The Millionaire's Runaway Bride Read online

  CATHERINE GEORGE

  The Millionaire’s Runaway Bride

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 1

  She locked the car, and set off at a run past such a long line of parked cars she felt horribly guilty. The party was obviously in full swing and the guest of honour was late. As she raced up the drive towards the house the door flew open, but before Anna Maitland could start scolding Kate gave her a hug and a penitent kiss.

  ‘Sorry, folks,’ she panted.

  ‘The late Miss Durant!’ Ben Maitland grinned and gave her a bear hug.

  Anna elbowed her husband aside. ‘You said you were about to leave when I rang, Kate. Where have you been?’

  ‘I went on painting too long. And at the last minute I remembered that my party gear was still packed, so I had to wear something that didn’t need ironing.’ Kate pointed an accusing finger at her friend’s clinging beaded dress. ‘Hey—just look at that cleavage! You said dress code was casual.’

  ‘Smart casual,’ scolded Anna, frowning at Kate’s jeans.

  ‘Are we going to stand out here all night?’ inquired Ben.

  ‘No, indeed—get a move on, Kate,’ ordered Anna. ‘Take your things up to the spare room.’

  Kate saluted smartly, and ran upstairs to dump her bag and toss her coat on the bed. She replaced suede boots with black silk slippers with high silver heels, tugged her silver satin camisole into place and teased a loose strand from her up-swept knot of hair. She renewed her lipstick, hung silver and crystal icicles from her ears and ran downstairs to join her friends.

  ‘Smart casual after all, Cinderella,’ said Anna, relieved.

  ‘Ready for the fray?’ asked Ben.

  Kate grinned. ‘You bet. Lead me to the champagne.’

  Anna seized Kate by the hand to tow her through the crowd of people in party mood, taking her on a round of greetings to old acquaintances and introductions to new ones before she left her with a fair, attractive man ordered to take good care of her. Richard Forster was obviously only too happy to do so, and Kate was quickly absorbed into a convivial group, blissfully unaware that she was under surveillance.

  In the adjoining conservatory, half concealed by greenery, a man stood answering questions about his company’s latest regeneration project. His answers were courteous and informative but his covert attention was on the new arrival. Unlike the other women she wore jeans with some shiny thing that looked like underwear. Her lean, boyish figure had fuller curves above the waist now, but her hair still shone like the conkers they’d once collected under his father’s chestnut tree. And, instead of looking the odd one out, she made the other women seem overdressed.

  ‘That’s Anna Maitland’s friend, Kate Durant,’ said the man next to him, following his look. ‘Want an introduction?’

  Still unaware that she was under scrutiny, Kate sipped champagne and contributed her fair share to the conversation in the group. But when she turned her head slightly her fingers clenched, white-knuckled on her glass, as she recognised the tall man wending his way towards her. The mane of black waving hair was shorter, the build more formidable and the angular planes of the face harder, but one look at him was like a blow to the heart.

  ‘Hello, Katherine,’ he said casually, as though it had been days instead of years since their last encounter.

  ‘You’ve met Jack Logan?’ asked Richard Forster, and Kate pulled herself together, smiling with hard-won composure as she held out her hand.

  ‘Why, yes, many moons ago. Hello, Jack. Fancy meeting you here.’

  ‘Kate and I are old friends from way back.’ He included the group in his smile as he put a hand under her elbow. ‘Forgive me if I steal her away for a minute.’

  ‘Sorry I couldn’t introduce you.’ She took her arm back once they were out of earshot. ‘I didn’t get all the names.’

  ‘I know most of them.’

  ‘And they all know you, of course.’

  ‘Big fish, small pool.’ His eyes held hers. ‘You look good, Kate. A touch rounder these days, but it suits you.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Kate peered past him round the room. ‘Where’s your wife?’ she asked pointedly.

  His eyes narrowed in surprise. ‘She’s in Australia.’

  ‘On holiday?’

  ‘Dawn went to live with her sister in Sydney straight after the divorce. She married an Aussie years ago.’

  Divorce? Kate covered her stupefaction with a smile. ‘I hadn’t heard.’

  He smiled coldly. ‘Can’t be easy, keeping track of all your ex-fiancés.’

  Her answering smile was colder. ‘I can’t boast that many.’

  ‘And none at the moment, I hear.’ His eyes moved over her bare shoulders with a look Kate felt like a brand on her skin.

  ‘Who’s your informant?’ she asked.

  ‘The Maitlands’ next door neighbour, Lucy Beresford. Her husband’s company does a lot of electrical work for me. They moved here after you left for the big city.’ Jack smiled blandly. ‘I didn’t tell her I’m on the list of ex-lovers.’

  ‘Why would you?’ She gave him a bright, social smile. ‘Will you excuse me? Good to talk to you again, Jack, but I must see if Anna needs help.’

  Kate stalked into the kitchen, her eyes stormy as she beckoned Anna away from the caterers. ‘A word in private, please.’

  Anna took one look and chivvied Kate into the pantry and closed the door. ‘What’s up?’

  Kate glared at her friend. ‘What on earth possessed you to invite Jack Logan here?’

  Anna looked taken aback. ‘Why ever shouldn’t I? Not that I did invite him,’ she added, pulling a face. ‘Apparently he gave George Beresford a lift home tonight and Lucy convinced our local celeb I’d be delighted if they brought him along to meet you. My jaw dropped when I found Jack Logan on my doorstep, believe me. He never goes to parties.’

  ‘He only came to this one out of curiosity.’ Kate took in a deep breath. ‘He’s the man I was engaged to before I met you.’

  ‘What? You’re kidding!’ Anna goggled in amazement.

  ‘I haven’t seen him since we broke up.’ Kate’s mouth twisted. ‘It was rather a shock to find him here tonight.’

  ‘I bet it was!’ Anna shook her head in wonder. ‘I was in shock myself. And, gush as I might, my faultless hostess act didn’t deceive the man for a second. He knew I felt awful for not inviting him. Anyway, he apologised very charmingly for gatecrashing, and Ben gave him a drink and took him on a round of introductions. But he wouldn’t have needed many. Logan Development’s a household name round here.’ Anna gave her a wicked look. ‘You should have stuck with him. He’s loaded.’

  Kate’s eyes flashed ominously. ‘We didn’t break up over money!’

  ‘I’m sure you didn’t.’ Anna patted her hand. ‘But whatever the reason, don’t let it spoil the party for you. This whole shebang is in your honour, remember.’

  ‘I know, and I appreciate it.’ Kate gave her an apologetic hug. ‘Let me give you a hand with your guests.’

  Kate helped her friend supervise while the catering staff served the buffet supper, exchanged banter with those who knew her and pleasantries with others—and without making it obvious managed to avoid Jack Logan entirely. By the time the last guest was served she was beginning to regret her killer heels and agreed with gratitude when Anna filled a plate for her and insisted she take a b
reak.

  ‘Sneak off to the study with this—if those jeans let you eat!’

  Kate made her escape along the hall to the study, but almost turned tail again when Jack Logan rose from the sofa, plate in hand.

  ‘Looking for sanctuary?’ he asked. ‘Maitland rescued me from people determined to talk shop. But I can find somewhere else.’

  She shrugged indifferently, and settled behind the desk with her supper. ‘Stay if you want.’

  He looked amused as she attacked her meal. ‘You’re obviously hungry.’

  ‘I was too busy to eat lunch today.’

  There was a pause while they ate in fraught silence, Kate determined to get the food down, even if it choked her.

  ‘Are you up for the weekend?’ Jack asked at last, as though he were a polite stranger instead of the man who’d once broken her heart.

  ‘Longer than that.’ Kate munched on a mouthful of cheese torte for a moment. ‘Actually,’ she said, looking him in the eye, ‘I’ve left London for good. I live here now.’

  He stared at her incredulously. ‘Alone?’

  ‘No.’ She held the hard gaze steadily. ‘I live with my niece.’

  ‘Ah, I see.’ His eyes softened. ‘I was very sorry about your sister. Tragic accident.’ He raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘But I’m curious, Kate. What brought you back to this neck of the woods? At one time you couldn’t get away fast enough.’

  ‘My aunt left me a house here in Park Crescent

  . When Elizabeth and Robert were killed—’

  ‘I was at the funeral.’

  She stared at him, startled. ‘Were you? I didn’t see you.’

  He shrugged. ‘It seemed like a bad time to intrude. But I was there.’

  ‘Why, thank you, Jack, that was very kind,’ she said quietly. ‘After it was over I brought my niece to stay here with Anna and Ben. Joanna was desperate to leave London after her parents died, and she liked it here so much I resigned my job, sold my flat and moved to Park Crescent to make a home for her.’

  ‘Amazing.’ Jack’s eyes were cold. ‘Not,’ he added, ‘the admirable aim to make a home for your niece, but to provide it here instead of London. At one time a career there was all you wanted in life. You thought I was mad to stay here and work with my father.’

  Kate shrugged. ‘It was your choice to make. Mine was different.’

  ‘Obviously the right one. I heard you climbed pretty far up the tree in your job. Was your niece your only reason for leaving it?’

  ‘It was the deciding factor, yes, but I’d had a move in mind for a while. The chain of department stores I worked for merged with a bigger outfit a while back. I stayed on for a year or so after the takeover, but it wasn’t the same with the new regime. So when Liz and Robert died I decided to accept the company’s very generous pay-off and make a life for Jo back here.’

  ‘So what will you do now? Look for a job here in town?’

  ‘I’ve already sorted one,’ she said, and got up with her empty plate. ‘Can I get you some pudding?’

  He stood up. ‘Let me bring some for you.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, thanks, Jack, I must get back to the fray. In case you didn’t know, Anna gave the party just for me—a sort of welcome home for the prodigal.’

  ‘I did know. Lucy Beresford told me.’

  She gave him a mocking smile. ‘Yet you still came?’

  ‘It was the sole reason why I came. I rarely go to parties, let alone turn up at one uninvited. Tonight curiosity won over manners.’ His eyes locked with hers. ‘I’m glad it did. It’s good to see you again, Kate.’

  ‘You too, Jack.’ Kate gave him a cool little smile, and hurried back to the sanctuary of the dining room.

  ‘There you are, Kate.’ Anna trickled damson sauce over two plates of hazelnut meringues and handed them over. ‘I promised Richard you’d join him to eat these.’

  ‘Richard,’ repeated Kate blankly.

  ‘Richard Forster, the man I invited for you!’

  ‘Are you matchmaking again?’ said Kate, exasperated. ‘Give it up, Anna. It’s no sin to be single and thirty-something.’

  ‘Thirty-four, if we’re counting,’ Anna reminded her. ‘And I’m not asking you to marry the man, just talk to him for a bit. You’ve hardly spoken two words to him yet.’

  ‘Sorry, sorry, situation remedied right now.’ Kate went off to hunt down her quarry and found him in the conservatory, looking out at the moonlit garden. ‘Hi,’ she said, handing him a plate. ‘I hope you like this kind of thing.’

  In actual fact Richard Forster actively disliked sweet things, but wasn’t fool enough to refuse food, or anything else, offered by a woman like Kate Durant.

  ‘Thank you.’ He began on his meringues with apparent relish while he asked her how she was settling back into small town life after her years in the capital.

  ‘It’s quite an adjustment,’ she admitted. ‘But I grew up here, so I don’t feel totally alien. And I’ve been so busy with my new job and setting my house to rights I haven’t had time to miss my old life. Friends and colleagues, yes, but not the hours I put in, or the endless meetings.’

  ‘I’m with you there,’ he said with feeling. ‘Until recently I worked in a City law practice.’

  ‘What brought you back here?’

  His face shadowed. ‘My father’s health began to deteriorate. I left London to lighten his load in the family firm.’

  ‘Of course.’ Kate clicked her fingers. ‘That’s why the name rang a bell—your father was my aunt’s solicitor. He’s been very helpful to me.’

  ‘Great man, my dad.’ He smiled at her. ‘So, Miss Durant, you and I have something in common; we’re both newly returned to the fold.’

  ‘Has settling back here been hard for you?’

  He sobered abruptly. ‘Afraid so. My wife didn’t settle back with me.’

  ‘Oh.’ Kate smiled in quick sympathy. ‘I’m sorry.’

  He nodded. ‘Me too. I felt very strongly about joining my father but Caroline felt equally so about keeping her job in London. So now we’re a statistic; one more marriage heading for the rocks.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘Sorry! That was more than you wanted to know.’

  He was right there, thought Kate with a pang of guilt. Years ago she had refused to stay here with Jack for a not too different reason. She thrust the memory away and smiled warmly at Richard.

  ‘Can I tempt you to more pudding?’

  ‘No, thanks,’ he said hastily, and took her empty plate. ‘My turn. I’ll fetch coffee.’

  Kate moved behind a concealing fern, glad of a moment alone to get herself together. Just seeing Jack Logan again had been shock enough, but the news that he’d been divorced for years was shattering. No surprise in some ways; straight, attractive men of Jack’s age—and Richard Forster’s—were rarely just plain single. But Richard was clearly still affected by his break-up, while she doubted very much that Jack’s recovery had taken long. Her eyes kindled. Lord knew it had taken him no time at all to find someone else after she’d left for London. Whereas she’d taken years to get over Jack Logan. She gazed out over the moonlit garden with nostalgia. She’d been so young and so madly in love…She tensed, the hairs standing up on her neck when a voice spoke in her ear.

  ‘Why are you hiding in here?’

  She felt Jack’s breath, warm on her skin, and turned sharply. ‘Waiting for my coffee to arrive.’ She looked past him, smiling brightly as Richard joined them.

  ‘I was told you like yours black and sweet, Kate,’ he informed her, handing her a cup. ‘Can I bring some for you, Logan?’

  ‘Good of you, but no thanks, I’m leaving,’ said Jack. ‘I just came to say goodnight.’

  ‘Goodbye, then. So nice to see you again,’ Kate said politely.

  Jack nodded to them both and strolled off to find his hostess. Kate stared after his tall, commanding figure for a moment then turned to Richard with a smile. ‘Jack and I were friends a long time ago.’


  ‘So I gather,’ he said wryly, well aware that there’d been a lot more than just friendship between them. And Jack Logan still wanted it. Jack could have confirmed this. After leaving the party he’d felt a crazy impulse to head for Park Crescent

  to wait for Kate. But common sense warned that a brandy before bed was a better idea than hanging about outside her house in the small hours only to find that someone else had brought her home—Forster, probably. Or she could be staying the night with the Maitlands. His mouth twisted in sudden derision. It was unlikely she’d have fallen into his arms if he had lain in wait for her. But his body’s reaction to even the thought of it made it plain that he still wanted her. He always had, from the moment he’d first set eyes on her.

  Kate had been standing on the steps of the Guildhall, selling poppies for Remembrance Day. She’d accosted him with a smile, rattling her tin when he parked near her pitch. He’d bought the biggest poppy on her tray and on impulse presented it to her with a bow, and she’d blushed. Jack had never seen a girl blush so vividly before. He’d stared, fascinated by the tide of colour, but more people came up to buy poppies, he was late for an appointment, and when he returned to his car later she’d gone.

  Back in the cold, dark present Jack Logan pressed a remote control and drove through tall iron gates along a winding drive to the stables he’d converted to a garage when he’d first started developing the property. At that turning point in his life, with a broken engagement, a hasty marriage and even hastier divorce under his belt, he’d made a conscious decision to steer clear of close relationships with women in future. From that day forward all his passions would be channelled into expanding the family building firm.

  When he first bought the Mill House property his original plan had been to get rid of the house itself and use the land for one of the mixed housing projects that were rapidly winning Logan Development a respected name. But the almost derelict house, sleeping at the centre of wild overgrown grounds, cast such a spell on him he couldn’t bring himself to demolish it. Instead he put the property on the back burner and concentrated on more pressing projects. When he eventually turned his attention to Mill House he’d planned to make it into a show house as an advertisement for the company’s restoration skills before putting it up for sale. But the process of converting a virtual ruin into a dreamhouse backfired on him. While the house was slowly, carefully restored, and the land around it tamed and nurtured, he’d looked from tall windows at a seductive view of mill pond and chestnut trees and felt a sense of possession almost as fierce as the emotion once experienced for Kate. When the work was completed Mill House was so much his own creation it was impossible to let someone else live there.