‘We have a deal.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE FOLLOWING EVENING, Kate sat at her dressing table, peering into the tiny mirror while she fastened hoops to her earlobes and wishing she were somewhere else. Like Mars. Outwardly, dressed in a gown of green satin, all made up with her hair done, she looked a picture of sophisticated serenity. Inside, she seethed.
Theo had wasted no time in putting his diabolical plan into action. This morning she’d received a brief text informing her that tonight they would be going out to a black-tie function. Half an hour later she’d been summoned to an exclusive store in Knightsbridge that catered for the exceptionally tall, where a personal shopper had revamped her entire wardrobe. She’d then been whisked to a salon and had emerged three hours later with a sleek up-do and a face full of make-up that was way more than she usually wore but at least did a good job of disguising the effects of a sleepless night and continued morning sickness.
While she’d been sitting in the chair with people flitting around and dancing attendance on her it had occurred to her that what the makeover suggested was the height of insult but then she’d expect nothing less from a man who’d coldly and calculatingly used her honesty and her hang-ups to blackmail her.
Twenty-four hours after Theo had delivered his ultimatum she still reeled with the shoddiness of it. For some reason she’d thought he was somehow more than his reputation would have her believe. Foolishly, she’d allowed herself to change her mind about him. She didn’t know why. The evidence had been flimsy at best, and, with the benefit of hindsight, granting him attributes he clearly didn’t have had been a mistake of epic proportions. She couldn’t have been more wrong about any of it, and the worst thing was it was her own fault because, while he might have manipulated her, he hadn’t exactly tricked her. So not only was the disillusionment hitting her hard, she also felt stupid and naïve and unable to trust her own judgement. Again.
The buzzer sounded, shattering the quiet, and Kate jumped, the simmering anger and resentment she continued to feel towards Theo flaring up deep inside her. It was show-time—but, oh, how tempted she was to lift the window, lean out and tell him to get lost. But she didn’t dare risk it. She didn’t trust him one little bit. Not now.
There was no need to hurry, though, was there? Keeping him waiting another five minutes might be petty, but it would also be deeply, deeply satisfying. So Kate calmly redid her lipstick and gave her neck another squirt of scent. When the buzzer went again, she ignored it in favour of checking her phone for messages and emails before popping it in her bag.
It was only after the third, longer, more jabbing buzz that she figured if she didn’t want him storming up here and dragging her out she’d better get going. So she slipped on her shoes, locked up and went downstairs. At the end of the hall, she took a deep breath and pulled her shoulders back, and opened the front door to see Theo leaning against a car, his hands thrust into the pock
ets of his trousers, looking decidedly unimpressed. Which was extremely pleasing and, frankly, only fair given his lousy treatment of her.
What wasn’t fair, though, she thought, the sharp stab of triumph fading beneath an unwelcome surge of heat and an unforgivable thump of desire as she walked towards him, was how he could look so devastatingly handsome when he was so horribly, mercilessly awful. His tuxedo fitted him as if he’d been stitched into it. The snowy white of his shirt highlighted the strength of his jaw and the chiselled perfection of his features. Smouldering and dangerous were the adjectives that sprang to mind and, oh, great, now she was being bombarded with images of all the things he’d once done to her.
‘You’re late,’ he said curtly, pushing himself off the car and turning to open the rear passenger door.
Kate snapped out of her trance and inwardly bristled at the icy annoyance in his tone. ‘I nearly didn’t come down at all.’
‘We have a deal.’
‘I know,’ she said before adding pointedly, ‘and I, for one, don’t go back on my word.’
Wrenching her gaze from his, which was annoyingly harder than it ought to be, she slid into the car with as much elegance as she could manage and settled back against the soft leather seat. A minute later Theo joined her, closing the door behind him with a soft thud, and instantly it felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air. To her horror, her breath caught in her throat and her entire body hummed with a dizzying sort of awareness. Her dress, which had fitted perfectly a moment ago, suddenly seemed impossibly tight. As he shifted on the seat she realised he was too big, too near, and he smelled too good. She wanted to climb into his lap and get all up close and personal, and see if she couldn’t do something about the tired lines that fanned out from his eyes and bracketed his mouth, which was simply insane when she loathed him with every ounce of her being.
Channelling the outrage that had dominated her emotions recently, Kate kept to her side and made herself look out of her window, but it didn’t block the heat of his gaze on her or the corresponding flip of her stomach.
‘You look stunning.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, refusing to acknowledge the brief stab of pleasure she felt at his compliment.
‘How have you been?’
‘Busy.’
‘Shopping?’
‘Among other things.’
‘You maxed out my credit card.’
‘This body costs a lot to clothe well,’ she said, ‘and all this,’ she added, shooting him a quick glance and waving a hand around her face and hair, ‘comes at a price.’
‘It was worth every penny.’
She was not going to respond to that. ‘Yes, well, you did say the budget was unlimited,’ she said. ‘And given how I ended up in this particular situation, it seemed the least you could do to make amends.’
‘Did it work?’
‘No.’
‘Unusual.’