Kitabı oku: «Australian Millionaires», sayfa 2

Two

“Ma-marry?” Lynette stuttered just as there was a lull in conversation at the table. Then all hell seemed to break loose.

“Marry? Who’s getting married?”

“You and Kia are getting married?”

“Oh, I just knew something serious was going on between you two.”

Kia was frozen in her seat. It wasn’t often she was lost for words, but this time she was, shock causing any protest to wedge in her throat. Had Phillip just said what she thought he’d said? In front of everyone?

He looked at Kia, brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I know we were going to wait until after Christmas, darling, but I think now’s as good a time as any.” He smiled, but his eyes implored her not to make a scene. “Forgive me for telling everyone our little secret?”

She was going to kill him. Doing a favor for her boss was one thing, but this was going too far. But what could she do? Make him look a fool in front of everyone? In front of Lynette? The other woman had been the reason for all this pretence in the first place.

A faint thread of hysteria rose in her throat. “I—”

“Details,” someone cut across her, which was probably best because she had no idea what she’d been about to say.

“Yes, give us details. We want to know everything.”

“Yeah, like where’s your engagement ring?”

Phillip laughed. “We don’t have any details yet. I only proposed tonight.” He smiled lovingly at her. “We’ll pick out a ring after Christmas, won’t we, darling?”

Still in shock, Kia was trying to think what to say. “Um …”

“How romantic,” one of the women said on a sigh.

“Yes, isn’t it,” Brant said, a penetrating look in his eyes that made Kia feel as if he knew everything about them and didn’t like what he saw.

Yet Phillip had been insistent when they’d started this charade that no one know about it but themselves. Not even Brant. Especially not Brant, Phillip had said, worried his business partner might think he was being irresponsible. Apparently Brant still hadn’t forgiven Phillip for some silly error he’d made with one of their clients. It hadn’t been that important, Phillip had told her, but Brant had been watching him like a hawk ever since.

And she’d gone along with the secret for her own reasons. It had afforded her some degree of protection against the desire she saw in Brant’s eyes. Always he was around … watching … waiting … as if ready to pounce on her the minute Phillip was out of sight, both physically and mentally.

“You’re a lucky woman, Kia,” Lynette suddenly said in a quiet voice, her face pale as she took a shaky breath. An awkward silence fell. “Well, I must get back to my table.” She looked at Phillip, her bleak eyes riveted on his face. “Congratulations, Phillip. Goodbye.”

His very breath seemed to leave him, then he appeared to gather his resolve. “Goodbye, Lynette,” he said brusquely.

She walked away with stiff dignity that made Kia inwardly flinch. God, she felt bad about her involvement in all this, having met the woman now. It had started out so innocently … so uncomplicated. No one should have gotten hurt.

But Lynette was hurting badly right now. And so was Phillip. He couldn’t have known she’d be here. Couldn’t have prepared himself for—

Suddenly something fell into place and Kia realized that Phillip had known Lynette was going to be here tonight. It was the reason he’d been distant after lunch. The reason he’d given her the diamond necklace to wear. And the reason he’d asked Brant to dance with her, making sure she was on the dance floor and on show for the other woman.

To hurt Lynette.

The thought tore at Kia’s insides. She’d never deliberately hurt someone in her life and didn’t appreciate being a part of this now. She’d tell Phillip on the way home and make him promise to set things right after this once and for all.

It was as well the DJ announced he would take a break while they served the meal, and everything became a flurry of people returning to their tables.

All at once she realized Brant was watching her with narrowed intensity. Every instinct inside her told her not to let him figure out the truth just yet. He was the senior partner—the boss—and he would take no hostages.

She felt uneasy as Brant continued to watch them while they worked their way through each course. By the time dessert was served she felt as though her relationship with her new fiancé had been scrutinized.

Suddenly Phillip pushed his wheelchair back from the table and gave a weak smile to the other guests. “You’ll have to excuse me, but I think I’ll call it a night. My leg is really starting to give me hell.” He looked at Kia apologetically. “Darling, you stay and enjoy yourself.”

She’d been concentrating so hard on Brant that his announcement took her completely by surprise. Come to think of it, Phillip hadn’t eaten much and he’d been very quiet throughout the meal.

Probably from guilt, she decided, anger building at him even thinking about leaving her here and throwing her to the wolves. Or should that be wolf?

As in, Brant Matthews.

“I’ll come with you,” she said, reaching for her purse, determined to get away from all prying eyes.

He gave her a tired smile that was offset by the wary gleam in his eyes. “There’s no need, darling. I’ll be going straight to bed.”

Kia wasn’t about to let Phillip get away with this. They needed to talk. Tonight.

She pushed her chair back farther. “Still, I think I’ll go home, too.”

Phillip put up a hand. “Please stay, darling. I don’t want to spoil your fun.”

What fun? She didn’t call Brant’s company fun, not with him watching her, waiting. And if Phillip called her “darling” one more time, she was going to scream. She was no man’s “darling,” not when her father liked to call her his “darling girl.”

She turned back to Phillip, ready to insist on going with him. Only the look in his eyes stopped her dead. Seeing Lynette again had upset him.

Compassion stirred within her, diminishing her anger to a degree. “Okay, Phillip. I understand. You just get plenty of rest so that we can go to the art exhibition tomorrow.” Her eyes said she intended talking to him then about all this.

His eyes darted away uneasily. “I’ll call you in the morning.”

“I’ll make sure she gets home safely,” Brant said out of the blue.

Kia’s heart lurched. She couldn’t imagine being in the confines of a car with Brant. Why, even the ballroom wasn’t enough to stop his silent seduction.

“No, that’s okay,” she said quickly. “I’ll take a taxi.”

“Not in that, you won’t,” Brant said arrogantly, giving her breasts a raking glance in the clinging silver dress. “There was a woman attacked just last week after she left one of the hotels by herself.”

“Yes, and they caught the guy, remember?” she pointed out, resisting the urge to tug at her bodice and cover her cleavage. “It was an old boyfriend.” She turned to Phillip. “I’ll be fine.”

But Phillip was frowning. “No, Brant’s right. You’re too attractive to be out on your own late at night.”

Okay, this was getting crazy.

“Phillip, don’t be ridiculous. I’m a grown woman. I know how to take care of myself.”

Phillip opened his mouth, but it was Brant who spoke. “I don’t think it’s ridiculous that your …” He paused. “… fiancé is concerned for your safety.”

She grimaced inwardly. What could she say to that? “Fine. You can drive me home then.”

God help her.

Satisfied with that, Phillip fobbed off someone’s suggestion that they announce the engagement over the microphone before he left. She shuddered at the suggestion, knowing it would be public knowledge soon enough. Oh, heavens, and wasn’t that idiotic journalist who’d written the comment about her getting her hooks into Phillip going to just love all this?

Thankfully Phillip’s male nurse, Rick, was in the hotel and was ready and waiting by the time Kia pushed the wheelchair through the ballroom doors. She tried to speak to Phillip, but all she got was a quick apology and a promise to talk later.

Then Rick wheeled him away. Suddenly the hardest thing to do was turn around and walk back into that room. Brant would be there with his arrogance and his hostility, and if he said so much as one word out of place, she would pour his drink over his head.

She smiled to herself. As a matter of fact, she hoped he did, she mused as she pushed open the doors and immediately felt those hard eyes eating her up from across the room. They scorched her with a look that bordered on physical intensity.

Unable to stop herself, she glanced at Brant. Through the sea of people and smoke-filled air, her knees weakened as sexual heat enveloped her, even as he pretended to be listening to something Simon said to him.

And it was a pretence. Every feminine instinct told her that he’d like nothing more than to sweep her into his arms and lose himself in her body. Her body. She had to remember that’s all he wanted.

“Hey, babe. Wanna dance?”

Startled, she turned and looked into the face of Danny Tripp, the teenage son of one of the executives who worked a few days a week in the accounts department, and who turned beetroot-red whenever she came into the room. She’d never been able to get him to say more than two words at a time.

But not tonight, it seemed. Tonight tall, young, clean-cut Danny Tripp, fortified by alcohol, had a silly grin on his face and was game for anything, especially with a group of his mates egging him on.

Great. Now she had two men lusting after her. Well, one was really only a boy in a man’s body. And the other? Yes, Brant Matthews was all man. And more. Much more.

She glanced across the room and saw the alert look in his eyes that told her he sensed another male moving in on his territory. His territory. How ridiculous to think that way. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling.

Dragging her gaze away, she gave Danny a friendly smile so that he wouldn’t feel embarrassed in front of his friends. “I’d love to dance with you, Danny.”

“You would?” For a moment he appeared stunned. Then he grabbed her hand and dragged her out onto the dance floor.

She stumbled into his arms when he spun around to face her, and before she knew it, he’d slid his hands onto her hips, pulled her close to his lanky body and buried his face in her hair. There was none of the finesse Brant had exhibited earlier when he’d taken her in his arms. This was pure adolescent male, hungry for sex, and all the better with a woman he fancied.

Slightly alarmed—and hearing his pals’ whistles over the slow music—she put her hands against his chest and forced some distance between them. “Danny, I—”

“Don’t talk, babe.” He went to pull her back into position.

She held firm against him. “Dan-ny …” The tone of her voice must have gotten through to him, because the hold on her hips slackened. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at him, pleased to see some of the alcoholic glaze disappear from his eyes.

He gave her a self-conscious grin. “Sorry, Kia. I guess you went to my head.”

She relaxed with a smile, finding his boyishness easier to handle. “I think the drink had more to do with it than me.”

He shrugged wryly. “Yeah, well, I’m not used to drinking rum.”

Kia suspected he wasn’t used to drinking at all. “I once got drunk on brandy and was sick for a full week.”

“You got drunk? No foolin’?”

“I was young once, too, you know,” she joked, even while her heart cramped with pain at the reason she’d been drinking. It had been the day her father had married his second wife. He hadn’t wanted his “plain-looking” daughter at the wedding—or that’s what he’d been telling her mother when Kia had accidentally picked up the telephone to make a call.

She’d been crushed by his rejection, though at fifteen she should have been used to his insensitivity. Afterward she’d feigned ignorance when her mother had gently explained about her father’s remarriage. She had then gone out and gotten rotten drunk at a friend’s party, learning the hard way that drinking didn’t solve a thing.

“I hope you won’t spread that around?” she said now, pushing aside her painful memories to smile up at Danny.

“Er …” His eyes darted to his friends at the table behind them, then back to her. “Sorry. What did you say?”

Someone yelled out, “Yea, Danny,” but she pretended not to notice. They were only having fun. “I said I hope you won’t tell anyone that I once got drunk. I have a reputation to uphold,” she teased.

His gaze went beyond her again, seemed to hesitate. Then, taking a deep breath, he pulled her up close once more. “I won’t say anything,” he said as if whispering sweet nothings in her ear. “I promise, babe.”

He was obviously more concerned with his own reputation than hers, so it was silly to feel a flutter of apprehension just because he wanted to show off for his friends. He was really just a kid who’d had too much to drink.

Should she wait until the music stopped, then go back to her table? Or go now? The room was full of people. Surely nothing would happen to her in the middle of the dance floor….

She jumped when he began to nuzzle her neck. Okay, no way could she let this go any further. “Danny, I—”

“Let the lady go,” a deep male voice said beside them, startling them both, the warning in Brant’s voice clearly evident.

Danny shoved himself away from Kia, a slightly belligerent look on his face until he caught sight of who’d spoken. His cheeks began to turn red as he looked at Brant’s thunderous expression. “I’m sorry, Mr. Matthews,” he said quickly. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“I know exactly what you were doing, Daniel.” Brant jerked his head at the table behind them. “I suggest you go back to your table before I decide to tell Mr. Reid what you were trying to do with his PA.”

Danny looked horrified. “I was just fooling around, Mr. Matthews—promise,” he said, then scurried away, obviously terrified he would lose his job.

Kia couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young man. Brant could be a formidable figure when he chose to be, though why he chose to throw his weight around now was anybody’s guess.

She winced inwardly. That wasn’t quite true. She knew exactly why he wanted Danny away from her. But before she could think further, Brant swept her into his arms and began to lead her around the dance floor. His touch was impersonal enough, so why did she feel acutely aware of him and his sexual power over her?

Angry with herself for her reaction, she shot him a look that would make a lesser man stumble. “You didn’t need to frighten him like that.”

“Yes, I did.”

And she saw that deep down he did. It fit his dangerous persona. The predator who never gave up his prey without a fight. All very subliminal, yet it was there, hidden beneath his civilized exterior. God, was she the only one who saw it? Who felt it? She must be.

She swallowed a lump of apprehension. “You had no right to interfere.”

His grip tightened. “I had every right. Philip would expect me to protect his … fiancée.”

She ignored another insulting pause. “Danny’s just a boy. He was having some fun, that’s all.”

A cynical smile immediately twisted his lips. “He’s a young man who was almost having his way with you right there on the floor.” He shrugged. “But, hey, if that’s how you get your kicks, then maybe—”

“Shut up, Brant.”

For a moment it was hard to tell who was the more surprised, but then a satisfied light came into his blue eyes. “Hurrah! She said my name.”

Kia found herself exchanging a subtle look of amusement with him. Okay, so he’d won that small victory. She could allow him that, seeing he really had saved her from a possibly unpleasant situation.

“If it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll talk to Danny on Monday,” he said. “For now, it’ll do him good to stew over the weekend. He needs to learn a lesson about not making a move on the boss’s woman.”

Which boss? she wanted to ask, a tingle running down her spine at the thought of being Brant’s woman. She grimaced. One of Brant’s women. “Thank you.”

There was a moment’s pause, then, “So congratulations are in order,” he said in a harsh voice that suddenly matched his eyes.

Unable to bring herself to say yes, she merely nodded.

“I’m surprised,” he continued. “Most women couldn’t have kept it a secret.”

“I’m not most women.”

“True.” But it didn’t sound like a compliment. His burning gaze slid down the column of her throat, to the necklace, and rested there for a moment. “Diamonds look good on you,” he said almost as if he disliked her for it. “Another expensive gift from Phillip?”

“Another?”

“As well as the Porsche.”

Good grief. Did he think Phillip had bought the car for her? She felt her cheeks redden. “Phillip did not give me the Porsche.”

His eyes flickered with surprise. “But he gave you the necklace, right?” His expression darkened, grew stormy. “He’s generous to a fault.”

The way he said it was as if Phillip was generous and she was at fault. For a moment she wondered what she’d ever done to this man—apart from not hopping into bed with him.

As for the necklace, how could she tell him she was giving it back to Phillip? He’d have to ask why. So let him think what he liked. He did anyway.

After that, he seemed to sense her withdrawal, because he remained quiet while they danced around the floor. Kia fought hard to concentrate on being angry with him, but the music was growing insistent, bringing his body against her own, each step sensuously rubbing leg against leg.

His hand rested on her hip, every movement making his palm slide a little up, a little down.

Up. Down.

Hot. Cool.

In. Out.

Oh, God.

“Are you all right?”

His husky words snapped Kia’s head back and she gazed into eyes that smoldered with awareness. Her heart lurched sideways, his magnetism so potent, so compelling that she could imagine him taking her right here and now in a raw act of possession that had everything to do with pure sex and erotic pleasure and nothing to do with reason. And he knew. Oh, yes, he knew, because that feeling was rushing through him, too. She could see it in his eyes. In every beat of his heart.

“It’s—” she moistened her lips “—a bit hot in here, that’s all,” she said, pretending it was the crowd of people on the dance floor affecting her, and not him. “Too many people wanting to let their hair down, I guess.”

His gaze dropped to her mouth, and the blue of his eyes darkened. Then he glanced up at the blond hair she’d put up for tonight. “Do you ever let your hair down, Kia?” he murmured.

What was he really asking? Whether she’d dare go to bed with him? Somehow, somewhere, she had to find the strength to pull herself out of this. If Phillip were here …

Of course!

Stronger now, she planted a cool smile on her lips. “Phillip’s really the only one I let my hair down for now.”

He tensed, a muscle ticking at his jaw. “Phillip didn’t seem himself tonight.”

She knew what he was implying. That Lynette’s presence had upset him. “He’s been doing too much this week.”

“Nothing else?”

Kia remembered the deciphering way Brant had looked at her and Phillip after Lynette had left and she felt a flutter of panic. “Maybe being the center of attention tonight was too much for him.”

“Perhaps.”

Everything had been crazy since the accident, and with Phillip having been told he’d have a permanent limp, she knew Brant couldn’t be sure that hadn’t been the problem tonight. She was banking on that to save her from further interrogation.

The music ended, and her heart skipped with relief when he let her slip from his arms without another word. He escorted her back to the table, fortunately without touching her, but she still resisted the urge to fan herself as she took her seat. One more dance with him and she’d have gone up in smoke.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Serena asked.

Kia smiled at the other woman and tried not to show how her pulse was bubbling like the fresh glass of champagne in her hand. What a question. How could she enjoy herself when every look sent her way told her that this woman’s date wanted her with a passion.

“I’m having a great time,” she lied, watching Brant sit down on the opposite side of Serena. “I just wish Phillip hadn’t left so early.” That, at least, was the truth.

Serena’s eyes turned sympathetic. “He needs time to adjust.”

Kia felt her throat close up. She didn’t deserve Serena’s sympathy. Or anyone else’s, for that matter. She was such a fraud. “I know,” was all she could manage.

After that, talk around the table turned to other things. Her heart took the chance to settle back to its regular beat as she listened to the discussions going on around her. They were all such nice people.

She glanced at Brant, his dark head tilted toward Serena while she spoke to him. Well, nearly all of them were nice. She couldn’t exactly call Brant Matthews “nice.”

It didn’t apply to a man with probing eyes and an inscrutable expression, a man whose body coiled with barely controlled sensuality but bordered on an unfriendliness that belonged to an archenemy.

Thankfully the music started up again, this time playing rock and roll, and Simon asked her to dance. Desperate to forget thoughts of Brant, who was now asking Serena to dance with him, she willingly went with the older man to the dance floor, where he showed her that being middle-aged still made him capable of some daring moves.

“He’ll be paying for that tomorrow,” his wife teased to Kia when she returned to the table with Simon after only one song.

Kia smiled, but before she could catch her breath, Bill Stewart grabbed her hand and insisted on a dance, too. She figured out then that they were making sure she was having a good time even without her fiancé.

When she eventually got to sit down, she saw Simon about to get to his feet again. “No more,” she gasped, reaching for the jug of ice water. They were killing her with kindness.

“Oh, but—” Simon began.

“No more,” Brant said firmly across the table, the look in his eyes reminding them all who was boss. “Kia looks tired.”

Kia didn’t want to agree with him, but she didn’t want to dance again either. “I am a little,” she smilingly apologized to Simon.

“That’s okay,” the older man said with obvious relief. “I wasn’t sure I had another one in me anyway.”

After that, the music got even louder, until it became more impossible to talk. It wasn’t long before the older couples decided to call it a night.

“Would you ladies like to go home soon?” Brant said, encompassing both her and Serena with his question. “It’s nearly midnight.”

Rather than going home with Brant, Kia would have sat here all night if she knew she hadn’t been inconveniencing Serena. “That’s up to both of you.”

“I’m ready when you are,” Serena agreed, giving a delicate yawn followed by a self-conscious laugh. “I have an early appointment in the morning anyway.”

“No sleep-in for you then,” Kia teased.

Brant quickly finished off his drink. “Right. Let’s go,” he rasped, getting to his feet.

Startled by his tone, Kia got to her feet, too, followed by Serena, who didn’t seem to notice and continued to talk while they made their way through the tables to the exit.

Kia listened even while she wondered why Brant’s face looked like thunder. Had it been her mention of sleeping in tomorrow morning? Did it remind him of being in bed? Of making love? She must have reminded him that he wasn’t about to get any sex tonight. Not from Serena. And certainly not from her.

Of course, he would still have plenty of other woman friends who would willingly sacrifice themselves for his pleasure. He only had to make a phone call and it would be his.

But she soon forgot all that when they reached the front of the hotel and were discussing where they lived while waiting for Brant’s car to be brought around. It appeared Serena lived closest.

“Then we’ll drop you off first, if you don’t mind,” Brant said as the gray Mercedes glided to a stop in front of them.

Serena smiled shyly. “Of course I don’t mind,” she said, and before Kia could do a thing about it, Brant was holding the back door open for Serena and she had slid onto the backseat.

Kia was tempted to slide in right next to her, but as if he knew, Brant took her by the elbow and walked her to the front passenger door.

His touch made her shiver in the balmy night air. Soon she’d be alone with a man who had no need to touch to get his way. A man who had perfected foreplay with just a look. Perhaps it was as well she was an “engaged” woman now.