by Susan Fox
“My apologies, Miz Farrell. Would you please consider inviting me inside to discuss a new problem?”
Lorna felt her anger cool, but she was wary of letting him in. “You’ll behave?”
“I surely will.” His swift answer was proof that he could barely contain his impatience to have the discussion.
The notion that this big bull of a man was knuckling under to her demand for good manners—even if it was difficult for him—made her feel a small bit of power.
Though common sense told her this was only an illusion of cooperation, the secret part of her that had never truly felt valuable or particularly powerful gobbled it up.
“All right. We’ll see how things go. But I should warn you that I’ve got a black belt in screaming down apartment buildings.”
It was meant to lighten things between them, but neither of them smiled. She’d already got the impression that Mitch didn’t smile often.
But perhaps the biggest reason neither of them smiled was because they both recognized that her lighthearted remark was an expression of fear and mistrust. Fear and mistrust leached the humor out of most things, at least in her life.
Lorna turned back to the door to unlock it, and Mitch followed her in. They walked up the stairs then down the hall to her apartment in silence. As she’d done downstairs, she held the door open for him as he carried her bags in. He took her purchases to the kitchen while she carried her dry cleaning and handbag to her bedroom to put away. By the time she joined Mitch in the kitchen, he was unloading groceries onto the counter.
Her, “Thank you,” were the only words between them until she’d put everything away and disposed of the empty bags. She left the things from Wal-Mart for later, then turned to him and clasped her hands together. She glanced up at his Stetson, so he obliged her silent reminder and took it off.
“Would I again be wasting good manners if I asked what you’d like to drink? The choices are still a soda or coffee. Or a glass of water.”
Mitch couldn’t seem to keep his gaze from eating her up. Lorna’s delectably curved body was virtually perfect. The white cotton blouse she wore over her most interesting curves was still crisp despite the heat, and her jeans carried a crease that let him know she ironed them. As a man who was too macho to wear jeans with a persnickety crease, the feminine fussiness of that tickled him. The plain sandals on her pretty feet revealed neatly clipped toenails painted a soft pink. He’d never been particularly attracted to a woman’s feet before, but Lorna’s were almost as touchable looking as the rest of her.
He had the sudden urge to grab her up and see if her kisses were as fiery and tantalizing as her personality, and that aggravated him. In view of the complicating developments with Kendra and his stepmother that day, the urge could prove dangerous. He remembered his manners enough to answer Lorna’s question before he blurted out his purpose for being here.
“No, thank you. But you go ahead if you want something.”
The small knot she’d made of her fingers got tighter and she shook her head. “Maybe we should just move on to what you came here to discuss. Should we sit down?”
He was too impatient to sit around, so he shook his head to the offer and baldly stated the problem. “Kendra’s love-struck and she imagines everyone else ought to be love-struck, too. She thinks there’s chemistry between us that I’d be a fool to ignore.”
Lorna looked honestly shocked, and she looked shocked enough with just the right touch of politely repressed horror, that his ego took a sting.
“H-how did she get that…idea?” She’d asked it a little breathlessly, as if it was a complete mystery to her.
“From the way we looked at each other in the office and shook hands. And she knows neither of us is seeing anyone.” He couldn’t keep from adding, “Which, by the way, is more personal information than you should’ve given.”
Lorna glanced away from him and her cheeks colored a bit. She didn’t comment on his disapproving remark, but then, she still looked a little stunned. “Single people meet all the time and have a reaction that no one feels compelled to do anything about. Surely she knows that?”
Now her wide gaze shifted back to his. “And you were so angry and I was so…horrified to see you…”
Her voice trailed away, as if she’d suddenly realized what she’d said and how it might sound to him.
She tried a small smile that looked strained. “No offense, but you know what I mean. I’d only heard ten minutes before that you’d be picking her up and…then there you were, angry. I didn’t know what you’d do.”
Her answer mollified him somewhat and he got right to the point of this talk. “So we’ll go out a few times until she’s satisfied there’s something between us, then you can suddenly dump me for whatever reason you like.”
The kitchen went completely silent for several moments.
“Excuse me?” Lorna gave her head a faint shake before her eyes narrowed suspiciously on his face.
Mitch couldn’t help his terse, “You heard me.”
She shook her head again, as if she was more certain this time. “If I heard you right, then the answer’s no. No. No, no.”
Now she was shaking her head emphatically, but the smile on her face was more a sign of mortification than humor. She turned to pace to the kitchen sink then stopped to grip the counter as if she needed to hang onto something.
“Why on earth would you come up with something like that? How on earth could we possibly date each other?”
She let go of the counter and turned fully toward him before he could answer. “Why not tell her she was mistaken, that I don’t appeal to you, that you were just being nice? Or that you were trying to get a reaction from me, but my reaction wasn’t what it should have been from a woman you’d consider dating? You told her that or something like that, didn’t you?”
“I did not.”
Lorna stared at him as he gave each word subtle emphasis. She wasn’t certain it was possible to feel more taken by surprise.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s got eyes and she’s walking around in a romantic haze. Kendra’s in love, and she thinks it’s so damned wonderful that everyone she cares about should be in love, too.”
Lorna couldn’t keep looking at him and glanced away. It dawned on her then that a large part of her horror was that she was so strongly attracted to Mitch, despite his harsher qualities. Keeping in close company with him would make it impossible to fight her attraction, and pretending to date him could be lethal for someone like her. And then there was the whole thing with Kendra and their mother. She looked at him.
“Doris doesn’t know about Kendra’s matchmaking, does she?”
“Kendra talked about it at breakfast. Going on and on about you and I meeting in the office yesterday, how it was so romantic and sweet and…cute.” His stern face showed faint disgust at repeating those words. “So Doris knows.”
Lorna caught what he’d left out. “Doris knows and you talked to her privately about this scheme, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“What did she say?”
Lorna shouldn’t have asked that question, because she knew that hearing anything Doris might have said about her would be devastating. Doris had given her up as an infant, but she’d also refused to claim her that other time long ago, years before their shocking introduction in the restaurant. Lorna closed her heart to that memory because she couldn’t bear to think about that other time.
“She suggested that it might be better to pick up on Kendra’s assumption and give dating a shot, but then to have things between you and I not work out later. Kendra’s loyal to me and she’d naturally turn cool to someone she thought did me wrong or hurt me in some way. Lots of love affairs don’t pan out and ours would be just another one that goes flat quick.”
He paused and seemed to fight a silent war between being harsh with her and being…less harsh.
“It’s an alternative solution if you won’t q
uit your job. It’d solve the problem of how to keep you from getting too involved in Kendra’s life, and you’d look a lot less like friend material.”
“So I get to be the bad guy.” The notion made her sick. It meant she wouldn’t even have Kendra’s regard. Knowing that this faked dating idea was Doris’s was particularly painful.
Could she honestly face knowing that her sister would think she was an awful person, or worse, a cruel one? Because that’s what Doris’s plan was calculated to do. And she’d sent Mitch to pressure her into spoiling Kendra’s good opinion of her forever.
As if he’d sensed some of what she was thinking, Mitch went utterly grim. “You need to remember that her other solutions aren’t as kind to you.”
The sickness she felt mingled with dread. “What other solutions, the legal ones?”
He stayed silent and sparked her temper.
“Then tell Doris to bring them on, cowboy. I’ll find a lawyer of my own and compel her to have a blood test.”
Lorna managed to bite her tongue before she said the rest: that both she and Doris already knew the truth, so a blood test wasn’t necessary, though it would be a dandy legal defense that Doris would never provoke because she wouldn’t be able to hoodwink anyone once the test results were known.
Mitch’s voice went low. “If you take Doris on in court, you’ll be up against the caliber of legal talent Ellery money can buy.”
The reluctant attraction she felt toward Mitch suffered only a moment’s disappointment. Of course he’d say that, it was the truth. Though she didn’t think much of him for throwing the weight of the Ellery name around, she sensed it was not a regular thing with him. And he was doing it now to protect people he cared about.
No one with any kind of power or money had ever gone to war to protect her. There had never been a Mitch Ellery in her life, and she couldn’t help the sudden hunger to have someone like him be her faithful protector, however much she hated being his target now.
The tension between them was sharp, but her anger toward his high-handedness waned fast in light of what her mother planned.
In spite of Doris’s rejection and dishonesty, Lorna wasn’t certain even now if she resented her mother enough to reveal to Mitch precisely how she knew Doris was her biological mother. If she did, Doris’s good relationship with the daughter she wanted and with Mitch, could be irreparably harmed. On the other hand, Mitch was probably too loyal to Doris to believe Lorna anyway, so it was wiser to keep quiet.
Lorna let out the breath she’d been holding and glanced away a moment to collect her thoughts before she looked over at him again.
“Look, I think this is all an overreaction,” she said quietly, suddenly exhausted by it all. “I swear to you that I will never tell Kendra who I am. You can trust me to keep silent because if I’d wanted to tell her, I could have done it months ago.”
She paused to get a careful grip on herself because saying the rest would make her emotional and she was struggling to show none of it. “I know Doris wants nothing to do with me, so I’d never put Kendra in a position like that or say anything that would taint her relationship with her mother. I give you my word.”
The laser intensity of Mitch’s gaze made her feel cut up and invaded, but she tolerated it because she hoped he could somehow tell that she was trustworthy.
“Please, Mr. Ellery, go back to your ranch and forget all this. I’m willing to find better excuses to keep Kendra from drafting me for small things and, since Doris has already nominated me to be the villain, I’ll find some way to discourage Kendra’s attention.”
“How?”
She shook her head helplessly, hating the thought of hurting Kendra, even in a small way. “I don’t know how exactly. She’s sensitive and I don’t want her feelings hurt any more than you do. But she’s also sensitive enough to take a hint with subtle things.”
“Name those.” He was relentless when it came to protecting her sister, and she couldn’t help another ache of envy.
“I don’t know.” Lorna shrugged wearily. “I could plead a headache, tell her I’d like to leave the office early so I don’t have extra time. Something.”
“Why didn’t you do those things months ago?”
The question made her feel choked. “That’s too…personal to talk about with you. But if family means as much to you as it seems to, I’m sure you can figure it out.”
She lifted a hand to comb her fingers into her hair and ruthlessly pull it back in a rare show of restlessness before she realized what she was doing and made herself stop.
She couldn’t bear the stern scrutiny of solemn dark eyes that missed nothing so she looked away.
“Please, go home now. I’ll keep my silence and my word. I’ll also very gently begin to distance myself from your stepsister.”
She held her breath again, waiting for some signal that he would now leave.
“Kendra expects you and I to join her and John for dinner tonight.”
He said it as if it was a done deal. Lorna looked at him, baffled that he’d not given up on the dating charade even after what she’d just promised. There was absolutely no reason for either of them to consider following through on that bizarre idea.
“Besides the fact that the date-and-dump idea is crazy, not to mention dishonest, surely Kendra doesn’t think it’s proper for me to double date with my boss?” It was another sign of Kendra’s youthful openness and naiveté that both frustrated and touched her.
“I told her the same thing. But you and I will show up later on the dance floor. Twenty minutes, tops. After tonight, she won’t need to know more of the story between us than hearing that we date. Two weeks of that, then you can break it off. I’ll be understandably cranky and closemouthed about it, and she’ll draw a loyal conclusion and act accordingly.”
Lorna shook her head again. “I can’t believe you’re serious about this.”
Mitch’s dark look turned tough and no-nonsense. “Kendra’s a sweet, tenderhearted kid. I won’t have her feelings hurt by excuses she’ll see through. She’ll be sensitive to the idea that you’ve turned cool to her, so you can’t be the one to do it.”
He hesitated, and she saw a faint hint of discomfort before he added, “Better for her to do it to you later.”
Better for her to do it to you.
The picture of Kendra’s face when that happened flashed in her brain and pummeled her heart. It took her several agonizing seconds to recover.
“I think…you’d better leave now.”
“Dress up tonight,” he ordered brusquely. “I’ll come for you at eight.”
Her frustration with him peaked. “Didn’t you hear anything I said? There’s no way in the world this could work. Whatever you and Doris think of me, I’m not a good enough actress to pretend a romantic interest in someone so awf—in—in you.”
Now his dark eyes glittered with the softened insult. “You won’t have to pretend,” he drawled. “I see it every time you look at me.”
Embarrassment made her face go hot and she scrambled to deny the charge. “What conceit! I’m not certain which of your flaws should go at the top of what’s become a lengthy list, but right now conceit and hubris could arm wrestle for the spot.”
A stunning flash of amusement slanted his hard mouth, though his dark eyes glowed like black diamonds.
“Go dancing with me tonight.”
She caught a hint that the dictate was personal. That going with him tonight was not part of a charade, but something he wanted for himself. The impression shocked her, and she instantly dismissed it.
“No.” She’d made it sound firm and absolute.
Mitch put on his Stetson and tugged it down to a rakish angle that matched the glitter in his eyes. His voice was a growl and dealt her another quick shock.
“Suffer conceit at eight o’clock, or hubris at eight-fifteen.”
His gaze dropped from her flushed face and wandered down the front of her to her feet before it leaped up to
blaze into hers.
“And while you’re at it, put on something cut low that’s short enough to show some leg. I like my women sexy.”
Lorna was so utterly stunned and so furious those next seconds that she couldn’t piece together words strong enough or foul enough to say to him. By the time her shock faded and she could find her tongue, Mitch was gone.
She stomped around the apartment for the next half hour, so frustrated and stirred up that if she’d been a man she would have gone after Mitch Ellery and punched that conceited grin so far off his arrogant face that he’d have to drive to Waco to get it back.
CHAPTER FOUR
THAT night, Mitch was eager to get to Lorna’s place. The drive to San Antonio had never seemed so long. He always looked forward to female company, but he’d never felt such keen anticipation.
He’d thought about Lorna all day, particularly after he’d left her delightfully speechless in her apartment that afternoon. He mentally reviewed every second he’d spent with her, reexamined every word she’d spoken, every expression, every nuance. The only dishonest thing she’d said was when she’d tried to deny she was attracted to him. She’d been caught flat-footed with that, but her reaction had given him clues to compare to everything else.
And he couldn’t forget that Lorna was completely uncowed by the threat of a blood test. It was hard to believe she had anything to hide when she was so eager to have it done. That he now believed Lorna to be genuinely decent and her story credible, severely undermined the notion that she was an opportunist out to swindle either Doris or Kendra.
Besides, a true gold digger who was about to be thwarted in one area would have compensated for that loss by zeroing in on the dating scheme in hopes of somehow snagging herself a generous lover, if not a wealthy husband.
The initial reports from the private investigator he’d hired seemed to confirm the things he’d already sensed about Lorna’s character. Though an investigator could only provide so many concrete facts from her past, in the end it was up to him to interpret them. He could be wrong, but if Lorna Farrell was trying to fool anyone, he couldn’t see it. He wished he was as confident about his stepmother.