He dragged a hand through his hair.
“Why did you come here tonight?” She asked his back.
“I came because I was angry. Because I am angry. Because this should not be as impossible as it feels.”
She closed her eyes. She was surprised to open them and find him standing right in front of her. His voice was laced with determination when he spoke. “I want our arrangement to continue. I want you. This doesn’t change that.”
Jane opened her mouth and then closed it again. “You’ve paid me too much.” Her heart was breaking. It was broken beyond repair in fact, from the moment he’d heard her story and brushed it aside. What did she need from him? She didn’t know.
“No. I haven’t. I don’t make mistakes. I paid you about a hundredth of what you’re worth. But I paid you what I thought you might take.” He put his arms around her waist. “It’s not for sex. It’s not for anything. It’s a gift, from a man who loves spending time with you.”
Her throat was thick. “That’s actually really kind… Completely, over-the-top, way too generous, though.”
Carter shook his head. He had billions in the bank and she was thanking him for a paltry sum, comparatively. He was at a loss as to how to handle her.
“How do you feel about being outed, anyway?”
“Outed?” She frowned.
“I was wrong about last night.” He ran a finger down the side of her cheek, to her full, pouting lips. “I wanted to protect you, and you don’t need protecting. If you would come to dinner with me tomorrow night, I would consider myself the luckiest man in Manhattan.”
Her cheeks colored beneath her tan. “On one condition,” she said after a beat that made his heart turn over.
“Name it.”
“Let’s call it a date. Let’s call it our first date.”
“Done.”
He’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and he had more money in the bank than he could ever use, and yet that night, he felt like he’d won the lottery.
CHAPTER NINE
“What is this place?” Jane asked in wonderment, as they walked into a room that was completely candlelit. From the enormous row of candelabra that hung from the ceiling, to the walls that were lit with lanterns, to the tables that were weighed down by clusters of different height candles in small arrangements, it was a place of true wonder.
But Carter only had eyes for his date. She was wearing a red silk dress that gave her a look of a sexy senorita, all tumbling black locks, tanned skin and velvet eyes. Her lips were painted the exact shade of the dress, and on her feet, she wore shoes with spikes tall enough to bring her a good few inches closer to his height.
“It’s called Chaleur. It’s French.”
She repeated the different sounding name. “What does it mean.”
His eyes held hers mockingly. “Heat.”
She smothered a laugh and looked at him archly. “Heat?”
“Appropriate, no?”
She laughed, hooking her hand through his arm. “Do you come here often?”
A flicker of a frown crossed his face. “Actually, I’ve been here a few times.”
She detected the miniscule change in his behaviour and fixed him with a mock scowl. “You bring women here often, don’t you?”
He pulled a face. “I love French food. What can I say?”
She rolled her eyes. “You do realise unoriginality is a definite mark against you?”
“Yep. I get the feeling I’m going to have to make that up to you later.”
She grinned. “I suspect you have a few ideas how you could do that.”
The waiter stopped walking at a table that was somewhat secluded from the rest of the restaurant. He went to pull out a seat for Jane but Carter waved him away.
“A bottle of the Dom Perignon, and some escargot and brioche.”
The waiter nodded his head and disappeared silently. Carter held a chair out for Jane, and as she sat down, he pressed a kiss against the top of her head.
They were so caught up in the moment that neither noticed the whippet slim blonde staring at them from across the restaurant. She was painfully beautiful; tall, slender, with hair as fair as paper, and eyes as blue as the ocean. Her body was dripping in jewels, and her clothes were designer originals. But there was an ugliness that emanated from her, too. A bitterness. Her face was a mask of absolute fury.
“You look particularly gorgeous.” He said, leaning across the table and lifting her hands to his lips.
“You certainly do not scrub up too badly, yourself.” He was wearing a suit without a tie. A grey suit with a crisp white shirt and a fine blue thread running through it. She leaned forward, her expression conspiratorial. “Is it weird that I’m nervous?”
He laughed. “A little, but I’m flattered.”
She grinned and broke the contact when the waiter appeared with a tray of champagne, and two small plates of food.
“I can’t eat snails,” she said with a shake of her head.
“You’ll eat them.” He grinned. “You’ll like them.”
“Are you still thinking that you’re my boss?” She asked dubiously.
He shook his head. “I had a startling revelation last night.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
His blue eyes narrowed. “You have more control over me than I like.” He frowned. “More control than anyone ever has.”
Her breath hitched in her throat. She desperately wanted to believe him. But the part of her that was filled with self-doubt was certain it couldn’t be true. That he was being kind to her because he pitied her. Because he felt offended by the cards she’d been dealt.
So she played it light, even when her chest felt like it might explode with the hope of love. “I look forward to testing that control later,” she promised with a small smile.
His eyes flared with desire, and he allowed himself to glance lower, to the swell of cleavage that was revealed by the flamenco style dress she wore. It was a deep red, and against her tanned skin and dark hair, she looked like a mythical angel. Perfectly beautiful. The fabric was flimsy, and he could see that her nipples were taut. He concealed a small sound of impatience by pouring their champagnes and holding one out to her. She took it and they clinked their glasses together, their eyes holding, in a silent, meaningful toast.
“Can I ask you something?”
He placed his glass down and nodded. “Go ahead.”
“The night we met… at Hank’s birthday, you came onto me pretty strong. Was it just to hurt your father?”
He was careful not to react, but his eyes darkened with painful memories. “There were various factors,” he said, finally.
“Like?” She prompted, leaning back in her chair so she could regard him fully.
“I’ve told you before, I think, that I hate Hank.” He shook his head ruefully. “I know he’s my father, and it’s therefore a pretty disloyal thing to say, but I really have no time for him.”
She frowned. “Why not? What did he do that makes you feel that way?”
“It’s not one little thing. It’s everything. The cheating. The constant cheating. He’s a terrible businessman. If my grandfather – Carter Senior – hadn’t fired him and replaced him with me, Silverlight would probably be bankrupt by now. I simply don’t respect him, Jane. Not the way he lives his life, and not the man he is.”
She darted her tongue out and traced her top lip. She suspected it was mutual, but there was no need to start that conversation. “So you wanted to hurt him.”
“Initially, I wanted you. From the moment you asked to borrow my phone, I knew I would go after you.” His smile was loaded with self-contempt. “I presumed you were there with someone, and I didn’t much care. You would know by now that I’m not easily dissuaded from a course of action once I’ve made up my mind.”
She nodded.
“It was a bonus to discover that you were with him. Any guilt I might have felt about making a play for you evaporated whe
n I found out I could have you, and hurt him, in one move.”
Jane felt the color drain from her face, and Carter saw it. He put a hand on hers, padding his thumb against her soft skin. “I didn’t know you then, Jane. You were just a beautiful woman at a party. I didn’t think about your feelings, because, frankly, I didn’t yet care about them.”
She nodded, but a small part of her was silently freaking out. His cool, calculated move had been designed to wound. He was different to her. Not necessarily good, or bad. Just entirely different.
“Does Hank know about this?”
He frowned. “No.” It hadn’t occurred to him that the older man would find out eventually. But bringing Jane to Chaleur had all but guaranteed their photos would hit the society pages in coming days.
“I’m sorry that you don’t get on well with your father,” she surprised him by saying quietly. “He struck me as a kind of tragic figure. Perhaps a better person than he shows himself to be.”
Carter was very quiet. “Usually, I would be annoyed at someone presuming to know my own father better than me. But you’re right, Jane. You’re very perceptive. He’s got a goodness, somewhere in him. He just keeps screwing his life up.”
“Another reason you rescued him from me?” She asked with raised brows.
His laugh was quiet. “Yes. His taste in women is legendarily bad.”
“And this time?”
“It would have been the worst. I could not have lived with seeing you with him.”
She shook her head. “It was never like that.”
“I am certain he would have wanted it to be.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked at the table. The less Carter knew of the things Hank had said to her, the better. She suspected his anger would be stoked to incendiary levels if he knew that Hank had also thought her to be a prostitute and hinted at propositioning her for more than she was willing to provide.
“What about your mother?” She changed the subject slightly. “Are you close to her?”
He picked up his fork and speared one of the greasy looking snails. “Mother is a real dame of the south. Imagine a cross between Dolly Parton and Nancy Pelosi.” It was such an absurd hybrid that Jane burst out laughing, and Carter smiled. “Are you picturing it?”
“Just.” She nodded, still laughing.
“She’s tough and she has made being glamorous a full time hobby. But she’s almost totally mad from loneliness and Hank’s betrayal. Her anger, at being cheated on by a man who was never good enough for her, is tough to bear.”
“That’s hard for you,” she said quietly. “It must have been difficult to grow up with such enmity between your folks.”
“You could say that,” he said with a shrug. “But, at the same time, I was used to it. It was just the way it was. Hank was busy with his new family – Eliot is a far better son to him than I am – and so I hardly saw him.”
“Yet you somehow ended up running Silverlight?”
“My grandfather…”
“Carter Senior?” She interjected.
He nodded. “He took me under his wing. I suspect he has the same dim view of Hank as the rest of the world. He put up with Hank as CEO until I graduated, then installed me at the first possible opportunity. That board meeting was one of the best, and worst, moments of my life.”
She nodded. “Your father must have been devastated.”
“Livid. He was puce with his fury.”
“I feel sorry for him.”
“Don’t. Whatever goodness he might have is so deeply buried it’s probably irretrievable now. He’s lived his life as a selfish bastard and he got what was coming to him.”
Jane didn’t say what she was thinking. But Carter’s ability to rationalise such emotional cruelty scared the hell out of her. Would that same sentimental pragmatism extend to her, when the time came? Would he simply decide their relationship no longer held value and end things with her? She shivered a little.
“Are you cold?”
“No,” she shook her head.
“I’m upsetting you?”
“No.” She bit down on her lip. “Are you going to eat that?”
He looked at the snail he’d speared, and shook his head. “You are.”
She grimaced. “I can’t! It’s a bug.”
He stood up and moved his chair so that it was beside hers. Carter Mann-Hughes was not a man to care that he might get in the way of wait staff. He did what he wanted, without reference to anyone else. “Close your eyes,” he murmured, his own eyes glued to her beautiful face. She did as he said, fluttering her dark lashes like two fans on her cheeks. He put his finger into the buttery sauce of the escargot and lifted it to her lips. “Taste this.”
Her lips parted infinitesimally, so that he could press his fingertip in. Her mouth was warm, and wet. His gut clenched instantly, with fierce desire.
“Your mouth is so sexy,” he murmured, lowering his own lips and kissing her cheek. She sighed against his fingertip. “Do you like the taste?”
Silently, she nodded.
“Good. Now try this.” He lifted the escargot, letting it hover for a moment against her pout, before pressing it further forward. Her eyes flew wide, fixing him with an assessing look, as she chewed the slippery flesh. She swallowed, and screwed up her beautiful face.
“Well?” He asked, thinking that all he wanted to do was take her back to his apartment and make love to her.
“It wasn’t terrible,” she conceded, her nose still wrinkled. “But the mental hurdle’s too great for me to leap. Snail. Yuck!”
He laughed. “But you are so brave to try.”
Her heart turned over with pleasure at his compliment. She was completely, totally, truly in love with him. She’d known for days, but in that moment, it was an overpowering sensation. She clamped her lips shut, half afraid that she might blurt her feelings out. And surely it was too soon to say those words? Surely she needed a little more time to assess where he was at?
She stood hastily, almost knocking her champagne flute. Carter rose to his feet in response. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m just going to go freshen up. Do you know where the rest rooms are?”
He pointed to a doorway on the other side of the crowded venue. “Thanks.” And because they were both standing, she lifted onto tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. How she loved him. How she needed him.
He watched her beautiful figure as she walked across the restaurant; the way her ass swung from side to side with her effortlessly seductive gait. He forced himself to sit down and appear normal, when every bone in his body wanted to follow her and do something he’d never done before – risk an arrest for public lewdness. He grinned at the very thought of making love to her against a toilet stall wall. No. Better to save that for his jet. Perhaps he could arrange his next business trip to incorporate Jane.
She pushed into the elegant ladies’ room with a sigh of relief. Her reflection showed that she was in the midst of some kind of emotional meltdown. She moved closer to the mirror, and pressed the faucet. Cold water on her hands helped to cool her down, but inside, she was a maelstrom of intense and confusing sensations. Her gut clenched with the memory of making love to him, and she groaned aloud. Yeah. She was in love and in total lust. He was everything she had ever wanted in a man.
Did he love her, too? Was it possible?
He was certainly trying to connect with her in ways that weren’t just about sex. He had really wanted her to meet his cousin. He had brought her out tonight, not caring that it might mean her career as an escort would be laid bare, and that this might cause him embarrassment. She bit down on her lip. Maybe he did care for her, at least. But was that enough to build a relationship from?
The door pushed inwards and with real effort, she composed her features. The woman was tall and slim, with a face like a fashion model who’d had too much botox. Jane flashed her a polite smile then pretended she had only been washing her hands, and not trying
to unravel the mysteries of her heart and soul.
“So, you’re the poor bitch Carter’s got his hooks into these days.”
Jane froze, her innocent, chocolate eyes wide. “Excuse me?” She reached for a paper towel and used it to hide the way her fingertips were trembling.
“He’s not what he seems, you know.”
Jane shook her head. “Sorry. Who are you?”
“I’m the only woman he’s ever really loved. And he’s using you to make me jealous. So do us both a favour and forget you know him. You’ll be saving yourself, and me, a lot of running around if you just bow out.”
Jane screwed up the paper towel and tossed it into the waste paper bin. “Carter’s previous relationships are none of my business. I’m sorry that you’re obviously upset about things, but I’m not going to break up with him just because you want me to.”
“Break up with him? Oh, honey. Look at me, and look at you. Carter is using you in a pathetic attempt to make me jealous.” Her ice blue eyes narrowed. “Why do you think he brought you here tonight?”
Jane shrugged, her expression curious, despite her instant dislike for this woman.
“Because I’m here. He knew I’d be here, and he brought you here to parade you under my nose.”
“Why would he do that?” Jane asked sceptically, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Because he’s a sick bastard! My name is Renata. Ask him about me.”
“Renata?” Jane swallowed. She recognised the name instantly. “You were at Hank’s party with him.”
“I knew I had seen you before. You were there, with Hank.” She laughed. “Oh, it’s so good, I almost think you could deserve him. First the father, then the real big fish: his son. Tell me, who’s better in bed?”
Jane’s cheeks flamed. “My sex life is absolutely none of your business. I appreciate that you and Carter have a history, but it’s nothing to do with me.”
She turned to walk out but the other woman blocked her path. “You’re wrong. The only reason Carter is with you is to annoy me. If you’re happy with that, then it’s up to you. But he’s only loved one woman in his life, and that’s me.”
To the Highest Bidder Page 11