Angry, she too leaped to her feet. “I don’t need your protection. That wasn’t what I was asking.”
He turned to glare down at her. “Then what?”
Her face softened. “It’s just so humiliating. I’ve made no secret of my attraction to Tristan. Then to have to spend an entire weekend with them and have everyone feel sorry for me is unbearable.”
His dark eyes began to turn a soft grey. “Then don’t go.”
“That’s like admitting defeat.” Sonya’s determination grew strong. “I won’t give them the satisfaction.”
“So what is it you hope to accomplish by dragging me along?”
“If they thought we were an item, then I could escape their pity. I can’t bear to have anyone’s pity.”
“Yeah, I got that.” Daniel’s face was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper. She had no idea what he was thinking.
“I’ll drop hints that you and I have been secret lovers for the past few months.” She thought of the conversation that she had with her friends that afternoon over coffee. They had practically accused her of such. It wouldn’t be too difficult to convince them. “This way it looks like I wasn’t as interested in Tristan as I made it out to be.”
“Instead, attempting to conceal your true love?” His voice was flat.
“Something like that?”
Sonya frowned. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Asking Daniel to be deceitful was like asking the Pope to sneak a piece of red meat into the Vatican during lent. “Look, Daniel, forget I said anything—”
“I’ll do it.” He startled her completely by saying.
“What?” She blinked. “Really?”
Nodding, he went into the kitchen and placed his empty wineglass in the dishwasher. Then straightening he looked across at her. “On one condition.”
She raised a brow in speculation. “What’s that?”
“You return a similar favor next Friday night.”
Her mind got jumbled as she tried to unravel his words. “Similar favor?”
He waltzed out of the kitchenette and back towards the sofa where he stopped in front of it. “I’m expected at a banquet to celebrate this year’s newest engineer innovations. There will be a man there that I have known for a few years and holds some influence in the profession. In order to secure my chances, I need to play friendly.”
Her mind was still confused. Where was he going with this and how did he see that she could help him. “What is it he wants?”
“It’s more a question of what his daughter wants.”
Ah. The light came on. Sonya knew this scenario only far too well. “And you’re not interested but fear your rejection could affect your opportunity to secure an alliance with Daddy.”
He frowned, as if puzzled, then quickly smirked. “Something like that.”
She bit her lip. It sounded simple enough, but “A computer banquet?” She groaned. “Oh, Daniel, that sounds dreadfully boring. Can’t I be of assistance to you in another way?”
He grabbed his leather coat from the sofa prepared to leave.
“This long weekend at Tristan’s doesn’t sound terribly exciting either.” He shrugged and began to head for the exit. “I’ll leave it up to you to decide.”
She groaned. He wasn’t being fair. She wouldn’t fit into a computer banquet full of technical gurus and intellects any more than he would if—
She was wrong. Daniel wasn’t such a saint after all. He knew perfectly well how to use blackmail. “All right. You have a deal. I’ll do your banquet if you do my weekend.”
He simply threw her a grin over his shoulder and kept going. The swine. He knew she would agree. He hadn’t worried in the least.
Left alone in her apartment she turned around and noticed the slow cooker still sitting in the middle of the table. The aroma still emitted from the stoneware. She had an odd feeling from that day forward she would associate the smell of beef stew with Daniel Keller. The man was amazingly surprising. There didn’t seem a thing he couldn’t do. Except, apparently, ward off unwanted female attention.
Now that, Sonya told herself, was something she could do. She had her fair share of unwelcome propositions. With a grin she covered the stew and thought that the banquet might just be fun after all.
* * *
Daniel closed the door behind him and leaned against it. What was he doing? He knew better than this. The thing he needed least to do was scare Sonya away. Forcing her to merge to his part of the world was definitely not in his best interest. She already had some far-fetched notion that their two worlds were realms apart, never to be crossed.
How would she react in a hall full of people she believed were in a higher caliber than her? She would never admit it, but he read between her lines tonight. It was Sonya who felt she was unworthy of people whose lives encompassed success and power. Daniel, on the other hand, saw something entirely different.
He saw a woman of strength and conviction and a belief in herself that anything was possible. She was a woman of gentle kindness and compassion and would risk her own happiness to ensure those around her were content. But a woman who shunned relationships in fear of being hurt and used anger to hide her pain. He had no idea the origin of that fear but would have done anything to amend it.
This was the woman Daniel had come to love. Almost from the start his heart would do a ridiculous flip whenever he saw her. Then it grew stronger and tireless, never relinquishing its hold. Hoping and praying that one day . . .
One day he could call her his own.
* * *
The following day was the most difficult Sonya ever had to perform, and it had nothing to do with her singing.
She sailed into Tristan’s office with her chin held high and waited for him to look up from some work. When he did, his expression closed immediately.
You may be able to hide Tristan Manning, but you can never conceal the truth from me, she told herself as she felt the force of her animosity toward him. The biggest excuse for a smile spread across her lips as she advanced on him. “My, Tristan, aren’t we all a lot of mistaken lovers.”
He slowly got to his feet. “Sonya—”
Her eyes bulged impressively and glared of pretense. “Ah, you finally got it right this time. Why, Mr. Manning, you’ve been practicing.”
He sighed wearily, which only irked Sonya more. “I’m sorry if I mislead you.”
“You didn’t mislead me, Tristan.” She gave a cynical smirk. “To be truthful I wasn’t paying much attention.”
He frowned.
“You see I was using you as a cover up.” Straightening her spine, she pushed out her chest. Mustn’t let him forget what he was missing. “Daniel and I have been hiding a sordid love affair for the past month.”
His frown deepened, but still he said nothing.
“The night you punched him in the bar, I thought you found us out.” She gave a seductive chuckle. “So you see it is I who came to apologize to you. I should have been up front from the start. There could never be anything between us. My heart belongs to Daniel.”
She was taken off guard by the sudden lurch in her chest. Her hand automatically flew to the vicinity of her heart and nearly missed Tristan’s words.
“I’m glad to hear that. You had me believing that you felt Daniel wasn’t worthy of you.”
Two thin brows punched together. “Daniel not worthy of me?”
He sighed and strolled leisurely toward her. “I know what it’s like to lose your heart to a person who feels you’re not deserving.”
She swallowed and stared into his face.
“Be easy on him,” he quietly demanded.
As he turned back to his desk she simply stood there staring at his back. A horrible sensation rippled across her midriff. She wasn’t terribly sure of its origin, but she had a sinking feeling that she had completely misunderstood Tristan.
Chapter 8
She approached Audrey as she was wiping down a table. The blonde straightened im
mediately, her lovely blue eyes marred in concern.
“Audrey, we need to talk. Can you spare a break?”
Her friend shot her a puzzled look but nodded while she grabbed her tray and tossed the dishcloth on top of it. Taking it into the backroom, she followed Sonya until they were in the privacy of the kitchen. “Sonya, I wanted to talk with you as well.”
“Let me go first.” She held up her hand. “Audrey, I have no idea what is going on with you and Tristan or how this even came about, but as your friend I strongly urge you to be careful.”
The blonde looked down at her hands as she rung them together in a nervous manner. “Do you love him?”
She looked at the blonde’s downcast head and was relieved to be able to answer truthfully. “No. It was never about love.”
Audrey looked up with relief. “Sonya, I have no idea how this happened. Truly. One moment we were employer and employee and the next . . .”
She let the words trail off leaving Sonya to fill in the picture. Knowing the character for which Tristan was, she had no problem filling in the missing image. “Tristan is a very handsome and sexy man with power to boot. It can be very flattering to have his attention, and very painful when he’s finished. I just want you to be sure you can handle it."
Audrey’s lovely blue eyes looked unsettled. “You think he’ll tire of me?”
She bit her lip. The pain clearly etched across the younger girl’s face. “Tristan Manning enjoys his females.”
A spark of anger lit her blue eyes. “Are you saying this out of jealousy?”
Now came her second performance in one night. “Truth is, I was never interested in Tristan.”
The look of mistrust on Audrey’s face was swift. Sonya knew she had to work fast and be persuasive to gain her friend’s belief in her lie. “Daniel and I have been an item for some time now.”
It worked faster than she thought. The mistrust vanished as quickly as it appeared. A look of pleasure lit her face. “I was wondering. The two of you act awfully chummy. Almost too much, as if you were trying to hide the truth.”
A frown dipped the corners of Sonya’s mouth. They had never done any such thing. Where would Audrey have gotten a misperception like that? Swallowing the automatic denial, she went along with her friend’s mistaken conclusions. “I was actually going to ask you a favor. Daniel asked me to—on a date on Friday night. It’s an important banquet for his computer design. Would you be able to cover my shift?”
“Yeah, no problem.” Audrey picked up her tray once more and looked more relaxed. “Is Daniel coming with you on the long weekend?”
Sonya nodded. “I figured with Maura bringing Patrick and you and Tristan making it a duo, I thought no better time than the present to reveal the truth.”
Audrey smiled. “I am so glad this all worked out. You don’t know how terrible I felt. I thought you were interested in Tristan. I tried to remain indifferent but, well, you know how it is.”
She gave a short smirk but felt anything but cheerful. “Yes I do.”
* * *
They stood side by side staring at the bed for the longest time. Neither spoke or moved. Sonya couldn’t believe she had never considered this. Everything had happened so fast that she had completely forgotten about sleeping arrangements. She wanted to sneak a glance at Daniel and see just how disgusted his expression would be but couldn’t bring herself to it. This little snag in their deceit was entirely her own fault. She should have thought ahead.
Finally, breaking the silence, she gave a careless shrug and tossed her luggage on the floor beside the bed. “No big deal really. I mean, it wouldn’t be the first time we slept together.”
He turned an overly exaggerated arched brow in her direction. “Excuse me?”
“How many times have I crashed at your place in the past year?” She forced a grin and walked toward the bed.
“I don’t think this is the same.” The disbelief in his voice was clearly evident.
“Why not?” She was trying to make the best of the situation but he wasn’t making it easy.
“For starters, you generally crash on my sofa and for seconds you’re usually intoxicated.” He tossed his case on the floor next to hers.
She smirked. “Well if this weekend goes the way it is supposed to, I’m sure I’ll be able to bring about the latter.”
Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not sleeping on any couch.”
She darted him an irritated look. “If you haven’t noticed, there isn’t one in the room. And I can’t have you sleeping in the main room or that would appear suspicious.”
“Then.” He forced the issue. “What are the sleeping arrangements?”
She dropped down on the bed and took note of the softness of the mattress. With fidgety eyes, she shot him a glance before turning her head and appeared thoroughly engrossed in surveying the room. “I have no problem sharing the bed.”
He had no reply. As a matter-of-fact, he went silent for so long that she couldn’t take the tension in the air and shot him a look from under her lashes. He was staring at her openly. His face looked a little pale and he looked far from happy.
Irked, she raised her chin and looked him squarely in the eye. “Do you?”
He cleared his throat and shifted his leather coat in front of him. “It has been proven that sleep deprivation caused by poor sleep conditions decreases the metabolic activity in the brain and can cause a low white blood cell count in the immune system.”
Sonya frowned at him. “Does that mean you’re okay with sharing a bed or not?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
She rolled her eyes and got to her feet, pushing past him to explore the ensuite. “For pity’s sake, Daniel, I’m not going to ravish you in the middle of the night. You are such a prude.”
“Right.” He clenched his jaw and moved toward the bed. “You only have designs for Tristan.”
“Exactly.” She hollered out to him from the exquisite bathroom with its marble tiles and corner jacuzzi. A tickle of delight danced along her pulse as she imagined sharing the big bath with Daniel—Tristan. She meant Tristan. Frowning, she pivoted on her heel and rejoined him in the bedroom.
Seeing him perched on the large bed looking adorably sweet and innocent and oh so nervous, she found her frown disappearing and her smile returning. “There’s a huge jacuzzi in there which I can’t wait for us to use.”
His expression eased slightly as he returned her smile. “Sounds nice.” Then, as if hearing his own words, was quick to add, “For you. And me. I mean, just you and just me, not you and me.”
She giggled. She couldn’t help herself. “Gosh, Daniel, so intellectually stated. Relax, would you. Don’t be so uptight. Try and enjoy yourself this weekend. Lord knows you deserve it with all that extra time you’ve been putting in down at the Institute.”
He nodded, raising a hand to run along the back of his neck. “You’re right.” Then smiling over at her and looking like the old him again, said, “I think this weekend will be nice.”
She smiled in return and wondered why she had never noticed before how nice Daniel’s smiles were. Turning away quickly, she shook the thought aside. The poor man was already uncomfortable with the situation she had put him in; there was no reason to further his unease. She was surprised at the flicker of irritation at the realization it was she that caused his distress.
“I think we should go and join the others,” he said, getting to his feet.
Nodding absently, her mind still troubled with her last thought, she followed him out of the room. The cottage was a decent size bungalow situated on the main beach but further down the inlet where it sat basically in solitaire. The building itself wasn’t anything spectacular as Sonya had imagined, but the interior was a heaven of comfort and design.
They heard voices coming from the main quarters of the house whereupon they found Maura and Patrick had just arrived and were being greeted by Tristan and Audrey. She gritted her teeth upon
seeing the blonde playing hostess to their boss. A small resentful voice bemoaned that it should have been her entertaining his guests this weekend.
However, Sonya couldn’t deny the happiness etched across her friend’s face and for that matter Tristan’s. She couldn’t recall in all the time she knew him, he had ever looked so relaxed. They stood together, their perfectly matched blonde heads only inches apart and Tristan’s arm wrapped around the petite woman’s waist. Sonya couldn’t deny the natural and cozy picture they created.
Piqued, she turned toward Daniel who was standing behind her and grabbed his arm. His hands were shoved deep in his khaki shorts but fell out in surprise at her sudden grasp.
“Come on,” she grumbled.
When everyone’s heads turned in their direction upon their entrance, she plastered the biggest and phoniest smile she could muster across her face. Her old friend greeted Daniel as if old chums and introduced Patrick with whom he had never met before. Sonya watched them and groaned inwardly, knowing for certain that the pair of mathematicians would get along splendidly.
“Why doesn’t everyone make themselves at home and I’ll fetch the drinks.” Tristan sounded very polite before turning to Audrey. “Would you mind giving me a hand?”
Sonya acted fast. She dropped Daniel’s arm and shoved him toward her boss. “Daniel’s free. He can help you. We waitresses are on holiday, after all.”
Daniel shot her an irritated glance before straightening and turning a polite smile to his host. “As a matter-of-fact, I am. I’ll be glad to help.”
Tristan gave a short nod, then headed for the kitchen followed by a dutiful Daniel. Sonya watched them go. Two completely different men. One blonde and handsome, the other dark and brilliant. With a sweet disposition that reminded her of a young adolescent just discovering girls. Her eyes continued to follow them, surprised at her own preference, not even noticing the dreamy sigh that escaped her lips.
Misunderstood: In Love with the Nerd (The Miss Series Book 2) Page 12