The Seduction Game

She swallowed unsteadily as his words danced a little beat in her brain. Did he really think she was pretty or was he just trying to change her mind? She wanted it to be the former but couldn’t be sure it wasn’t the latter. Why was she so confused?

“I was thinking…,” he said.

“About?”

He thinks I’m pretty.

He stepped a little closer to her, something he seemed to do far too often. Kate had meandered off more than once but every time she turned around Will was right by her side, practically glued to her. It was disconcerting and made her nerves hitch. She could very easily just reach out and touch him, almost had more than once, by pure accident, and each time a tiny, sneaky part of her, probably the part where the panic was still beating, wished that she had.

“It occurred to me,” he said, “that if you’re so set on staying in the area you could simply buy one of the new properties when we complete them. We could agree on a significant discount.”

She shook her head. “It’s not about the area as much as it is the building. The area won’t even be like this when you finish and all the people I knew are gone now, anyway.”

“Change isn’t always a bad thing.”

How was it possible that he could make her feel so old-fashioned? Like she was some sort of old-timer who was refusing to accept the brave new world? “It isn’t always a good thing, either. And besides, what will I do in the meantime while I’m waiting for it to be built? I don’t even know what your timescales are.”

“We think about eighteen months for completion.”

“So I’m to be homeless for that time until you finish?”

“You could rent somewhere.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea how much money a year’s rent would eat up? And how am I supposed to pay it when I have no business? You can’t just plop a shop somewhere and hope that people will come and buy what you’re offering. It takes time to build a clientele. To have people trust your work. I’ll spend a year paying for rent out of the money you pay me, and then what? There wouldn’t be enough left for me to buy one of your properties.”

“I could see what properties we might have available in the company, for rental, I mean, something close to here where your regular customers are.”

He sounded so reasonable. So Mr. Be Helpful, and Kate grimaced. He’s being helpful because he needs my building. And she knew that, but the more time she spent with Will the more she was beginning to realize that there might not be a way out of a confrontation. A confrontation that she suspected was going to be harder than she’d imagined just two days ago.

“I’m not sure what to say,” she said. “I have to think about this.”

“Then let me show you the plans first and then I’ll walk you home to think things through.”

The drawings were still laid out on the table in the covered courtyard. While before, Kate had been too busy fending off Will’s flirting to take a look at them, now she was eager to lean over the table and pick out all the buildings Will had told her about. She asked some questions, accepted a drink, and tried to ignore the fact that Will was once again standing far too close. Eventually she stopped tracing the outlines of the complex, lifted her head, and met Will’s gaze. There was something in his eyes. It spoke to something in Kate that she hadn’t even realized was there.

“It does look spectacular,” she said slowly. “I can’t deny that.”

“Thank you.”

Two words and yet he managed to infuse them with a million different meanings. But Kate couldn’t think about that now. She had to give some very serious thought to the things Will had said to her, and shown her, today. She was just about to say as much when he stepped forward and took her hand. Just like when they were on the bench she gave a little squeak and almost automatically clenched her fingers. They wrapped around Will’s and he grinned.

“That’s enough business for now,” he said. “Let’s talk about something else.”

He thinks I’m pretty. “What exactly did you have in mind?” Kate asked. Was that thought ever going to go away?

Will’s grin widened and once again he started to stroke along her thumb. Kate had no idea how to stop him. She was sort of frozen in place, mute, her breath caught in her throat.

“I was going to pick up our earlier conversation,” Will said slowly.

“Which one?”

“I recall something about an army of male slaves?”

“I—”

The back door of Mr. Kawoski’s opened. Kate snatched her hand away, expecting a construction worker or a foreman. For some reason she hadn’t expected Chris—though of course it made sense that he would be close by. It seemed he was Will’s right-hand guy.

She straightened and stiffened. Her fists clenched, banishing the lingering warmth of Will’s touch. All the letters, the calls, the visits, the stress, flashed through her mind, and Kate took a very deep breath to get her anger under control. The other man seemed to be completely oblivious to it. He smiled as he walked in, and Kate was sure that the jovial smile would look oh-so-welcoming, oh-so-friendly, to anyone other than her and Meg. But they’d seen that fake smile too many times as he had tried to bully her into selling her building.

He walked across the courtyard, undoing the buttons on his suit jacket as he did so. Meg had called him dumpy and sweaty more than once, but in truth he wasn’t. Maybe he was a little overweight, but if you looked closely enough it was easy to see the man he had been a handful of years ago—before the weight had started piling on and the hair had started thinning. He would still be attractive if he wasn’t such a sleaze.

“Kate,” he said, joining them at the table. “How nice to see you.”

“Chris.” She practically spat the word out and his smile seemed to widen even further.

“I didn’t expect you,” Will said.

“I was in the area. Thought I’d stop by.”

“I see.”

Anyone would have to be stupid not to pick up on the tension between her and Chris, and Will Thornton was far from stupid. He looked from Chris to her, a frown on his face, and then oddly, when Chris stepped forward, he did, too. Kate wasn’t sure what his intention was but Chris simply held out his hand. Kate ignored it.

His smile did not so much as slip.

And that proved her point perfectly, because Chris was stupid. He had to be. How could someone not pick up on the fact that she disliked him intensely? Enough to forget all the manners her parents had ever tried to instill in her.

She turned to Will. “I want to go. The quality of the company has fallen dramatically.”

The frown deepened. “Kate—”

“Now. If you’ll excuse me.”

She made to leave but Will reached out and grabbed her arm. What was with him and the arm grabbing? But his touch was cool, firm, and in truth, it made her feel…well, things she didn’t want to.

She tugged, he frowned some more, she tugged again, and then he nodded. “Okay…I’ll walk you across.”

“There’s no need,” she began but Will cut her off with a wave of his hand. “I want to. Chris? Wait here. I’ll be back in a moment. We need to go over some things.”

“Of course.”