Playing at Love Read online

  She pushed his hand away from her, her eyes glittering with anger aimed more at herself than him as she glared back at him. ‘Look, I don’t know what you think you’re playing at, Lord, but whatever it is forget it! I’m not interested! Understand?’

  He shook his head, crossing his arms across his bare chest as he continued to study her in a way that made her shift uncomfortably. ‘No, I’m afraid I don’t understand. You come rushing into my room and now you claim that you don’t want anything.’ He shrugged, the heavy muscles in his shoulders moving in a way that made her breath catch and made the ache grow a fraction stronger. ‘If you didn’t come for the reason that springs first and foremost to mind, honey, then why did you come? It’s rather late just to come visiting.’

  What could she say? If she told him the truth about why she was here, then frankly she could only guess at what form his reaction would take. Yet if she didn’t tell. him, let him carry on thinking that she’d come to his room because...because...

  Her mind went dead, shutting off the thought of exactly what he imagined she wanted. Louise took a quick breath, striving to keep the panic out of her voice. ‘Look, this is just a mistake. I...I didn’t realise this was your room.’

  He went still, his whole body tensing, his face turning to granite as he stared back at her from eyes that looked like chips of ice. ‘I see. I think I’m getting the picture now. I should have realised that you would never do anything out of simple desire, Louise.’

  ‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Her voice sounded whispery thin, almost afraid. It was the way he was watching her now, his face set, his eyes filled with contempt. It cut into her like a knife, making her want to plead with him to stop whatever he was thinking and hear the truth. But even as she started to explain, he cut her off. ‘Look, Wyatt, I don’t—‘

  ‘Don’t bother. We both know what happened, don’t we? You mistook my room for Lawrence’s.’

  How could anyone sound so cold and contemptuous? Louise had no idea, just the certainty that somehow she had to convince him that he was wrong! ‘No! I wasn’t looking for Lawrence’s room! Why should I be?’.

  He laughed harshly. ‘Do I really need to answer that, my sweet little money-grabber? I realised how taken with you Lawrence was tonight, but I just didn’t imagine that you would act on it so quickly. I thought that you just might have the decency to keep your grasping little hands off him, but that goes to show how wrong even I can be about a woman like you.’

  The sound of her hand catching his cheek a stinging blow was loud, so loud that it seemed to echo round the room and fill her head with its dreadful, sickening noise. For a moment Louise just stared at him in utter horror, then turned and fled, but he caught her before she’d gone more than a couple of steps.

  ‘Oh, no, you don’t! You’re not getting away with that, you cheap little—!’ His head came down, cutting off the rest of what he’d been about to say as he took her mouth in a punishing kiss, but Louise could still imagine the name he’d been going to call her, hear it echoing relentlessly inside her head. A sob welled into her throat and she moaned. He hated her! He hated and despised everything he thought she stood for, yet he was wrong, so very wrong!

  She pushed against his chest, uncaring that her nails dug into his bare flesh, as she fought to make some space between them and twisted her mouth free of the bruising assault. “No! I wasn’t going to his room! Stop it, Wyatt. How dare you do this to me?‘

  What was there in her voice that stopped him? Even hours later she still couldn’t fully understand why he stilled. He raised his head and stared down into her white face, his hands still grasping her shoulders. A shudder ran through him as he took a huge breath, but apart from that there was no other sign of the anger she could sense that he was fighting. ‘Then what were you doing? Why did you come rushing in here...?’

  ‘As though all the hounds from hell were after me?’ Hysteria rose all at once and she started to laugh. ‘That’s because they were! They were after me, or at least one of them was!’

  The laughter rolled through the silence in the room, growing louder and louder until her whole body was shaking with it. Wyatt gripped her arms hard and shook her, but it didn’t seem to help. It was all so funny, so very, very funny! Why couldn’t he see that?

  Her breath caught on a gasp and the laughter died abruptly as he brought his hand up and slapped her smartly across the cheek. For a moment Louise just stared at him in shock, then started to crumple as tears ran down her cheeks. He gathered her into his arms, cradling her close as he smoothed a hand down her back, his voice so tender that it made her cry all the harder as he soothed her with a string of meaningless words until gradually the sobs abated and she lay exhausted against him.

  ‘All right now?’ His hand was gentle as he lifted her face and stared down at her, and Louise nodded, feeling the lump in her throat thicken. How marvellous it would be to have him speak to her so tenderly all the time, to see that genuine concern in his eyes, but that was like wishing for the moon.

  She drew back a fraction, rubbing her hands over her tear-streaked cheeks as she tried to find something to say, but there didn’t seem anything left apart from the truth. It was up to him whether he believed her or not. ‘I was trying to leave the house to get to Nassau and catch a plane back to Miami. I’d got almost to the gates when this huge guard dog suddenly appeared, a Dobermann if I’m not mistaken.’ She shuddered suddenly, remembering her fear at seeing the animal.

  ‘A guard dog?’

  He sounded so surprised that she smiled faintly. ‘Yes. Didn’t anyone warn you about it? It’s a good job that you didn’t go wandering around, then, isn’t it?’

  He merely nodded, his eyes intent as he studied her. Louise turned away, all too conscious of the sight she must look. Why was nothing ever simple and straightforward about dealing with this man? Why did something always happen that made her appear in the worst light possible? And why did it matter so much to her what he thought?

  ‘You saw this dog, then what happened? Did it attack you?’

  He prompted her to carry on, and she pushed the strangely disquieting thoughts to the back of her mind. ‘No, it didn’t actually. It probably would have if I hadn’t run back to the house.’

  ‘Run? Don’t you realise that was the worst thing you could have done? It’s a wonder it didn’t savage you!’ There was a harsh note in his deep voice that brought her head round, and she glared angrily back at him.

  ‘Well, it didn’t! Sorry to disappoint you, Mr Lord. I’m sure you would have enjoyed that, wouldn’t you? Seen it as my just deserts?’ She laughed shrilly. ‘I may as well finish this sorry little tale, I suppose, even though it doesn’t end how you would like it to! I ran up the stairs and into the first room that I came to. It wasn’t a question of me choosing your room, or looking for Lawrence’s. It was a simple case of getting inside before that beast attacked me. And now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go back to my room before you start accusing me of anything else.’ She started towards the door, stopping abruptly when he stepped in front of her to bar her path.

  ‘Do you mind? I want to leave,’ she said haughtily, but he merely smiled, hitching the towel around his hips in a way that instantly drew her attention to his near-naked body.

  ‘I don’t think so, honey. I think it would be better all round if you stayed here tonight.’

  ‘Better? For whom?’ She smiled to hide the sudden flare of awareness she felt, deliberately focusing her gaze on his face and away from the seductive attraction of his superb body. ‘Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts about what you want from me.’

  ‘I imagine I’ll have second and third and fourth before we’re through. You’re a beautiful woman and, despite everything I know about you, I can’t help feeling a certain attraction to you. However, that wasn’t what I meant.’

  ‘It...it wasn’t?’ Her voice was husky. She swallowed hard to ease the dryness, feeling her blood pounding along her
veins. He was attracted to her; it shouldn’t have mattered a jot to hear him admit it, but it did...it most certainly did!

  ‘No.’ He paused for a moment, a strange expression on his face as he studied her. Louise had the strangest feeling that he was searching for an answer to something that bothered him before the mask of cool mockery slid back into place. ‘Do you really think I’d be foolish enough to let you go and make another attempt to leave?’ He stepped round her and turned the key in the lock, weighing it in his hand as he watched her expression change to one of shock. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to spend the rest of the night here—just as a precaution, you understand.’

  ‘But you can’t do that! You can’t keep me here.’ There was desperation in the shrill assertion, but he merely raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Oh, but I can, and I intend to.’ He smiled slowly, walking across the room to the French windows, his hands resting lightly on the locks. ‘Of course if you are really determined I suppose you could wait until I’m asleep then creep out of the window here. But then there’s that dog to consider, isn’t there? I wonder if he’s still around.’ He started to open the window, but Louise stopped him with a cry.

  ‘No! Don’t do that. You haven’t seen the beast, but I have!’ She wrung her hands together as she tried to find a way out of the mess, but there wasn’t one. The door was locked and there was no way she was taking her chances outside with that dog. She was trapped.

  ‘I’m glad you’ve decided to see sense.’ He walked back across the room, his voice muffled as he disappeared into the bathroom. ‘You choose which side you prefer. I don’t mind.’

  ‘Pardon?’ She walked to the bathroom door, then stepped aside as he reappeared, dressed now in a pair of dark boxer shorts that sat low on his lean hips. In a fast sweep her eyes did an involuntary stock-take of his tall, muscular body before coming back to his face with an awareness in them she couldn’t quite hide and which she knew at once he saw and understood.

  He smiled slowly, arrogantly, his teeth gleaming white beneath the luxuriant thickness of his moustache, his eyes holding a glint of wicked amusement that made her heart give a helpless little flutter. ‘I said that you can choose which side of the bed you prefer. It doesn’t bother me.’

  His voice had dropped to a husky rumble that vibrated along every sensitive nerve, stealing her ability to think for a moment. ‘Which side of... What did you say?’

  He flinched at her shocked screech, but held the smile. ‘I think you heard me, but if you’d like me to repeat it—

  ‘No! I don’t need anything repeating. There is no way that I’m sharing any bed with you, Wyatt Lord...no way that you’ll ever persuade me to!’

  He shrugged lightly, walking past her to toss back the cover and turn down the sheet. ‘Suit yourself. Goodnight.’

  He slid into bed, then reached over to switch off the lamp, reluctance on his face when she called for him to stop.

  ‘Now just a minute. What do you think you’re doing?’

  ‘I imagine that’s obvious. I’m going to sleep.’

  ‘But what about me?’ She looked round the room, taking stock of and immediately dismissing the elegant but decidedly uncomfortable antique chair that must have been placed in the room more for effect than anything else. ‘Where am I supposed to sleep?’

  ‘That’s up to you, isn’t it? You’re welcome to half of this bed, but if that doesn’t suit you then I don’t know what you’re going to do.’

  He switched the lamp off, plunging the room into darkness. Louise bit her lip, trying to hang on to what little was left of her composure. ‘A gentleman would have offered to let a lady have the bed.’

  There was a lengthy pause and she shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, wondering if she’d struck a chord, then felt herself go cold when he replied softly with a wealth of meaning in his voice. ‘If there had been a lady in this room, then I would have accorded her that courtesy.’

  It was a long time later, when she heard the measured rhythm of his breathing as he fell asleep, that she let go of her control at last and wept.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE sun was just starting to rise, touching the dark sky with gold and vermilion. Louise stood huddled by the window, watching the shadows shifting and changing. She felt so tired, more tired than she’d felt in the whole of her life, as though every cell in her body ached with weariness. She’d give anything in the world right now to go to sleep, but...

  She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening when she saw that Wyatt was awake and lying in the bed watching her. Hurriedly she turned back to the window, forcing herself to concentrate on following the trickles of colour seeping across the horizon, but there was no way she could pretend that she was oblivious to his presence in the room. When she heard the soft swish as he tossed the sheet back she jumped nervously, her whole body going rigid as he came up to stand behind her, so close that she could feel the heat of his body against her spine.

  ‘This isn’t achieving anything. All you’re doing is making yourself exhausted, and for what reason? To convince me what a heel I am for not letting you have the bed?’ He laughed softly, his warm breath stirring the curls at her nape, making her shiver with the unexpected intimacy. ‘It will take more than that, honey.’

  She drew herself up, forcing the bone-deep tiredness away as she glared at him over her shoulder. ‘I’m sure it will! Normal human emotions are lost on the likes of you, Lord. You wouldn’t know the first thing about decency and compassion and...’ She floundered for a moment, her tired brain almost unequal to this fresh confrontation, then ended lamely, ‘And chivalry!’

  ‘Chivalry?’ He paused, then continued softly, mockery echoing in his deep voice, ‘I should have thought you were past the point of waiting for your knight errant to come along on his white charger...in both age and experience.’

  ‘You know nothing at all about me, Wyatt! Nothing!’ She whirled to face him, grasping the wall as her head spun with dizziness. In the dim half-light her face was pale, her eyes luminous with fatigue and a sudden anger she didn’t want to feel yet somehow couldn’t control. ‘You’ve built this...this picture of me in your head, and that’s how it is. Nothing will change your mind about me, will it? You’re not interested in hearing the truth at all, and why not? Because the great Wyatt Lord is always right!’

  ‘Not always, but I am right about the fact that you’re out on your feet and that it’s ridiculous for you to be acting like this.’ With a speed that startled her, he swung her up into his arms and carried her over to drop her on the bed.

  ‘What the...? Stop it! Stop it at once! I won’t—‘

  He laid his hand across her mouth, his eyes glittering dangerously as he glared into her shocked face. ‘Don’t bother. If you’re worried about your virtue, Louise, then take it from me that it couldn’t be safer. Now for heaven’s sake do us both a favour and lie down and get some sleep for what is left of the night.’

  The cold contempt in his tone stopped her protests dead. Louise rolled on to her side, huddling into a tight little ball as she felt the bed dip as he climbed in beside her and stretched his long legs under the cool sheets with a weary sigh. Obviously he blamed her for the night’s fiasco, but it wasn’t fair to do that! He’d started it by being so mean in what he’d said.

  A sob welled into her throat, but she bit it back, then rammed her fist against her mouth when another one followed it. She wouldn’t let him reduce her to tears again. She wouldn’t give him that much satisfaction. He was the most horrible, pigheaded—

  ‘For heaven’s sake, woman, what is the matter with you now? Are you crying?’

  He sounded more angry than concerned, and Louise gulped, rubbing a hand across her eyes as she muttered a muffled, ‘No.’

  ‘No?’ He rolled over on to his side, raising himself on his elbow as he peered down at her and touched the glimmer of moisture on her cheek as he repeated the question in a tone that made her feel hot all over. ‘No?’
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  ‘I... No!’

  ‘You’re a rotten liar, Louise, a really bad one, and, believe me I’ve met a few in my time to make me a good judge.’ He slid a hand beneath her head and deftly turned her towards him, studying her face with a faint smile on his hard mouth that seemed to knock the breath out of her body. What was so different about that smile? Why did it make her feel so shuddery deep inside, as though someone was stirring her emotions up, mixing the pain and anger she’d felt before with something hot and wonderful she didn’t recognise?

  In silence she studied his face, tracing the warmly mobile curve of his mouth, then bit back a gasp as she realised that was what was making the difference: warmth! It was the first time that he’d ever smiled at her without mockery, without coldness, and the effect was devastating. It sent an answering wave of heat down to the tips of her toes and up to the top of her head, a heat that seemed to consume every part of her as she stared into his face and almost drowned in the warmth.

  ‘Louise? What is it?’ He tilted her face towards the faint light filtering through the window, his pale eyes glittering as they met hers.

  ‘Nothing.’ Her voice was a whisper of sound, so faint that she wondered if he’d heard her as he continued to study her. Then slowly he slid his hand up her cheek, his long fingers tangling in the dark curls at the side of her head as he repeated the word and turned it into a question that somehow didn’t need an answer. ‘Nothing? No, you’re right. There’s nothing wrong at all.’

  He was going to kiss her. She knew that as clearly as she knew that it was what she wanted, what she yearned for most in the whole wide world at that moment. It didn’t seem to matter whether it was right or wrong, whether it was utter folly or made complete sense; it was going to happen. With a soft sigh, Louise tilted her face, feeling the soft brush of his moustache against her cheek as he skimmed a line of kisses over the smooth curve until his mouth found hers.

  Softly, warmly, his lips took hers in the gentlest of kisses, which only served to make her ache for something more, and she murmured in frustration.