All those times he had tried to keep her and Max apart—his sarcasm, his hints that Max was involved with Kate, in Rory Mayhew’s death. No wonder he had looked so shocked that day at Luigi’s when he’d seen Abby and Max together!
Until that point he must have been so confident, so sure that Max, with his well-known aversion to appearing on public television again, wouldn’t even allow her access into his life, let alone actually be out having lunch with her. Hence his completely unexpected visit to her apartment later that day, and his broad hints that the two of them were involved. He must have realised that day that Abby was getting too close to Max, to the possibility of learning the truth about him.
Her gaze flicked sharply back to Max. ‘I was never, ever involved with that—that excuse for a human being!’ She grimaced her complete disgust just at the thought of it.
Max gave a pained wince. ‘I know that better than anyone, Abby,’ he reminded her. Bringing the warmth of colour to her cheeks as she acknowledged just how he knew that.
‘There are other ways of being involved with someone other than the physical,’ she said tightly.
He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘And you knew Gary in none of them.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ she challenged. ‘You certainly weren’t a couple of weeks ago. In fact, as I recall you couldn’t wait to get out of my bed and escape!’
‘I wasn’t escaping, Abby—I was running scared!’ he told her firmly.
‘Max, I saw you and Kate together outside your apartment that morning before you went away. I was bringing coffee and Danish for breakfast,’ she added quickly. ‘Not spying on you. And—’
‘I never for a moment thought you were,’ he assured her softly. ‘But if the morning you’re referring to is the one I think it is, then Kate had called in to see me on the way back from taking the kids to school. She had some good news to tell me—personal news. Abby, the mistake I made that first morning was in getting up and leaving the way that I did. But the fact is, I was—I’ve never been in love before!’ He gave a shake of his head. ‘I’m not, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be, involved with Kate,’ he assured her. ‘I told you—I felt responsible. At least, that’s how I felt initially. Then I got to know Kate—and her children. She’s a very lovely person, Abby—’
‘I don’t think I can bear to hear that right now, Max,’ Abby cut in dully. ‘I’m pleased for her—for both of you—that Gary Holmes has finally been made accountable for what happened two years ago. As you say, there’s no way he will ever recover professionally from this evening. But I really can’t bear just now to hear how wonderful Kate is—how—how much you care for her!’ That would just be too much, when her own life, both personal and professional, was in ruins.
‘I told you earlier—not once, but twice, and again just now—it’s you that I love,’ Max murmured throatily. ‘Abby, why do you think I finally agreed to appear on your show?’
‘To try to get to Gary—’
‘I told you.’ He shook his head. ‘I had no idea Gary was going to lose it like that. How could I have known? I came on your show, Abby, because I thought it was a way of showing you that I loved you. That my first public appearance in two years being on your show would convince the powers that be that I, for one, consider you a first-rate interviewer.’
‘Is that why you threatened me earlier this evening?’ Her voice broke emotionally. ‘Because you’re in love with me?’
‘Weren’t you intending to publicly crush me?’ he returned challengingly.
‘I wasn’t going through with it,’ Abby told him flatly, knowing that was possibly her worst humiliation.
She had sat there in the studio with him tonight, intending to hurt and humiliate him as he had hurt her, and in the end she had known she couldn’t do it—that it would hurt too many other people if she did. So she had decided, in that moment of hesitation, to go back to the original set of questions.
‘I wasn’t going to do it,’ she repeated firmly. ‘Even as I started to ask you the question I knew that it wasn’t the place or the time to air my private grievances. But, feeling threatened, you didn’t feel the same compunction, did you, Max?’ Her chin rose dangerously.
Max held her gaze with his for several long seconds before reaching forward to pick up the remote control, pressing the button to resume playing the recording.
And, like a magnet, Abby found her gaze drawn to the screen. The studio was empty now of everyone but Max—Gary obviously having been taken away by the police. Apart from the bruise on his jaw, Max looked none the worse for the scene that had just taken place, and was every inch the seasoned television presenter that he really was.
And then Abby stopped noticing what he looked like and actually heard what he was saying…
‘—to thank Abby Freeman for allowing me to use her show in this way to bring Gary Holmes’s crimes, past and present, to light.’ He spoke confidently. ‘I’m sure you’ll all agree with me when I say it’s my misfortune that she didn’t actually seduce me in order to get me on to the show. I should be so lucky!’ He smiled ruefully as the audience broke into spontaneous applause. ‘But any man can dream, can’t he?’ He gave a rueful grimace as the audience gave an appreciative laugh.
Abby stared across at him. With a few simple sentences and a certain amount of self-deprecation Max had turned her humiliation into something else entirely, making it sound as if she had been part of the whole thing, while at the same time making himself a figure of fun.
‘Seriously.’ Max’s image on the screen sobered. ‘Abby took a risk this evening, knowing she had no certainty of succeeding, and I would personally like to thank her. I’m sure that Kate Mayhew, if she were here, would want to do the same. What happened to her husband two years ago was a tragedy—compounded, as we’ve proved this evening, by the vindictive nature of one man. We’ve all made mistakes in our lives, and I’m in no way trying to exonerate any of the people involved, but those human weaknesses didn’t have to end in the tragic way that they did. Tonight, I hope, has put an end to two years of personal speculation for Kate Mayhew and her family, and I’m sure that you’ll all join me in wishing her and her children well for the future.’
There was another spontaneous round of applause.
‘The Abby Freeman Show will return at seven-thirty next Friday evening, when her guest will be Cameron Harper. I advise you to watch out for the right hook, Cameron!’ he concluded lightly, before the theme music began to play.
Abby stared at the screen as it went blank. Max had completely turned the situation round with a few well-chosen words, making Gary’s behaviour two years ago the issue, rather than the fact that she had punched Max live on television.
She slowly moistened dry lips, not quite able to look across and meet his gaze. ‘What happens now?’
‘Well, as I said, Gary has been taken into custody—’
‘Not to Gary!’ She looked up protestingly. The other man had got everything he deserved!
‘Well, for one thing Pat assures me that the executives are already clamouring to renew your contract.’
She swallowed hard. ‘They are?’
‘They most certainly are. And deservedly so. You’re good, Abby—very good.’ Max nodded. ‘As for the rest—tomorrow morning’s newspapers will carry both this story and the news of Kate’s engagement and future marriage to Edward Southern, an Australian businessman.’
Abby’s eyes widened. Kate Mayhew was getting married—but not to Max!
‘It’s what Kate came to tell me that morning you saw the two of us together.’ Max smiled at her stunned expression. ‘She and the children will be moving to Australia after the wedding next month.’
And with her husband’s death and Gary Holmes’ involvement in it safely behind her, Kate was now completely free to move forward with her life…
‘But I thought—I know you said—How do you feel about that?’ Abby looked at Max uncertainly.
&
nbsp; ‘In a word? Relieved,’ he told her ruefully. ‘After what happened on my programme I felt a certain responsibility for Kate and the kids. But maybe now, with Gary safely out of the picture for a while, we can all get on with our lives.’ He stood up, moving towards her. ‘And I would very much like my own future to include you, Abby. Do you think that’s possible?’ he prompted huskily.
She swallowed hard. Max had told her three times tonight that he loved her. In view of what she had just seen and heard on the television recording, was it possible that he had really meant it…?
There was only one way to find out!
She drew in a deep breath. ‘I don’t know if you’re aware of this, Max, but my father is a vicar—’
‘I wasn’t, but I probably should have guessed.’ He smiled. ‘Although the idea of a pugilistic vicar may take some getting used to!’
‘Wait until you meet my mother!’ she warned, knowing her flamboyant ex-actress mother was the last person he would expect to be married to a parish vicar.
He tilted his head to one side. ‘Am I going to?’
‘That depends.’ She moistened dry lips. ‘You see, their dearest wish is to see me married to the man I love.’
Emotion flared in his deep grey eyes. ‘Abby, are you asking me to marry you?’
Was she? Yes, she most certainly was! She loved him, he said he loved her, and she could imagine nothing she wanted more in life than to be his wife.
‘If you are, then my answer is definitely yes.’ Max cut in firmly on her thoughts before she could speak, standing directly in front of her now. ‘I haven’t mentioned it before now, but since I got back I’ve been offered my own current affairs programme, to be aired in the autumn, and as a married man I would be much happier being closer to home—and you. I love you so very much, my darling. I want to be with you always. I want to have babies with you,’ he added huskily. ‘Lots of them!’
She stared at him, hardly daring to believe, after all the trauma of this evening, that this could really be happening.
‘Okay, I’ll settle for two,’ he conceded at her continued silence. ‘And a guarantee that if either of them is a girl, your father will teach her to box. There are a lot of bastards out there—I should know—and I don’t want our little girl getting involved with any of them—’
‘Max!’ Abby broke in laughingly, with relief as much as happiness. ‘I love you so much. I want to be with you too, and we can have as many babies as you like!’ Max’s babies, with that thick dark hair and those beautiful grey eyes…
He reached out and took her into his arms. ‘You never know—we may already have started on the first one…!’
That thought had already occurred to her too.
Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
‘I love you so very much, Abby,’ Max told her intensely. ‘So very much!’
And to have Max love her, to love him in return, was all the happiness she would ever want.
Undercover Virgin
By Becky Barker
TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON
AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG
STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID
PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND
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 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 1
It had been too easy. Too damn easy, thought Kyle Tremont as he surveyed the elegant ballroom of Gregory Haroldson’s estate. The plan to get him into the employ of the wealthy banker had come together without a hitch. It had all gone like a perfectly choreographed dance.
The ease of it only made him edgy and more vigilant.
Some unseen sharpshooter had taken a wild shot at Haroldson, and Kyle had been on hand to shield the other man with his body. Instant gratitude and a generous job offer. Kyle had wondered, several times, why he hadn’t shoved Haroldson into the path of the bullet. Dead was a more sure-fire way to punish a man than the prospect of a jail term.
Only five days into the operation, and he wanted out. He’d cursed himself a thousand times over for letting Donald Sullivan coerce him into helping. The daily doses of Haroldson’s arrogance were more than he could stomach. The urge to strangle the man with his bare hands grew stronger every time he laid eyes on him.
Undercover work had definitely lost its appeal. The innate hunger for a challenge that had motivated him in his younger days was nonexistent now. He had retired four years ago when the taste for intrigue died along with his partner.
Despite being on Haroldson’s payroll, he’d yet to be contacted by the elusive agent with the code name Phantom. His assignment was to help the undercover FBI agent escape Haroldson’s heavily guarded compound. Deputy Director Sullivan had lured him out of retirement with a promise that Phantom had gathered enough concrete evidence to make Haroldson pay for his crimes.
Kyle was tired of waiting and at risk of losing his patience altogether.
“She’s a first-class babe, ain’t she.”
Kyle glanced at his fellow employee. Damon was young, cocky and a little dim-witted, but basically an okay guy. The two of them were usually paired as driver and bodyguard for high-ranking members of Haroldson’s little empire.
Tonight, they were enjoying the annual staff appreciation dinner. Haroldson knew how to keep his people happy and loyal by pretending they were important to him. The ballroom’s many chandeliers had been dimmed to a soft, intimate glow. Food was abundant, booze flowed freely and a small orchestra played music for dancing.
Damon’s admiring gaze was fastened on their hostess for the evening.
“You mean Haroldson’s fiancée?”
“She’s a real knockout, and damn nice, too. Always doin’ something for the staff and their families.”
Nice wasn’t exactly the word Kyle would use to describe Haroldson’s very young, very blond girlfriend. Definitely a May-December relationship. Gossip had it that she’d moved in with him as soon as they’d announced their engagement. Apparently, he adored her and refused her nothing.
“I guess she can afford to be generous.”
“Yeah, but I seen plenty of those rich bitches who turn their noses up at guys like us. ’Fraid they’ll get dirty if we touch ’em or somethin’. Samantha, she’s not that way.”
Kyle had never been introduced to the lady in question. Nor did he want to be. He couldn’t summon much interest in a woman who’d sleep with a bastard like Haroldson.
“I don’t figure I’ll be getting up close and personal with the boss’s woman.”
The younger man laughed. “That’s what you think. She’s makin’ her way toward us now. She and the boss, they have this little routine. When he hires a new employee, she’s the one what gets up close and personal. The boss gets a kick out of watchin’ the hired help drool. She’ll have you pantin’ after her in a few minutes.”
Oh, hell, thought Kyle. Damon usually knew what he was talking about when it came to his boss’s habits. He ground his teeth in frustration. The last thing he needed was attention drawn to him, especially for Haroldson’s amusement.
Their hostess slowly made her way through the throng of partygoers, stopping to speak to several people as she crossed the room. Everyone wanted a word with the lady of the manor. He watched her graceful, unhurried progress and steeled himself to suffer her attention. It wouldn’t do to make his distaste evident. Better to play the dumb but awed hired hand.
“Damn, but she looks hot in that red dress,” muttered Damon. “Too bad she never strays for real. I’d be first in line to jump her delicate bones.”
Haroldson’s fiancée wasn’t what he’d call peti
te—probably five foot seven or eight, with a slender but generously curved figure. As she drew closer, Kyle’s gaze drifted down her elegant neck, across the bare, unblemished skin of her shoulders and chest to an enticing view of softly rounded breasts displayed by the strapless dress.
The full-length evening gown managed to look both tasteful and wickedly provocative. A man would have to be dead not to react. Her heavy mane of platinum-blond hair parted in the middle and framed an oval-shaped face in feathery layers. Although not classically beautiful, her features were striking, attractive and enhanced to perfection.
The best money could buy. She had to be an unprincipled gold digger who’d sold her soul to the highest bidder. That alone should leave him cold, but his body wasn’t listening to common sense. It was just reacting.
Wide-set, exotically highlighted blue eyes captured his attention and held his gaze as she came to a stop in front of him. He felt the impact of her gaze clear to his toes. Her expensive perfume teased his senses, and set his nerves alive with reaction. The sizzle of attraction hummed through his veins at the sultry challenge in those beautiful eyes.
“T. R. O. U. B. L. E.” The lyrics to a country-western song popped into his mind. Haroldson’s ladylove packed a sensual wallop that could mean nothing but trouble.
“Mr. Jackson.” She greeted him by his alias and offered her hand. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” Her voice was low and sexy, barely audible above the noise of the party. “I wanted to personally thank you for saving Gregory’s life.”
Kyle briefly grasped her hand, but kept his grip limp. She responded with a warm, firm grasp. Her touch made his skin sizzle with awareness.
She smiled, transforming her features to unexpected loveliness. It gave him another jolt. Not just because of the physical difference, but because of the genuine warmth and charm she emanated. No wonder she had the staff ready to jump her bones or jump through hoops for her. Warning himself to beware of wolves in sheeps’ clothing, he briefly returned the smile.
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