Ann Major – Secrets Of The Night: A Case of Kiss and Tell (страница 14)
“No. I know what you want and it sounds like someone else’s dream,” she said. “How about some dessert?”
Jane pushed her chair back and stood up. Palmer watched her go and Conner had to admit that he felt sorry for his friend.
“I’ll help Jane with the dishes,” Nichole said, gathering the remaining plates before she went into the kitchen.
“Why is your sister such a stubborn woman?” Palmer asked, his Brazilian accent heavier than normal. “I could make her happy.”
Ordinarily Conner wouldn’t have offered any advice. He made it a policy to stay out of Jane’s personal life so that she’d stay out of his. But he liked Palmer and he wanted his friend to be happy. “She doesn’t trust happy.”
“What do you mean?”
“The last time she was truly happy and trusted someone, it blew up in her face.”
“You mean your father?” Palmer asked.
“Yes.”
“There’s been no man since then?” he asked.
“Not that I know of,” Conner said.
“Then I will have to work twice as hard to show her that she can trust me,” Palmer said. “That I am nothing like your father was.”
“That’s going to be hard,” Conner said. “Our father did a lot of damage.”
The door to the dining room opened and Nichole was standing there. He knew she’d heard his comments and he hated that. If she were just a dinner party guest, he could pretend it meant nothing, but she was a reporter bent on digging up his past.
Jane came back with a coffee tray and a fake smile. She was overly animated and it was almost painful to watch her pretend to be the perfect hostess now when they’d seen her genuinely enjoying herself earlier. The tension between Palmer and Jane was palpable.
Nichole must have felt the same way because as soon as dessert was eaten, she glanced at her watch and said she had an early morning and had to go.
“I’ll walk you out,” Conner said. He hated that years later his father still had the power to hurt both him and his sister. It wasn’t fair that neither of them had found a way to heal from those lies.
“Okay,” Nichole said. “But I don’t think it’s necessary.”
“Maybe he wants to be in your company,” Palmer said. “Sometimes a man just wants to prove himself to a woman.”
“Or maybe I’m ready to leave as well,” Conner said.
He got that Palmer was talking to Jane, but he didn’t want Nichole to get any ideas about what he had in mind for them.
Nichole was tired and just wanted to get home. What had started out as a fun and interesting night had become a little tense as she rode down in the elevator with Conner. Especially when he reached out, pushed the stop button and turned to her.
“Everything that Jane said tonight was off the record. I don’t want to see that showing up in your column tomorrow morning,” he said.
She sighed and wanted to punch him hard in the stomach. “I already said I have ethics. When are you going to get it? I don’t write about what my friends say at their dinner parties. Your warning shows me that I was completely wrong about you from the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I thought maybe we could have a chance as a couple.”
“I don’t want to be a couple. I want to have you as my mistress,” he said.
“I know,” she said, reaching around him to start the elevator car in motion again. “I really do have an early meeting and since we’ve had the mistress discussion before, I hope you won’t mind if we skip it now.”
He leaned back against the wall of the car and stared at her with that bright blue gaze of his. “Don’t be offended. I can’t take any chances.”
“Why not?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “When I was nineteen and just starting to take over the reins at Macafee International,
She was angry with the reporter who had abused Conner’s trust and a little sad for the young man he’d been at that time. “I’m not like that.”
“You say that, but then you also told me you’d do anything to get this story. And then I show up at my sister’s house and there you are … it doesn’t look good,” he said.
“She invited me,” Nichole said carefully, enunciating her words, though the anger she’d felt earlier about his attitude had disappeared. She had caught a glimpse of the private side of Conner and she wasn’t about to let that slip away. He was a man with a lot of complicated emotions. Tonight had proven that. And though he was arrogant and demanding, she was beginning to suspect that was all a ruse he used to keep from being hurt again.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.
“Because I’m just getting the feeling that I’ve barely scraped the tip of the iceberg that is Conner Macafee.”
“Iceberg? I thought I’d proven I was anything but cool as far as you were concerned.”
“Oh, you’re red hot when I’m in your arms, but you seem so forceful and solid underneath that it’d be easy to accept you as just a man who wanted a mistress. But then the water moves and I see something hidden in the depths of you …”
“That’s pretty deep. I’m really not all that. I’m just a guy who likes to get his way and right now my way would be you in my bed.”
“If only that were all you were asking,” she said.
“Would you have a one-night stand with me?” he asked.
That point-blank delivery struck her the same way his initial demand that she be his mistress had—with a thrill she couldn’t deny, at least to herself, and then a bit of sadness because she genuinely liked him and wanted so much more than just one night.
“Would you sit down to an interview with me?” she asked.
He shook his head. “You haven’t changed my mind.”
“Are you sure?”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the lobby of the building. There weren’t many people there and Conner took her arm and drew her to a quiet corner.
“Actually, I’m not sure. Tonight when you were talking about secrets … I want to ask you about your childhood. Would you be willing to open up to me about it?”
“Maybe,” she said. She didn’t like talking about her own secrets. It made her mad at herself that she still couldn’t break the habits that were ingrained in her since childhood.
“What if I gave you a kiss?” he asked.
She had to smile at him. “You can be a scamp, you know that?”
“Yes,” he said. “If sheer willpower won’t convince you to give me what I want, I’m not afraid to use charm.”
“Is this still a game?” she asked, because she needed to know before she let herself fall any deeper for him.
He pulled her closer to him, wrapping one arm around her waist and leaning in so that his breath brushed her cheek when he exhaled. He smelled the way she remembered him, spicy and delicious, and she wanted to rest her head against his chest and just let him wrap her senses in comfort.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted.
With another guy that wouldn’t be enough of an answer, but with Conner it was more than she expected. He was so guarded. So used to protecting himself and keeping everyone at arm’s length that she felt even that tiny admission was a treasure.
“I’m not, either,” she said, looking up at him.
“How are you getting home?” he asked.
“A cab, why?”
“I have my driver waiting. Can we give you a lift?” he asked.
“Why would you offer?” she asked.
“I’m not ready to say good night yet.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“You sound so suspicious,” he said with a laugh. Pulling out his cell phone, he typed a quick message.
“Well, with you I’ve learned to be.”