Soliman, Wendy - The Name of the Game (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Wendy Soliman

  Ashley’s spirits soared. “What, about us?”

  “Yes. She said she’d sensed there was someone who’d been making me happy for the past year or so and that she was glad. She never liked Eve, you see, right from the start. She was the only one who could see through her, and she advised me not to marry her, even though she was carrying my child.”

  “Then why did you?”

  “The problem was that Dad adored her. He was a stickler for protocol, and the consequences for his health would have been severe if I hadn’t done the right thing.”

  “So you’ve spent your entire adult life doing what others wanted you to do?” She sighed. “Poor Matt.”

  “Until now.”

  “No, Matt,” she said, sighing. “Even now Charlie’s got you running round in circles.”

  Matt curled his upper lip. “He might think that he has, but I still have a few tricks on my own up my sleeve.”

  “Good.”

  “Mum said that if I loved and trusted you so much then you deserved to know the truth. She said that if you truly loved me in return then you’d cope with all our nasty little family secrets.” He caressed her with his gaze. “After meeting you today, she was convinced that you’d understand.”

  “Meeting me?” Ashley frowned. “Today?”

  “Yes.” Matt smiled. “At the dressage. Congratulations, by the way. I gather you did really well.”

  “The dressage? What do you…oh, of course, the lady who spoke to me? I knew there was something familiar about her eyes. She’s your mother?”

  “Yes, and she likes you.” Matt grinned. “A lot. She’s a great believer in first impressions, and apart from anything else, she thinks you’re a superb horsewoman. That would have influenced her opinion if she was in any doubt, but apparently she took to you at once.”

  Ashley smiled in spite of herself. “So we have her to thank for all this.”

  “Indeed we do.”

  “What other problems do you have then? You may as well tell me it all.”

  “They concern the amalgamation. Independent auditors will assess the value of the business on both companies’ books and shareholding in the new business will be apportioned accordingly.” Ashley nodded. She knew that very well. “As things stand, we hold approximately five to ten percent more business than Stevenson’s, and so we’d have overall control of the new company. Giles Yardley is close to retirement age. He has no interest in being CEO of the amalgamated company.”

  “So you would be?”

  “Only if we’re the controlling partner. If not, it would be one of the Stevenson’s directors. Philip, perhaps. I’m not sure, but it would probably be him. He’s Giles’s protégée. Anyway, my plan was to establish the new enterprise and, after about a year, move aside for someone else. I would then sell my shares, get out, and set up somewhere with you, doing something I really want to for the first time in my adult life.” He paused. “With horses, perhaps.”

  “You never told me that,” she said cautiously, a flutter of excitement causing her voice to wobble.

  “I didn’t want to tempt fate.” He grimaced. “With good reason, as it turns out.”

  “Those suspicious death claims?”

  “Right.” He thumped his thigh in frustration. “Three of them in three months. Something isn’t right, but I just can’t figure it out.”

  “Can’t you do a bit of digging? Talk to the actuaries, see if there’s a pattern?”

  “No, because I have a feeling that the pot’s being stirred from within. Besides, if Charlie got wind of what I was doing, he’d think I’d lost the plot, dabbling in mundane death claims.”

  “It’s hardly losing the plot if the business is being mismanaged. You are its CEO.”

  “You don’t know Charlie.”

  “No, but I’m starting to understand the way he works.”

  “If things carry on the way they’re going at such a crucial point in the negotiations, it’ll swing the balance in favour of Stevenson’s.”

  “Who’d want to do that?”

  “That’s the question I’ve been grappling with for the past few weeks.”

  “That’s why you’ve been up and down to Southampton so much recently? That’s where the claims are settled.”

  “Exactly. I thought at first that Stevenson’s might have bribed someone senior in claims settlements, but there are too many safeguards in place for that to be possible.”

  “Set up to avoid any rogue underwriters doing what’s apparently happened anyway.” Ashley frowned. “Unless it really is just a coincidence.”

  “I doubt that.” Matt rubbed his jaw. “I’ve been trying for this last week to push ahead with the audit and get the agreement signed before these disputed claims queer our pitch.”

  “No luck?”

  “No, these things proceed at the pace the lawyers set. There’s no getting round that. It’s the name of the game.” He sighed. “Trust me, I know.”

  “If you and Charlie are at loggerheads, could he be behind the claims debacle?”

  “Yes, I suppose he could, but why would he want to weaken his own position? Unless he’s done a deal with someone at Stevenson’s, of course.”

  “Philip Roker?”

  “No.” Matt shook his head emphatically. “Phil’s honourable. He wouldn’t.”

  “I know he’s your friend, but I thought he was creepy.”

  Matt laughed. “He comes across that way, but really, he’s one of the good guys. As for Charlie, perhaps he’s somehow negotiated a high-ranking position on the new board when Stevenson’s get the upper hand. He might even finish up as CEO if Giles retires and doesn’t nominate Philip as his successor.”

  “He’d have a high-ranking position on the board if Interactive have the upper hand.”

  “Yes, but this way I’d have to leave in disgrace and he’d finish up outsmarting me once and for all, which is all he’s ever really wanted to do. He’d be willing to sacrifice everything for that.”

  “I can’t begin to imagine living for so long with so much pent-up resentment. He needs professional help.” Ashley pondered for a moment. “It does make sense though, him being behind the bogus claims, if you look at it from his warped point of view. But how’s he doing it?”

  “That’s just the problem.” Matt spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “I don’t know, and what’s more I don’t know how to find out, or how to stop it, without highlighting the problem and making Stevenson’s aware of it.”

  “No wonder you’ve been so fraught.” She reached out to touch his arm. “You should have told me before now. I might be able to help.”

  “I wanted to, I was about to, but then Eve sprung the baby business on me. Believe it or not, I’ve only known about it myself for three weeks. I haven’t had time to get over the shock, much less share it with you.”

  “How could she keep it secret for so long?”

  “Well, she didn’t show at first. Then I was away with the boys, and she obviously avoided telling me until she had no choice.”

  “What are we going to do now?”

  A suggestive smile, somnolent and sexy, was his only answer.

  “Matt?” She tried for a quelling glance, which had no discernible effect, other than to produce a sybaritic chuckle.

  “Dare I hope the we part of that question means you believe me?”

  “Yes, Matt,” she said quietly, “I believe you.”

  “Thank God for that! If you hadn’t, then I don’t think I could have—” His smile was a sinful challenge. “Then, in that case, there’s only one thing we can possibly do. Come here!”

  He reached for her hand and pulled her onto his knee. His kiss was slow, sensuous, and extremely exacting. Spangles of pleasure cascaded through her body as his hands drifted beneath her T-shirt and expertly caressed her breasts.

  Ashley emptied her mind of everything and simply lost herself in the intensity of the moment. She knew from delicious past experience that
it would be the work of a moment for him to bring her to a pinnacle of desperate need. Once he did, he’d tease her by backing off again, forcing her to wait.

  “I really did think,” he said, burying his face in her neck, “that you wouldn’t take me back, even if you did believe me.” His voice sounded frantic. “I didn’t think you’d want to get mired in all the familial mess, which is partly why I delayed telling you. If that had happened, I—”

  “Shush!” She ran her fingers through his hair, soothing him as though he was Callie’s age. “It’s okay. You’re stuck with me. Get used to it.”

  “I was so frightened, Ash. I really thought I’d lost you.”

  And then he cried.

  Ashley was at a loss to know what to do. Matt was always so strong, always in control. She’d never seen him show any form of weakness before. She hesitated for a prolonged second then acted on impulse. Kneeling in front of him, she wrapped her arms round his neck, pulled his head toward her shoulder, and simply let him sob.

  “It’s all right,” she said, stroking his back, choked with emotion and close to tears herself. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  He lifted his head and captured her gaze. “I can’t do it without you, baby. I didn’t realize how much I needed you until you weren’t there.”

  “I guess I know that now.”

  He regained his composure, stood up, and pulled her to her feet. “Come on,” he said.

  Hand in hand, they went to her bedroom. As soon as they were inside the room, he closed his arms around her, holding her so tight that she could hardly breathe. But she didn’t complain. She needed to feel…well, needed. Matt had never before been so open about his feelings for her. She didn’t doubt that everything he’d just told her was true, even the extraordinary circumstances leading up to Eve’s pregnancy.

  Especially that.

  His lips claimed hers in a searing kiss of deep intensity. It wasn’t enough. She struggled out of his arms, pulled her top over her head, and then started on his, yanking it free from the waistband of his jeans.

  “Hey,” he said, laughing. “Where’s the fire?”

  “I need to feel your skin against mine. I can’t seem to—”

  But Matt could. And he did. He undressed them both, carried her to the bed, making love to her body with eyes burning with passion. He caressed every inch of her with hands that tantalized and teased, driving her wild, making her feel alive. His erection pressed against her thigh as he lay beside her, directing operations, making her wait.

  “Matt,” she said, squirming against his fingers. “You’re killing me.”

  His throaty chuckle was decidedly predatory. “Patience!”

  Her head thrashed against the pillows. “Easy for you to say.”

  “Keep still or I’ll tie you down.”

  It was her turn to smile. “You think that sort of threat will make me keep still?”

  “I sure as hell hope not.”

  His fingers continued to work their magic. His lips explored every crevice whilst his tongue lapped and probed, causing an electric current to whip through her bloodstream. Matt always took his sweet time in bed, but on this occasion his commitment to the moment was beyond anything they’d ever done before. Drifting on an endless wave of pleasure, Ashley was dimly aware that he was trying to tell her something without using words. His need was as desperate as hers, but it was more than just that. The physical alchemy between them had never been as strong, or more intense.

  By the time he thrust into her, his movements assured and decisive, Ashley was on fire, her turbulent emotions off the scale. She wrapped her legs round his torso and rose up to meet him, taking every glorious inch of him inside her, deep and deeper still. She groaned as exquisite shards of intense sensation built deep within her core. She was close, so close, but fought to delay the moment, knowing it would be so much more intense if she could just hold back.

  But it was no good. She needed it so badly, she was on the brink.

  “Matt, I can’t—”

  “Let it go, baby.”

  He picked up the rhythm, thrusting deeper still, watching her with an expression of naked longing, the fine tremor in the muscles of his arms indicating what a tough time he was having holding back himself.

  With a wild cry, Ashley’s world exploded. Matt’s gaze was fixed on her face as she trembled and arched, exorcising the endless ache that she’d lived with since Eve had dropped her bombshell on that dreadful day that changed her life .

  Matt followed her over the edge, groaning and pulsating for what seemed like an eternity, kissing her like he never intended to stop.

  Spent, they collapsed in a sweaty heap, panting, laughing, both a little shell-shocked by the depth of their emotion. Held in Matt’s strong arms, Ashley fell asleep almost immediately. Her last conscious thought was that she had Matt back and together they would somehow sort out the problems in the office.

  Absolutely nothing else mattered.

  Chapter Seven

  When Ashley woke the following morning, it took her a moment to remember why she felt so good. Smiling, she stretched, as supple and sensuous as a cat. She reached out a hand to the other side of the bed.

  It was empty.

  Panic crept up on her. Had she dreamed it all? Was the sensational reconciliation all a figment of her imagination? No, the tenderness on the inside of her thighs, her overall feeling of contentment, quickly dispelled that idea. Besides, the sheets were still warm where Matt had been. There was the indentation in the pillows where his head had lain and his distinctive aroma lingered.

  The sound of the front door opening brought her fully awake. She smiled. Matt had obviously taken Freckles for his morning run. Reassured, she drifted back into a light sleep.

  The next time she woke, the aroma of frying bacon and freshly brewed coffee reminded her that she hadn’t eaten the previous evening. Her stomach rumbled when Matt re-entered the bedroom, wielding a laden tray.

  “Morning, sleepyhead.” He leaned precariously over the tray to kiss her. “Sleep well?”

  “Hmm, I don’t remember getting that much sleep, as it happens.”

  Matt chuckled. “I hope that’s not a complaint.” He placed the tray by the side of the bed and poured coffee for them both. “Hungry?”

  “Famished, for some reason.” She pushed herself into a half-sitting position and leaned back on her elbows. “What’s the time?”

  “After ten.”

  “What! You should have woken me.” Ashley pushed the covers back. “Poor Lucius. I should have turned him out an hour ago.”

  Matt distracted her with a kiss. “It won’t hurt him to wait a little longer. Someone will have fed him, won’t they?” Ashley nodded. “Okay then, first things first. Your room service breakfast awaits, madam.”

  He placed the tray on her knees. There was freshly squeezed orange juice, the bacon she’d smelt cooking, scrambled eggs, and toast. Enough of it to feed a small army.

  “Are you trying to make me fat?”

  “Just thought you might need to recharge your batteries.” He winked at her. “Sex always gives you an appetite, if memory serves.”

  “Yes,” Ashley mumbled round a mouthful of eggs. “I guess it’s just as well that my hunger doesn’t increase in direct proportion to the number of times we indulged. I’d look like the side of a house in no time if it did.”

  Matt grinned. “We had lost time to make up for.”

  “I guess we did.”

  “Speaking of which, have you any idea how sexy you look right now? You’re still half asleep, gloriously dishevelled, and if you carry on looking at me like that—”

  “Like what?” she asked innocently, canting her head and regarding him through the locks of hair that had fallen across her face.

  They never did finish their breakfast, Matt taking the arbitrary decision that they had other appetites in greater need of satisfaction. He relegated the tray to the floor. Freckles, forgotten by them both, mad
e short work of the remnants.

  “Hey, where’s the birthday present I got you?” Matt asked, holding a now boneless Ashley in his arms, frowning as he examined her naked fingers. “I haven’t seen you wearing it.”

  “Oh, I’d forgotten all about it. It’s still in the drawer in the sitting room.”

  He quirked a brow. “You mean you haven’t even opened it?”

  “Your timing was lousy.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  Matt disappeared and return quickly, package in hand.

  “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

  He presented the box to her with an extravagant bow. Given his naked condition, it should have looked ridiculous. Instead, it was elegant and sexy as hell. Ashamed of the strength of her desire for him, she averted her eyes and concentrated on opening the package. Lifting the lid of the small velvet jeweller’s box, she felt her eyes widen when its contents were revealed.

  “Matt, what is it? I can’t—”

  Standing beside the bed, as excited and expectant as a schoolboy, he bent his head to kiss her.

  “The stone reminded me of the colour of your eyes,” he said in a low, gravelly drawl.

  Matt removed the exquisite emerald and diamond ring from the box and slipped it onto the ring finger of her right hand. It was a perfect fit.

  “I measured your finger with a piece of string when you were asleep,” he explained, looking inordinately pleased with himself.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “Thank you.” She threw her arms round his neck, almost strangling him in the process.

  “No more beautiful than you deserve,” he told her, gently extricating himself from her death grip. “And, just so you know, the next ring I buy for you won’t be for that hand.”

  “You’re moving too fast for me. We have several obstacles to overcome before we start thinking like that. Besides, I don’t want to tempt fate by planning too far ahead.”

  “Okay, let’s just think about today and put everything else on hold. We deserve a break.” Ashley wasn’t going to argue with that. “What shall we do with ourselves?”

  “Well, first off I need to go to the yard, check Lucius, and make sure he didn’t pick up any little injuries that I didn’t detect when we got home yesterday. I also like to do my own mucking out at the weekends. The girls have too many to do, so I take the time to do a more thorough job when I can.”