The #1 Bestsellers Collection 2011

by Catherine Mann

  Her heart jumped in her throat. “I hope you’re kidding.”

  All at once his smile disappeared and his face shuttered up. “Obviously,” he muttered, straightening. “Are you ready to leave?”

  “Give me a moment to finalize something and I’ll be with you.”

  “I’ll go talk to Irene until you’re ready.”

  She nodded, glad for him to take his presence out of her sight. If only he could take the memories of being in his office with him. Maybe coming back here wasn’t a good idea after all.

  No, she had to prove to Matt that the mother of his child wasn’t a thief. It was important to her.

  She said nothing more in the car, but she was glad when they arrived home and she got to kiss and cuddle Megan. She missed her little girl when she went to work, though she knew she’d miss her work if she stayed home all day, too. She had the best of both worlds right now. It was one of the positive things about this situation.

  Matt insisted on feeding Megan again that night, and with Ruth around the atmosphere was quite jovial.

  Then he went to take a phone call and Lana put Megan in the bath, laughing at her little girl splashing the water with her toy duck.

  Megan thought her mother laughing was funny and she splashed the water with her duck again, only this time the water splashed on Lana’s knit top.

  “Megan! Look what you’ve done to Mummy,” Lana said, chuckling, not minding in the least getting wet.

  Splash.

  “Ooh, you little devil,” she said, and gently splashed the water so that it slapped against her daughter’s belly.

  Megan giggled, then splashed the water again.

  Lana returned the favor.

  “You two look like you’re having fun.”

  Lana’s head swung to the doorway. The smile froze on her lips. “Er … she likes her bath time.”

  “You look like you do, too.” His eyes dropped to her wet top, his pupils dilating before he lifted his gaze back to her face. “Keep playing. I like watching.”

  Lana’s breath hitched. She dared not look down, but she was sure her nipples were beaded and easily seen, and after that glance of his she almost expected to see steam come off her clothes.

  She swallowed. “No, she’s finished her bath. It’s time for bed.”

  Lana took the toy duck out of Megan’s hands and went to pick her up, but before she could the little girl made an outraged sound and hit the water with her fist, then stuck her bottom lip out in an angry pout.

  Something in her expression looked so much like Matt at that moment, Lana could only exclaim, “Lord, she’s the image of you.”

  He looked startled. “Actually I was just thinking how much she was like you.”

  It was her turn to be surprised. She didn’t think her daughter had any of her features and she was pleased.

  But a pout?

  “I don’t pout,” she said with a rueful grin.

  The corners of his mouth quirked upward. “Well, I certainly don’t.”

  They stared at each other, and Lana felt her smile slip. He turned and left the room.

  Swiftly she turned back to Megan and concentrated on getting her ready for bed. And when she sat down to dinner, it was alone. Matt had already gone out.

  At work the next day Lana was placing some reports on Irene’s desk when Cesare called to her from inside Matt’s office. She frowned as she stepped up to the doorway.

  “Come in, Lana.” He got to his feet and came to give her a kiss on the cheek, making her feel like one of the family. “Welcome back, cara.”

  She wasn’t used to such affection. Her parents had been too full of hatred for each other to have anything left over for friendliness.

  “Thank you, Cesare.” She didn’t look at Matt, nor did she let her thoughts show on her face.

  Cesare led her to one of the chairs. “Sit down here.” He waited until she did, then went back to his own seat. “I was just telling Matt that his mother and I have ballet tickets at the Opera House for Friday night.”

  Lana eased into a smile. Now, this was a nice safe subject. “How lovely.”

  “Do you like the ballet, Lana?”

  “Love it,” she said with enthusiasm. She’d only ever been once, but she—

  “Then you and Matt can go in our place.”

  She darted a look at Matt, then back at her father-in-law. “I … we couldn’t possibly take your tickets, Cesare.”

  “You would be doing us a favor, Lana. Both Izzie and I have a full day on Friday and we’ll be just too tired to go out that night, as well. And the friends who gave us the tickets would be insulted if we didn’t use them.”

  “But—”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Matt cut across her. “We’ll be happy to take them off your hands.”

  Lana’s eyes snapped back to Matt, but her glare bounced off him.

  “Good. Your mother and I will look after Megan.”

  Lana tensed as she turned to Cesare. “Won’t she be too much for you both after such a long day?”

  “She’s our granddaughter. She’ll never be too much.”

  Her heart did a roll. “That’s sweet of you, Cesare, but—”

  “No problem, Dad.” Matt cut across her again. “That’ll work out just fine. We’ll be able to enjoy ourselves knowing Megan is being looked after so well.”

  Cesare nodded with satisfaction. “Good. Your mother said to say that you should leave Megan with us for the night. That way you won’t have to worry about waking her up and taking her home again. It would only unsettle her.” With that bombshell, the older man stood up. “I must get back home now. I just dropped by to see how things were going here.”

  “Business is booming, as you well know,” Matt teased.

  Cesare kissed her cheek, and Lana barely waited for him to close the door behind him to get her words out. “Damn you, Matt. You shouldn’t have accepted.”

  “I didn’t have much of a choice. I don’t want him to overdo things by going to too many events. And he will accept the invitation himself if we don’t go.”

  “Wouldn’t Nick or Alex like the tickets? I’m sure Sasha or Olivia would jump at the chance of going to the ballet.”

  “They’ve already made plans they can’t break.”

  Her lip curled. “Do you know that for a fact, or are you just guessing?”

  He nodded at the telephone. “Call them and see. My brothers are attending a charity dinner on Friday. I’d already gotten out of that one, but I didn’t expect this.”

  Okay, so she could accept that. “He’s matchmaking, you know.”

  “You may not have noticed but we’re already married,” he mocked.

  “He’s still matchmaking.”

  All at once his eyes closed in on her. “Now I see where this is coming from. You’re worried about being alone in the house with me all night.” He paused. “You have nothing to worry about, Lana.”

  “That’s obvious,” she said before she could stop herself.

  He pinned her with a stare. “What does that mean?”

  She realized she had to tread carefully. She didn’t want him thinking she cared. “Just that you’ve been spending a lot of time out each night.”

  His look sharpened. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  She raised one slim shoulder. “Not at all. It was just an observation.”

  Seconds crawled by.

  “Do you think I’m with another woman?”

  “Are you?” she challenged, despite not being sure she was ready to hear this.

  A pulse beat in his lean cheek. “Perhaps I might just be trying to stick to the deal we made about separate lives. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m out with other women.”

  Silly relief raced through her veins but she quickly held it at bay. Was he just telling her what he wanted her to know? “I’m glad to hear it. For Megan’s sake, of course.”

  “Of course.” His eyes held hers, then flicked over her tailored business
suit. “Do you have anything to wear Friday night? If not, get yourself something and charge it to me. As a matter of fact, you’ll need a new wardrobe anyway.”

  Her back went rigid. “I don’t need any clothes and I definitely don’t need your money. I can afford to buy myself something if I need it.”

  “I don’t want my wife walking around in department store clothes.”

  Her pride felt bruised. Not all her clothes were off the rack. This suit certainly wasn’t. She liked nice clothes as much as the next woman and sometimes she found real bargains.

  She angled her chin at him. “There’s nothing wrong with department store clothes.”

  “I didn’t say there was. I just don’t want my wife walking around in them.” She went to speak and he held up his hand. “Do you really want to be the only one wearing cotton instead of silk?”

  “Do you really think I care?”

  He scrutinized her response, brows drawn together. “No, I don’t think you do.”

  Her stomach fluttered.

  “You’re lucky, Lana. You’ve got style. You could wear cotton and make it look like silk anyway.”

  She gave the softest of gasps, then held her breath, knowing she had to keep this on a professional level.

  “Then it won’t matter if I wear department store clothes, will it?” Not waiting for an answer, she quickly stood up.

  There was a moment’s pause before he muttered throatily, “Wear what you want.”

  “I will.” Suppressing a shiver of trepidation, she walked to the door and didn’t stop until she reached her office, putting some distance between them.

  Had she misheard that low pitch to Matt’s voice back there?

  Or had it been wishful thinking on her part?

  She prayed not.

  For either thing.

  “Anything good on television tonight?” Matt asked, plopping down on the living room sofa later that day.

  Lana had been watching the end of a current affairs program and now she looked up in shock. “You’re staying in?”

  “You would prefer me to go out?” he drawled.

  “No.” She looked back at the television. “No, it will be nice to have some company,” she admitted, not realizing until this moment how lonely she’d felt each evening.

  And that didn’t make sense. She’d always enjoyed her own company, so why was she feeling lonely when nothing really had changed?

  “What’s on tonight?” Matt asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Um … I was going to watch a movie after this.”

  “A chick flick?” he said with something like disgust.

  She had to smile. “No, not a chick flick. It’s a spy film.”

  His gaze rested on her lips a moment; then he turned to the television. “Death and mayhem. That’s more like it.”

  Lana swallowed hard, her mind racing. That low pitch had been in his voice again, the way it had today in his office. Oh, she didn’t think he was planning any type of seduction. She had no doubt he was as determined to keep their marriage as platonic as she was.

  So why was her trepidation increasing? More importantly, why was her heart thudding with growing excitement? Hadn’t she learned her lesson at all?

  The tension in her shoulders relaxed. Her comment about him going out every night must have found its mark.

  Yes, that’s all it was.

  A few minutes later the movie began and for a little while she even managed to forget about Matt’s presence, until there was a break and he started talking about a review he’d read some time ago.

  Trying to appear nonchalant, Lana responded but she wasn’t actually listening. Another part of her was watching his velvet brown eyes, down to those firm lips, over the shadow of his jaw darkened by the end of day, to the bob of his Adam’s apple cushioned by that strong throat.

  All of him.

  Her gaze traveled back up to his eyes, and she swallowed hard at the awareness in them.

  He knew.

  Thankfully the movie came back on and she dragged her gaze away until the next break when she decided she couldn’t sit still any longer.

  “Would you like some coffee?” she asked, jumping to her feet. “And some cake. Ruth did some baking today.”

  “That sounds good.” He unfurled from his chair and stood up, too. “I’ll go check on Megan while you do that.”

  They went their separate ways and in the kitchen Lana came up for air. Heavens, she felt like such a novice. Her face was giving away her thoughts as if she were handing them to Matt on a platter.

  Oh, look, Matt. I’m hot for you tonight. I need you to make love to me. Come and take me.

  She smiled grimly. Maybe someone would come and take her—away. And they should lock her up until she had her head examined for wanting a man who would never commit to any woman.

  Ten minutes later they were eating cake and drinking coffee, and she was feeling very proud of herself for focusing back on the movie instead of on Matt.

  “You’ve dropped some cream on you,” he muttered.

  The spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. “I did? Where?”

  “There.”

  She looked down to her cleavage, where a blob of cream had fallen. She could feel her cheeks redden. Quickly she scooped it up and licked it off her finger.

  “You’ve left some.” He leaned forward with his napkin. “Here. Use this.”

  She waved it aside. “That’s okay. I’ve got a napkin around here somewhere.”

  “Use this,” he all but growled, and she looked up and saw a hot flash in his eyes that said he’d lick the cream off himself if she didn’t hurry up and do it.

  Her pulse skittered as if it were on an icy road.

  Hastily she found her napkin. “Look, I’ve found it,” she exclaimed, holding it up. She wiped the spot, then gave an awkward smile. “This cake is so nice, isn’t it?”

  A nerve pulsed near his temple. “Very nice.”

  Flushing, she turned back to the television. The air throbbed with painful sensuality between them, but somehow she got through to the end of the movie.

  As soon as it ended, a starter pistol went off in her mind, but she pretended to yawn oh so casually. “I guess I’d better go to bed,” she said, slowly pushing to her feet when all she wanted to do was run to the door.

  “Me, too.” He flicked the remote and turned off the television. “I’ll just make sure everything’s locked up first.”

  Her gaze slid to him. “Well, good night. See you in the morning.”

  There. That was a warning.

  Do not disturb.

  A moment crept by, then, “See you tomorrow.”

  There was a clipped sound to his voice and she breathed a sigh of relief as she hurried to her room to take a shower. Not that she expected Matt would come after her. The danger had been back there in the living room.

  Half an hour later she lay in bed wide-awake. She couldn’t settle. Her room felt claustrophobic and her pulse was still jumpy from being in Matt’s company all evening. She needed to get up and move around, do anything but lie here and think of things best left alone.

  She didn’t bother putting her bathrobe on over her short, satiny chemise; she figured Matt would have gone to bed.

  All was quiet as she opened her door and padded along the plush carpet to the living room, moonlight guiding the way. She could see the lights from the swimming pool casting shadows ahead and—

  “What are you doing?”

  She gasped and whirled around. Matt had come up behind her in the doorway. “Oh, you frightened me!”

  There was a tiny pause. “You’re supposed to be in bed,” he said, making it sound as if she’d gone back on her word.

  “Er … I couldn’t sleep.” She noticed he was still in the same clothes. “You’re supposed to be in bed, too,” she said, almost accusingly.

  “I’m on my way there now.”

  It sounded like an invitation.

  She moistened
her mouth. “Well, I must go.” She went to hurry past him. She’d been unwise to come out here in her night wear.

  He caught her by the arm. “Next time put on a robe,” he rasped, holding her still, his touch sending little zings of full awareness through her bare skin.

  He let her go.

  She hurried to her room and leaned back against the door, her heart thudding beneath her breast. Oh Lord. The danger wasn’t so much back there in the living room.

  The danger was in herself.

  Six

  The next day Lana decided it was time to do some investigating. Now that she was part of the furniture, she could blend in more easily and be a bit more adventurous in her search for the truth.

  But she waited until Matt came into her office to take her home before saying anything. “I’m going to stay back here for a couple of hours tonight.”

  He sent her an exasperated look. “It’s a waste of time if you ask me.”

  “I’m not asking you, Matt.” She was getting nowhere with clearing her name. She had to do something. “If you could put Megan to bed, I’d appreciate it.” This once she would have to miss seeing her daughter. Heck, the main reasons she was doing this was for Megan.

  He scowled. “What time will you be home?”

  “I don’t know. Eight, perhaps. I’ll catch a taxi.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Really.”

  “I’ll come back and get you at seven. Ruth can look after Megan.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. I’ll be here at seven.”

  She took one look at his hard features and knew he wasn’t going to budge. “Okay, but not before seven. I want a chance to actually get some work done.” She didn’t mention anything else out loud, in case the walls had ears.

  Matt turned and left, and Lana took a deep breath. Right. Now she could concentrate without his skepticism in her face.

  An hour later the whole floor was quiet, and after doing a check that everyone had gone, she was focusing intensely on the reports on her computer screen when Evan popped his head around the door.

  “What are you doing here so late?” he asked, making her jump.

  “Oh, Evan! You frightened me.” She caught her breath. “Anyway, I could ask you the same question.”