A Daring Deception (Harlequin Presents)

by Amanda Browning

  Rachel felt her heart kick, and knew she couldn’t leave it there. ‘Yes? If things were different?’ she probed, and he sighed and looked her squarely in the eye, his expression uncompromising.

  ‘But they’re not different, Rachel. I know what I know. You are who you are.’

  Except she wasn’t who he thought. But how did she go about convincing him? Emma was right. She had dug herself a hole that was now almost too big to climb out of. Still, she had to try, for she could feel herself this close to something incredibly valuable. Reaching out, she laid her hand on his back. It was warm to the touch and sent tingles up her arm.

  ‘Sometimes things aren’t what they seem, Nathan,’ she began softly, and a rueful expression crossed his face.

  ‘And sometimes that’s all they are.’

  She frowned at the interruption. ‘Yes, but there are things you don’t know. I…’ He stopped her with a finger pressed to her lips.

  ‘Don’t. I don’t want to know anything else.’

  Rachel caught his wrist and pushed his hand away. ‘You have to listen. I haven’t been honest with you!’ she insisted, determined to tell him the truth about what he had seen that summer so long ago.

  ‘If we’re talking about honesty, I haven’t been honest either. Earlier you accused me of being jealous, and you were right. I’ve wanted you for a very long time,’ he admitted coolly, completely distracting her from what she needed to say.

  ‘Really? You hid it very well,’ she couldn’t help retorting dryly, and that made him smile.

  ‘Did I? Sometimes I thought I was being glaringly obvious. In all honesty I want you so badly right now it’s hard to keep my hands off you. However, the fact is I gain no pleasure from wanting you. I have to respect the woman I have a relationship with,’ he continued softly. ‘That’s why there can never be anything between us.’

  She had always known how he felt, but hearing it was still a blow, and she couldn’t let it pass. Green eyes held blue, and, taking a deep breath, she made yet another attempt to tell him the truth. ‘Nathan, about what you thought you saw—’

  Interrupting her, Nathan traced his knuckles along the fragile line of her jaw with unexpected tenderness. ‘I know what I saw, Rachel. There’s nothing you can say to make me change my mind about you. I’m just a toy to you, sweetheart. Something you want because you can’t have it. However much I might want to take you to bed, I won’t use or be used by you just to satisfy a sexual urge.’

  She could have told him differently, but she knew he wouldn’t believe her. Just as she knew he wouldn’t believe the truth she had just tried to tell him. He would never love her because of her ‘past’. She had to cut her losses. All she was ever likely to share with him was a passionate affair, and even that would take some doing—if she really wanted it.

  She hid her regret behind a jaunty smile. ‘Are you sure that’s all it is? A sexual urge?’

  His eyes roved her body, starting flash fires on her skin. ‘Oh, yes. A pretty powerful one,’ he admitted gruffly.

  That at least gave her hope. He wanted her, and at least an affair, however brief it might be, would give her something to remember in the long days and nights ahead. She had to go for it.

  ‘Are you sure I can’t persuade you to change your mind and go with the flow?’ she teased seductively, and not surprisingly he shook his head.

  ‘Just write me up in your diary as the one that got away,’ he refused lightly, and her heart cried out. For he was the only one she wanted, and she now knew that, but for that scene he had witnessed, they could have shared something wonderful.

  It was a bitter fact to accept that she had played her part so well he would never believe her, but she had no choice. All she could do was swallow the lump of emotion blocking her throat and laugh huskily. ‘Damn you, Nathan Wade, but you’re a hard man to seduce!’ she exclaimed sardonically, sitting up and resting her chin on her knees, needing to keep her too expressive face from his scrutiny lest she give her true feelings away.

  ‘I’m glad to see you’re taking it so well,’ Nathan remarked humorously, and she had mastered her emotions enough to shoot him an old-fashioned look.

  ‘Surely you didn’t expect me to throw myself in the lake over you?’ she countered mockingly.

  ‘Nothing so dramatic,’ he returned with a shrug. ‘I guess I expected tears at the very least. You constantly surprise me.’

  No kidding! Rachel thought, then said airily, ‘Perhaps that’s because I’m no ordinary woman.’

  He laughed softly. ‘Without a doubt, ordinary is something you will never be. You’ve got style, anyway.’

  ‘Just not enough of it, apparently,’ she retorted wryly, then something occurred to her and she looked at him curiously. ‘Tell me something, Nathan. If you want me as badly as you say you do, why don’t you try to change me?’ she ventured challengingly, and he stared at her thoughtfully.

  ‘It might be interesting to try,’ he admitted eventually.

  She was by instinct a fighter, and he was so adamant that there would be nothing between them that it virtually compelled her to do all she could to seduce him, even knowing she was the one who would end up being hurt. Notwithstanding that she glanced at him sideways. ‘What’s stopping you?’

  ‘I doubt you’d want to change.’

  Her half-smile was pure provocation. ‘Perhaps not. On the other hand, you might find you don’t want me to change. After all, we’re only talking about an affair here. A little danger would spice things up.’

  He laughed, but there was a light in his eye that set her nerves leaping. ‘When you put it like that, it would almost be worth it.’

  ‘What have you got to lose? It would be good, Nathan. You know it would,’ she enticed in a husky undertone.

  ‘Maybe.’

  With a shake of her head, she clambered to her feet. ‘I haven’t given up, you know. By hook or by crook, we will end up in bed together.’

  That had him lifting an eyebrow as he rose to join her. ‘Somewhere along the line our roles have been reversed. Isn’t that what I should be saying to you?’

  Rachel grinned flirtatiously back at him. ‘Exactly. The difference is, I wouldn’t be saying no.’

  This time it was Nathan who shook his head. ‘You’ve got more nerve than any woman I know.’

  She shrugged. ‘When I know what I want, I go after it.’

  ‘And if what you want doesn’t want you?’ he countered smoothly, at which she smiled seductively.

  ‘But you do want me, Nathan. You’ve just said so. And even if you hadn’t, your body said it for you. You just won’t take a chance. What harm can an affair with me possibly do you?’

  Those magnificent blue eyes looked at her consideringly. ‘Perhaps you should be asking yourself that question,’ he suggested silkily.

  Crossing to him, she picked at mythical pieces of grass supposedly attached to his shirt. ‘You know something, Nathan? I’ve a good mind to make you fall in love with me!’ she declared audaciously, and his hand came up and closed around her wrist like a vice.

  ‘I wouldn’t attempt it if I were you,’ he advised coldly.

  Rachel smiled. ‘Why not? It could be amusing,’ she goaded. It seemed she had hit a nerve! Perhaps he had fallen in love with her already, she mused, then dismissed the idea as preposterous. If there was one man who would never love her, that man was Nathan Wade.

  ‘I will say this only once, sweetheart. Don’t try to amuse yourself with me. I make a very bad enemy,’ he warned, but she merely smiled at him archly.

  ‘Mmm, a bad enemy but a good lover. What a choice!’ Was he protesting a tad too much? No, he was just using his usual tactic of taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. ‘If you’ve finished with my hand, I’d like it back,’ she added sarcastically.

  ‘We’d better get going,’ he said shortly, and made for the pathway. Rachel stared after him ruefully.

  He was a man of strong emotions, as she knew to her cost. If h
e loved as passionately as he hated, the woman he eventually chose would consider herself lucky indeed. It tore her heart in two to know it could never be her. She might be able to incite his passion, but the greater victory of winning his love would always be beyond her reach.

  She would have to settle for what she could get, and hope and pray that it wouldn’t be the biggest mistake of her life.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  DINNER turned out to be a surprisingly formal affair. Luther Ames’s guests were expected to dress for the occasion and assemble on the patio for cocktails beforehand. Rachel had chosen to wear one of her new dresses. Floor-length, with a side split that reached above the knee, it’s clingy white fabric draped in graceful folds across the bodice, whilst leaving her back bare. She had also put her hair up in a loose knot in the Edwardian style, which allowed fine hairs to escape about her cheeks and neck. At the last minute she had added the diamond necklace to the finished ensemble.

  The food had been excellently prepared, and it wasn’t hard to imagine that Ames would only accept the best, because it would reflect well on him. Rachel’s professional soul drooled at the elaborate concoctions laid before them, and she wondered if she could find a way of having a word with the chef about his truly delicious dessert.

  Afterwards they all congregated in the drawing room for coffee and liqueurs, and eventually one of the younger couples switched on the sound system so that they could dance. Rachel had danced with each of the men in turn, and then stood nursing a barely touched margarita, watching Nathan flirt with the buxom brunette who had made such a splash in the pool earlier. The woman was blossoming under his practised charm, and it turned the knife in her heart every time he favoured her with his smile. He looked good enough to eat in his white dinner jacket, and she hated the way the woman kept eyeing him hungrily.

  As if he felt her eyes on him, Nathan turned and smiled at her. She smiled back. Of course, she knew what he was doing: proving that she did not have any hold over him. She was sorely tempted to throw her drink in his face, or maybe the brunette’s if she continued to hang on his arm like that. Instead she raised her glass to him, then took a much needed sip of its contents.

  ‘Nathan and Anna appear to be enjoying themselves,’ Ames observed dryly from behind her, making her jump for she hadn’t realised he was there.

  Deciding that a jealous response wouldn’t go amiss at this point, she scowled. ‘Aren’t they, though!’

  ‘Do I detect a slight cooling off of the relationship? Have you argued?’

  Taking his lead, she turned to him with an aggrieved look. ‘Can you believe it? He thinks this dress shows too much of me! We had words on the subject,’ she declared huffily, and punctuated the comment with a pointed sniff.

  Ames took the opportunity to run his too salacious gaze over her. ‘In my humble opinion, you look exquisite,’ he returned effusively, and she smiled at him brightly.

  ‘I’ll tell you something, Luther, you’re a true gentleman. You wouldn’t go off and flirt with another woman just because I refused to change, would you?’

  ‘Certainly not. Nathan’s a fool. You’re worth ten of her,’ Ames snorted, at the same time relieving her of her glass and setting it on an end table. ‘However, his loss is my gain. Why don’t we simply ignore him and get better acquainted?’ In a practised move he slipped a proprietorial hand beneath her elbow and led her to the dance floor.

  It happened so smoothly Rachel had no time to protest. Before she knew it she was in his arms and being steered across the floor. Ames was a surprisingly good dancer, but she quickly learned he suffered from roving hands. She doubted if there was an inch of her back he hadn’t explored, and if she hadn’t been doing this in a good cause she would have slapped his face within ten seconds. She put up with it, though his touch made her flesh crawl, and told herself it would be over soon. However, minutes later his hand dropped to her bottom, and she stiffened in outrage. That was going too far. About to remove the offending hand with a pithy command to keep his hands to himself, she was saved by a timely intervention.

  ‘My turn, I think,’ Nathan declared suavely, taking her hand from Ames’s shoulder and neatly turning her into his own arms. ‘You looked as if you needed rescuing,’ he remarked when he had steered them out of earshot.

  ‘I did. That man has all the finesse of a ravening octopus!’ she said with a shudder.

  ‘Mmm, I thought you were about to hit him, and that wouldn’t have helped our cause,’ he reminded her coolly, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

  ‘Well, I’m sorry, but I forgot,’ she returned snappily. It was all very well for him to remind her of what she was supposed to be doing, but he hadn’t had Luther Ames’s hands running all over him.

  ‘You forgot? That’s a strange thing for you to say,’ Nathan charged sardonically, and she stared at him frostily.

  ‘Why? Because you think I’d allow anyone free access to my body? Well, I do have some self-respect, you know. I don’t go in for one-night stands, and I don’t like men like him mauling me. I detest him touching me. He makes me shudder,’ Rachel exclaimed in revulsion, just managing to keep her voice down to an angry hiss.

  Nathan looked at her curiously. ‘You allow me to touch you,’ he said softly, and her eyes locked with his, and her expression softened.

  ‘Yes, well, that’s altogether different. You’re not a bit like him. I’m not interested in Luther Ames. I never could be,’ she declared emphatically, wanting him to know it and believe it.

  ‘But you are interested in me,’ he stated thoughtfully.

  Rachel smiled into his eyes. ‘I thought I’d made that more than obvious this afternoon,’ she returned huskily, and the temperature rose significantly in their small corner of the room.

  ‘With what aim in mind?’ he asked softly, and she shook her head sadly.

  ‘What a short memory you have. With the aim of getting you into bed, of course,’ she reminded him seductively.

  ‘You don’t see me as prospective husband material, then?’

  That came right out of left field and had her nerves rioting. Of course she saw him as husband material, but it was how he saw her that counted. Which was why she made her answer light and unconcerned. ‘I’m not looking for a husband right now.’

  ‘Just a temporary lover? Someone to tide you over till the next one comes along?’ he drawled tauntingly, and though the description stung she shrugged casually.

  ‘You know me. I’m not looking for a soul mate. I certainly wouldn’t tie you down.’ Not much she wouldn’t! Given half a chance she would grab it, but he would never offer her more than a brief affair. He didn’t trust her, and he certainly didn’t love her. The most they had was a mutual passion. She would make it be enough.

  ‘That’s generous of you,’ he replied humorously, running a soothing hand down her spine, which caused her to shiver in delight as ripples of pleasure travelled over her from head to toe.

  She relaxed immediately, allowing her body to mould itself to his and her head to come to rest on his shoulder. ‘You don’t know how generous I can be, but you’ll find out,’ she murmured dreamily, loving the feel of his body moving against hers as they slowly circled the tiny floor.

  ‘I will?’ he countered, and she felt the rumble of soft laughter beneath her cheek.

  Her free hand stroked the fine cloth of his jacket over his heart. ‘Oh, yes. I’m never wrong about these things.’

  ‘You certainly know how to turn a man on,’ Nathan returned wryly, and she smiled to herself, for she could feel the response of his body to hers. Combustible, that was what they were. A highly combustible combination.

  ‘Does that mean I’m making progress?’ she asked provocatively, moving her hips ever so gently against him, delighting in the tiny growl he couldn’t withhold before he eased her away.

  ‘It means we’d better cool it before we cause a minor scandal,’ he corrected dryly, and she uttered a husky laugh.

  ‘Mmm, I
never was one for spectator sports. Some things are better done in private, where we can let our imaginations run riot,’ she flirted, wondering at her own daring, yet knowing she wouldn’t stop now for anything on earth.

  Nathan’s blue eyes scorched her from a distance. ‘I imagine you have one hell of an imagination!’

  Reaching out, she brushed one fingertip softly over his bottom lip. ‘Just say the word and you’ll find out.’

  ‘No charge?’

  Her eyes held his solemnly. ‘Never for you,’ she said gruffly, unable to joke about that. What she had to give would be given freely. With love.

  A tiny frown creased his brow at her seriousness. ‘Sometimes there’s something about you that doesn’t quite fit. I can’t work out what it is,’ he said slowly, and she couldn’t resist smoothing out that frown with her thumb.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m sure if it’s important it will come to you. If not…well, what difference will it make?’ she declared philosophically.

  ‘None, I guess,’ he returned, though he didn’t sound too convinced.

  The music ended and she moved away from him reluctantly. ‘Take my word for it. You were right when you said we are what we are. I am what you see.’

  He shook his head in a vague gesture of dissatisfaction. ‘Exactly. You are what I see, but what do I see?’

  His strange mood disquieted her, and she forced a tinkling laugh from a suddenly tight throat. ‘There’s no mystery about that. You see a woman you want. She isn’t perfect, but she never pretended to be.’

  ‘No, you’re not perfect. In fact, now I come to think of it, you’ve never made any attempt to hide how imperfect you are since I told you about Antibes,’ he enlarged thoughtfully.

  Rachel could feel her pulse beating more quickly in her throat. Did this mean she had got through to him by the lake, after all? ‘Maybe that’s because you’ve been so determined to think the worst of me.’

  Nathan paused for a split second, but then shook his head. ‘For a moment you almost convinced me I’ve been imagining things…but I can’t doubt the evidence of my own eyes, now, can I?’