A Trap So Tender

by Jennifer Lewis

  Solomon was blowing beneath him, probably relaxing in the knowledge that his stall and a long drink of water weren’t too far away now. “Come on, boy, not long now. Shall we put on a burst of speed so it looks like we’re trying?”

  Solomon obliged, and soon James glimpsed Taffy’s pale rump rising and falling through the thin copse of trees that led to the drive. “I’m going to beat you!” He couldn’t resist the last-minute challenge.

  Fiona whipped her head around, then crouched lower over Taffy, urging her to go faster. He laughed and enjoyed the view as Solomon lumbered across the last stretch of open pasture toward the stable yard. Fiona galloped up the last rise as if her life depended on it, then thrust up an arm in triumph as she reached the top.

  He slowed Solomon to a walk. Fiona had jumped off and was giving Taffy a hug. Two grooms rushed forward, ready to cool out the tired horses.

  “I told you I’d win.” Her cheeks glowed pink as she stood, hands on hips. Her pale jodhpurs and tall boots were splashed with mud.

  “And you were right. I’m duly impressed. Solomon and I will have to eat humble pie for dinner.”

  “I’m a lot lighter than you.” He felt her eyes on his more massive frame as he eased himself down from Solomon and hit the ground with a thud.

  “There’s no arguing with that.” He wanted to kiss her right here. Why not? He took her in his arms, and the taste of her mouth was like champagne after the long, arduous ride. She held him tight, her breath coming in unsteady gasps. When they finally pulled apart, he studied her face. “This race really meant a lot to you.”

  “I don’t like to lose.”

  “Well, you didn’t. You have my undying admiration, and now a piece of land in Singapore.”

  Her eyes sparkled. “I’m thrilled. By both. Kiss me again!”

  * * *

  The extreme athletic feat of winning the race sucked the wind out of Fiona. She could barely make it through dinner without closing her eyes. A long bubble bath and an early night in James’s arms should have been the perfect ending to a spectacular day.

  But a nasty sense of foreboding crept over her. James needed to go back to Singapore for a meeting, and while she ached to go with him, she knew it was a bad idea.

  “What’s the matter?” James tried to massage her shoulders, but they kept tying themselves back into knots.

  “Oh, nothing. I’m just tired.”

  “Are you sure you want to stay here while I’m in Singapore?”

  “Definitely. I’m determined to find the missing cup piece. I think it will bring us good luck.” She couldn’t face the thought of going back there and being thrust into the whole engagement whirlwind again. Not until it felt real. “As long as there’s a car I can use to get around I’ll be fine.”

  “Angus will keep one fueled and ready for you. When you grow bored with rifling through old junk you can join me in Singapore and we can finalize the wedding details together.”

  “Do you really have to leave today? Stay here awhile longer. Change your meeting to next week.” Suddenly she was terrified of losing him.

  “I wish I could but it’s a deal I’ve been working on literally for years. It’s with Goh Kwon Beng, the man I introduced you to the other day.”

  “Oh.” She had a weird feeling that this meeting had something to do with their impending marriage, though she couldn’t imagine how. And why did that sound so much like impending doom? The mention was a sharp reminder that he was marrying her in a rush for reasons of his own. He didn’t love her. There were no promises of undying affection between them. Really they were just starting to date and get to know each other under intense pressure—from both sides. “I’ll miss you.” It was the truth.

  “I’ll miss you, too.” He kissed her again, so softly it was almost like a breath.

  Hopefully by the time he came back she’d have pacified her father by telling him the land was his. Maybe then this could turn into a real relationship without all the underhanded drama. Still, she needed to tie up the scheme first. “Will you send me the deed for the land?”

  “I have it right here, in my briefcase. I can’t believe I forgot about it.” He eased off the bed, naked, and walked to the far side of the room. He reached into a dark leather satchel and pulled out a plain manila envelope. “Here it is. It’s yours.”

  “I can’t believe you have it here. You’re too funny.”

  “I’m always deadly serious.”

  “I like that about you.” He was truly a man of his word, someone you could count on, even under these rather bizarre circumstances. Her hand trembled slightly when she took the envelope. How would James react if he knew that their entire relationship, even their first meeting, had been engineered to obtain this one document?

  For now, at least, it would be her secret.

  “It’s sweet of you to let me stay here.” He obviously trusted her. A trust that was not entirely justified.

  “I’m counting on you to find the cup fragment so we can enjoy a glorious future together, unlike most of the Drummonds. Katherine’s phoned or emailed me nearly every day. If nothing else it will make her happy.”

  She bit her lip.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “What if I don’t find it?”

  “That’s not the Fiona I know and…” He stopped short before uttering the word love, but it hung in the air anyway and reverberated like a freshly banged gong.

  Love. Would it grow between them naturally and organically once the pressure was off? Or were they doomed to the fate of most Drummond men and their unfortunate spouses? Her breathing felt shallow.

  “You’ll find it. I have complete confidence in you.” James climbed back onto the bed with her. His nearness was reassuring. She dreaded tomorrow, when he’d leave and she’d be all alone. Too much time to think and worry.

  “I’ll do my best.” Perhaps that cup really was the key to James—and her—finding happiness.

  “I’m counting on you.”

  Don’t count on me, she wanted to say. I’m not the person you think I am at all. I’m a devious, cunning stranger who cajoled my way into your innermost sanctum for my own purposes. But she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she touched his rough cheek with her fingers and kissed him on the mouth, as emotions tangled in her heart.

  * * *

  “Dad, remember not to tell anyone how you got it.” She was walking along the battlements on the roof of the oldest part of the castle while talking on the phone. At least there she knew no one could listen in. The dramatic landscape stretched in all directions, making her feel very small. A cold snap had painted the hills with a russet tinge. Why wouldn’t time stand still?

  “Why not? It’s a funny story. Besides, you’re all done with that devil now. You can tell him where to shove it.”

  She hesitated. How did she tell her dad that she’d grown to like James?

  To love him.

  Okay. Maybe you couldn’t really love someone on this short acquaintance, but she liked him more than any man she’d ever met, and if passion was a measure of any kind…

  “James and I… I don’t want him to know the whole story.” Suddenly her delicate house of cards was in danger of falling apart. Maybe if she could buy a little time? “The taxes are paid through the end of next year. If you sit on it quietly until then there’ll be time for me to smooth things over.”

  “But I need to reopen my factory.” Her father sounded almost petulant.

  “It didn’t make any money.” Now she was whining, too. “Just wait awhile and we’ll work on a new project together. I’d like to start a retail business in Singapore, and I know you’re the perfect person to help me with it. It’s an ideal spot, so near Orchard Road and I…”

  “I had orders. I can be back in business by the end of the month. All the machinery is still there.”

  Her heart sank. Her dad was so stubborn. Then again, she’d told him she’d get him his factory back, not that she’d tell him what
to do with it. She’d already sent the deed to him via DHL. Smoothing things over with James was her problem alone. “Dad, James put a lot of trust in me, and I need a few weeks to straighten things out.” With time she could think of some way to present it that sounded less mercenary. Or at least by then the engagement and marriage train would have hurtled so far forward that it would be less likely to wreck and fall off the tracks. “Promise me you won’t tell anyone, not for a little while.”

  “Oh, Fiona, you’re such a worrier. Just like your mother.”

  * * *

  Thoughts of Fiona crowded James’s mind in her absence. He found himself dreaming about their future and making plans he’d never even discussed with her. Names for their children, even the schools those imaginary children might attend.

  He seemed to be living and breathing every minute in a state of suspended animation until he could hold her in his arms again.

  Which was why the headline of Wednesday’s paper came as such a brutal shock.

  James sat down hard in his chair. His office seemed to shrink around him, as his whole world transformed into an alien landscape quite different from the one he thought he was living in.

  Drummond Engagement a Ruse. The headline mocked him. The article itself devastated him.

  Fiona had given the land to her father. Given it back to her father. A father he never even knew existed, since his rudimentary peek into Fiona’s past had told him only what he wanted to hear. A father who now claimed—from every rooftop—that their entire romance was a scheme to reclaim his “stolen” property.

  James’s first instinct was to argue with the media. To claim that it couldn’t be true. Fiona would never do that! But he knew immediately, in his own rather stony heart, that it was not only possible, but utterly true.

  Fiona never intended to marry him at all. Which explained why she didn’t want to choose her wedding dress, or even tell her parents about their intended marriage. Because there wasn’t going to be a wedding.

  He’d chosen her as his wife and rushed their courtship forward to secure his long-awaited business deal with Goh Kwon Beng, and it had never occurred to him that she had her own reasons for agreeing to such a precipitous engagement. Easily distracted by her business reputation and the stellar educational record she’d blazed in California, he’d done his research with blinders on. He’d been looking for good things and found them, so confident and intent on achieving his own goals that he’d walked right into a trap.

  Fiona’s ruthless determination and fearless pursuit of her goals had intrigued and attracted him. Now he was surprised that they’d been used against him? He should curse himself for being a fool.

  She didn’t answer his calls that morning. Hardly surprising. He hadn’t been able to get hold of her the night before, either. Someone in Singapore must have told her the story would run. Maybe she even planted it herself.

  Now he was forced to ask his household staff about her whereabouts. He could hardly believe he’d left a virtual stranger unattended in his ancestral home. Except that she was supposed to be his fiancée and the castle was intended to be her home, too.

  “Angus, uh, is everything okay with Fiona?” How did you delicately ask if your intended bride was still there?

  “I drove her to the airport this morning. She should be back with you soon.”

  “Oh, yes, I’m sure she’ll be here any minute,” he lied. Where was she going? Likely not back to Singapore, at least not yet. She didn’t seem the type to court this kind of publicity. Unless she really did want to crow over him and celebrate her victory. “Thanks, Angus.”

  He didn’t believe there was malice behind it. Then again, maybe that was more evidence of his stupidity in this whole situation. He’d had such a great time with her. He didn’t remember ever enjoying a woman’s company like this before. And the sex they’d had was in its own league. She’d enjoyed it, too. Had her pleasure been simply in a mercenary victory over an adversary?

  Damn, but he wanted to talk to her and hear her side of the story. But even in this high-tech world, he didn’t know a way to compel a free citizen to answer her phone when she didn’t want to speak to you.

  Ten

  James had left several messages on her phone since she’d fled the estate earlier this morning. She couldn’t even bear to listen to them anymore so she let the battery run out and dropped the phone in a garbage can at the airport. If she had any human decency at all she’d call him and explain her side of the story. She’d tell him she really did have feelings for him. She’d beg for forgiveness and they’d live happily ever after.

  But this was James Drummond she’d made a fool of. The tone of his messages was confused at first, then angry, then a cold, deadly fury. She’d known she was taking on a powerful adversary when she walked into this whole situation. That’s why she’d planned to disappear to California once she got her dad’s factory back.

  She’d since dared to dream that she and James could have a real future together. But when a reporter from a Singapore daily had called her looking for salacious tidbits about their romance, she’d learned that the story would break, and her courage failed her.

  The ending of this story had been planned since their first meeting, but she hadn’t intended for it to hurt like being cut open with a knife.

  The journey back to California went way too fast. Racked by guilt and sorrow, she couldn’t look forward to anything. Her friend Crystal told her she could stay as long as she liked, so at least she had a place to hide, but even seeing her old friends couldn’t distract Fiona from the misery of losing James just when she’d realized she wanted to keep him forever.

  The day after she arrived, Crystal tried to console her over margaritas at their favorite tapas bar. “You said from the beginning that it was a business thing. You accomplished your goal. You should be celebrating, not looking like you’re about to weep more salt into the olives.”

  “I am not going to weep.” The sharp margarita stung her tongue. Besides, she’d done enough weeping already; she was just too ashamed to admit it. “He turned out to be so much…cooler than I was expecting.”

  “You had fun with him.” Crystal tipped her head to the side, and her long braids almost brushed the table.

  “Way too much fun.” The restaurant stereo was playing The Eagles’s “Hotel California,” which didn’t help her gloomy mood. “How many men have I ever met who can even ride a horse let alone race with me all day on one?” She shook her head. “I was even crazy enough to think he might be the one. And you can imagine how insane I’d have to be to think that while I’m pursuing a scheme to separate him from his property.”

  Crystal sighed. “That is pretty crazy. The sex must have been sensational.”

  She nodded. “Totally. I can’t imagine I’ll ever have sex like that again. There was a real connection between us.”

  “Maybe there still is?” Crystal picked up a shrimp and dipped it in spicy sauce. “I think you should reach out to him and tell him how you feel.”

  “No way.” She frowned. “You didn’t hear the messages he left me. He was furious. And why wouldn’t he be? I read some of the articles online. My dad made sure James came out looking like a fool. He didn’t just lose out on a business deal. He had the supposed woman of his dreams thumb her nose at him in the press. That’s probably the ultimate in humiliation for a guy.”

  “You didn’t do that.”

  “My dad made it seem like I did, and for someone in the public eye it amounts to the same thing.” Now anger warred with all the other conflicting emotions. She’d waited so long and worked so hard to win her dad’s affections. Now he’d betrayed her.

  “Damn. I sure hope your dad is grateful for what you did.”

  She swallowed. “I’ve tried calling him several times this week and I haven’t heard back. I phoned to ask if the deed arrived safely, and he didn’t even respond. I had to check DHL tracking to make sure it wasn’t lost somewhere.” Maybe he didn’
t want to talk to her now that he’d done exactly what she begged him not to.

  “You’re kidding!” Crystal’s horrified stare made her look away. “Has he even said thank you?”

  “I’m sure he’s grateful. It’s just that…” That what? She’d been so sure that winning back his factory would make her a heroine in her dad’s eyes. That it could somehow compensate for all the missed years together and draw them close in the father-daughter relationship she’d dreamed of. Now her long-cherished dream—put into very real action—seemed like a foolish fantasy. Once again her dad was immersed in his own busy universe and had no time for her, exactly as her mom and Crystal had warned her.

  “He used you.”

  “Nonsense. The entire thing was my idea.” She sipped her margarita and relished the cool sting on her tongue. “I have no one to blame but myself. I wanted to help my dad. I wanted to make him like me. I never for one moment thought about James’s feelings when I embarked on this whole thing.”

  “Well, you had no idea he was going to ask you to marry him. That part was all his fault.”

  “I know, and I’m sure it was a business thing for him to marry me. He has some important deal coming up with a guy named Beng who doesn’t appreciate fast-living bachelors. He was totally using me for his own reasons. But that doesn’t make me feel any better. I know he did intend to marry me.”

  “What did you do with the ring?” Crystal raised a pierced brow.

  “The engagement ring.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Jeez. I never did tell him where I left it.” She cringed at the sudden realization that he might think she’d taken it. “I put it in the top drawer of a chest in the bedroom I stayed in at the castle. I knew I had to leave it but I didn’t want the staff to find it. I’ll have to tell him somehow.” Her heart felt like lead.

  “Write to him.”

  “An email?” She’d blocked his address after a barrage of angry call me’s came through.

  “No, not an email. An old-fashioned epistle.”

  “A pen-and-paper letter?” Fiona paused. The idea appealed to her. It didn’t have the frightening possibility of an instant and hostile response the way email and the phone did. There would be time for her to choose her words carefully, and time for him to think about his response. If he even wanted to dignify her letter with a response. “You might be onto something.”