Читать книгу Deception - Donna Hill, Donna Hill - Страница 9

Terri tried to keep the conversation light and impersonal throughout dinner, but the mellow atmosphere and soft music at B. Smith’s Restaurant lent itself to intimacy. Within a short space of time she found herself laughing at Clint’s wry sense of humor and actually forgetting all of the things she’d heard and read about him.

He was animatedly recounting an incident that had occurred in the health club. “My friend Steve really had me just where he wanted me,” he laughed. “There I was, spread-eagled on the bench with a hundred-pound weight hanging over my head.”

“What did you do?”

“Cried uncle, what else?”

Terri shook her head in laughter, visualizing Clint’s precarious plight.

“What do you do in your spare time?” he asked, loving the way her crimson dress hugged her curves.

“Read mostly. I play tennis in the summer, dance all year long and I love riding through the park. But it’s gotten so dangerous lately, I’ve cut back.”

His voice lowered and raked over her. “I’d be more than happy to be your protector.”

She looked at him coyly. “Maybe.” Now why did I say that?

“That’s the best answer you’ve given me to date. My faith in humanity is restored.”

She lowered her thick lashes, her heart beating wildly. Then she looked up. “How did you know about the lilies?” she asked softly.

“I always make it my business to find out all I can about anything or anyone that interests me. In other words, I ask questions. I had my secretary dig up an article that was written about you in Black Enterprise. You mentioned your passion for the lilies in the article.”

Her stomach lurched at the pointed look that he threw her way, but she kept her expression unreadable, which enticed Clint all the more.

“I believe I’ll have to follow that philosophy,” she replied.

“So, you’ve found something that has piqued your curiosity,” he tossed back, enjoying the game.

“Perhaps. If there’s anything of interest, I’ll be sure to let you know.” Her smile was a taunt, and Clint’s insides tightened.

“Would you like anything else?” His voice was thick with the emotions that he struggled to control. Terri unwittingly brought out the passion in him that he hadn’t felt for anyone in years. Every time he heard her voice or saw her face, he thought of what it would be like to unleash that cool control that she displayed so well.

“No. I’m stuffed. The red snapper was delicious.” She finished the last of her spring water, secretly enjoying the heat that blazed in Clint’s eyes and shook his voice.

“I’m glad you liked it. I haven’t been here in a while, but the food is still the way I remember it.”

“Do you come here often?”

“From time to time. Usually on business meetings.”

The mention of business brought her back to reality.

“From the look on your face, you’d think I said a bad word.” He stared at her.

“It just makes me wonder what you want with me. After all, you’re in a very nasty business.”

“Let me set the record straight.” He took a deep breath. “I involve myself in businesses that are on the brink of folding, or businesses that I feel can be better managed by me. Where is the crime in that?”

“That’s putting it delicately.” She crumpled the linen napkin into a ball, her temper flaring.

“Delicate but true.”

“You make what you do sound like a humanitarian gesture. How can you sleep at night knowing what you’ve done to so many people?”

He clenched his jaw. “I don’t do anything that I’m not allowed to do within the law.” Exasperation filled his voice. “If I make an offer to a company and they accept, what’s the harm?”

“The harm is that they give you everything they’ve worked for, and you reap the benefits. You’ve built your fortune on the backs of other people. Our people!” Her voice rose in anger. “What gives you that right?”

Their eyes locked in a battle of wills.

Clint glared at her. How dare she make him feel guilty? He was never one to blow his own horn, and he’d be damned if he’d start now. If she really wanted to know about him, let her do her own homework.

Clint was the first to break the icy contact. “If you’re ready, I’ll drive you home,” he said in a tight voice.

“I can catch a cab, thank you,” she answered, annoyed with herself for letting her emotions get out of control.

Clint signaled for the waiter and paid the check. Terri rose to slip on her coat, but not before Clint rounded the table and took it from her.

Slowly, deliberately, he helped her into her coat, the nearness of him sending her pulse on a wild gallop. He pressed his lips close to her ear, inhaling her scent, his warm breath tingling her neck.

“I don’t want the evening to end like this, Terri. I’m not interested in the campaign with your company. I can get another agency to do it. I want you and I to be friends—more than friends.”

The suggestiveness of his words forced her to look up at him.

Was it sincerity that she saw brimming in those pools of midnight or was it something else?

“I—I don’t know how that could be possible. We come from two different worlds.”

“Not two different worlds, Terri. Two different points of view. But that’s what makes a relationship interesting.”

She stepped out of his grasp, her body on fire. She reached for her purse. Her voice shuddered. “I’ve got to be going.”

“I’ll get you a cab.”

A cold wind blew viciously around them, and a shiver ran up Terri’s spine. Clint instinctively put his arm around her shoulder, easing her next to his body.

Before she could protest, a yellow cab pulled up to the corner and she thankfully stepped out of his embrace.

Clint reached around her and opened the car door. With her nerves strung to near popping, she threw out her address in a gush.

“Get the lady home safely,” Clint instructed the driver. He looked down at Terri’s upturned face. “Until we meet again,” he said softly, “and we will.” He smiled and closed the car door.

It seemed an eternity before she finally reached her apartment on Twenty-eighth Street. Her head was pounding, and she massaged her temples hoping to relieve the nervous pressure.

Taking the short elevator ride up to the third floor, she put her key in the door and stepped into the cozy comfort of her apartment.

Mechanically she hung her coat on the brass coatrack and deposited her shoes in the foyer. Then she headed straight for the fireplace, and within moments the finely decorated rooms were filled with the warmth from the crackling flames.

Crossing the gleaming wood floors, she sank down into the cottony soft comfort of her bronze-colored couch, closing her eyes against the events of the evening. Instantly a vision of Clint bloomed before her, and she involuntarily trembled, remembering all too well the feel of him, the richness of his scent, the timbre of his voice.

She jumped back up from the couch, afraid of where her feelings were taking her, and turned on the stereo, hoping to muffle the rapid beating of her heart, just as the doorbell rang.

She frowned, wondering who could be ringing her bell. Then she remembered that Stacy had said she might stop by.

Without thinking further, she padded across the room and flung open the door, a small smile of expectation lighting her face.

Clint’s lips swept down on hers. His arms enfolded her in a powerful grip. Terri’s heart slammed against her breasts as she was helplessly carried away by the sensation of his lips.

Her mind commanded her to pull away, but her body succumbed to the temptation of his tongue toying with her lips, separating them as he entered her mouth. He tasted of wine and a touch of mint. How good the two were together, she thought dizzily.

How long had it been since she’d been held, been kissed, been made to feel like a woman by just a look? Suddenly the emptiness began to slowly fill and like one ravaged by thirst, she drank of the waters.

He never knew a simple kiss could be like this. He stroked her back, delving into her mouth, wanting to seek out all of the hidden places. She was soft and strong all at once, a candy sweetness that demanded that he take more and more. He moaned against her mouth as arousal overtook him, hardening him to near bursting. His body demanded release, but his mind took control.

He released her, and she was sure that if it wasn’t for the hand that still gripped the doorknob, she would have crumpled.

“I knew I’d forgotten something,” he stated in a ragged voice, his eyes stripping her bare. With that he turned and strode down the corridor, leaving her trembling.

As she drifted off to sleep that night, her last conscious thought was that she’d have to do some serious checking on the devastating Mr. Steele.