Playing at Love Read online

  Louise tried again to set the record straight, only this time it was Carting who stopped her. She moved across the room, her mouth curved into a smile of understanding that did little to disguise the hatred burning in her green eyes as she stared back at Louise. Close to, she was younger than Louise had imagined she was, the skilful make-up and polished appearance lending her a sophistication more suited to someone in her late twenties. Louise would put her age at less than that—nineteen, possibly twenty, but no more.

  ‘Of course not! Wyatt’s right, Louise, you shouldn’t feel at all uncomfortable about me coming up here and finding you in his room.’

  Why did that bland, polite statement make her feel like squirming? Louise had no idea, just the sure and certain knowledge that that had been Carling Hutton’s intention. Anger raced through her, stealing away the ability to think rationally and weigh up her actions, to see them as the folly they undoubtedly were. ‘Thank you, Carling. I may call you that, I hope?’ She pouted gently, then let her hands trail up Wyatt Lord’s chest, her nails tangling in the thick curls of hair as she twisted one slowly and, she hoped, lovingly around her finger as she stared up at him with the most limpidly besotted expression she could muster. ‘It’s good to know that you have such understanding friends, darling. I’m sure Carling and I will find a lot in common once we get to know one another better.’

  His eyes were murderous as he grasped her wandering hand and held it so hard that Louise had to bite back a moan of pain. ‘I’m sure you will, my love. However, now isn’t really the time to start building on that friendship. I’m sure Carling will understand if we cut short this meeting.’

  ‘Of course.’ Carling laughed lightly, a tinkly sound that grated on Louise’s nerves. ‘I’m sure Louise is just dying for me to leave so that she can get showered and changed.’ She shuddered delicately as she smoothed a hand over her perfect blonde mane of hair. ‘There’s nothing worse than being caught out, is there, Louise?’

  Up until then Louise had barely spared a thought for her appearance; now she was suddenly achingly conscious of the tumbled state of her dark curls, the naked shine of her bare face, the creases in the blue gown and robe she’d fallen asleep in. She lifted a hand to smooth one stray curl back from her face, then dropped it again as she saw the expression of triumph on the other girl’s face. As Carling swept towards the door she paused in the doorway. ‘So I’ll leave you to get sorted out now. Don’t forget that we’re expecting you tonight, Wyatt. And Louise, of course. Daddy is going to be thrilled when I tell him about your engagement. I’m sure he will want to organise some sort of a party while you’re with us on Paradise. Ciao.’

  The door closed softly, the sound echoing almost painfully in the sudden silence. Louise took one long deep breath, then another for good measure, then pushed herself out of Wyatt Lord’s arms.

  ‘I don’t know what that was all about, Mr Lord,’ she began stormily, twin spots of colour burning angrily in her cheeks, ‘and I don’t think I really want to know! I just want to tell you that I have never...never...been so...so...insulted in the whole of my life!’

  ‘No?’ He raised a mocking brow, his eyes cold as they skimmed her flushed face. ‘If you carry on living the way you have been, then I’m sure time will remedy that.’

  He turned to walk back through to the bathroom, but Louise caught his arm, her fingers leaving white pressure marks against his tanned skin. ‘And what do you mean by that? Look, you’ve done nothing but throw veiled insults at me since we met, but why?’

  ‘I think this discussion can wait until I’m dressed, don’t you?’

  She hung on tightly, her face burning with anger as she glared back at him. ‘It’s not waiting for anything! Understand? I spent the best part of the night here taking care of you, and all I get for my pains is insults, and I want to know why. The same as I want to know what you thought you were doing telling that woman that we...we...’

  She couldn’t quite bring herself to say the words, but he had none of her reservations. ‘Slept together? Come on, why put on this little act? Outraged virginal modesty sits oddly on your shoulders, Louise. Why pretend that we don’t both know what you’re up to here in this hotel?’ He held her gaze for a second, then removed the towel from around his hips, smiling coldly at her shocked gasp as he strode naked as the day he was born to the wardrobe and pulled out underwear and jeans and a pale blue T-shirt.

  He stepped into a pair of white boxer shorts, watching her steadily as he drew them up around his slim hips. ‘What, no more maidenly protests? Of course not. You’ve probably seen more men naked than a dozen women would see in their lifetime, isn’t that right? So let’s stop all this play-acting, shall we?’

  Too late Louise realised that she’d been standing there staring at him. She spun round, closing her eyes as she tried to compose herself again, but all she could see behind her closed lids was a picture of Wyatt Lord standing there naked, his broad chest tanned under the thick pelt of hair, his hips paler than the rest of his body. She swallowed down a soft moan of protest, then turned round to face him again, knowing that somehow they had to sort this mess out.

  ‘Yes, I’ve seen men naked before, but that doesn’t mean that I appreciate your acting this way. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this sort of treatment, Mr Lord; I don’t really care. All I want is for you to set the record straight and tell Carling Hutton the truth.’

  He zipped the jeans, then pulled the T-shirt over his head, finger-combing the thick, glossy strands of black hair back into place. ‘That is something I have no intention of doing. I’m quite happy to have her think that she interrupted a tender little scene here in this room.’

  ‘But why?’ Louise ran a shaking hand over the creased folds of the thin blue robe, her fingers worrying the soft fabric. ‘I just don’t understand any of this, not what you told that woman, nor all the horrible things you keep on saying to me.’

  ‘The truth hurts, eh? It’s easier just to pass off what you’re doing without really thinking about it, isn’t it?’ His eyes traced her slender body with open contempt. ‘You are a beautiful woman, Louise, but you don’t need me to tell you that. You are well aware of your own charms, and use them.’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  ‘No? Then explain to me why you are staying in this hotel, a hotel that caters for a clientele far older than you. You must be...what, twenty-three...four?’ At her nod he continued, ‘Are you really here just to enjoy a holiday in luxurious and peaceful surroundings, as the hotel brochure boasts? Or are you here to use that beauty of yours to ensnare some rich old man who’ll provide you with the luxury you want from life?’

  ‘What? No!’ Horrified, she stared back at him. ‘You’ve got it wrong! I can’t imagine where you got such a ridiculous idea from!’

  ‘Can’t you? Not so ridiculous when I have seen and heard evidence to back up every word I just said.’

  ‘What evidence? What are you talking about?’

  He folded his arms and leant easily against the wardrobe. ‘You should be more careful, Louise, if you hope to maintain this pretence of innocence. You forget that our rooms adjoin and that sound carries through the walls.’ He raised a dark brow, then continued when she made no attempt to speak. ‘The day I moved into this room I heard you—how shall I put it delicately?—entertaining a gentleman friend. Monday, it was. Then there’s been all the frequent comings and goings to your room at odd hours, coincidentally by a gentleman of advanced years. I heard him talking about you by the pool the other day. It was most enlightening. He was most complimentary about your sensitive hands and your touch like an angel, if I remember his words correctly.’ He shook his head so that the light from the window bounced flashes of blue fire off its raven darkness. ‘I never imagined that it was possible to come up with so many glowing compliments, but he managed it. He seems truly besotted, so all it needs now is for you to choose your time and then get him well and truly hooked.’

 
; Louise stared at him in dumb silence when he stopped speaking, her mind racing in a dozen different directions as it made sense out of what he’d said, but a far different sense than he’d made!

  The man he was talking about, a certain Mr Holden, had fallen and cut his leg badly on the way to the airport. Louise had sat next to him and his wife on the flight over and offered to change the dressings when his wife had confessed that she hated the sight of blood! The cut had been healing nicely, thanks to her attentions and the frequent changes of dressings.

  It was such an innocent explanation to a far from innocent accusation, leaving only the mystery of her ‘entertaining’ in her room, and that could be explained very simply: Carol and Simon. Louise had found them in the room when she’d got back from a solo sightseeing tour on Monday, and had steadfastly turned a blind eye to their rapturous expressions!

  It was all so simple to explain in just a few brief sentences, yet, looking at Wyatt Lord, Louise knew without the shadow of a doubt that he would never believe her. He seemed determined to see her in the worst light possible, although for the life of her she couldn’t understand why.

  ‘Look, Mr Lord, you seem to have got an entirely wrong impression here.’

  ‘Wyatt.’ He stood up straight, flexing the heavy muscles in his shoulders. ‘You may as well get used to calling me that right from the start. And to answer your statement, Louise, I don’t think I’ve got anything wrong. On the contrary I can see quite clearly what’s been going on here in this hotel.’

  He was so pigheadedly arrogant! He’d formed this ridiculous opinion of her, and nothing, not even the truth, was going to make him change his mind. Louise drew herself up to her full five feet five and glared back at him. ‘I can see it’s pointless trying to talk to you. You’re entitled to your opinions, but it’s just a pity if they are the wrong ones.’ She started to walk past him, stopping abruptly when he caught her arm. ‘Do you mind?’ she demanded haughtily, staring down at his large hand fastened around her forearm. ‘I want to go back to my room. This discussion is over and done with as far as I’m concerned.’

  He nodded agreement, but made no attempt to free her. ‘If you mean that you’ve accepted that it’s pointless to keep on with that little pretence of innocence, then that’s correct. However, there are other matters we need to discuss right now, Louise, namely our rather abrupt engagement.’

  She froze, her eyes locked on the darkness of his skin against the pale creamy tan of her own before they lifted to meet his. ‘Pardon?’

  ‘I think you heard me all right.’

  ‘Oh, I heard, it’s just the understanding I’m having difficulty with.’ She twisted her arm, but achieved little apart from bruising her flesh. Anger rose hot and swift as it rode on the wake of the pain, and she glared at him. ‘Watch my lips, Mister Lord, then perhaps you will understand what I am saying: we are not engaged! I don’t know what sort of a game you were playing just now and I don’t really care. Now let me go.’

  ‘Not yet. Not until you understand what I am saying.’ He pushed her back so that she sat down abruptly on the bed, towering in front of her as he glared down into her furious face. ‘I have told Carling Hutton that we are engaged, and that is what I intend her to believe. I am in the middle of negotiations to buy this chain of hotels from Carling’s father, and I don’t intend for anything to disrupt that! Unfortunately, though, Carling has been getting ideas that she and I would make the perfect couple, ideas that her father would be only too delighted to go along with. Carling is the apple of his eyes; what she wants she gets, and pity help the man who crosses her. I want these hotels to add to the others I own, and I intend to have them, but I don’t intend to pay the ultimate price by marrying Carling. That’s where you come in.’

  ‘Me? You really imagine that I would agree to go along with this deception?’ She laughed harshly, watching the way his face tightened and his pale. eyes turned to silver ice. ‘No way, Mr Lord. I don’t care what you do, but there is no way on God’s green earth that I can be persuaded to act as your fiancée.’

  ‘You think not?’ He stepped closer, his eyes meeting hers and holding. ‘Not even to save yourself from the embarrassment of being thrown out of this hotel?’

  ‘Thrown out?’ She shot to her feet, pushing past him to stand against the wall as though she needed its solid support.

  ‘Mmm, could be a bit of a problem, I imagine, especially if I contact a few other hotels and warn them of the circumstances surrounding your abrupt departure from here.’

  ‘I...I... That’s ridiculous! I don’t care who you are, but you can’t do that! I won’t let you blackmail me into going along with your stupid plan!’ Was that really her voice sounding so shrill? Louise bit her lip as she tried to hang on to the last of her composure. Back at the hospital her control was legendary; she’d never been known even to raise her voice, let alone have hysterics, as seemed likely now. But back at the hospital there hadn’t been Wyatt Lord as provocation!

  ‘Oh, but I can. I can do everything I threaten, Louise. Have no doubt of that. Apart from the fact that I own several chains of hotels in this town and throughout Florida, I also have interests in quite a few others. If I made it known that you are unwelcome, then you wouldn’t find another room. Then of course there is always the possibility that the manager here might consider it his duty to inform the police about your activities.’ He smiled faintly as he watched her. ‘There has been a campaign recently to clean up this town by the vice squad, so I don’t imagine they would look kindly upon what you’ve been doing.’

  He spoke quietly, the words dropping almost gently into the stunned silence, yet the ripples they caused seemed like tidal waves.

  ‘I haven’t been doing anything! And I can get the man you referred to up here this minute to vouch for that!’

  ‘I’m sure you can. He would be only too happy to corroborate any story you came up with rather than admit the truth in front of his wife, isn’t that right? But you and I both know what the truth is, and unless you agree then the manager is going to hear it too.’ He picked up the phone, watching her closely. ‘I wonder what people will make of this back home in England?’ He paused deliberately. ‘You must have friends and possibly family there, Louise. A story like this is bound to hit the papers on both sides of the Atlantic, especially if you are deported, which most probably will happen.’

  Deported? She closed her eyes, a mental picture of her parents springing to life. Her father had just applied for the headship of the local high school, while her mother had recently taken over the chair of the local Women’s Circle. Then there was her brother, Paul, just starting out as a solicitor, not to mention her sister, Helen, just finishing her year’s residency at the same hospital where Louise worked. She was innocent as the day, but the mud would stick to all of them!

  She was so angry that she could barely speak. ‘You would really do that? No, don’t bother. I can see you would. You are the most despicable man I’ve ever met, and I wish to heaven that I’d left you here to suffer by yourself last night!’

  ‘But you didn’t, did you? And why not? Because you thought there might be something in it for you? All right, then, Louise, I’d hate to disappoint you, so let me make you an offer. Lawrence Hutton has invited me to stay at his house in the Bahamas—on Paradise Island, to be precise. You will accompany me as my fiancée. That should effectively put paid to any ideas about my marrying into the family, yet guarantee that I get what I want.’

  ‘And what do I get out of all this?’ She smoothed the lace at the cuff of her robe, feeling anger churning inside her. It was hard to believe that anyone could be as coldly ruthless as Wyatt Lord was. She didn’t doubt that he would carry out his threat, but if he thought she’d go along with him then he was in for a shock!

  He set the phone back down with a satisfied smile that made her itch to reach out and slap his arrogant face, but she stopped herself. ‘I’m glad you’re being sensible about this. I thought you would on
ce I had time to convince you that you could turn this to your advantage. In return for your help I shall sign an undertaking to let this whole matter drop, plus I’m willing to pay you a generous fee as compensation for not being able to reap the benefits of all your recent hard work. Understand?’

  Oh, she did. She understood it all quite clearly, from A to Z, with every letter filled in along the way! What she should do now was laugh in his face and tell him to do his worst, challenge him to carry out all his miserable threats. So how was it that she opened her mouth and heard with a sense of total disbelief herself saying softly, ‘How much?’ That was something she still couldn’t understand properly even hours later!

  CHAPTER THREE

  THE ground fell away as the plane took to the skies. Louise held her breath, only releasing it as the plane gained its correct altitude and started to level off. She’d never flown in anything smaller than a 747 before, so this was a whole new experience, one she wasn’t sure she liked.

  She glanced sideways at Wyatt Lord, who was piloting the small Cessna, watching the way his hands moved confidently on the controls. It was obvious that he was as confident about flying as he appeared to be about everything else he did, and gradually she began to relax, although that did little to ease the knots in her stomach. She must have been mad to agree to this, stark, raving mad!

  She looked away, shading her eyes against the glare from the vivid blue sky as she tried again to work out why she’d done such a crazy thing as to agree to this trip. Had it been merely those threats he’d uttered, threats that had made her feel more recklessly angry than she’d felt before in her life? She still wasn’t one hundred per cent certain, but suddenly all Carol’s dire warnings came rushing back to haunt her, and she had to bite her lip to stern the tiny moan.