“How so?” he asked. His voice was carefully steady, revealing nothing. Her own voice was huskier and breathier than she’d ever heard it. Not in the forced way it had been before when she’d tried to sound sexy. This was all real. All her. There was no acting involved. She was hot for him and her body was letting him know it without the slightest bit of help from her brain.
That was the trick, she realized. It made flirting honest. She truly felt sexy and she wanted to touch him more than anything in the world.
But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. After she got him to this meeting, she was out. Back to her old apartment with her sisters and far away from the morally abstract temptation that was Spencer.
She opened her mouth to speak. Her response was at the tip of her fingertips. But then he touched her. Reaching out he stroked her cheek gently from the cheekbone down to her jaw. It was a simple gesture but it set her on fire. Her lips parted as she struggled for air.
She wasn’t going to do it. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t do it.
All sense went out the window and her body took over. She leaned across his lap and caved to temptation. One kiss, she told herself. Just one.
She should have known better. One would never be enough, not with this man.
He responded quickly and with a ferocity that made her moan. Once again he pulled her up and onto his lap, exactly where she wanted to be. This time she didn’t hesitate. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against his chest, trying to get closer to alleviate this achy needy feeling that had taken possession of her body and stripped away her rational mind.
He adjusted her slightly so her head was tilted to the side, giving him full access. He wasted no time in slipping his tongue between her lips and claiming her mouth. His hands were everywhere, moving over her back, her bottom, her waist. She let out a little cry that seemed to bring them both back to reality for a moment.
She pulled away and they sat there together, breathing heavily. Her body was rioting, protesting this distance between them. Her mind might have realized that she couldn’t have Spencer, not after the lies and half-truths between them, but her body had not gotten the memo.
When she leaned in for more, he stopped her. A gentle hand tangled in her hair and held her close, but not close enough. “You were saying?”
She was pleased to hear that his voice was just as ragged as she felt. But now he expected her to talk and be rational. She needed to get back to her previously scheduled plan.
There was nothing she wanted to do less.
A little part of her tried to rationalize. Just a little more. One more taste. A few more kisses. Just a bit of touching…
No. She pulled back further to lessen the temptation. It didn’t work. Closing her eyes, she forced the words out. “I was sent to you.”
At his silence she opened her eyes. His expression was unreadable and he showed no signs of response. She hurried on. “Someone you know, or used to know, thought we might hit it off.”
That was the truth—sort of.
He stiffened beneath her touch but didn’t push her away. She took that to be a minor success. Looking up she licked her lips in a nervous gesture and watched with fascination as his eyes darkened in response. Just one more taste…
Focus.
“Who sent you?” he asked. His low voice so close to her ear made her shiver.
She evaded the question. “He thought we might like each other and…he was right.”
Truth.
He remained stiff beneath her touch and his expression went blank. This was the tricky part. “H-he wants to meet you.”
“Who?” he asked again.
She looked down. She had no idea how Jack and Spencer knew one another but there was no way they were friends. No one sent a Trojan horse to a friend. And really, that was her role here, wasn’t it?
Nerves returned in full force and she found herself clenching his shirt in her hand. She told herself to release the fabric and grow a backbone. She was almost done.
Flirty, seductive. She could do this. Keeping her eyes lowered she let go of the shirt and smoothed her hand over his chest. “Would you go see this friend? For me?”
She hated herself. In that moment she was as low as she’d ever been. She was so immersed in her misery and self-hatred, she almost missed his response when he leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
“Tell Jack I said nice try, but he needs to do better than an incompetent seduction if he wants my help.”
He was being harsh. Too harsh, maybe. But he couldn’t stop himself. Anger had doused the inferno that had taken over his body and now he was cold on the inside and out.
She gaped at him, her eyes wide and her mouth partially open.
What had she done to him? Even now when he was bitter and angry and cold to the bone, he still wanted to kiss those lips. He gripped the arms of his chair to keep from pulling her back against his chest and into his arms.
This woman had gotten under his skin. She was manipulating him. He should be angry, not longing for her.
Oddly enough, when she snapped out of her shocked daze it was anger he saw in her eyes. She pushed against his chest with enough force that he let out a whoosh of air.
“You knew.” Her voice came out through gritted teeth.
Her emotions were written clearly across her face. Anger mixed with embarrassment.
“Of course I knew,” he said. “I met with Jack this morning and he confirmed everything I already suspected about you.”
To his horror tears brimmed in her eyes. “And you let me go through with this?”
He opened his mouth to respond and found himself gawking like an idiot. He was the wronged one here, not her. With that thought, he managed to keep the sympathy at bay. She’d been playing him this whole time, she was probably manipulating him again. He forced a casual shrug. “I wanted to see how far you’d go.”
She gasped at that and leapt off his lap. The coldness where her body had been matched the frigid sensation that had crept into his blood. He’d told her the truth. He’d known from the moment she’d walked in the door that she’d decided to seduce him to get what she wanted. He’d been intrigued. He’d stupidly thought he’d be immune. After all, he knew it was all pretend so surely he could keep his distance.
He’d been an idiot. Even though his brain kept trying to inform him that she was only coming on to him for hidden reasons, his body didn’t seem to care. It reacted swiftly and his voice of reason had been drowned out by the sound of blood rushing to his groin.
She’d almost had him. For a second there he probably would have done anything for one more kiss. One more touch. But then she’d mention his father, indirectly perhaps but it was enough to throw a dose of cold water in his face and bring him back to his senses.
He shouldn’t have been so disappointed. There had been no reason whatsoever for him to think that she was too good to play the seduction card. But he was disappointed. Bitterly. He was also angry, resentful, and…guilty?
He shouldn’t be but there it was. Guilt was eating away at his insides at the look of betrayal in her eyes as she turned to face him.
“You were playing me,” she said, her tone filled with accusation.
He blinked at her in surprise. She couldn’t be serious. “Only because you were playing me.” Wait, why was he defending himself?
She didn’t seem to hear him. “How far would you have gone?” Her eyes narrowed on him. “Would you have slept with me just to win this little game of yours?”
She might as well have kicked him in the stomach.
He shook his head to clear it and rubbed his eyes, saying a silent prayer for sanity. When he looked up she was watching him with her arms crossed over her chest defensively like he’d just hurt her and was about to do it again. He tried to explain so even a crazy person could understand. “This was your game, Holly. You’re the one who’s been lying, remember? I’ve just been going along with it.”
Good question.
“I was curious,” he said. And that had been true at the start. But then he’d found his answers, so what was his excuse for his actions today?
Oh no. Oh no no no. Those tears were back and though she started blinking rapidly, one escaped and slid down her cheek. He was a wuss when it came to women crying, and this one in particular had a direct link to his heart. At that moment he would have handed over all his money and his computers just to make her stop.
She swiped at the tear, looking angry at herself for losing it. “Were you laughing at me this whole time?”
“No.” Well, not exactly. He hadn’t intended to be cruel. For the millionth time he reminded himself that he was the victim here, not her. He turned it around on her. “What about you? Were you suffering in silence as you flirted and laughed and kissed your crippled neighbor?”
There. He’d gone and used the crippled card. When the blood drained from her face and guilt clouded her eyes, he should have felt some sort of victory.
He did not.
“It wasn’t like that,” she said.
“No? Then what was it like?” he demanded. He surprised himself by the fury evident in his voice. He didn’t do anger. He did sarcasm and droll humor and cynicism, but anger had always been beneath him. To be angry one had to care, and that was something he did not do. When she opened her mouth to answer but stopped, he continued. “And what about today? How far were you willing to go for my father? What did you think—”
Her gasp stopped him. “Your father? Uncle Jack is your father?”
Spencer let out a loud exhale. Uncle Jack. So, his father was still trying to get young, pretty women to call him Uncle Jack? Gross. “Yes, he’s my father.”
Confusion replaced her earlier anger and hurt. “So what does he want from you?”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or shout. “You don’t know?” How ridiculous. His father had managed to talk this woman into conning him and she didn’t even know why.
By the guilty look on her face, she clearly realized the ridiculousness of her situation.
“How convenient,” he said. “It must be nice to be in your shoes. All of the perks of being an accessory to a crime without that pesky guilt.”
Her face turned another shade whiter and he found himself getting angrier for it. “You didn’t know?” He shook his head in disbelief. “What, did you think ‘Uncle Jack’ wanted to meet with me to tell me bedtime stories?” He leaned forward, anger making his voice harsh. “Tell me, are you really that stupid or did you just decide that you’d rather be willfully ignorant so you could get your paycheck with a clean conscience?”
When she blinked in surprise, he knew he’d gotten his answer. He dropped back against his chair and let out a short, humorless laugh. “I should have known.”
“You should have known what?” Her voice was small, fragile.
But that didn’t stop him. He was past caring about her delicate feelings since he no longer knew where the fake Holly ended and the real Holly began. He thought he’d known but then she’d kissed him. She’d made him believe that she’d truly wanted him.
Not only that, she’d made him feel things. Emotional things.
Heartless bitch.
“I should have known that you’d prefer to keep it simple. You like things black and white, don’t you, Holly? You like things to be neat and tidy, keeping your hands clean while you stab your neighbor in the back.”
Her lips trembled and it looked like she might cry but this time he didn’t let it affect him. He turned a blind eye, ignoring her pain as he held tight to his anger. “I thought you were honest. Genuine. I’d somehow managed to convince myself that you were an innocent who’d somehow gotten swept up in my father’s mess.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
He didn’t let her continue. “But I had it all wrong. You proved that today with this.” He gestured toward her clingy black dress. “Clearly I hadn’t given you enough credit. I had no idea the lengths you’d go to for some easy money.”
It was a struggle to slow his breathing and calm his racing heart. He wasn’t used to losing control of his emotions. Heck, he wasn’t used to having emotions. He’d thought he might feel better for getting his anger out.
He did not.
He’d thought she would run away in the face of his anger, but she was still standing there, struggling to hold back tears as she looked down at her heels. “I’m sorry.”
That was it. No excuses, no rationalizations. Just an apology.
It caught him off guard. He’d been prepared to steel himself against her pity party, mock her when she tried to justify her actions. But he was not prepared to forgive her.
He didn’t respond. One second passed, then another. When his silence stretched on for too long, she turned and left, leaving him alone and utterly exhausted.
Apparently emotions did that to him. Who knew?
He scrubbed at his face, trying to clear his brain and will his body back to normal. Good luck with that. He hadn’t been so freakin’ turned on since he was a teenager. Of all the women he had to develop a crazy attraction for, she might be the worst choice of them all.
She hadn’t even tried to deny his accusations. Even she couldn’t deny that she was a manipulative, shallow, deceptive, callous…
He couldn’t even finish his mental tirade. Not only was his heart not in it but it didn’t even ring true.
He might have been blind and horny whenever Holly was in the room but he hadn’t completely lost his mind. He still had his instincts and not even an excessive amount of raging hormones could make him such a bad judge of character that he could have so completely misjudged her.
But it just didn’t make sense. Her actions didn’t match her personality. She was still a riddle.
He hated an unsolved mystery.
Staring at the spot where she’d been standing, his brow furrowed in concentration as he replayed their interactions until he was certain that his initial assessment of her was correct. But that initial impression didn’t add up with the little seductress act she’d just pulled.
The Holly he thought he knew wouldn’t kiss him and tease him for a paycheck, no matter how big.
Or would she?
For the first time he wondered how much his father had promised her and what she needed the money for. He probably should have asked that while she was here. Now that he’d run her off with his anger, there’s be no Q&A sessions with his beautiful new friend. In fact, now that the truth was out there was no need to see her again. Ever.
That hurt. He tried to push it away but there it was. He was hurt at the thought that he might never talk to her again. His feelings were hurt, more than he cared to admit.
What was happening to him?
He couldn’t think about that. It was safer and easier to focus on the mystery at hand. Since he couldn’t ask Holly why she’d done it, he had to assume she needed the money. It had to have been a fairly large amount for her to go through with this.
Of course, he’d already figured out that his father had no intention of paying her. From what he could tell, her only role here was to get close to him and get him to meet with his father. Unless she’d suddenly become an exceptional liar overnight, it seemed Jack hadn’t even clued her in to the hacking scheme so she could try to convince him.
Come to think of it, Jack hadn’t given Spencer any specifics either. His plan was vague, at best.
Almost like he was making it up.
He sat up straight as pieces began to fall into place. Not all, but enough.
He’d spent a lifetime watching his father “work.” He knew the way he thought…or didn’t think, as the case may be. There were two things he could be certain of with his father—one, he never paid the pawns in his little games, not if there was any way to avoid it. And two, he was no criminal mastermind. Particularly when it came to computers.
That had always been Spencer’s domain. While it was true that he could have paired up with a team who had the wherewithal to perform a lucrative hacking heist, he couldn’t imagine what they would need his father for.
His father’s biggest asset was his connections. Slimy as he might be, some found him charming while most found him entertaining, at the very least. He had a way of manipulating people, like he’d clearly done with Holly.
Spencer took a hypothetical step back and reviewed what he knew and what he’d learned from his father and Holly. In his mind’s eye he sorted the clear facts from the smoke and mirrors his father loved to throw out there.
One clear fact? His father had no intention of paying Holly. Even if he had the upfront money, which Spencer highly doubted, his father would never pay someone who couldn’t hurt him. He operated on the shady premise that the only people who deserved his money were the ones who could beat it out of him. So unless Holly was secretly a ninja or connected to the mob, his father was just using her. In typical Jack behavior, he was making promises he couldn’t and wouldn’t keep.
So then why involve her in the first place? Had he really thought sending a sweet, innocent girl like Holly would lure him to the dark side?
Hardly.
She might have been able to entice him to do many things, but his father knew his issues with trust better than anyone, thanks largely to the fact that he helped put them in place when he was a kid.
So no. Jack wasn’t dumb. He wasn’t brilliant, but he wasn’t dumb.
What he was was tricky. He was like one of those old school tricksters. The jester who stole the crown. So what was the trick here? What did he hope to accomplish with Holly?
He wheeled himself back toward the kitchen as he pondered the question. When he passed his office, the proverbial lightbulb turned on with a pop.
Holly hadn’t gotten him to agree to anything and she wouldn’t have been able to even if she’d managed to seduce him. His father wouldn’t have expected her to succeed. So what had Holly accomplished?
Enchanting the Beast Page 10
