Seducing the Lost Heir

by Yvonne Lindsay

  But didn’t you see the differences and choose to ignore them? a little voice that sounded horribly like her mother’s asked from the back of her mind. You think you’re so squeaky clean, but you’re no different from me after all.

  Honor clamped down on the thought immediately. Maybe she was all wrong here. Maybe it had been Keaton at the hotel last night. After all, she’d invited him to come along, had told him how important it was to her to be nominated for the award she’d won. And he’d known she wanted to spice things up between them. Even though she knew she was grasping at straws, she turned to him.

  “Keaton, can I ask you something?” she murmured in his ear.

  “Sure.” He looked at her and his direct, pale gray eyes felt as if they were boring into the recesses of her soul—as if he could see the truth of her actions last night.

  She forced a smile and leaned in to ask, “Where were you last night?”

  “I told you, I had a business dinner,” he said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you to celebrate your win. Congratulations, by the way. We can do dinner tonight, and you can tell me all about it. Let’s get through this mess first.”

  Honor looked past Keaton’s shoulder at her secret lover, who was staring straight back at her. A shiver rippled through her. Fear? Or was it something else?

  “Honor?” Keaton prompted.

  “Yes,” she said, gathering her wits about her. What had he just said to her? Oh yes. “That would be lovely. I’ll look forward to it.”

  Douglas spoke again. “Kristin, could you get Stella to bring in some strong, hot coffee for us? I think we all need something bracing.”

  “Whiskey might be more in order,” she grumbled before stepping out of the office.

  “Keaton, you haven’t introduced your fiancée to Mr. Parker yet,” Douglas said.

  Honor saw the stranger’s head jerk a little, as if he’d just received an electric shock. He looked from her to Keaton and back again. Confusion and what had to be a million questions vied for supremacy in his eyes. She couldn’t hold his gaze. Couldn’t face the damnation she knew she’d see there if she looked at him for too long. Beside her, Keaton stiffened before making the introduction.

  “Honor, this, apparently, is my long-lost twin brother, Kane, also known as Logan Parker. Parker, please meet my fiancée, Honor Gould.”

  Logan stepped forward and offered Honor his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Gould.”

  Honor slowly let go of the breath she’d been holding. She’d half expected him to admit that he’d already met her, but it appeared he was happy to pretend he hadn’t. Hadn’t met her, hadn’t kissed her, hadn’t touched her body so intimately that she was in danger of flaring into a plume of smoke at the sheer memory of what he’d done to her, with her.

  But she could see the questions in his eyes, and she knew she’d have to face them down—sooner rather than later. Her mind working overtime, she admitted to herself it would need to be sooner. She couldn’t risk him disclosing to Keaton what they’d done. At least with the way Keaton had been bristling around Logan, they were hardly likely to be sharing close conversation any time soon. She took his hand, schooling herself to remain calm, but she hadn’t anticipated the electricity that sizzled through her palm at his touch.

  “And you too, Mr. Parker,” she finally managed to say through stiff lips. “Your arrival here is quite a surprise.”

  As if that wasn’t the biggest understatement of her life.

  “I can imagine,” Logan Parker replied.

  Was that a twinkle in his eye? Did he find this situation funny? A bolt of anger shot through her. How dare he? He had to realize that she’d made an innocent mistake, even if what had transpired next had been anything but innocent. She had to get him on his own to clarify this situation and ensure that he would keep what they’d done strictly between them.

  But could she trust him?

  Four

  The next hour passed painfully slowly. Somehow Nancy used the Richmond influence to have a private lab technician come directly to the office. The man swabbed Douglas and Nancy, then Keaton and Logan. It seemed that when big money talked, people moved and moved fast.

  After the technician had left, Honor excused herself.

  “I’m sorry, I have an off-site client meeting in half an hour. I really need to get going. I hope you’ll excuse me.”

  Nancy looked up and smiled. “Of course, Honor. I was thinking we should have a family dinner back at the house tonight. Take the opportunity to get to know Logan a little better.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Keaton and I have other plans for tonight.” She looked across to her fiancé. “Unless you want to—”

  “Yes, Mom, we do. Neither of us will be able to make it. Perhaps some other time,” Keaton added, overriding the suggestion Honor was clearly about to make that they change their plans.

  Logan had no doubt that Keaton was hoping “some other time” would never happen. Hostility poured off his brother in waves. He could understand it. For thirty-four years, Keaton had been the much-loved only son of his parents. Now he had competition. Kristin appeared to be aloof, too. She hadn’t exhibited any of the curiosity he knew he himself would have displayed in the same situation. He might have sought his family and found them, but along the way he’d also discovered a whole pile of doubt.

  Obviously, a family like the Richmonds would need to be careful. They’d built an empire on very tight-knit foundations. It only made sense that they’d close ranks to protect it. But there’d been no doubting the recognition and joy on Nancy’s face. Douglas, too, seemed less reticent than his children when it came to Logan.

  He sat back in his chair. It would take time to prove it, but he had every confidence he had as much right to be here as any of them.

  And then there was the conundrum of the intriguing Honor Gould. Logan watched her talking to his brother by the windows that looked out over the water. It was obvious that she’d been shocked to discover she’d slept with the wrong twin, but what did that say about her relationship with Keaton? Surely she must have seen that while they might look the same, their similarities ended with that. From what Logan could tell, his brother was a very tightly reined-in person emotionally. Was he equally as tightly reined in when it came to intimacy?

  He didn’t like what the thought of his brother and Honor being intimate did to him—and especially didn’t like the powerful surge of possessiveness that swept through him. Logan shook his head slightly. Whatever, it was none of his business. If Honor wanted to pretend they’d never met before, he was good with that. At least for now. But he still felt the pull of attraction between them, and he had no doubt that would become very uncomfortable before long. He hadn’t missed the engagement ring on her finger this morning, either. The ring that definitely hadn’t been there when he’d gone to her room last night.

  Man, last night. He fought back the groan of desire that threatened to pour out of him. Yeah, that would go down well right now—not. He had to keep his mind off Honor Gould, but it was going to be damn hard when she was right here in the room. Didn’t she mention she had some off-site visit she needed to be at? And yet, all of a sudden she didn’t appear to be in a hurry to leave after all. She was still standing and talking with Keaton, whispering and gesturing and occasionally looking Logan’s way. But then, thank goodness, she began to move toward the door.

  There was no kiss or hug between her and Keaton as she departed. Interesting. They might be engaged, but there didn’t appear to be any real closeness between them. In fact, Logan was willing to wager that he had been closer to Honor last night than his brother had been in a very long time.

  Stop it, he told himself. You’re grasping at straws. Competing with a brother you never knew you had until a couple of months ago over the woman he’s engaged to. As if that wasn’t the most cynical thing of all. He didn’t know Honor—n
ot what made her tick, what her favorite breakfast was, what music she enjoyed, the books she liked. Nor did he know his brother. Maybe beneath that stuffed-shirt, cold exterior, Keaton was indeed a warm-blooded male.

  Logan caught his brother’s eye and gave him a half smile of acknowledgment, but Keaton’s expression didn’t change. In fact, he turned away and with a muttered excuse to his father departed soon after Honor. Which left Kristin and his parents.

  He decided it was time to get to know his sister a little better.

  “So, Kristin—or do I call you Krissie?”

  “Kristin. I loathe being called Krissie.” Her response was succinct and laced with animosity.

  “Right, duly noted. When I did a little research into the company before coming here, I saw that you’re chief financial officer and heavily involved in the leasing side of the business—”

  “You researched us? Kind of creepy, don’t you think?”

  “And you haven’t googled me since you learned of my existence?”

  He was taking a punt, but he suspected she had. If not when he’d seen her pull her phone out of her pocket while the lab tech was here, then definitely when she’d left the office to request the coffee.

  She had the grace to look shamefaced. “I might have.”

  “Were you being creepy, or merely looking to be informed about who you were dealing with?”

  “Touché,” Douglas commented with a chuckle. “He has you there, Kristin.”

  She looked annoyed, and Logan attempted to put out the fire of discontent that was building in her eyes.

  “I get it. I hate walking into any situation with my eyes shut. And, yes, I admit that I probably should have had my lawyers approach the family with my claim.” He shook his head. “Not that I’m making any claim. I just wanted to find my family. My real family. The people I have a connection with that goes beyond today. The woman who brought me up loved me, and her family loved me as if I was their own, but I always knew I was different. Can you imagine what that was like?”

  He watched Kristin’s gaze soften and heard the muffled sound of compassion that came from Nancy. He waited a couple of beats, letting his words sink in.

  “So you can understand my need to find out what I could when I discovered the diaries. I don’t expect you all to include me in your lives. But obviously I would like it if we could have some crossover, whether that be on a personal or business level.”

  “Business? You were serious about that? Or was that just the ruse you used to get in to see Mom and Dad this morning?”

  “It’s no ruse. If you looked me up online, you’ll know I’m an experienced architect and I specialize in the repurposing and renovation of old buildings.”

  “Well, if you looked us up online, you’ll know we specialize in pulling old buildings down.”

  He laughed at the belligerence in his sister’s tone and found a growing respect for her. She didn’t back down. He liked that.

  “And that’s where I think you’re missing an opportunity.”

  “Tell me more,” Douglas said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his desk.

  The next several hours passed in a blur of conversation as they discussed the pros and cons of their respective businesses. Toward the end of the afternoon, Douglas leaned back in his chair and smiled.

  “If you are who you say you are and you hadn’t been taken from us, I wonder where Richmond Developments would be now.”

  “Oh, come on, Dad. We don’t even know for certain that he’s your son,” Kristin said, obviously not ready to let go of her reluctance to accept Logan as her brother.

  “Kristin, I think the sooner you come to terms with the fact our family dynamic may be about to change, the better.”

  “Well, it’s hardly going to change for me, is it? After all, you only ever wanted Keaton, as your eldest living son, at the helm when you retire. So is that going to be Logan now?”

  Logan looked from his birth father to his sister in shock. He certainly hadn’t expected that. Nor, to be honest, did he want it. At the very least, he had no right to intrude on Keaton’s position both as Douglas’s son and within the company hierarchy.

  “You know my wishes,” Douglas said severely. “And I’ll thank you not to try and cause trouble.”

  “Dad, stop treating me like I’m five years old.”

  “Then stop behaving like you are.”

  Kristin looked at her father, hurt clear on her features. “I think I’ll go back to my office now.”

  And without saying another word, she left.

  “I’m sorry you had to witness that,” Douglas said with a wry twist to his mouth. “Kristin tends to let her emotions get the better of her.”

  “Now, Doug, that’s not entirely fair. You bait her,” Nancy objected.

  “And she needs to learn that sometimes you have to lead with your head, not your heart.”

  Logan watched the interplay between his parents. Would Nancy continue to stand up to Douglas? No, it was clear she was about to concede the point.

  “Looks like it’s just the three of us left,” Nancy commented. “Shall we head back to the house early? Logan, perhaps you’d like to stay with us until you find a place of your own?”

  “I have my room at the hotel,” Logan remonstrated. “I’m happy to stay there for now. Besides, I plan on returning to New Zealand, not settling down here.”

  “No,” Nancy cried out. “I haven’t had you for the past thirty-four years. You can’t go back so soon.”

  “Well, I’m not going back immediately, but eventually. I do have a company to run.”

  “Possibly two,” Douglas said enigmatically before rising from his chair. “But for now, you’ll at least come home for dinner, won’t you?”

  Logan looked from his father to his mother. “Yes, I’d like that. Thank you.”

  He still had so many questions he wanted to ask. So many answers he sought. He might as well continue the conversation tonight, even if his siblings weren’t going to be there. Or Honor, the voice at the back of his mind pointed out. He quashed the thought before it could take flight. For now, he would have to be satisfied with what he had right here in front of him. After all, hadn’t that been his goal in coming here all along?

  But no matter what he told himself, his body remembered his brother’s fiancée with an ache that wouldn’t go away.

  * * *

  Honor was on tenterhooks, waiting for Keaton to arrive at her apartment. She double-checked the table setting, lit the tall candles in their holders and tweaked the blooms she’d picked up from Pike Place Market on the way home from work and arranged in the crystal bowl she’d found in a thrift shop a few months back.

  Everything looked perfect. On the surface, at least. But she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that life as she knew it was about to change irrevocably. It terrified her. One aberration could rip apart her carefully planned life and destroy any chance of the future she had worked so hard for all her life.

  She heard the door buzz. Keaton must have arrived. He was the only person on her “do not announce” list she’d left with the concierge downstairs. She flew across the room, pulled open the door and embraced Keaton.

  “I have missed you so much,” she said on a rush of air.

  He extracted himself from her embrace. “Honor, we were together this morning.”

  “But not just the two of us. I feel like we never have time for each other anymore.” At the quizzical expression on his face, she realized she was probably saying too much, too soon. “I’m sorry. It’s been a heck of a day. Come inside and sit down. Can I get you a drink?”

  “Sure. I’ll open this for us, shall I?” Keaton showed her the bottle of merlot he’d brought and went through to the living room.

  Honor glanced at the wine label and grimaced slightly as she saw it was
imported from New Zealand. Seemed there was an awful lot coming from New Zealand right now.

  “Something smells good.”

  “Lasagna,” she answered. “The merlot will be perfect with it.”

  She got two glasses from the kitchen and brought them through to the living room. Keaton opened the bottle and poured them each a glass. He handed her one, and she snuggled in beside him on the couch.

  “Don’t you wish we could do this every night after work?” she probed.

  He’d never responded to her suggestion that they move in together. Instead he’d been evasive and turned their discussion back to an issue they’d been having with a bulk supplier for one of their commercial developers at the time. Honor loved Keaton, she really did, and admired his work ethic like nothing else, but his ability to avoid answering a straight question with a straight answer drove her slightly crazy.

  “I can see where it will have its benefits,” he agreed before dropping a kiss onto the tip of her nose.

  She pulled a face. “That’s no way to say a proper hello to the woman you’re going to marry,” she said before reaching up to turn his face to hers and kissing him.

  She put everything she had into the kiss. All her guilt about last night, all her hope that she hadn’t destroyed the now-tenuous link between herself and Keaton. He didn’t respond at first, and she wondered if she’d pushed him too hard. Keaton was the kind of man who liked to initiate things. It had never really bothered her that much. But now, it lit a wick on her anger.

  Why didn’t he want to take her and ravish her? They’d been apart for a few days while she’d been at the conference and then they’d had the upheaval of Logan Parker turning up. Surely he should be turning to her for comfort. Wasn’t that what couples did in times of stress and strife? But even as she kissed him, she felt his restraint. Sure, he went through the motions, but where was the passion?