The Seduction Game

The other man’s smile did slip this time, and as Will turned his back he shot Kate a very nasty glare.

Well, well, well, so the truth was out. Kate was immensely pleased to realize that she and Meg had been right. Chris was a shit. Sly and manipulative, he’d been bullying her from the start and she’d known it all along. It hadn’t been that she was too sensitive or too defensive. And Will? He’d let go of her arm now but stayed ridiculously close as he walked her across the courtyard, past Chris, and through to the street outside. Nothing about his behavior suggested anything close to being the same as his sleazy employee.

Nothing.

He’s manipulating me in a completely different way.

And that was true. Kate wasn’t so innocent that she didn’t get that. Will had the full charm offensive out. The smiles, the looks, the touching. And the fact of the matter was, she was not immune to it.

Not at all.

Meg was right, she admitted. It had been freaking obvious from the moment he’d stepped through the doors of K.I.T. She had the hots for the Borg king, big-time, and manipulation or no, Kate suspected the game was only just beginning.





Chapter Ten


Will was tense as he strode back into the covered courtyard. Kate had left him with a thanks and a strained sort of smile and headed back up to her tiny studio. He’d waited a moment to make sure she’d made it up okay—though what could have possibly gone wrong during a walk up a flight of stairs, he didn’t know—and then turned back to Mr. Kawoski’s. As he did, he was sure he’d seen Meg staring down from the window, thumbs-up. Likely though that thumbs-up would be a thumbs-down when Kate told her she’d bumped into Chris. Because there was no doubt in Will’s mind that Kate, and by default Meg, did not like his brother-in-law.

Not at all.

That wasn’t, in itself, surprising. Will had often noticed that Chris was a guy that many did not take to. However, in his working life he had always made more of an effort than he did in his personal life, and that was one of the reasons Will had convinced himself to bring him into the company. So where had he gone wrong with Kate, and why did that question bother him so much?

“Just going over these drawings,” Chris said when Will entered the courtyard. “I think we need to consider the park again. Seems that we’ve given too much space to it. We could shave off enough to add in another build or two.”

“We already discussed this,” Will said. “I don’t want to add in another building or two if it compromises the green space.”

“I understand that. But we do need to think about the bottom line here.”

“I have. My decision stands.”

“Right….”

Chris’s tone and the questions buzzing around inside him had Will frowning. “What the hell was that between you and Kate?”

Chris looked up from the tablet he was annotating—probably trying to squeeze a bit more profit out of the development somewhere—and shot his boss a lazy kind of grin. It was a look that Will suspected Chris had practiced for maximum impact and, not for the first time, Will wondered why Jen had fallen for him. He supposed it was because of the pregnancy. Perhaps, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant so soon into their relationship, it would have all blown over after a few months. But then he wouldn’t have his wonderful nieces and Jen wouldn’t be the person she was today. So really, it was stupid thinking along those lines.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Chris said.

Will grabbed himself a bottle of cold water from the small fridge, took a long drink, and then joined Chris at the table. “I think you do. The tension was obvious.”

“Tension?” Chris said the word like he was talking about an unknown quantity, but Will was well used to the methods his employee used when under pressure. “I didn’t notice.”

“Well, I did. She doesn’t like you.”

Chris shrugged. “Not everyone does, Will. I can’t please everyone, can I? And besides, she’s a bit odd. I’m not surprised that she acted a bit kooky.”

“She’s not odd,” Will said, his temper rising. “And okay, I know you can’t please everyone, but there has to be a reason why she’s so against you and I’d like to know what it is.”

Chris dropped the tablet and stylus on the table and picked up his own bottle of water. He ran it around in his hands for a little bit before speaking. “I told you she’s difficult. Has been since day one.”

“Okay, well, I want you to walk me through that.” They’d never actually had an in-depth conversation about this. Sure, he had all the e-mails from Chris letting him know what was happening and where the issues were. And yes, they’d had a chat when Will had returned home, but he’d hadn’t had a chance for a full accounting. I shouldn’t have needed one. Chris was in a role of responsibility and Will should have been able to trust him to get the job done. After all, The Risings was not the only development Will had on his books.

“Walk you through what?” Chris asked. “Kate’s attitude?”

“No.” And there was his temper again, because sure, Kate did have an attitude, but Will liked it. “Walk me through from the first communication you had with her. Explain what happened.”

“We did this already.”

“Not properly. From the top and in more detail.”

Chris scowled but Will ignored him. From the moment Kate had given Chris a withering glare, he’d realized something wasn’t right, and now, with Chris’s attitude…well, he was beginning to get a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach, one he was very familiar with. It meant something was up.

“Kate was one of the last on the list to visit to secure verbal agreement for the development,” Chris began.

“But you had communicated with her before that?” Will prompted.

Chris nodded. “We went through the same process we did with everyone else. First they got the letter explaining what The Risings was about—”

“Yes, I was here for that. It was a few days before I left for London.”

“Exactly. Then we held the meeting in the local community center, like we always do. We invited the architect along to show the initial drawings. Laid on refreshments.” He shrugged. “The usual charm offensive.”

Will nodded. “There isn’t a local community center around here. Where did you go?”

“A local church. It’s maybe a twenty minute drive.”

“Kate doesn’t have a car. How did she get there? Did she even come?”

“I honestly cannot remember,” Chris said. “I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure.”

“Who did the presentation?”

“I did. You remember? I sent you the slides.”

“Yes, of course.”

“You approved them.”

“I did,” Will agreed. “And then?”

“We started to approach the various owners about selling. They were all in agreement. Every one of them.”

“Including Kate?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?” Will asked.

Chris nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Who spoke with her?”

A shrug and Chris’s gaze broke from his, settling instead on a spot in the distance. “I don’t know.”

The niggling feeling grew and Will’s temper with it. “What do you mean you don’t know?” Will demanded. “You should have records on this. That’s your job as the senior project manager. I assume you gave out the assignments, did the initial research, spoke with the staff. How can you not know?”