Joshua had heard it all before and almost sighed in relief when they approached the north end of the gallery, where the brooch sat on display, and was—hopefully—the end of the tour.
When Lady Kenwick got sidetracked by a waiter, Joshua seized the opportunity to whisper in Lindy’s ear, “The prime minister?”
“I wanted to impress you.” She flashed one of those smiles that dragged his gaze to those shiny lips again.
And she had.
Not only by her resourcefulness, but by her cool skill when she directed her attention to Lady Kenwick again and delighted the old woman by saying, “I haven’t seen any brooch this lovely since I last visited Topkapi Palace.”
“Surely you don’t mean the Eye of the Tiger.”
Lindy nodded. “I do indeed.”
“Oh, dear, you are delightful to notice the similarities.”
“Actually, Lady Kenwick’s ruby is two carats larger,” Joshua said.
Lady Kenwick laughed, but Lindy leaned close to peruse the brooch.
“So I see,” she said.
While Lady Kenwick chatted with them, Joshua debated ways to get Lindy all to himself, and as they—finally—moved out of the turret, he cast a parting glance at the sparkling brooch and found his answer.
HAD LINDY been paying less attention to the handsome man accompanying her on the gallery tour with their hostess, she’d have immediately noticed how security personnel had closed off the exits before a guard arrived to escort Lady Kenwick away.
Unfortunately, she’d been so aware of Joshua moving along in her shadow that details were slipping her notice.
Well, the important details, anyway.
The scent of his aftershave shouldn’t have been occupying a top slot in her awareness just now. Or the way his broad shoulders blocked out the light whenever he moved in to stand close behind her. Yet worthy or not, these were the details currently distracting her… And how could she really expect not to notice the man when he kept stepping so close she could feel the warmth of his crotch against her back.
He was needling her, Lindy knew, his pride probably pricked because she’d followed him to London. Oh, he’d led her a good chase, and had he been trying to outwit an agent without the benefit of her resources—both official and unofficial—he might have given her the slip.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to excuse me, Lindy.” Lady Kenwick shot a worried glance at the security guard who’d whispered a discreet message into her ear.
“I’ll entertain your guest until you’re free again,” Joshua offered.
Their hostess gave an absent nod. “Thank you. You’ll be in good hands, Lindy. I promise.”
Lindy smiled at that turn of phrase. The memory of Joshua’s hands on her was still so fresh that she tingled…tingled, for heaven’s sake.
Lady Kenwick hurried off to convene with the guards at the opposite end of the room, and none of their fellow guests seemed much interested in how the gallery’s only two exits had been sealed up as tightly as a canister of nuclear waste. But Lindy watched the proceedings curiously, resisting the urge to speculate as Joshua passed off a glass of what turned out to be very tasty burgundy. “London, Joshua. Should I be insulted?”
“Insulted?”
“You obviously didn’t think I’d be much of a challenge. You flew out of New York City on the same commercial carrier out of the same hub you flew into. True, Joshua Benedict dropped off the grid after you disembarked in Canada, leaving me to assume you’d stayed in Montreal. I suppose I could have searched the city, but that would have been a waste of time.”
“Why’s that?”
She raised her glass in salute. “Because when Joshua Benedict dropped off the grid, Stuart Temple appeared.”
To his credit, he didn’t flinch. His dark eyes held hers. His smile remained steady, an expression that didn’t tell her a bloody thing.
“Stuart Temple?”
“The man who flew from Montreal to Heathrow.”
Stuart Temple was a little-used alias from Joshua’s past that went back a good decade, an alias that, to her knowledge, he’d never used in his dealings with Renouf.
Admitting she had this information revealed a few of the cards she held, but since he seemed to have such a low opinion of her abilities… “Now you’re in my town, visiting my countrymen, right under the very nose of my agency. How can I be anything but insulted?”
“No insult intended. Testing you is the only way I can get the information I need.”
“So you’re admitting that you’re Stuart Temple?”
“Of course not.”
She chuckled. “Did you get the information you need?”
He inclined his head and the light from the cut-crystal chandelier overhead winked off his fair hair, drawing her gaze, and grudging attention, to the contrast against his tan skin.
He might blow off the fact that she’d known his alias, but Lindy suspected this was a detail of great interest—it would have been to her if their situations were reversed.
“Information gathering?” she said. “That happens to be exactly what I’m doing.”
“Have you gathered any?”
“Absolutely. You acquired the White Star.”
“What makes you think so?”
She nodded. “You wouldn’t have picked up and left New York so fast. I have it on good authority Renouf really wants that piece, and I don’t believe for a second you’d let a British agent interfere with a job.”
“Even when that British agent is dogging my heels?”
“I thought you wanted me on your heels. Wasn’t that the point of playing your game? You hide so I can find you?”
“Or try to.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “What try?”
With a laugh, Joshua took a step toward her, crowding her against a bookcase and blocking her view of the security guards breaking away from Lady Kenwick.
She wanted to see what was happening across the room, but there was simply no ignoring this man. Even if he hadn’t towered above her, his sheer maleness demanded her notice. Even clutching her wineglass between them, she felt surrounded. Heat flushed her, made her feel overdressed at an affair where she fitted in perfectly. She couldn’t help but imagine their bodies pressed as close, naked.
Tipping her gaze to meet his, she recognized the heat in his expression, and wondered if he entertained similar thoughts.
She suspected he did.
“As far as my work in New York goes,” he said, drawing her thoughts away from naked and back to kissing. “You threw me a curve when you arrived. I wouldn’t insult your intelligence by pretending you didn’t.”
“So you do have some opinion of me.”
“I do.” Since he stared at her mouth, she suspected his opinion had less to do with Her Majesty’s Secret Intelligence than how she kissed.
“Speaking of your work, Joshua, were you able to send the White Star off to its new owner? Or did you decide to deliver it personally after you shake off your tail?”
“Fishing?”
“It’s a pastime of mine as well.”
“An interest we share then.” Plucking the wineglass from her, he set it on a shelf then trailed a finger along her cheek where hairs had strayed from her stylish twist. His touch was subtly bold, warm, his fingertip faintly rough, and she added another piece to the Joshua Benedict puzzle that hadn’t been in his profile.
He used his hands.
She’d read that he liked to fish, and his boats factored heavily into the life he lived for the public’s viewing. Lindy couldn’t be sure what else he might like to do with his hands, but from the easy, thorough way he touched her, she knew he would be skilled at whatever he did. She could feel it in the almost gentle way he brushed the hair from her cheek.
She was struck again by the same impression she’d had while first gazing through her digital-cam binoculars at this man—there was so much more beneath the surface, so much that no profile or image could capture.
Maybe it was their proximity or how he stared into her face as if he could see straight inside places she didn’t dare look, but Lindy suddenly felt exposed.
“You have a smudge on your nose.” He backed up a step, freeing her up to deal with her appearance.
Lindy was ridiculously relieved for an opportunity to break away from his overwhelming nearness. Just one step and she could breathe easier. It was absurd, really. She couldn’t remember ever being so affected by a man, let alone a target. Yes, she’d decided to play the attraction card, but she hadn’t expected to be all tied up in knots every time the man came near.
Automatically reaching into her purse for her compact, she mentally warned herself to get a grip. True, she hadn’t dated in a while, but that had been by choice. The little free time she’d had out of the field had been better spent with family and friends.
And nursing her ailing corn plant back to health.
Raising the mirror, she shifted around so she could break completely free of Joshua’s proximity to see what security was doing in the mirror’s reflection.
“Wonder what’s going on?” she said. “Security’s questioning the guests. Lady Kenwick looks upset.”
She watched for a moment, and her instincts—now that she wasn’t preoccupied with this tall, handsome male—went wild. “Considering they’ve locked us inside like criminals, I can only assume they don’t want us leaving. Do you suppose there’s been a theft?” Tilting her compact, she caught Joshua’s gaze. “This is your area of expertise, after all.”
“Alleged expertise.”
“Humph.” Looking for the smudge on her nose, she couldn’t find a thing wrong with her appearance. Wondering what the man’s game was, she returned the compact to her bag, where her hand bumped into something unfamiliar….
Lady Kenwick’s brooch.
5
JOSHUA WATCHED the play of emotions across Lindy’s face when she discovered the surprise he’d planted in her purse and guessed she didn’t often reveal so much in a glance.
Her thickly fringed eyes widened and her whole body went still. From her expression, he pinpointed the exact instant she identified the brooch and connected the locked gallery to the piece she now had.
She swung her gaze his way and laughed, a silvery sound that wasn’t the response he’d expected, but when hearing it, Joshua knew he should have.
And again he was impressed.
“Well, I knew being a thief factored in somewhere.” She snapped her purse shut and cast an amused gaze around the room. “Well done, Joshua.”
“What have I done well?” He couldn’t argue the thief part tonight.
“You’ve played me. Now I’m curious to see what your next move will be. I don’t guess you would have directed me to my bag if you were planning to take off and leave me to be caught with this?”
“That wouldn’t be gentlemanly.”
“You’re a gentleman?”
“I promised Lady Kenwick I’d see to you in her absence.”
“Hmm. That doesn’t quite answer my question. I suppose I’ll have to formulate my own opinion.”
She scanned the room, no doubt looking for a way to unload the brooch, which was exactly what he wanted—to watch her in action. He needed to know everything he could about this woman.
When security split into groups to work the gallery from both directions, she frowned, but instead of showing signs of panic, she reached for her wineglass and sipped.
He’d been hoping to catch her off guard, but found her cool under pressure. “Not worried, Lindy?”
“We’re in the middle of the room. The guards are still working the perimeter. I’ve got a few minutes until they show up and ask me to upend my bag.”
“Would you like me to rescue you?”
“Do I look like a damsel in distress?”
Despite the distinctly castle-like qualities of Stanforth Hall, there was nothing distressed about Lindy. “Not after watching you dispose of that electronic device last night,” he admitted. “I’ll take my time before stepping in.”
“Oh, arrogant. Why do you think you’ll need to?”
“Because I want to prove I’m a gentleman. Fair is only fair.”
“Sounds like you think you owe me. Are you admitting that imaging device was yours?”
“No.”
She gave a snort of unladylike laughter, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Y’know, I might actually buy a gentleman bad guy, Joshua. If you carry a hanky.”
He obliged, watching as she went for her purse. By the way she fished around inside, he knew she was wiping the brooch clean of prints. The consummate professional. And one of the worthiest opponents he’d ever met.
Glancing around the room, he watched Lady Kenwick motion a security guard away before pairing off with a woman he recognized as a close family friend. Both ladies looked upset, and he had a momentary pang that he’d marred Lady Kenwick’s otherwise enjoyable affair to put Lindy on the spot.
The new security guard lent effort to the cause, speeding up the investigation. Joshua knew Lindy noticed those proceedings, too, but she still looked cool, unaffected, even as his own pulse sped up while precious seconds ticked by.
The opportunity for escape was fast slipping away as two security guards wrapped up business with one group of guests and moved on to a couple standing on the opposite side of the fireplace—not far from him and Lindy.
“Ready for that rescue yet?” he asked.
“You’ll have to find another way to prove yourself tonight.”
She openly challenged him. No coyness or subtlety. She wanted to use him, didn’t care how she’d trash his life in the process. All she cared about was catching her man.
And he wasn’t even the man she was after.
“Come on.” Suddenly she was on her way, heading across the room in a silken glide of swaying hips and smooth strides. He followed, both appreciating the scenery she made and curious to see her next move.
“Oh, Joshua, look at those Stargazer lilies.” She beelined straight for a fresh-flower arrangement that adorned a credenza. “Aren’t they the most beautiful you’ve ever seen?”
The arrangement showcased an array of colors and shapes, but Joshua didn’t recognize the flowers. “They’re pretty.”
“Pretty?” She sounded incredulous. “Just smell them.”
Passing him the wineglass, she leaned into the arrangement, inhaling deeply. He passed off the glasses to a nearby waiter, who was obviously doing his bit to accommodate the guests under unusual circumstances, just as Lindy came up from the arrangement in a fit of sneezes.
“Bless you,” he said.
She pulled the handkerchief from her purse and buried her face inside it, still sneezing. He wondered if he was being treated to a repeat of last night’s performance. But Lindy wouldn’t dispose of this piece in the trash. No one would be leaving Stanforth Hall until the brooch turned up. Security would search the gallery then the rest of the house. If they didn’t recover the piece, guests would be held for questioning until the local police arrived.
And Joshua would be back to hoping his name didn’t turn up on a suspect list.
“I need water, please.” Lindy motioned to the waiter, who immediately did an about-face and headed toward the service bar.
She followed the waiter, and Joshua followed her. When she brushed close to another flower display, this one designed from silk blooms that matched the gallery’s color scheme, he braced himself to catch it.
But the arrangement didn’t topple over, and he did a double take when he saw the jeweled brooch suddenly peeking out from the greenery, noticeable without being too obvious.
A respectable hiding place.
“Well done,” he whispered to her as they arrived at the bar. “Now what?”
After accepting water from the waiter, she offered thanks and moved out of earshot before saying, “We entertain ourselves until someone notices it. Come on. L
et’s go chat with Lady Kenwick. The poor dear looks nearly hysterical.”
He felt another pang of guilt as they approached their hostess to find her indeed distraught. But as she and the Duchess of Bradborough explained the brooch’s disappearance while he and Lindy took turns reassuring them that security would locate the piece, Joshua knew Lindy had set him up. This was a test. She gauged him now, watched how well he held up under pressure. And except for the guilt…
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for security to stumble across the brooch. Joshua felt an unfamiliar relief when Lady Kenwick bustled across the gallery. “Oh, thank goodness.”
The guests cheered.
“We’ve already paid our respects to the hostess,” he said. “Now seems like a good time for that rescue. Shall we?”
Lindy looped her arm through his. “We’ll look suspicious if we leave.”
“We’ve already spoken to Lady Kenwick, so I think we might slip away in all this commotion without drawing any notice if we don’t leave the way we came in.”
“Are you suggesting we jump out a window?”
“Trust me—unless you’d rather spend the next few hours debating theories about who moved the brooch from its display. They’ll think we’ve slipped away for a tryst.”
Lindy’s gaze sparkled. “Then rescue me. Fair’s fair.”
Inclining his head, he led her on a tour, remarking on various features around the gallery. When they reached the turret room at the south end, Joshua stepped close while pointing to a portrait high on the wall.
While relating the history of that particular Kenwick ancestor, he slipped a hand under the authentic Spitalfields silk wall hanging. The fabric had worn through the centuries, faded to a dull red that managed to accent the room’s décor.
And create a respectable place for a getaway.
Lindy didn’t hesitate when he motioned her behind the drapery, but slipped quietly inside, pressing close to the wall until he joined her. He made his move, and suddenly they were ensconced in the narrow black space.
He could hear her shallow breaths in the darkness, the sounds of conversations muted through the silk hangings, and he groped along the wall….
Into Temptation Page 7
