‘I wasn’t talking about that warning concerning my fath——He did?’ Chris’s attention sharpened as he realised exactly what she had said. His thoughts had obviously been on that other message he had sent every day she had been in Paris.
Diana looked at him curiously; he seemed very agitated all of a sudden at the thought of his father having possibly been in Paris at the same time she was. Not that Reece Falcon didn’t induce that sort of emotion in most people—including her?—but Chris was his son, after all.
‘He did come to Paris, then?’ Chris chewed on his bottom lip.
‘Yesterday,’ Diana nodded slowly.
Chris grimaced. ‘Was he alone?’
Ah. Obviously Chris knew of the redhead’s existence in his father’s life. But did he also know of Reece Falcon’s intention of making her his wife?
‘Actually, no,’ Diana answered lightly. ‘He had a lady with him.’
‘Hell,’ Chris muttered aggressively. ‘Did he—speak to you?’ He looked anxious now.
‘Briefly,’ she dismissed truthfully, although if Chris knew his father at all he must know that Reece Falcon would only need to talk ‘briefly’ to someone to make his feelings perfectly clear!
Chris obviously did, and he swallowed hard. ‘He wasn’t—insulting, was he?’ His gaze was searching on her face now.
Reece Falcon—insulting? Was the grass green? The sky blue? Blood red…?
She shrugged dismissively. ‘I told you, Chris, we only talked briefly, and that was in a room crowded with other people involved in the show.’
He looked uncomfortable now, standing up to pace the room, his hands thrust deep into the pockets of his suit trousers. ‘That’s good.’ He nodded distractedly. ‘You see, before I went to New York, he asked me about you, and I told him——’ He broke off.
‘Yes?’ Diana prompted warily when he broke off so suddenly.
‘I told him I was going to marry you!’ he burst out defensively.
As well he might be—they both knew he hadn’t even asked her at that time! But she admitted to herself she had known how he felt, had even known the proposal was imminent. Just as she had always known what her answer was—had to be when he did eventually ask her.
She met his gaze calmly. ‘That was a little precipitate of you,’ she said lightly. ‘Even a little foolhardy. Didn’t it even occur to you when you were making this claim that your father’s curiosity might be a little piqued about this woman you claimed you were going to marry; that he might even come to Paris himself to take a look at me?’
All the tension suddenly went out of Chris, and he grinned at her affectionately. ‘God, how I love this knack you have for understatement!’ He began to chuckle. ‘A little piqued,’ he repeated, his eyes glowing merrily. ‘My father’s curiosity has never been “a little piqued” in his life!’ He shook his head. ‘He’s been blazingly angry in the past, even glacially furious, but never a little piqued!’
It was a vaguely amusing term for her to have used to describe Reece Falcon now that she actually thought about it, but surely not enough to merit rolling around on the floor clutching his sides the way Chris was?
Although, on second thoughts, maybe it was, she decided as her own laughter bubbled up and threatened to be as uncontrolled as his was becoming.
She had to laugh at Reece Falcon or she would cry. And she had cried enough tears in her life because of that man already—she had no intention of crying any more. Not even tears of laughter.
Chris put his arms around her and hugged her. ‘My father is going to love you as much as I do when he gets to know you,’ he said with happy certainty.
Diana doubted that. She doubted it very much…
* * *
Reece glanced at the plain gold watch strapped to his wrist for what must have been the sixth time in as many minutes, irritated with himself intensely for the way he actually wanted to see Diana Lamb again; he certainly wasn’t this uptight at the thought of having dinner with Chris—he had seen him at the office earlier, which was when Chris had issued the dinner invitation for Reece to join himself and Diana at the exclusive restaurant his son knew was one of his favourite places.
Were the young couple going to present him with a fait accompli when they finally got here, and announce their engagement? Had Diana Lamb stopped ‘considering’ Chris’s offer, as she had claimed to be doing yesterday, and decided to accept him? Why else would Chris have arranged this dinner at all, knowing how Reece felt about the situation, if that weren’t the case?
Reece couldn’t help wondering how much his adamant declaration that Diana Lamb would never marry his son had actually influenced her decision to accept him. He couldn’t have failed to notice how much his arrogance—and he accepted it as such!—in making such a claim had infuriated her. In that calmly controlled way that was such an integral part of her, that was.
God, it was that very control he sensed in her that so intrigued him! Even when he had kissed her—and he still gave an inward groan of self-disgust every time he remembered how he had been reduced to trying to force a response from her!—she had remained emotionally removed from him.
No other woman had ever intrigued him the way this one did, so much so that he had found himself thinking of her during the day when he least expected, or wanted, to do so; he never allowed thoughts of the women in his life to intrude when he was dealing with business issues. But Diana Lamb wasn’t in his life; maybe that was the problem…
And then suddenly, without even having to look in the direction of the doorway, he knew Diana had arrived.
This restaurant, frequented by the rich and famous, and the rich who preferred to maintain their privacy, was never moved to curiosity about new arrivals. And yet at that moment all the conversation seemed to stop in the room, all heads turned expectantly towards the entrance.
Reece knew it had to be Diana, the beautiful Divine, who could capture the interest of such jaded diners.
He took a deep, steadying breath before raising his own gaze, that same breath becoming constricted in his throat when he saw her.
Good God…!
From the top of her glittering golden head, that gold sheen rippling down her back to the base of her spine, over the almost cosmetically free perfection of her face—she wore only a deep red lip-colour to emphasise the pouting allure of her full mouth—down over pertly up-tilting breasts, slender waist, and gently curving thighs encased in a black sheath from neck to mid-thigh, a dress that clung so lovingly to every inch of her that nothing could be worn beneath, down the long golden length of her legs to the bare—yes, bare, Reece realised in amazement!—delicacy of her slender feet, Diana Lamb was every inch the beautiful model Divine!
His attention remained fixed on those bare feet; where the hell were her shoes, for God’s sake? This restaurant might cater for the rich and famous—infamous, in some cases!—but even so, there was still a dress-code. Who did Diana think she was, coming here like that? It was going to put Brian, the owner, in a very awkward position if he had to ask her to leave.
And then, as she tucked her hand companionably into the crook of Chris’s arm to walk over to the table where Reece was already seated, he realised she didn’t have bare feet at all, that she actually wore a pair of completely flat see-through shoes. Not exactly Cinderella—the shoes weren’t made of glass, and Diana wasn’t a poor anything!—but there was no doubt that Diana Lamb was beautiful enough to attract the attention of any prince!
Much as Reece hated to admit it, she and Chris made a striking pair as they crossed the room, both being exactly the same height, both youthfully good to look at; they looked like a golden couple, with the whole world at their feet just waiting to be claimed.
But they weren’t a ‘couple’—never would be if Reece had his way—and the sooner the two of them were made aware of that, the better if would be for all of them!
He had come here alone to have dinner with them tonight for that reason only. He could hav
e brought Barbara with him, but he had inwardly balked at the thought of the two women being together. He had known that, without wanting to, he would have made comparisons between the two—and that in every way Barbara would be the one found wanting! The type of fresh, untouched beauty that Diana possessed just wasn’t fair to other women.
And so he had come here to the restaurant alone tonight, only to arrive on time himself and then be kept waiting twenty minutes for his son and Diana to arrive. And Chris was well aware of how he hated to waste time waiting for anyone!
He stood up now as the young couple reached the table, fixing his unrepentant son with a reproving glare. ‘It’s the height of bad manners to keep your own guest waiting at the table for you to arrive,’ he rasped harshly.
‘Oh, give us a break, Dad,’ Chris grinned unabashedly. ‘You’re hardly a guest!’
His brows rose mockingly. ‘Does that mean I’m the one picking up the bill at the end of the evening?’
Chris looked irritated now. ‘Of course not,’ he snapped. ‘I don’t know what all the fuss is about.’ He shrugged dismissively. ‘So we’re fifteen minutes late——’
‘Eighteen,’ Reece heard himself correct, wondering why he didn’t just drop the subject; it really wasn’t that important. And yet—God, of all things, he couldn’t help wondering what the hell these two had been doing during the eighteen minutes that had made them late!
He had no doubts whatever that if the two of them wanted to make love they would do it at any time they chose; in fact Chris could have spent the night with Diana at her flat for all he knew, Chris having moved into his own home over a year ago. And yet the thought that that might have been what delayed their arrival here tonight filled him with rage! It was unaccountable, incredible—but true…!
Chris just looked more puzzled than ever by the scene he was making over the whole thing. ‘Look——’
‘I’m afraid it’s my fault we’re late, Mr Falcon,’ Diana spoke for the first time that evening, her voice low and husky. ‘My hair took longer to dry than I had anticipated.’ She ran an apologetic hand through the cascade of silken gold.
Reece watched the movement with what he knew had to be hunger, wishing it could be his own hand running through that golden length, a perfume as elusive as Diana herself pervading his nostrils.
Any man, he knew, would forgive this woman for keeping him waiting, if she looked as lovely as this when she did eventually appear. Damn her!
‘As I said,’ he rasped hardly, ‘it’s the height of bad manners to keep a guest waiting!’
Diana heard Chris’s sharply indrawn breath at the calculated insult. And coming from this man, knowing him as she did, she knew it was exactly that.
There was obviously—no matter what Chris might have hoped to the contrary—going to be no quarter given this evening by Reece Falcon towards the two of them. He didn’t approve of their relationship, Diana inwardly acknowledged again as she sat down in the chair Chris held out for her before sitting down in the chair next to her himself as his father finally resumed his own seat at the same time, and nothing was going to change his mind about that.
My God, she thought ruefully, it was just as well she didn’t want it to!
She hadn’t been quite clear what the next step should be concerning Reece Falcon, but when Chris had suggested this dinner together so that his father could ‘see how wonderful she was’ she had realised it was probably the next logical step. It would be what Reece Falcon would expect—and she had to give him a little of what he expected. Just a little. She was sure the answer to keeping his interest, with a man as jaded as he obviously was, was to constantly do the unexpected.
Chris was flushed with anger at the attack now. ‘We have apologised, Dad——’
‘It’s all right, Chris.’ She laid her hand deliberately over his as it rested on the table-top, knowing that glittering grey eyes were watching the movement—and disliking it intensely! ‘Your father is quite right; it was naughty of us to be late when we were the ones who invited him out to dinner.’ She looked across at Reece Falcon from beneath the dark sweep of her lashes. ‘But I’m sure he’ll forgive us…?’ She smiled at him beguilingly, knowing that if he persisted in being such a bore after that charmingly made apology he was going to make a complete idiot of himself!
Obviously he thought so too, his mouth thinning with repressed anger at what he knew was her manipulation. Diana could appreciate how frustrating it must be for this, the king of manipulators, to be played at his own game—and lose!
‘Of course,’ he finally dismissed tightly. ‘Perhaps you would like to order a drink, and then we can look at the menus?’ he suggested pointedly as a waiter hovered near their table.
Chris was obviously still very disgruntled at his father’s unreasonable attitude, although he relaxed slightly as they studied the menu together, their shoulders touching as they did so, their golden heads very close together.
The same couldn’t be said of the man who sat opposite them! The longer she and Chris continued to linger over the menu, talking and laughing softly together as they did so, the more Reece Falcon’s tension grew, his eyes an angry glitter of silver when Diana dared a brief glance at him from beneath lowered lashes, his mouth a thin slash of disapproval, deep lines grooved into his cheeks beside his nose and mouth, his jaw tightly set.
He was jealous of her closeness to Chris! Diana knew it as surely as if the words had been spoken out loud; knew it, and was inwardly triumphant at this crack in the rigidity of his self-control, a thrill of satisfaction coursing down her spine.
‘If the two of you could stop making an exhibition of yourselves long enough for us to actually order some food…?’ he finally rasped, no longer able to control the outburst, Diana realised with an inward smile.
But Chris was far from amused as, with a slam of repressed anger, he put the menu down, that they had been studying so light-heartedly seconds ago. ‘Since when has it been “making an exhibition” of yourself to sit close to the woman you care about?’ he challenged indignantly. ‘Even in so public a place as a restaurant!’ he neatly covered that argument, looking challengingly at his father.
Since Reece Falcon had decided he didn’t like seeing Chris sitting so close to her, Diana could have answered him! But she didn’t. Let Reece Falcon get himself out of this one alone. He was the one drawing attention to himself, not them!
She gazed across the table at him with widely innocent eyes as she waited for his answer.
* * *
Cat. The little cat had claws, Reece realised as his frustrated anger at seeing Chris with her began to fade and be replaced by amusement. Those claws might be kept sheathed most of the time behind that calm aloofness she usually displayed, but underneath that her emotions ran as deeply as everyone else’s.
And at the moment she was enjoying his discomfort in having acted like a prize fool over her earlier closeness to Christopher! She knew, this witch of a child, that he wanted her for himself.
And God, how he wanted her. Exclusively. For as long as it took him to satiate himself with that intriguing combination she had of cool calm and youthful vulnerability. Because he would tire of it—he had no doubt on that score—as he had tired of every other woman in his life.
But until that time came he wanted her. In his arms. In his bed. God, most of all he wanted that! Wanted her silken limbs wrapped around his, that golden hair entwined about his throat like a silken chain, those green catlike eyes dark with a passion only he could assuage…
He could feel his body harden just at the thought of making love to this elusive Circe. Incredible. Absolutely incredible!
‘I’m sorry, did you say something?’ She arched dark brows in questioning innocence as he gave a low groan in his throat.
His mouth tightened at her barely concealed mockery. ‘No,’ he snapped tautly. ‘Although, as Christopher well knows, I do have a lot to say concerning this relationship between the two of you——’
‘Her name is Diana, as you very well know,’ Reece rasped, still annoyed that he hadn’t known that fact when he first met her.
Chris flushed at the rebuke. ‘Well, just get to know her first, hmm?’ he encouraged hopefully.
Get to know her? Good God, he wanted to strangle her for intriguing him the way she did when he barely knew her; wanted to take hold of the slender delicacy of her shoulders and shake her until—oh, God!—until he couldn’t stop himself from kissing the provocative pout of her lips any longer!
‘There would be little point in that,’ he bit out tautly, furious at his own weakness in wanting this woman at all. He had known women more beautiful, damn it, sophisticated women who knew the rules of being a part of his life; he had a feeling Diana Lamb had her own set of rules for any man in her life, and that they were nothing like his! ‘I doubt Miss Lamb and I will meet often enough to warrant my “getting to know” her,’ he dismissed harshly, eyes narrowed.
Dark brows rose over deep green eyes. ‘No?’ Diana challenged softly.
As if to prove her point, Chris’s hand moved possessively over hers as it rested on the table-top, his expression one of ill-concealed fury as he glared across the table at Reece. ‘You may as well get used to the idea, Dad,’ he told Reece bitingly. ‘Diana is in my life to stay!’
Over his dead body!
Unfortunately, Reece had a strong feeling that, if Chris did actually succeed in making this beautiful young woman his wife, something inside Reece himself would shrivel up and die. The last thing he wanted to be to Diana was her father-in-law! And as Chris’s wife she would be totally out of reach to him, forbidden fruit, no matter how the marriage should turn out.
He looked at Chris mockingly. ‘Isn’t that going to be a little awkward?’ he taunted pointedly.
Chris’s frown became even fiercer. ‘Don’t do this to me, Dad,’ he warned softly.
His brows rose. ‘Well—isn’t it?’ he drawled.
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