Playing at Love Read online

  ‘Open your mouth for me, honey,’ he ground out deeply, tilting her head back so that his glittering eyes met hers from the space of inches. ‘You know it’s what you want, what we both want!’

  ‘No! Stop it at once, Wyatt—’ The angry words stopped abruptly as he took advantage of the moment, his mouth firm and demanding when it settled against hers as he slid his tongue between her parted lips. Louise shuddered, fighting hard to quell the immediate surge of raw desire that shot through her at the intimacy, but it was impossible to fight against something her body seemed so eager for. With a muffled groan all the fight went out of her and she started to kiss him back, her tongue tangling with his in a rhythm that made the blood whirl inside her hotly and sweetly. Each sweep of his tongue seemed to wipe away more and more of her resistance until she was clinging to him, her body shivering with need.

  When he suddenly raised his head and stared down at her she found that she couldn’t look away, let alone hide all the emotions he’d unleashed inside her. For a long, tense moment he studied her flushed face, the passion-filled depths of her soft grey eyes, then slowly he set her from him and ran a steady hand over his hair to smooth the dishevelled strands back from his forehead. ‘That’s better. You look far more how you should, Louise. Now shall we go down and meet the others?’

  His voice was flat, betraying nothing of the passion they’d shared, and something inside her curled up and died. It had all been a trick, a cruel device to convince the waiting guests that this engagement of theirs was real.

  Tears welled behind her lids, but she blinked them away, refusing to let him see how hurt she felt. If she lived to be a hundred, then she would never forget this moment, never forget how cruel he had been. ‘I hate you, Lord. Do you understand that? I hate you and I can’t wait for the time when I can pay you back for this!’

  He stopped her as she stormed towards the door, his touch strangely impersonal now as he studied her turbulent expression. ‘Hate me, or hate how I make you feel? Isn’t that the truth, Louise? For once in your life someone has touched real emotions inside you, and you can’t handle it, can you? You’ve pretended passion for so long now that it must have come as a shock to find out what it’s really like.’

  Her hand came up, arcing through the air, but he caught her wrist, his fingers encircling the slender bones as he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles slowly and deliberately. ‘Temper, temper, my sweet. You don’t want to ruin all my good work, do you?’ He pressed her fingers against his cheek and held them there as he laughed at her. ‘That would mean my having to start again, from the beginning, and, tempting though the idea is, I doubt Carling would appreciate any further delay to the start of her party. But if you find that you want to continue this later, then be my guest.’ His eyes dropped deliberately to run slowly up the slender curves of her body before coming back to her face. ‘In fact, if I’m honest, I must admit that I’d welcome another chance to prove my point.’

  Louise snatched her hand away, breathing deeply as she tried to control the pain she could still feel inside her. ‘There won’t be any more chances, Wyatt. You’ve just had your last one. If you try anything again, then I’m going straight to Carling and telling her the truth!’

  His anger was almost tangible, dark and scary. ‘I would suggest you think long and hard before doing that. I told you before, Louise, that I’ll carry out my threats, and I meant it.’

  She didn’t doubt it! So why didn’t she listen to her common sense and what it was trying to tell her? Why did she quite deliberately carry on and try to goad him! ‘Maybe I’m not scared any longer. Maybe I’d prefer those threats to what you did just now!’ She studied him with an insulting thoroughness, enjoying the way a thin line of colour settled along his cheekbones and his jaw tightened. ‘Granted you know which buttons to push to get the reaction you want, but that’s as far as it goes. You might be a whiz at business, Wyatt, but love-making...’ She smiled slowly, trailing her hand down his cheek and across the hard muscles of his chest, and let it linger for a heartbeat before letting it drop to her side with a little grimace of regret. ‘Lovemaking requires more than the right sequence of moves to be wholly effective. I enjoyed the trailer, but I think I’ll miss the full performance, thank you. Frankly, the thought of that is more off-putting than any threat you care to make!’

  It took every scrap of strength she possessed to smile as she walked past him to the door. Deep inside a pain was growing, but ruthlessly she blanked it from her mind. She would never let him know how much he had hurt her just now. It would be a secret she would take with her when she left, one more bitter souvenir of paradise.

  The noise was making her head ache.

  Louise excused herself from the group of people and made her way across the room to where the patio doors stood open, sending a delicious draft of cool evening air into the hot, crowded room. Everyone had been very kind tonight, going out of their way to make her feel welcome, but that didn’t help the feelings of guilt she felt at the way she was deceiving them. They had welcomed her as Wyatt’s fiancée, but she wasn’t really that. It was all a sham.

  Unconsciously her eyes searched the room and found him standing next to Carling, chatting to one of the guests whose name Louise couldn’t remember right then. What would it have felt like if this hadn’t been a pretence, if this party had really been a celebration of their commitment to one another? She had no idea, just the deep certainty that it was something she would never find out.

  He must have sensed her watching him somehow, because he looked up suddenly and his eyes met hers across the crowded room. Slowly all the noise faded and Louise caught her breath at the sheer force of the feeling that flowed between them. Time seemed to stand still, the world shuddering to a stop, then Carling claimed his attention and the moment fled as he looked away.

  A mist of tears clouded her eyes and Louise turned to stumble through the open door, wanting only to be by herself for a few minutes before her control snapped and she did something she might regret. It was cool outside in the garden and blessedly quiet after the noise in the house, so she made her way towards the beach. The sand caught at the heels of her shoes and impatiently she kicked them off and carried on towards the sea until she could feel the coolness of the water on her bare feet.

  It was so peaceful here, the only sounds the soft sigh of the breeze as it lifted her hair back from her face, the slap of the waves as they unfurled on to the white sand. If she closed her eyes and tried very hard, then maybe she could pretend that this had been some crazy dream and that she would wake up soon back in Miami with only the worry of how to spend the day to contend with.

  She closed her eyes and let her mind drift in the silence as she searched for the peace she so desperately needed, but it eluded her as behind her closed lids an image started to form, the image of a man with black hair and eyes the colour of moon-touched sea water.

  ‘Are you all right?’ His voice was deep and quiet in the silence, yet it seemed to fill her heart and her head in a way that no other man’s voice had ever done. Slowly, so slowly that it seemed to demand every scrap of her strength, she opened her eyes and turned to look at him, watching the way the moonlight silvered his dark hair and emphasised the strong bones of his face, and the image took on substance and became shockingly, alarmingly real.

  With a murmur of wild panic she jumped back and heard him curse roughly as he caught her round the waist and steadied her as she stumbled. He drew her to him, his hands biting into her flesh as he glared down into her face. ‘Don’t do that, damn youl I’m not going to attack you, if that’s what you’re expecting.’

  Colour flared into her face and she pushed against the hard wall of his chest, all too conscious of the powerful strength of his lean body and the effect it was even now having on her. ‘Nobody said that you were! You just startled me, that’s all. Now if you don’t mind, I would appreciate it if you’d just let me go. I’ve had enough of your caveman tactics
tonight to last me a lifetime, thank you.’

  It was exactly the wrong thing to say, and she knew it the very instant she saw the way his face set. For a moment that bordered on eternity, he held her in front of him, and she could almost see the silent battle he was waging. Then with a careless shrug he let her go, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his trousers as he turned to stare out to sea.

  Louise took a shuddery little breath and shot a nervous look at him. He seemed unperturbed, yet she could sense a certain tension about the rigid set of his shoulders, the stiffness of his stance. If she didn’t know better, then she would almost have imagined that she’d upset him with what she’d said, but of course that couldn’t be so. Nothing she could say or do would dent his iron composure and assurance!

  ‘What were you doing out here?’ His voice was low, but she still jumped nervously, and she felt rather than saw his jaw tighten. It was that more than anything that made her hesitate, when what she’d meant to do was go back inside. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was afraid.

  ‘I just wanted to get away from all the noise...all the people in there,’ she answered softly. ‘But you don’t need to stay. I’ll be fine by myself.’

  ‘I’m sure you will, but I’m in no great hurry to go back inside.’ He turned to look at her, his face in shadow now. ‘I’ll stay and keep you company if you don’t mind.’

  Louise laughed shortly, putting up a hand to push the curls away from her face. ‘Do I have a choice? You’ll do exactly as you want to, Wyatt.’

  He said nothing for a moment, then suddenly turned and started back up the beach towards the house. Startled by such abrupt behaviour, Louise watched until he’d almost reached the veranda then suddenly heard herself calling his name. The wind caught the sound and carried it out to sea, and she felt a strange panic enfold her. She couldn’t let him go like this, didn’t want him to go back inside and leave her alone with just her thoughts. It was better to have Wyatt here than spend time merely thinking about him. ‘Wait!’

  She stumbled across the sand, stopping just a few feet away from where he’d come to a reluctant halt, feeling her heart pounding so hard that it seemed to shake her whole body with its beat.

  ‘What is it, Louise?’ There was impatience in his voice now, a rough edge that didn’t quite hide some other emotion which startled her so much that she could barely think. To hear that note of regret in Wyatt’s voice was something she’d never thought to hear.

  ‘Don’t go.’ Unconsciously her voice softened, and she felt a sudden fear at what she was doing. She’d fought him since they’d met, used anger as a shield against other far more disturbing emotions; to stop fighting him now like this made her suddenly afraid.

  ‘There isn’t any point in my staying, Louise. I didn’t come out here to upset you, but I seem to have succeeded anyway.’ He laughed harshly, his eyes skimming her set face. ‘Do you think I enjoy seeing you looking at me as though I scare you half to death? I don’t, and I wish to God that I’d never started this in the first place!’ He turned to leave, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

  ‘I don’t want you to go, Wyatt. Not like this.’ She was shaking all over, a fine, tight tension strumming along every nerve. What she was doing was madness, yet she couldn’t seem to stop now that she had set herself on course. ‘Yes-yesterday you mentioned something about us calling a truce; surely it isn’t too late for us to do that, even if it’s only for the next few hours?’

  ‘Why?’ His eyes were cold and flat as he turned back to her, his face expressionless. ‘Why have you suddenly changed your mind when yesterday that was the last thing you’d agree to? Afraid you’re not going to get your money if you don’t sweeten me a bit?’

  ‘No!’ The pain she felt at the cruel accusation nearly cut her in two, and she took a step backwards, staring at him in horror. ‘How could you, Wyatt? How could you say such a thing?’

  ‘Quite easily. I’ve several days’ experience to base it on. I know how your scheming little mind works, Louise.’

  He was relentless in his cruelty, and suddenly she couldn’t take any more. With a broken sob she turned and fled back down to the beach, ignoring the angry sound of his voice calling her back. The waves slapped against her legs, soaking the hem of her dress, but she was barely aware of it as she ran on until her lungs burned and she could run no further. She sank down on to the sand, burying her face in her hands, and cried as though her heart was breaking.

  ‘Stop it. You’ll make yourself ill crying like that. Come on, pull yourself together.’ His voice was deep and soft, his hands strangely gentle as he turned her to face him and smoothed the tousled hair back from her face. Louise closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears she hated him to see, but they kept slipping from beneath her lids. With a low oath he knelt beside her on the sand and gathered her into his arms, cradling her as gently as a child, until gradually the sobs. abated and she lay exhausted against him.

  ‘Better now? Good.’ He tilted her face, smiling faintly as she murmured and tried to turn away from the intent scrutiny. ‘Don’t worry, honey. You’re beautiful even now, half drowned in tears.’ He ran a finger down her cheek and wiped away the last sparkling drops, then let his hand rest against the smooth curve of her jaw in a touch that made her pulse leap frantically.

  Desperate to break the disturbing contact, she scrambled to her feet, avoiding his helping hand. ‘I...I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.’

  He shrugged as he stood up and brushed the sand off his black trousers. ‘We’ve all been under a strain recently. It’s not surprising that you’re more emotional than perhaps you normally are.’

  ‘I suppose so.’ She ran a shaking hand over her hot face, wondering if he was right. She did feel emotional, as though she were perched precariously on some sort of crazy see-saw, swinging first up, then down. She glanced at Wyatt, then looked away when she saw that he was still watching her, concentrating on brushing the sand from her dress, but it clung tenaciously to the delicate fabric. She must look a sight, and suddenly the thought of going back inside to face all the curious stares, not to mention Carling’s scrutiny, was almost more than she could bear.

  ‘How do you feel now? Do you think you can cope if we go back inside, or do you need a bit more time to get yourself together?’

  His consideration warmed her for a moment, until it suddenly dawned on her that he was less concerned about her than with keeping up appearances. If she couldn’t look and act the part required of her, then it could have disastrous consequences. Lawrence Hutton wouldn’t take kindly to finding out that he’d been tricked!

  It was just what she needed to stiffen her resolve. She stared coldly back at him. ‘Don’t worry, Wyatt, I won’t let you down. I always give good value for money, and with such a generous fee at stake I’ll do my utmost to see this through to the end, bitter though it may be.’

  He swore softly, viciously. ‘Dammit, woman, that wasn’t what I meant!’

  ‘No? Don’t tell me you were actually concerned about my welfare.’ She laughed hollowly. ‘No, don’t bother, Wyatt. I wouldn’t believe you even if you swore an oath on a stack of bibles! Now if you’ll just give me a few minutes I’ll go and repair some of this damage. We don’t want Carling and Lawrence becoming suspicious, do we?’

  He caught her arm roughly. ‘One of these days you’re going to push me too far, honey!’

  Her heart was hammering, but she refused to back down even in the face of his anger. ‘One of these days? We only have one left after tonight, Wyatt, and I don’t think you’re going to risk everything just to get even with me.’

  She shook his hand off and started back to the house, slowing when behind her Wyatt said softly, ‘I’m tempted, Louise, very tempted.’

  Her heart turned over, but she carried on walking, refusing even to look back at him. She could cope with anything—Carling, Lawrence and all their guests, even a den full of hungry lions, if she had t
o. Anything but the threat she could hear echoing in his voice!

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘LADIES and gentlemen, a toast...to Louise and Wyatt and a future filled with happiness and love.’

  The toast was taken up by the rest of the guests, glasses chinked, and Louise smiled until her face ached with the effort it cost her. Beside her, Wyatt lifted two glasses of champagne off a tray and handed her one, bending so that he could look directly into her eyes as he said softly, ‘To us, Louise. May the future bring us both what we want most.’

  Louise clinked her glass against his, her heart aching as she smiled into his handsome face. ‘And for you that means the hotels, of course. So here’s to you, Wyatt; may all your plans reach fruition!’

  His eyes narrowed at the sting in her voice, but he merely smiled as he took a sip of the wine, then lifted the glass from her hand and set it down with his again on the tray. In the background the band had started to play a slow waltz, the soft strains filling the suddenly quiet room. Louise glanced round, then felt her heart leap when Wyatt caught her hand and led her towards the centre of the floor to the accompaniment of applause.

  ‘I don’t want to dance!’ she hissed at him under her breath, but he ignored her as he drew her into his arms and held her close as he led her across the floor. Louise glared up at him through her lashes, holding herself stiff and unbending as he turned her expertly and drew her just a fraction closer.

  ‘Do you mind? I can hardly breathe.’

  He glanced down at her, mockery making his eyes sparkle like burnished silver as he saw the mutinous curve of her soft mouth. ‘I didn’t realise I had that much of an effect on you, sweetheart.’

  ‘I’m breathless because you’ve got my ribs crushed in a bear-hug! So don’t kid yourself that it’s your devastating charm!’

  He laughed softly, brushing a light kiss against the soft curls at her temple as he eased a fraction more space between their bodies. ‘I’d hate to damage such pretty packaging. How is that? Better?’