The Seduction Game

It took a moment but eventually he shook his head. “I was out of the country.”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Kate had forgotten that. No, more than forgotten. She hadn’t even considered it. She did now, piecing all the bits together as she spoke. “Well, Chris didn’t really take no for an answer. There were more letters, visits, and then, not long afterward, the workers started moving in.”

He moved the remote around some more, and then, by accident, clicked it on. The sound was muted so the silence seemed to stretch around them, even as the pictures flickered across the screen. “I see.”

“He was trying to push me, I’m sure, but it just made me angrier. Angry at you,” she admitted, the suspicion growing. “I thought, who the hell did you think you were to bully me like this…only you didn’t, did you, Will? You weren’t even here.”

He scowled. “It’s my company.”

“But Chris was in charge of this development. Did you even know he was acting like that?”

“The buck stops with me,” he said, ignoring her question. “In the end it always does.”

“So you didn’t know about any of it?” And because Will did not answer Kate knew she was on the money. “You didn’t know he was harassing me?”

“I wouldn’t put it like that,” he said with a grimace. “He was simply trying to…”

“To do what?” Kate asked. “What was he trying to do? Apart from be a complete asshole, that is.”

“The work I’d asked him to,” Will said. “That’s all.”

“But not in the way you would have done it?”

Will sighed. “Perhaps not.”

“So you didn’t know—”

“Let’s just let this go,” Will interrupted, and then, with a deep breath, almost like he was switching gears, he smiled before reaching out and tugging on her ponytail again. “It’s in the past now.”

“But—”

“For me?”

She frowned, because she wanted to push the point. Even though Will was sitting so close, and his smile was, once again, starting to heat her up so badly, she wanted to insist he admit the truth. And then she gulped, suddenly understanding why that was so important to her. In her mind, she’d turned Will into an ogre. He was the bad guy who had made her life miserable for months on end. But if, in reality, he wasn’t, then that changed everything. If it was all because of Chris-the-skeeze, then the past few months took on an entirely different tone.

But worse than that, it meant that there was nothing to impede the attraction she’d denied to herself, and to Meg, and continued to fight against, but her own issues. Her own worries and insecurities. And with that, Kate stopped pushing, because the answer might not be one she wanted to hear. And that possibility scared her half to death.





Chapter Twelve


Will hadn’t realized that he’d turned the flat screen on. Only when he tore his gaze away from Kate did he notice that there was a movie playing, one of his favorites. He looked down at the remote and frowned. He’d picked it up absently, to keep his hands busy so that his fists wouldn’t be clenched tight, giving away his emotions to Kate.

Kate, who had been happy to let him hold her hand as he walked her to the truck. Kate, who had smiled and flushed as he tugged on her ponytail. Kate, who now knew the truth but for some reason had been happy to let it lie…

“Oh,” she said, noticing the movie. “It’s Skyfall.”

Will looked up, grateful for the distraction. After Kate’s revelations, he was a riot of emotions and right now he wasn’t sure how to get a handle on them. She’d confirmed exactly what he suspected and that was not good. It meant that Chris had lied to him. Tricked him. That he had an employee/brother-in-law he could no longer trust. Worse, that it was someone he should have been able to trust.

The real question though was why? What could possibly have motivated Chris to do something like this? It had to be a need to impress. This project had been Chris’s first shot at a senior role and he had been trying to do whatever it took to show himself worthy of it. Only bullying defenseless women did not make anyone worthy of anything. Oh, Will didn’t know for sure that was what Chris had done, but he suspected it, and that was bad enough. Why else would Kate have taken such a dislike to him?

I already told Chris-the-skeeze my answer.

Her words from their first meeting flashed through his mind and he grimaced. There was nothing he could do now but to rescue the situation and this was a start. Finding her somewhere to live. Making sure she was comfortable. And then, of course, there was the other path he’d resolved to take if need be, but that seemed like nonsense now. He realized how stupid it was.

The wooing of Kate Kelly no longer had anything to do with The Risings. It was something else entirely, and to Will, as he sat on the couch, with Kate so close to him, it suddenly felt more important than it ever had.

“You’re a Bond fan,” he asked, turning on the sound—who even knew why it had been muted?—and she nodded.

“Of course. I have every single one. Daniel Craig is my absolute fave. He’s superhot. Though I’d settle for Brosnan.”

“Being Bond is not about being hot,” Will chided. “I’d expect better from you, Kate, as a certified geek.”

“Geeks aren’t allowed to think guys are hot?” She smiled and a little dimple appeared in the side of her cheek. To Will, in that moment, she had never looked prettier. He forgot about Chris, about The Risings. He forgot about it all.

“Oh, I would hope they do,” he said slowly. “In fact, I’m counting on it.”

Their gazes held. Will’s cock stiffened. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her until she moaned, but Kate was not that sort of girl, would maybe even give him a resounding slap if he dared try. So instead, slowly, almost reverently, he reached out to do what he’d wanted to do from the moment they’d met. He stroked a finger down her blushing cheek, marveling at the feel of just how soft she was. “So pretty,” he whispered. “So damn pretty.”

“Will…”She opened her mouth, those rosebud lips of hers so moist and plump. He itched to run his thumb along them. “I…”

Will waited, heart racing to hear what she might say. When she looked away, eyes to the flat screen, he held his breath…When she shot up, he started.

What the hell?

“We…we…should probably get going,” she said quickly. “I have work to do. Lots of work and lots to do. Erm, yes, time to get going.”

“You don’t want to see the upstairs?” he asked, part confused, part stalling for time. “The bedrooms?”

“No, really. I do need to get going.”

It was the hitch in her voice that made him pause. She shifted on the spot, glanced down at her hands, then back up and then down again.

“Are you okay, Kate?” he asked, puzzled.

“Yes I—”

The groan of pleasure was not hers and Will watched, sort of agog, as Kate’s eyes widened before he followed her gaze to the flat screen. As always, Bond was busy with one of his Bond girls and it was then that Will realized exactly why Kate looked so uncomfortable. He stood up and grinned. He couldn’t help it. She was just so…cute.