Free Mr Destiny by Candy Halliday Page B

said quickly. She turned around in her chair and turned her back on Alex and Eve. “He isn't harassing me, Harold.
     He just has a problem. He wants me to meet his grandmother. Just to prove to his family that I'm not the woman he's supposed
     to marry.”
    “You can't be serious.”
    “I know, it sounds bizarre.” She left out the part about his mother being locked in her bedroom praying. That part was still
     hard for her to believe herself. “But his family is upset,” Kate said. “And I did agree to meet the grandmother.”
    “You're too nice for your own good, Kate,” he said, with a sigh. “People can sense that about you. The cop's problem with
     his family is
his
problem. Not yours.”
    “I know it's not my problem, Harold,” Kate said, trying not to be miffed at the condescending tone in his voice. “But this
     is an unusual situation. I really am the only one who can help him.”
    He let out another disgusted sigh. “You agreed to meet the grandmother where?”
    Kate squeezed her eyes shut, already anticipating Harold's reaction. Manhattan was the only New York City borough that existed
     for him. “I'm meeting the grandmother at his parents' restaurant in Queens.”
    “Queens,” Harold said flatly. “Why doesn't that surprise me?”
    Kate ignored him. “I'll take a taxi. Straight to Queens. Straight back. I just thought you should know. That's the only reason
     I mentioned it.”
    “Nonsense,” Harold said. “I'll call my driver. If you're determined to go to Queens, he'll take you. When are you going?”
    “Tomorrow night. I need to be there by seven o'clock.”
    “Morgan will pick you up at your apartment at six,” Harold said. “But I want you to warn this guy that if he bothers you again,
     he'll be facing a restraining order.”
    A restraining order.
    Nice touch, Harold.
    “I really must get going,” he said. “I'll call you tomorrow night at nine instead of seven. I'm having dinner with the CEO
     of the company I'm representing. I should be through by nine, and you should be back from Queens by then.”
    He hung up as Kate mumbled a quick good-bye.
    “Well?” Alex said when Kate closed her cell phone and turned back around in her chair. “Is Harold upset that you agreed to
     go to Queens?”
    “Not really. He's sending his driver to take me.”
    “Kate!” Alex said, shaking her head. “Please tell me you realize there's something wrong with Harold's reaction.”
    “Harold trusts me.”
    “Trusts you? Or is he just so arrogant he can't imagine you looking at anyone else? Especially some cop?”
    Kate refused to answer.
    “I'm just saying the first question John would have asked me if I told him I was going off to meet some guy who claimed we
     were destined to be together was whether or not I was attracted to the guy.”
    Eve sent Kate a sheepish look. “Sorry, Kate. But even the snake would have asked me the same thing.”
    Kate shrugged. “Okay. Maybe Harold is a bit overconfident. I don't see why that's a problem.”
    “It's a problem because you and Harold both treat your relationship like some business arrangement, Kate. So you like the
     same things. Big deal. So you're both at a point in your lives where you're ready to settle down. So what? Those are
not
reasons to get married.”
    When Kate still refused to comment, Alex said, “Tell us the truth. Why didn't you answer Tony when he asked you point-blank
     if you loved Harold? And don't give me that lame ‘it's none of your business’ line you gave him. I want to hear you say it
     with your own lips, Kate. Tell me you love Harold. If you do, I swear, I'll never make a smart remark about him again.”
    “I love a lot of things about Harold,” Kate said. “I love the attention he gives me. I love the concern he has for his mother.
     I love that he's smart, that he's confident, that…”
    Alex laughed. “See? You just can't say it, can you?”
    Kate sighed. “Okay. Maybe Harold and I aren't madly in love