Web of Deception

chapter Four



Daniel watched Kate spoon another mouthful of chocolate tart into her mouth. She looked despondent as a raspberry fell off the spoon and onto her plate so she scooped it up, staring at it as though the feat was a major success.

It was only dessert but she was taking it so seriously that it made him smile. Concentrating hard on her food, her expression earnest, there was a certain naivety about her which Daniel found appealing. It made an interesting balance to the Kate Henry who argued with him, refusing to let him get away with anything.

She looked gorgeous in that dress though he had to wonder if she knew just how alluring she was. He’d guessed the first time he saw her that she wasn’t the type to flaunt herself and with a body like that she didn’t need to.

The dress wasn’t exactly revealing. In fact, he wished it were more so. It was simply that the fabric and cut meant it clung to her every curve, highlighting her shapely figure without showing off any flesh.

And that only made him want to see more.

When she’d first entered the room and strutted towards him in those strappy satin heels, he’d enjoyed every step of the way. Every stride made the skirt of her dress skim her slender thighs, her hips swaying just enough for the fabric to slide against her waist. It had felt like she’d been walking straight towards him.

And if she hadn’t been? He didn’t care.

She might think she was taken but she wasn’t. Not as far as Daniel was concerned.

It’d be tricky but he’d have to make sure he saw her again, and next time there wouldn’t be so many people around. He’d make sure of it.

It occurred to him that she might be interested in a recent deal he’d made, that of the Mills Building. The previous owners had let it run down so Daniel would need to hire an architect to oversee the project. In fact, she might be extremely interested.

“There are some excellent restoration architects,” she said when he told her about it. “I can recommend some but the firm I work for doesn’t do that sort of work. We concentrate on new buildings with cutting edge design. A building like the Mills deserves a specialist in the field.” She pushed her dessert bowl away and looked at him. “I didn’t know you were interested in art deco. Is that why you bought the Mills?”

“Not quite. I knew it was a good deal from the start, even before the finance team did the figures on it.”

“How could you know that?”

“My gut is never wrong.” He didn’t want to talk about business or himself when he should be finding out more about her. “So, tell me, what do your instincts tell you about me?”

“They tell me I’m in big trouble.”

She covered her mouth but it was too late to hide her embarrassment. It seemed the words had slipped out before she could stop herself.

Daniel wasn’t going to let it ride. “What makes you say that?”

“It was just a figure of speech.”

Kate glanced up, probably trying to look off-hand as she spoke. Instead, she looked too damn cute for words.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think that came straight from the heart.”

“And if I’d taken another second to think about it instead of speaking off the cuff, I’d have come up with a more appropriate answer.”

“More appropriate perhaps, but not as truthful. What other truths can you tell me about yourself? What have the other men in your life been like?”

She leaned back in her chair, flicking one hand into the air as she spoke. “It’s no secret I seem to have a knack of picking the wrong type of man. I’ve made some judgement errors in the past.”

“Like what?”

“Well, my first serious boyfriend at uni got an exciting job in New York and I haven’t seen him since.”

Daniel didn’t think that sounded so bad. “Sometimes people have to move on. It might have been too good an opportunity for him to turn down.”

“That wasn’t the problem. He didn’t go to New York on his own. He found someone else to accompany him, someone more spontaneous, someone who was the opposite of me.”

“Ouch.”

“It took me a while to get over it but I did,” Kate said. “Apparently, I was too boring, too safe. I didn’t know how to have a good time.”

“That’s what he said?”

She nodded. “Then there was Number Two. He worked at Trademark Advertising, a real high-flyer, always thinking of the next deal. He knew everyone in the business. Turns out, it was basically a repeat of the same situation. He said I was too boring but I think he had it the wrong way around. He was too out-there, too exciting.”

Like a lot of people, she’d been unlucky in love and she’d put it down to choosing the wrong kind of man. It helped Daniel see why she was looking for a man who was practical and dependable. After all, how much more reliable could you get than an accountant?

“Not all men are the same you know,” he said.

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me you don’t always want more than you’ve got. Something drives you to make the next deal and it has to be bigger, better.”

“Business is one thing and personal life is another.”

“Really? I’m sure you like the chase. Then the novelty and the initial excitement wear off and you go on to the next challenge.”

“That’s not true,” he said. “I’ve had a couple of relationships that lasted longer. Things just didn’t work out.”

“They never will if you’re not willing to work at it.”

Did she think she was the only one who’d been hurt in love? It may have been ten years ago but he hadn’t forgotten the disappointment, the pain.

He’d thought Jane Simpson was the right woman for him but he’d been wrong. They’d been young and they’d had fun together. Jane was smart, sexy, from a good family. Everything a man could want. Or so he’d thought.

She had money of her own so he hadn’t suspected that snaring a rich husband was her first priority.

He found out otherwise. A couple of his business deals fell though at the same time and his name was dragged through the mud with one particular company.

Jane had got out of the relationship as quickly as she could. It hadn’t been him she’d wanted after all.

Unfortunately, it had been too late for Daniel. He’d already fallen in love. And that was a mistake he wasn’t going to make again.

It was about then that his father had come back into his life. He’d only seen the man a few times since he was nine when his dad had left. Despite the many privileges of Daniel’s upbringing, he’d never had the one thing he’d wanted as a kid. His father’s love and attention.

He wasn’t sure he had it now, for that matter. Nothing he did seemed to please the man.

At least his father had been there for him when he found out Daniel was getting married. Now that he looked back at it, his father had been right all along. Marriage wasn’t for men like them. They were both driven to succeed but not in relationships. Only in business. Daniel’s own experience with Jane showed him what happened when he’d been preoccupied with love instead of concentrating on the task at hand.

Roger Webb may have had five children and stayed with his wife for many years but, in the end, he hadn’t been able to stick it out. Daniel knew he wouldn’t fare any better. He was too much like his father for that.

One good thing had come out of that experience. At least now he kept in touch with his father and saw him occasionally. He hoped to catch up with soon on the ski slopes at Falls Creek.

The first night Daniel met Kate, she’d said he wasn’t the marrying kind and she was right. Marriage wasn’t for the Webb men. The main reason his father had married was because he wanted children and though Daniel did too, he knew marriage wasn’t the way.

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard you work at it,” he said. “If you’re with the wrong person or if you are the wrong person, there’s just nothing you can do.”

Kate looked relaxed once again. “You’re right. I don’t regret the things I’ve done. It’s what shaped the person I am and brought me here.”

He wondered if she meant here, beside him. He didn’t believe in fate or destiny or forces bringing two people together but he certainly believed in making the most of the chances that were offered to him.

The meal was well and truly finished, the last of the wine had been drunk, and the guests were all leaving. Daniel said goodbye to the couple sitting beside him, giving the young woman a peck on the cheek.

Turning to face Kate, a smile spread to his lips. Did she look nervous, a touch hesitant perhaps, at the prospect of a quick kiss goodbye? Or was he reading too much into her expression? She might simply be tired, after all.

Her strawberry blond hair brushed against her pretty shoulders as she tossed the locks back and stood. His gaze dropped from her face to the fine lavender fabric of her dress. Such a lovely shade. And how beautifully it clung to Kate’s every curve.

As she rested one hand on her waist, he savoured the suppleness of her flesh beneath the fine fabric of her dress. Then he felt her fingers sweep across his jaw as she cupped his chin in one hand. This wasn’t what he was expecting. She reached towards him, her eyelids lowered, those sultry lips parted slightly.

Normally, he would have reached out and grabbed her and taken her in his arms. So what if they were in a public place and her so-called fiancé was beside them? Daniel didn’t care.

But this was different. He wanted to see what she would do. How far she would take it.

Her gaze lingered on him as she took her time, and he enjoyed the sultriness of the moment, the promise it held. For those eyes were definitely promising something even if he wasn’t sure what. He only hoped she wouldn’t leave him hanging for too long.

Tilting her head, she pressed her lips against his cheek but stayed too close as she pulled away, her mouth brushing against his in a kiss that almost wasn’t there. Or was it?

There was the hint of a smile on her lips, as though she was pleased with herself, pleased with what she was doing to him.

No, that had been no accident.

She gazed at him with those smoky grey eyes, her lips curling to a seductive smile. His eyes dropped down to those shapely breasts, then back up to her face and he knew exactly how she would look naked. He knew the expression she’d have after he’d made love to her.

If he’d thought she’d looked nervous minutes earlier, he’d clearly been wrong.

She shot him one final glance as she turned. Never before had a woman looked so damn sexy walking away from him. As a general rule, women didn’t walk away from him. Not willingly, anyway.

She wasn’t trying to be seductive but in those heels and that dress, she obviously couldn’t help it. From the jut of her petite shoulders to the camber of her waist and the sweep of those hips, she was effortlessly gorgeous.

And she was walking away from him.

For now.