused for a swallow of port. “God, what a notion.”
Nick shrugged. “Is it so absurd?”
James saved Denys from having to answer by pulling the bottle from Nick’s hand. Clearly feeling that along with the port came the opportunity to offer an opinion, he offered his.
“Why can’t you work together?” he asked as he poured himself more port. “Lola’s approach seems quite sensible to me.”
“Sensible?” Denys couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Sensible?”
“It is, rather,” Stuart put in as he took the port from James. “You’re partners in a very lucrative enterprise, and you can’t conduct its business without her, at least not without strong-arm tactics and legal wrangling. What happened between you was a long time ago. You’ve both gone on with your lives and gotten over it.” Stuart paused in refilling his glass, his gray eyes meeting Denys’s across the table. “Haven’t you?”
“Of course we have.” As he spoke, he strove to keep his expression neutral. The last thing he needed was for his friends to perceive his desire for Lola wasn’t quite as over as he’d wanted to believe. “There are no romantic considerations here.”
“Well, there you are.” Stuart set the port beside Jack and leaned back in his chair. “Anyone going to Ascot in June?”
Several assents were voiced and one or two horses mentioned before Denys could get a word in. “Damn it, gentlemen, I don’t want to discuss Ascot. I’m in the devil of a mess, and I’d appreciate some suggestions on how to get out of it.”
“I don’t see what you can do,” Stuart reiterated. “Unless you sell your shares, I’m not sure you have any way out of this, and why should you want one? Why does it matter?”
Denys didn’t have the chance to reply.
“It seems we’re back to my original question,” Jack said. “What’s the problem?”
“Lola is the problem.” Denys glanced around the table, noting in bafflement their unenlightened stares. “Lola, the woman all of us—Stuart excepted—were once infatuated with. The very woman Nick was so enamored with that he tried to steal her away from me at one time, as I recall.”
“You mean I tried to steal her back,” Nick clarified, grinning at him. “Since I’m the one who introduced you to her in the first place.”
“We both introduced them,” Jack corrected.
“Either way,” Nick resumed, “I failed. Even after all my invitations to dinner, my offers of expensive champagne, and my wittiest, most charming conversation, I cut no ice with her. For some inexplicable reason, she chose you instead. But Jack and I knew her first, so if anyone did the stealing, Denys, it was you.”
“That’s codswallop,” Denys denied, feeling defensive all of a sudden. “You just admitted you cut no ice with her. And Jack didn’t either. So don’t tell me I stole her because she never belonged to either of you.”
“I’m not sure Lola could ever belong to any man,” Jack interjected with a laugh. “From what I recall, she always seemed very much in possession of her own heart and mind. I suspect that’s what made her so fascinating.”
“A characteristic which also makes her a poor prospect as a business partner,” Denys pointed out, hoping they could steer clear of any discussion of Lola’s more fascinating aspects.
“Why should it?” Nick asked. “Because the pair of you will see things differently? You’ll disagree? Fight?”