Socialite's Gamble

He leaned against the edge of the table in front of her and crossed his arms, a bemused expression on his face. ‘Borrowed it?’

Cara wasn’t fooled by the supposedly relaxed stance; he looked like he’d be on her in a second if she said one wrong word. Her pulse was racing and she took a deep, calming breath. ‘What I did was wrong and I fully admit that. At the time it was raining and I knew I’d never make it to the hotel on time and … I’m really sorry. I would never normally do anything like that but I was tired and stressed and …’ She groped for more words as his expression grew bored. ‘I was—’

‘Selfish?’ He cut through her stammering apology. ‘Wilful? How about spoilt?’

‘Angry with you, if you must know,’ she snapped.

‘Ah, now the truth comes out.’

Cara took a deep breath. Really, there was no good fighting with this man; she’d seen how that had gone down for Martin Ellery.

‘Mr Kelly—’

‘Come on, baby, surely you can call me by my first name. Especially after the way you gazed at me outside before.’

‘I didn’t gaze at you,’ she denied.

He sneered. ‘You not only gazed at me but you parted those sweet lips for my kiss.’

‘I didn’t … I didn’t want you to—’

He pushed away from the table and slowly stalked towards her. ‘You wanted me to. You wanted me to kiss you and a whole lot more. And you will again.’ He stepped closer and Cara collapsed back onto the sofa chair she had unwittingly backed into. ‘You’ll give me everything you would have given your lover and more.’

Her lower lip trembled as it had a tendency to do when she was truly upset and she set her teeth into it. Hard. ‘He’s not my … my lover.’

He leaned forward and caged her into the chair with his hands on either armrest. ‘You play a good game, doll face. I think Ellery should have sat you at the table tonight. He might have fared better. But the jig is up so stop lying to me.’

Cara felt the press of the cushioned seat against her back. ‘I’m not lying to you. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you outside I wasn’t seeing him.’

‘I love the wide, innocent eyes,’ he said conversationally, his gaze raking her face insolently. ‘They’re a nice touch.’ She saw him glance at the hands she was wringing in her lap and she stilled them. ‘They’re a nice touch, too.’ His eyes drifted down her legs and then slowly back up. Shockingly his gaze warmed her and she felt the air between them become charged with something other than anger.

‘Look, I made a couple of mistakes today,’ she said appealingly. ‘I should never have gone to L.A. I see that now. Even though it was to thank my agent. Probably I was thinking that things seemed to be going too well for me. That something had to happen. And so I created it. I mean, something always goes wrong. Of course, I didn’t know that the flights would be delayed but—’

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘Me.’ Cara felt the last of her control unravel as a tear slipped over the edge of her eyelashes. ‘I’m a disaster.’ One tear followed the next and she buried her face in her hands. ‘Bad things just ha-ha-happen to me and—I know, I know—it’s my f-fault. I …’

Aidan watched appalled as the beautiful girl on the sofa dissolved into tears before his eyes.

He tried to make sense of what she had just said but he couldn’t. But it did give him pause. All that blubbering about not going to L.A. and things going wrong and being late … He was starting to think that maybe he’d been wrong. That maybe she’d been as much a victim of Ellery’s machinations tonight as his family had been fourteen years ago.

Was it possible?

Hell.

Aidan watched the tears slip down her face and her attempts to control them and the hard wall that had surrounded his heart since she had been offered up as a stake started to crumble.

He hadn’t meant to make her cry. If he was honest, he’d expected her to offer herself to him. He’d expected her to start stripping. Then, when she was halfway through, he’d been going to shake his head, look at her with the disgust she deserved and throw her out.

And yes, he’d meant to scare her, as well. Just a little so she’d think twice about doing something so foolish again. Think twice before putting herself in such a vulnerable situation.

‘Well, mission accomplished, boy.’

Martin Ellery’s voice filled his head and he made a low growl. He was not like that man and he never would be.