by Blake, Nina
And if she kept telling herself all of this, she might actually believe it.
She looked across at Daniel. “Oh, you know him, all right. He works for you. He was here just a few minutes ago. Mark Elliot.”
Daniel let out a chuckle and covered his mouth as though trying to hold it back but he laughed more. “M…Mark Eliott,” he spluttered.
“What’s so funny about that?”
He touched her arm, then pulled his hand back. “The accountant?”
“Yes, he’s second-in-charge of your Accounting Branch.”
“Sorry, but I just can’t see you with an accountant.”
“How can you say that when you don’t know anything about me? You don’t even know what I do?”
“Then tell me. Let me know how wrong I am.”
“I’m an architect.”
He smiled. “You work in an industry that’s practical and creative at the same time. Let me guess. You’ve been working your way up the ladder and until now you’ve had two or maybe three jobs and you’ll move to a new firm if it gets you what you want. What’s the term? A bright young thing.”
He’d summed up her career in a nutshell and she didn’t like it.
“So you’ve found a convenient category to slot me into? Do you always put people in a box?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I knew you couldn’t be an accountant. You’ve got too much flair, too much personality.”
“You can’t make fun of accountants like that. You couldn’t run Webb Corporation without them.”
“Come on, surely you can see what I mean. Accountancy isn’t exactly the most exciting of professions. No one’s going to set the world on fire being an accountant. It’s so dull.”
“It’s lucky for you there are people out there doing the hard work, the methodical jobs. Not everyone wants to live life on the edge.”
“Mark’s a nice fellow. Don’t get me wrong. I just didn’t think he was the kind of man to suit you.”
She placed one hand on her hip, and turned to face him. “On the contrary, he’s exactly the right man for me. He’s solid and reliable. He’s not the sort to flit from woman to woman or from job to job for that matter. But just because he’s not a risk-taker doesn’t mean he’s dull.”
Daniel raised one eyebrow. “Doesn’t it?”
“Don’t forget, this relationship isn’t something that just popped into my mind and has taken my fancy. I’ve thought about it for a long time. Mark is exactly the kind of man I’ve been looking for. I’ve done my research and weighed up the facts.”
Daniel laughed. “You’ve weighed up the facts?”
That was exactly what she’d done. In the past, she’d let herself fall in love with the wrong man, and more than once at that. She didn’t trust her heart any more. She’d tried that and it didn’t work for her so she’d decided to use her mind instead. It was much more reliable.
“I don’t see what’s so funny about being interested in someone who’s dependable and has a good job,” she said. “He’s not going to risk his life savings by getting involved in some dodgy scheme, and he wouldn’t put anyone else at risk like that either.” She wondered if Daniel would pick up on her barbed comment, for it was aimed at him. “Mark has a good job and he’s planning for his future. For our future together.”
Daniel looked her in the eye. “This takes me back to my original point. Where’s the passion, the spark, the vitality? You sound more like you’re talking about superannuation or a pension plan, not the love of your life.”
“You might be after a hot, steamy affair which finishes quickly so you can get on to the next woman but that doesn’t mean it’s what the women want. It’s certainly not what I want.”
He smiled suggestively at her. “You don’t want hot sex? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that before.”
She glared at him. “That’s not what I said. I want the same thing that many women want. A long-term commitment. Someone who loves me and wants to spend the rest of their life with me. Is that so surprising?”
“Actually, it is coming from you. I thought you’d be a bit more adventurous.”
Kate wanted what her parents had. Her father loved her mother in sickness and in health, exactly as he’d vowed to do over thirty years ago. It might not have been in their marriage vows but he’d also loved her through financial stress, unconditionally, unreservedly.
Some people might think it boring but she’d choose that over some quick sex any day.
“There are different types of love, Daniel. Perhaps you haven’t experienced something meaningful, something much deeper than just sex.”
“Does Mark love you as much you love him?” he asked.
“Of course he does.”
Mark loved her. In his own way. She was sure of it. He just wasn’t good at showing it. So what if they’d been having a few problems lately?
Daniel added, “Because until a few moments ago, I had no idea Mark had a girlfriend, let alone a fiancée. And I’m very surprised.”
The comment cut into her, all the more because she knew it was true.
She looked away, out at the harbour. “You see him at work. He doesn’t like to talk about his personal life, as I’m sure, neither do you.”
“Kate,” Daniel said. “If I loved a woman enough to want to marry her, everyone would know about it. In fact, for someone in my position, it’d be impossible to hide. It’d be in the papers and I’d be proud to be seen with the woman I loved on my arm.”
“But that’s not what you want, is it?” She turned her head slowly towards him. “So what’s the point of even mentioning it?”
“You’re right.”
“You put all your energy into Webb Corp because that’s what’s most important to you. Making money.”
“Not quite. I want business success. There’s a difference.”
Kate knew more about Webb Corp and the now defunct Irwin Webb than he thought.
But Daniel had known nothing of her until this evening. Then, in a matter of minutes he’d sussed her out completely, read her like a book, found her weaknesses and pounced.
Well, she knew a little about him too and wasn’t going to let him get away with this.
“Mark is the right kind of man for me,” she said. “He’s solid and reliable and dependable. You, Daniel, are not the right kind of man. I don’t know exactly what you’re trying to do but I’m not going to fall for it.”
Grinning, his eyes crinkled up at the corners. “If I’m so wrong, then why is there no shortage of women trying to latch on to me?”
“Oh, come on.”
“I’m not trying to boast. I’m merely telling it like it is.”
She shrugged. “Lots of women find money very attractive.”
“But not you?”
Looking him up and down, she said, “You’re like some kind of James Bond living life on the edge, going through women at a rate of knots. You’re very successful and that’s not an easy road. You thrive on the stress, on the big deals, on scraping in by whisker to make the biggest profit.”
“That’s the sort of business I’m in.”
“No, that’s the kind of person you are. The kind who’s always striving for the next big deal, never satisfied with what you’ve got. Above all, you’ll never settle down.”
“And that makes me the wrong kind of man?”
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
“You know, I don’t understand why women are so fixated on marriage as if it’s the most important thing there is.”
“It works for millions of people around the world.”
“Not all of them. There are many people for whom it doesn’t work, my parents included, and I don’t plan on reliving their mistakes.”
So what if his parents’ marriage hadn’t worked? That wasn’t her problem. Daniel was obviously the wrong kind of man, the kind who liked living in the fast lane.
Dependability and reliability. They were admirable traits, ones that Dan
iel didn’t have and Kate certainly wasn’t going to get involved with someone whose business tactics were as cutthroat as his.
“There’s one thing that doesn’t make sense,” she said. “After everything you’ve told me about yourself tonight, how could you possibly have looked at me out on the balcony and said I was the woman you were going to marry?”
He glanced down for a moment, deep in thought, then lifted his gaze to meet hers. “I don’t know what came over me. I don’t have a good explanation for it and I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. That wasn’t my intention at all.”
Kate looked him square in the eye. “Then what are your intentions?”
He sidled closer but didn’t touch her. “Remember I’m the wrong kind of man. My intentions are all completely, wonderfully evil.”
Deep but soft, his voice sent a sensual shiver up her spine.
“Actually, that’s irrelevant,” she said. “I’m taken.”
He lifted one hand to tilt her chin towards him. “If you’re telling me you’re not interested, then I won’t come any closer. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”
“Good. I don’t want you to.”
Daniel cupped her face in both his hands and she couldn’t help but flinch at the sudden movement.
She’d told him she wasn’t interested. What was he doing? She wasn’t going to fall into his lap.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “I’m not going to force myself on you. I’m going to wait until you want me and, I assure you, you will want me.”
“What? Because other women do?”
“No, I’m not talking about other women. I’m talking about you.”
He was so brash, so arrogant. She couldn’t believe it. She’d never met a man like him before. If he thought she was going to drop into a heap at his feet, he was sadly mistaken.
She slipped his jacket off her shoulders and handed it back to him. She didn’t need it any more. Didn’t need any of this, in fact. She walked to the door and turned back to look at him.
“You’re wrong,” she said. “You were wrong when you said you were going to marry me and you’re wrong about this too.”
“It’s true that I’m not going to marry you.” His dark eyes narrowed, crinkling at the sides as his lips curled to a knowing smile. “That doesn’t mean we can’t have a bit of fun. Maybe more than a bit.”
Chapter Three
Striding along Mark Elliot’s side through The Rocks district, Kate reassured herself she was doing the right thing. It was only dinner and there would be lots of other people there.
She was doing Mark a favour. She would much rather have stayed at home in her cosy apartment than gone out this evening, particularly with his work colleagues. After all, she knew who’d be there and he wouldn’t make it easy for her.
“I’m glad you agreed to come,” Mark said. “This can’t be easy for you so I’m pleased we can both be mature about it.”
Sometimes Kate thought she was too good-natured. If she was a less practical but harder person she wouldn’t even be here.
“You know, you’re handling the break-up very well,” she said. “You don’t seem too distraught.”
It had been nearly a week since Kate had told Mark it was over between them. She’d wrestled with her feelings for a couple of days after Daniel Webb’s party but in the end she had to do it.
Not that she was leaving Mark for another man. Far from it. It’s just that Daniel had been right, though she’d denied it to him that evening, just as she’d been denying it to herself for months.
The state of her relationship with Mark had reached a point where she had to face facts. It was never going to work between them unless both of them were willing to work at it and that simply wasn’t going to happen. Their feelings for each other weren’t strong enough, no matter how much she had hoped for more.
Knowing it was the right thing to do had made it easier but she still found it hard. It was a year of her life. A significant relationship. And there was so little left of it now.
The worst part was that Mark didn’t seem particularly upset. He’d said it was a glitch in his plans for the future but that he’d get over it.
And he had. All too quickly.
Perhaps Daniel had been right and there was no chemistry between her and Mark.
They walked up the stone steps to the restaurant. His fingers on the door handle, Mark stopped and turned to her. “I’m glad you agreed to come tonight. I really appreciate it. This job is important to me and I didn’t want it to look like my life was a shambles when I’m on the verge of getting a promotion.”
“I know.”
She’d felt partially responsible because she’d misled Daniel by telling him she and Mark were engaged. Then, when Mark had asked her to come along as his partner, Kate had felt obliged to help out. It was his career and he was so close to getting the position he’d always coveted.
After all, she still wanted them to be friends. That wasn’t too much to ask, was it?
Mark pulled the door open and as they waited by the reception desk, Kate scanned the room, spotting his colleagues at the far end of the restaurant. It was a table of about ten or twelve with only two spare seats, both of them right next to Daniel Webb.
She suddenly wondered what she was doing here. She wanted to be friends with Mark and, hard as she’d thought about it, she hadn’t been able to find any logical reason why she shouldn’t accompany him tonight.
But as she looked across at Daniel, she knew this had nothing to do with logic or reason. He wasn’t even doing anything, just sitting there. Yet beneath her jacket she felt goose bumps forming on her arms, her palms suddenly cold, her heart racing.
How could this be happening? Though she didn’t like to think she was at the mercy of her hormones, it was clear that’s exactly what was happening. No point denying it.
Daniel stretched his arm out across the empty chair beside him and laughed, turning his head as he did so. His lips curled to a confident smile as his eyes locked with hers and for a few moments he made her feel as though they were the only two people in the room.
Kate felt something unfurling deep in her belly, something undeniably sexual. Her body was telling her one thing while her mind was telling her another.
She turned to Mark. “I don’t think this was such a good idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“I shouldn’t have come.”
Mark took her hand. “I’m not going to force you to stay if you don’t want to. You’ve been seen with me which is the main thing. I can tell them you’ve got a headache.”
She’d come here as Mark’s partner to help him out. That’s what friends did for each other. All she had to do was sit there and make pleasant conversation. This was one of Sydney’s top restaurants and the food would undoubtedly be excellent. How hard could it be? She was here, so why not enjoy it?
With this new sense of resolve, she felt wonderfully calm as she turned to face him. “I’m going to stay, after all.”
Kate handed her coat to an attendant, pleased she could now uncover her dress. Sleeveless with a simple round neck, it showed off her arms but other than that it wasn’t revealling in the slightest. It was, however, designed to shimmer and cling to her figure in all the right places.
She’d bought it largely because it was the same shade as wisteria in bloom, a colour which brought out the best in her pale complexion, however that wasn’t why she’d chosen it for this evening. Her girlfriends had told her how good she looked in it and she wanted to get that same buzz. She hadn’t felt good all week and this dress lifted her spirits just a little.
The issue, Kate thought as she walked towards the table, wasn’t the dress. It was Daniel Webb’s searing gaze. He couldn’t get his eyes off her and it seemed he didn’t care who noticed.
He was doing it to her again. He made her feel like she was the only woman in the world, as if she was put there just for his pleasure. It was an unusual sensa
tion. She wasn’t used to such blatant admiration.
Suddenly she heard Mark’s voice in her ear. “I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to take the seat next to Ray Price.”
Kate shrugged. “Sure.”
“He’s head of the selection committee and I want to stay in his good books.”
She’d agreed so easily but as she slid down into her chair, she had the feeling she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Perhaps she didn’t know quite what she was in for.
“I’m pleased you could make it tonight,” Daniel said.
His voice as smooth as silk, he was as confident as always. It made her feel that even the simplest statement was loaded.
“Why wouldn’t I?” she replied.
“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure you were Mark’s fiancée.”
He’d called her bluff. She hadn’t thought he’d be so blunt.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Did you enjoy the party the other night?” he asked. “You left in a hurry.”
“I had a lovely time, thank you. I’m just not one for late nights, that’s all.”
“I couldn’t help but notice that Mark didn’t take you home.”
“I’m a big girl. I can leave a party on my own.”
That night she hadn’t wanted to leave on her own but Mark had been having a good time and had wanted to stay on. Suddenly it struck her that, even though there had been over a hundred people at the party, Daniel had a noticed they’d left separately.
“Were you keeping tabs on Mark and me?” she asked.
“Not at all. He was one of the last to leave. It was hard not to notice.”
“Oh.”
Daniel’s lips curled to a smile. “I’d rather you’d been the one to stay.”
“Why’s that? So you could take me to bed. Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen.”
“I only meant you were welcome to have stayed as long as you liked.”
She had him now, she thought. “I did stay as long as I liked.”
He laughed.