Web of Deception

by Blake, Nina

  She had money of her own so he hadn’t suspected that snaring a rich husband was her first priority.

  He found out otherwise. A couple of his business deals fell though at the same time and his name was dragged through the mud with one particular company.

  Jane had got out of the relationship as quickly as she could. It hadn’t been him she’d wanted after all.

  Unfortunately, it had been too late for Daniel. He’d already fallen in love. And that was a mistake he wasn’t going to make again.

  It was about then that his father had come back into his life. He’d only seen the man a few times since he was nine when his dad had left. Despite the many privileges of Daniel’s upbringing, he’d never had the one thing he’d wanted as a kid. His father’s love and attention.

  He wasn’t sure he had it now, for that matter. Nothing he did seemed to please the man.

  At least his father had been there for him when he found out Daniel was getting married. Now that he looked back at it, his father had been right all along. Marriage wasn’t for men like them. They were both driven to succeed but not in relationships. Only in business. Daniel’s own experience with Jane showed him what happened when he’d been preoccupied with love instead of concentrating on the task at hand.

  Roger Webb may have had five children and stayed with his wife for many years but, in the end, he hadn’t been able to stick it out. Daniel knew he wouldn’t fare any better. He was too much like his father for that.

  One good thing had come out of that experience. At least now he kept in touch with his father and saw him occasionally. He hoped to catch up with soon on the ski slopes at Falls Creek.

  The first night Daniel met Kate, she’d said he wasn’t the marrying kind and she was right. Marriage wasn’t for the Webb men. The main reason his father had married was because he wanted children and though Daniel did too, he knew marriage wasn’t the way.

  “Sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard you work at it,” he said. “If you’re with the wrong person or if you are the wrong person, there’s just nothing you can do.”

  Kate looked relaxed once again. “You’re right. I don’t regret the things I’ve done. It’s what shaped the person I am and brought me here.”

  He wondered if she meant here, beside him. He didn’t believe in fate or destiny or forces bringing two people together but he certainly believed in making the most of the chances that were offered to him.

  The meal was well and truly finished, the last of the wine had been drunk, and the guests were all leaving. Daniel said goodbye to the couple sitting beside him, giving the young woman a peck on the cheek.

  Turning to face Kate, a smile spread to his lips. Did she look nervous, a touch hesitant perhaps, at the prospect of a quick kiss goodbye? Or was he reading too much into her expression? She might simply be tired, after all.

  Her strawberry blond hair brushed against her pretty shoulders as she tossed the locks back and stood. His gaze dropped from her face to the fine lavender fabric of her dress. Such a lovely shade. And how beautifully it clung to Kate’s every curve.

  As she rested one hand on her waist, he savoured the suppleness of her flesh beneath the fine fabric of her dress. Then he felt her fingers sweep across his jaw as she cupped his chin in one hand. This wasn’t what he was expecting. She reached towards him, her eyelids lowered, those sultry lips parted slightly.

  Normally, he would have reached out and grabbed her and taken her in his arms. So what if they were in a public place and her so-called fiancé was beside them? Daniel didn’t care.

  But this was different. He wanted to see what she would do. How far she would take it.

  Her gaze lingered on him as she took her time, and he enjoyed the sultriness of the moment, the promise it held. For those eyes were definitely promising something even if he wasn’t sure what. He only hoped she wouldn’t leave him hanging for too long.

  Tilting her head, she pressed her lips against his cheek but stayed too close as she pulled away, her mouth brushing against his in a kiss that almost wasn’t there. Or was it?

  There was the hint of a smile on her lips, as though she was pleased with herself, pleased with what she was doing to him.

  No, that had been no accident.

  She gazed at him with those smoky grey eyes, her lips curling to a seductive smile. His eyes dropped down to those shapely breasts, then back up to her face and he knew exactly how she would look naked. He knew the expression she’d have after he’d made love to her.

  If he’d thought she’d looked nervous minutes earlier, he’d clearly been wrong.

  She shot him one final glance as she turned. Never before had a woman looked so damn sexy walking away from him. As a general rule, women didn’t walk away from him. Not willingly, anyway.

  She wasn’t trying to be seductive but in those heels and that dress, she obviously couldn’t help it. From the jut of her petite shoulders to the camber of her waist and the sweep of those hips, she was effortlessly gorgeous.

  And she was walking away from him.

  For now.

  Chapter Five

  Daniel Webb could be very charming when he wanted to. He’d most certainly proven that to Kate this evening. They were having another dinner together, another evening of elegant conversation, undercut by a heady undercurrent as always. He’d probably put it down to the chemistry between them but she was too practical to identify it as anything other than lust.

  She thanked the waitress as she delivered their final course. Daniel was so sophisticated finishing off his meal with a cognac while she’d ordered chocolate mousse. It might be an old-fashioned dessert but she didn’t care about trends in food. Not where her palate and her stomach were concerned.

  “I did everything in my power to make sure you’d come to dinner with me tonight,” he said.

  Kate wondered where that comment had come from. “You asked me and I said yes. How much more did you need to do?”

  “I made sure you were free tonight.”

  Mark had called her during the week to tell her he’d got the senior accounting position. It had been his goal for years and he was thrilled.

  He’d also mentioned that all the senior staff were being sent on a management camp in the Blue Mountains. It was a weekend of orienteering and abseiling and other organised activities designed to build team spirit.

  Then, when Daniel had called her to ask her out, it had crossed her mind that he might have organised the management camp to keep Mark out of the way but she’d brushed it off. It seemed a bit fetched that someone would go to all that trouble for her.

  If he had, it was ironic because with no other engagements for the evening and no man in her life at the moment she’d been free all along.

  They were all things Daniel didn’t need to know. Yet.

  She was single so there was no reason she shouldn’t have dinner with him and, she had to admit she found him intriguing.

  Still, a man like him was used to getting his way in both business and his personal life and he always seemed to have one over her.

  As far as she could tell, her supposed engagement to Mark was the only thing standing between them. Best to keep it that way. Just until she had a bit more time to think things through.

  “I know you sent your staff off for a management weekend,” she said. “That doesn’t change anything for me, one way or another.”

  Daniel’s expression was as confident as ever. “I beg to differ. I think it has made all the difference tonight. You’re here. That was what I wanted.”

  “I have male friends too, you know. I am capable of friendship with a man.”

  “You know as well as I do that I’m not interested in being your friend.”

  She should have felt embarrassed. Her face should have reddened, but there was no point being coy when she felt the same way.

  That didn’t mean she should give way to her feelings, not when they were so shallow and she knew he was all wrong for her. She’d be
en through this before and getting involved with this man would only be setting herself up for disappointment. Still, she could play with him in the meantime.

  “Tell me,” she said, “does it really not bother you that I’m taken?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “It ups the ante a little.”

  “And two-timing doesn’t bother you either?”

  “I’m not going to two-time anyone. Ever.”

  “Neither am I. I have standards, you know.”

  Leaning closer, his lips curled to a sultry smile. “Are you saying I organised that management camp for nothing?”

  Now, she felt her face flushing and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She’d have gone to dinner with him anyway and she damn well knew it but there were other questions playing on her mind. She couldn’t let him win this round.

  Kate leaned back in her chair. “Perhaps you shouldn’t have gone to all that trouble.”

  “I think you’ll be worth it.” He raised one eyebrow. “So what were you saying? Something about standards?”

  He was the wrong kind of man making the wrong kind of offer yet somehow that only seemed to make the idea all the more delicious.

  She felt warm and wanted in a way she hadn’t felt before. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be close to him, to let herself go, forget about everything else.

  Just once.

  She had to buy herself some more time. Turn the conversation back at him.

  “What about your expectations?” she asked. “Haven’t you ever been involved in any business deals that didn’t go the way you planned?”

  He straightened, tapped his fingers on the table. “I have a nose for business and I can smell a good deal from a mile away but when I first started out I wasn’t quite so canny. Not every project made lots of money or went the way I thought it would.”

  There was one early deal, one early company, in which she was particularly interested and it had been bothering her.

  “Like Irwin Webb?” she asked.

  A muscle in his jaw tightened. “That wasn’t a high moment for me. It was also a long time ago and it got sorted out back then.”

  “It was your business, wasn’t it?”

  “It was nothing to do with me.”

  No, it hadn’t been his problem. He’d washed his hands of it, got on with his life and nothing had stopped him from venturing into other more successful businesses.

  Her parents had invested in that little venture and lost a lot of money. They should have retired by now but they couldn’t afford to after that so they were still working. Luckily, they had secure jobs as teachers.

  Kate had found out what she wanted. There was no need for the conversation to be unpleasant.

  “It’s funny, you know,” she said. “This is such an understated, intimate restaurant but I’d have thought you’d want to go somewhere flashy with a spectacular view.”

  Daniel slid his hand across hers, then lifted his gaze from their hands to Kate’s eyes. “From where I’m sitting the view is spectacular.”

  He made her feel special, like they were the only two in the room and she was the only one for him. Whether that was true or not, she wasn’t sure, but there was no denying her emotions.

  She watched goose bumps forming on her arm and thought it odd when she felt so warm on the inside.

  But then not everything in life made perfect sense. Though she was trying, being rational and logical wasn’t preventing those feelings from surfacing.

  Their meal was over and it was time for Daniel to take her home. She’d have to be very careful to stop herself from getting involved. Her reaction to his touch told her that.

  If she didn’t want to get involved.

  * * *

  “Black, no sugar,” Kate repeated, laying a tray bearing two white mugs on the coffee table in her living room.

  It was only coffee. She’d been very clear to him about that.

  If only she could be as straight with herself. Her head and her feelings had been arguing all night and she still wasn’t sure which was right.

  Daniel took a seat in middle of the leather sofa and leaned back. “This is very comfortable. Very nice indeed.”

  Kate handed him a coffee mug. She was pleased he’d noticed. Her furniture was functional and had been reasonably priced. Except the sofa. She’d made sure she saved money on everything else so that when the time came she could splurge and buy the big brown leather sofa she’d been eyeing up for so long.

  Daniel was tall and his shoulders so broad that the sofa didn’t look so large any more. She sat down beside him, overcome with the feeling that anything might happen.

  “I didn’t think Mark lived in Bondi,” he said.

  Kate warmed her hands around the coffee mug. “He doesn’t.”

  Daniel’s eyes flitted around the simple room across the crisp white walls to the bright rug on the dark floorboards, settling on the vase of flowers on the mantle piece. “If you don’t mind me saying so, this room has a feminine touch. I find it hard to believe a man ever lived here.”

  “Mark and I don’t live together. We never have.”

  “You don’t approve of living together?” Daniel asked.

  That wasn’t it. She didn’t think living together immoral, not in this day and age. However that wasn’t the right way for her. She wanted commitment, and living together often turned out to be another way of delaying that process.

  “No, it just never worked out that way,” she said.

  And that relationship was never going to work out. It was where it belonged. Behind her.

  Daniel slid closer, his thigh touching hers. “How have they worked?”

  His touch and his words sent a tingle up her spine. It threw her. For a moment, she forgot what they were talking about.

  She sipped her coffee. “It doesn’t really matter how other relationships worked, does it?”

  Daniel shot her a look which sizzled with confidence and much, much more. “You’re right. When we’re together like this, it doesn’t matter at all.”

  As far as he was concerned, she was an engaged woman. Not married. But good enough as. Yet it seemed he wasn’t going to let a little thing like that stand in his way.

  Still, it was all academic. She was single and available. Whatever he thought.

  “We’re just having coffee,” she said. “Nothing more.”

  “I’d almost forgotten about the coffee.” Daniel took a sip from his mug, then placed it back on the table. He reclined back into the sofa, sliding his arm across, his fingertips perilously close to Kate’s shoulder. “There’s so much here to distract me.”

  She leaned forward and sipped her coffee. She could continue this little game with him.

  But it wouldn’t be sensible. She could work out that much. It would never be more than just a fling and at least he wasn’t leading her on about that.

  Logically, she knew this would be a mistake. Daniel Webb wasn’t a good long-term investment. He wasn’t the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

  So why did he make her sizzle on the inside? He hadn’t even touched her yet. Though he’d brushed his leg against hers and his arm was behind her on the sofa, he hadn’t placed a hand on her. Yet.

  This could go two ways. But what to do?

  “Are you distracted?” Kate placed her mug on the coffee table and leaned back into the sofa. “I thought you were giving me your full attention.”

  Daniel’s fingertips slipped onto the curve of her neck, brushing the bare skin with a touch that almost wasn’t there. Kate pressed her eyes closed, trying to contain the sensual shiver shooting down her spine.

  This was too much for her and that one gentle touch proved it also wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. She wanted more.

  All she had to do was let herself go.

  “I can give you much more, Kate.” His voice was a deep whisper. “If you’d let me.”

  The ball was in her court
. He’d said he wouldn’t force himself on her and he’d meant it.

  She looked up at him but he didn’t lean in closer.

  He was waiting.

  For her.

  Kate’s voice was a whisper. “Perhaps it would be better if…you could show me.”

  Chapter Six

  Daniel slid his outstretched arm behind Kate’s neck, resting his fingertips in the curve of her neck. Her skin was soft and supple, the hair he’d brushed away from her neck so silky.

  Damn it, he’d been waiting for this moment. She’d always made sure there were barriers between them, always made sure he couldn’t just take what he wanted, but now there was no stopping him.

  This was the moment when he could cross the line she’d drawn between them, the instant when anything could happen.

  And he was going to make sure it did.

  Pressing his hand more securely at the back of her neck, he tilted her head towards his and lowered his face to hers.

  Kate’s eyes, normally clear and glassy, now smouldered with something unmistakable. Desire. Her lush lips parted and she lowered her eyelids.

  She was all his.

  Leaning in closer, he brushed his lips against hers, teasing her with the gentlest touch, taking pleasure in the tiny whimper that escaped her throat. Her lips were even softer than he remembered from their previous accidental kiss, her touch more sensual.

  She longed for his touch, his kiss. He could see it in her eyes, her expression, her whole body. But, then, his passion was no less than hers and he’d waited long enough.

  He moulded his mouth against hers, slid his other hand over her waist and pulled her closer. As he deepened the kiss, she responded, slinging her leg higher over his. Suddenly, her arms were around his neck as she drew him nearer.

  Daniel kept the kiss chaste. For now.

  He’d wait until she ached for him.

  “Is this what you had in mind?” he teased, pulling away from her briefly.