The Seduction Trap

by Sara Wood

  ‘I made it clear to her that I wouldn’t tolerate her harassment of you. She could see how agitated I was and told me that I’d fallen for you and I was a traitor. That shook me up, I can tell you!’ He grinned. ‘She’s a minx, Tessa, and I’m sorry for the distress she’s caused you. But she’s no more a monster than I was.’

  ‘She stopped short of the dead pig,’ she conceded. Her hand reached out to touch his cheek, her heart thudding hard with hope. He leant closer and she could feel the heavy beat of his pulse against her thigh. There was a glazed look in his eyes. ‘She’ll hate me,’ she said sadly. ‘Not if I tell her I love you.’

  ‘But you said a father should never put his child second,’ she reminded him unhappily. ‘That bond between parent and child shouldn’t be broken-and you’ll’ threaten it if you tell Giselle she must be nice to me.

  Her anxious eyes scanned his. Men had been known to abandon relationships because their children hated the new women in their lives. Giselle hated her. Tessa recalled her confrontation with Giselle and knew Guy was being over-optimistic. If there had to be a choice, the blood tie of father and daughter would win out

  especially if theirs had been such a long and close relationship as Guy and Giselle’s.

  ‘The bond can be broken sometimes,’ he said quietly. ‘It was severed between my father and me, between your mother and you-’

  ‘But both of us were unhappy. We missed them terribly.’

  ‘Maybe they weren’t the wonderful people we wanted them to be. Maybe they were selfish. We’ll never know the whole truth. But my sadness stems from the fact that I wanted my father to be strong and honourable-and to be there for me,’ he said soberly.

  ‘I wanted my mother to be there for me too,’ Tessa said, absorbing what he’d said.

  ‘I don’t think she ever will be,’ he told her gently. ‘I’ve been looking for her ever since she disappeared. My lawyers have finally tracked her down to Martinique. They assure me that she doesn’t want any contact with you at all.’

  ‘Oh,’ Tessa said in a small voice. ‘Perhaps if I spoke to her. ..’

  ‘Sweetheart,’ he said gently, ‘I spoke to her myself. She says she’s making a new life for herself. I gather from my lawyers that she’s latched onto an older man a playboy she met here, in nearby Domme. I got the lead from Madame Legrand, your neighbour across the lane, who saw his car in the square once and recognised him. Anyway, your mother persuaded him to take her out to Martinique and she doesn’t want to complicate the arrangement with a long-lost daughter. I’m sorry.’ His hands found hers beneath the over-long sleeves of the shirt and he held them tightly.

  ‘I suppose she doesn’t even want to see my father,’ she said sadly.

  ‘She made it clear that she’d washed her hands of him years ago, and that she’d only given you the cottages to spite me and confound her creditors.’

  Poor Dad! He’ll be devastated. I must talk to him-’

  ‘You can use my mobile phone in a moment. I’ll leave it here.

  But I had a chat with him too, and told him everything that has happened. I think it’s been strangely liberating for him to know that he’ll never see Estelle again,’ Guy said surprisingly. ‘He joked about eventually getting hitched to a neighbour across the street who’s been very kind to him.’

  ‘Good grief! Edith!’ she said faintly.

  Guy smiled at her astonished face. ‘He sounded very happy. Your mother’s spell has been broken, and I, for one, am relieved. And I have to tell you, the image you have of your mother is a distorted one-and out of date.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Tessa asked, puzzled. ‘I almost told you once before,’ he said gently. ‘You went on and on about how beautiful she was and I wanted you to know then that she has changed. Her beauty has gone. I was shocked when I arrived from New Orleans and saw how gaunt and wrinkled she is from taking too much sun. I pity her now, though I can’t forgive her. I wish you and she could have been reconciled. But it’s not to be.’

  Tessa sighed deeply. ‘It’s very sad. I’ve missed out on having a mother; she’s missed out on having a daughter. She’s very self-centred, isn’t she? I hate saying that, but it’s true. I see that now.’

  ‘She’s never been able to love someone more than she loves herself,’ Guy said quietly. ‘What about your father? Will he be happy with this neighbour, do you think?’ She brightened. ‘Yes, I’m sure! She’s a lovely, generous person. I hope Dad takes the plunge, for both the’ sakes.’

  ‘Giselle will find that you’re a lovely, generous person, he said confidently. ‘She’ll come around, you’ll see.’ Tessa wasn’t so sure. There was so much unresolved. She didn’t dare allow herself to be caught up in his optimism. Giselle could come between them and shatter any dreams they might have.

  ‘She’s already lost her mother’s love.’ Tessa sighed heavily, seeing no way out of the problem. ‘You mustn’t withdraw from her.’

  ‘I must, for her sake. Slowly. I love her dearly and so I must help her to grow away from me. It’s a parent’s job to encourage children to fly the nest. It’s partly my fault she’s been such a thorn in your flesh,’ he admitted, kissing her anxious mouth. ‘From birth she’s been fed promises of ‘when we’re in Turaine’. And when we arrived and found my home in a state of disrepair she decided to help me fight my battles. Once she sees you’re not the enemy, she’ll relent, I promise.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ she said, managing to smile and conceal her doubt. But she felt worried. Now she’d found the man she loved, she didn’t want to lose him. It would have been easier to fight any other woman than his only daughter.

  Guy smiled. ‘Care for a croissant?’ he asked hopefully, reaching for the bags.

  ‘I’ll be huge!’ she said wryly, making herself more comfortable on the kitchen unit.

  Guy moved closer between her bare legs and her pulses quickened. ‘I doubt it. If I have my way with you, you’ll never be still long enough to get fat,’ he said, with a theatrical leer. Tessa munched. He didn’t seem to realise but he was stroking her inner thigh, and she wished it didn’t make her feel so wickedly ravenous for him.

  ‘You’re wearing nothing under that shirt,’ he mused, his fingers crawling nerve-rackingly higher. ‘Guy, I-’

  ‘You’re not sure about us, are you?’ he said softly. Slowly she shook her head. ‘I’m not.’

  ‘Then I’ll make you sure.’ The wonderful anticipation fled as he moved away, his jaw set hard. ‘Eat your pastry-finish the whole lot if you like. Get dressed and get out of here. I have things to do.’

  ‘But-’

  ‘Do as you’re told,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Go back to your cottage and smash the living daylights out of that wall. I’ll send a team in to mend your roof.’

  ‘Do you mean you don’t want the cottages, or-’ There was an arrogant tilt to his aristocratic head, a calculating and determined look in his dark eyes. ‘Give me a little time and I’ll prove to you what my feelings are. But stay away from me. I don’t want to be accused of seducing you and using you.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said, astonished, struggling with the desire to be seduced again-very soon.

  ‘Tessa, I love you!’ he said, chuckling. ‘I’m out of here.’ His voice grew deliciously husky, making her shiver. ‘I think a long run to the point of exhaustion might stop me from coming back and making love to you wherever you happen to be at the time.’

  The look he threw her nearly made her slide to the floor and fling herself into his arms. But he turned and walked out before she did such a mad thing.

  In the days before she saw or heard from him again, Tessa decided that this time her instincts were right. Guy was the man for her. She knew it with a quiet conviction that warmed her through and through.

  So, when an invitation appeared in her letter box and invitation to dinner with Guy the next evening at Il Vieux Logis, an exclusive hotel in nearby Tremolat-she danced around in excitement. Guy had found a way to prove his love
. She’d tell him he didn’t need to. Over the pudding, she decided with a giggle. That way they’d get through the meal before he rushed her off to bed!

  ‘I have nothing to wear!’ she wailed, when he turn up on the doorstep half an hour later. ‘Then wear nothing.’

  Her mouth went dry. The two of them stood gazing at one another hungrily, longingly. ‘I do love you,’ she said in a small voice.

  ‘And I love you.’ Long seconds ticked away. ‘What eyes will you choose?’ he asked softly, tenderly. ‘Don’t know,’ she said stupidly, her tongue clogging up her mouth. Her brow furrowed. ‘Can’t we go somewhere else? I’ve nothing posh-’

  ‘I’ve told you before,’ he said gently, ‘that it doesn’t matter what you wear. To me you will always be my Tessa.’ When she made a little crying sound, and clutched the door for support, he swallowed, his eyes darkening. And, clenching his fists, he took a step back. ‘Do you think Madame Legrand will be shocked if I make love to you here?’ he asked in a heart-achingly hoarse voice.

  She nodded dumbly, needing him, delighted that he needed her. ‘Yes,’ she squeaked.

  ‘In that case, I’ll wait. OK. The Logis is a classy country hotel. It’s used to French dignitaries turning up. Also to people in jeans and casual shirts. Don’t worry. I’ll think you’re beautiful and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?’

  A slow smile lit up her face. It was. They both liked her new rounded shape. He loved what she was, not what she wore. That was a good basis. It meant that when she fell ill, or grew old and her body lost its bloom, he would still love her. ‘I’ll wear green eyes,’ she said breathily. ‘Pick you up at seven tomorrow evening,’ he muttered, and turned quickly on his heel, giving a hasty nod to the passing Madame Legrand before striding at an alarming rate down the lane.

  Tessa wore a white tube dress in the end, which gave her figure a Marilyn Monroe look-sexy and vulnerable. It surprised her.

  Only three hours earlier she’d been wielding a pickaxe! But now her skin gleamed satin-soft and her hair, which had grown at an amazing rate, tumbled in soft sun-bleached waves about her face.

  ‘Let’s forget dinner!’ Guy croaked when she opened her door. She nearly agreed. It was the first time she’d seen him in a dinner jacket, and the shape emphasised his physique and the shirt set off his handsome face in a way that had her heart racing.

  ‘Let’s do everything,’ she husked, correctly identifying what he’d had in mind as an alternative. ‘Dinner first!’ she said, laughing, when she saw the intention in his smouldering eyes.

  ‘Brutal woman!’ he complained, and handed her a small package.

  ‘For me?’ Excitedly she tore at the wrapping, ignoring his comment that he was glad she wasn’t the kind who carefully saved paper, and then her hands stilled. It was a jewel box; she knew that. From Cartier. And it was old. ‘Guy-’

  ‘Open it,’ he encouraged softly.

  Tessa stared at the emerald necklace, the dark facets of the large stones glinting in the evening sun. Since she made no move to lift it out, seemingly paralysed by the gift, Guy intervened, taking it in his hands in a flash of sparkling diamonds and forest-green emeralds, fixing it around her warm throat and kissing her bare shoulder lovingly. ‘Family heirloom,’ he said unsteadily, passing her the matching earrings.

  Slowly she unhooked her chainstore ‘pearl’ droplets, her hands shaking. ‘Oh, Guy!’ she said with a sniff. This was his proof. An almost ceremonial declaration that she would one day belong to the Turaine family. ‘I’m going to cry!’ she squeaked. ‘No, you’re not,’ he said briskly, tucking the box into his pocket. ‘You’re going to dinner.’

  She kept touching the necklace all the way to Tremolat. Even the respectful welcome from the maitre d’ and his staff completely flowed over her, whereas normally she might have been nervous. The hotel was less formal and intimidating than she’d imagined and they strolled in the pretty gardens of the four-hundred-year-old manor house, saying nothing, just holding hands in a blissfully contented way.

  After drinks in a cosy but exquisitely decorated salon, they were summoned into the dramatic dining room, with its scarlet colour theme.

  ‘What if I’d said I’d wear violet eyes?’ she asked with a grin, tucking into her asparagus with mousseline sauce and wondering if she’d ever stop floating on a cloud.

  ‘I would have given you amethysts,’ he said promptly, and took her hand. ‘You look so beautiful. Radiant as a bride. Do you know everyone in the room is staring at you?’

  She flushed with embarrassment when she saw that this was true. ‘Have I a lump of plaster somewhere?’ she whispered.

  He laughed. ‘Nowhere I can see. I love the idea of having a tame builder in the family! Think of what I’ll save! Tessa,’ he said, suddenly serious, ‘I’m taking you for granted. I have something else for you. Proof of my love. I hope it’ll show you how confident I am that we were made for each other and will never, ever be parted.’

  ‘Two presents! I have nothing for you!’

  ‘Yes, you have. Yourself.’

  ‘Oh, Guy!’ she quavered, touched to the heart.

  Nervously she took the long envelope he handed her with its bright red seal. The maitre d’ appeared by magic with a knife and, at her silent nod, slit the seal for her, then disappeared discreetly into the background.

  It was a very old document in Latin, with an English translation typed neatly for her which she read with growing shock. The deeds to Turaine.

  Tessa sat there with silent tears pouring down her face. He’d given her the whole estate. Gently the deeds were taken from her limp fingers and put to one side and Guy was kissing her tears away.

  ‘I love you,’ he said fondly. ‘I give you all I have, all I treasure. Now will you damn well believe me?’ She nodded, unable to speak. ‘And marry me?’ Another nod, this time with a blissful smile through the tears as he solemnly slipped an antique emerald ring on her finger. ‘With this ring, I thee worship,’ he said huskily. ‘Uh ... you’re not going to let this spoil the best dinner we’re likely to have this week, are you?’ he murmured teasingly, wiping her face with great tenderness. ‘I-don’t-think-I’ll-ever-eat-again!’ she said jerkily. But she did, starting with that perfect meal, and champagne, while music drifted gently across the elegant room.

  And there they talked about their plans for the future and the offer of a village house for her father, should he want it.

  And later, when they arrived back in the village, it was to a party which he had arranged in the square, complete with the village band and long tables groaning with more food. Intensely happy to see how he’d won the villagers round, she danced with every man who asked her.

  Then, as a noisy and chaotic conga ended and everyone headed for the newly arrived cask of wine, she was confronted again by Giselle.

  ‘Are you going to take my father away from me?’ asked Giselle miserably.

  ‘Of course not!’ Tessa cried, her tone sympathetic. ‘You saw him before I did,’ she said with a friendly smile. ‘I’m the interloper.’

  ‘He’s crazy about you. Never takes his eyes off you. I-I don’t want to lose him!’ she said passionately.

  Tessa reached out to her, her eyes full of understanding. To her relief, Giselle didn’t draw back. She needs loving, thought Tessa, and she gave the young woman’s slender arms a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

  ‘I think there’s enough of him to go round, don’t you? If not, we’ll stuff doughnuts into him till there is.’ She waited anxiously. And was relieved when Giselle giggled. ‘Talk to me,’ she coaxed warmly. ‘Tell me what kind of life you want to lead. Let’s see what we can do to make your dreams come true, shall we?’

  And, after Giselle had poured out her heart and spoken of her longing to go to Paris, Tessa promised that she’d ensure Guy helped Giselle to find a job in the city, and that they should not let Turaine obsess them but would spend some time in Paris with her.

  In the early hours of the morning
, the party broke up. She and Guy hugged Giselle and then watched her drive off to the hotel. ‘Where,’ murmured Guy in her ear, ‘are we sleeping tonight, Beauty?’

  ‘Surprise me,’ she suggested saucily.

  ‘You on your back, me on your front. Or me on my back-’

  ‘Guy! Hush!’ she giggled.

  ‘How about the enchanted forest? My garden? I have a rug, a bottle of champagne and a basket of strawberries waiting for us beneath the rose arbour.’ He paused to kiss her. It was a very long pause and a very thorough kiss which left Tessa weak at the knees. ‘Love beneath the stars. Will that do for tonight?’ The cicadas whirred their approval. And with their arms around one another, Guy and Tessa strolled towards the chateau.

  Harlequin Presents ®

  Copyright © 1997 Sara Wood

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, Is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the Imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly Inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure Invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.