Читать книгу Claiming His Mistress - Emma Darcy - Страница 10

ONCE inside the privacy of his office, Carver took several deep breaths, trying to clear the insidiously sexy aroma from his nostrils and haul his mind back from the chaos it had evoked.

It was definitely the same musky scent Carmen had worn… Carmen, so like Katie—her hair, her breasts, the whole feel of her, the intensity of her need for him.

Had it actually been Katie under that mask?

He shook his head, recoiling from the possibility and all it might mean, yet he couldn’t banish it. She was back in Sydney. She certainly had access to the high society crowd anytime she wanted to move into it. Her father’s connections and her old school network would open most doors. It could have been her.

The need to know drove him to the telephone on his desk. He snatched up the receiver, pressed the button to connect him to Robert Freeman and fiercely willed the other man to pick up. Instantly. Robert was the obvious conduit to immediate information about Katie Beaumont. She was here to see him. He had to know something.

“So how did the breakfast meeting go?” his partner inquired, not bothering with a greeting.

“As expected,” Carver answered briefly, too caught up in more urgent issues to go into detail. “I just rode up in the elevator with a Miss Beaumont. I understand you have an appointment with her this morning.”

“In five minutes. Some problem with it?”

“Do you know her personally?”

“Never met her. Comes with a recommendation from Max Fairweather. Wants to set up a business and needs cash.”

“Needs cash? From us?” Carver couldn’t stop his voice from rising incredulously. “Do you know who her father is?”

“Beaumont Retirement Villages. Max did mention it.”

“The guy is worth millions.”

“Uh-huh. Could be he disapproves of his daughter’s business plans.”

As well as her choice of men, Carver thought acidly.

“Very wealthy fathers can get too fond of flexing their power,” Robert went on. “We could reap some benefit here if the daughter is as smart as Daddy at capitalising on a customer need.”

“An interesting situation…” Carver mused, recalling Katie’s assertion she was on her own, not back with her father. She’d worked as a nanny in England in years gone by but what she had done with her life in more recent times was an absolute blank to him. It could be that everything she chose to do was an act of rebellion against her father…including sexual encounters where she took what she wanted…like Carmen.

Every muscle in his groin started tightening at the memory of her flagrant desire matching his. “Any chance of your passing her over to me, Robert,” he heard himself saying, not even pausing to consider the possible wisdom of staying clear of any involvement.

He’d once thought of Katie Beaumont as his. The temptation to re-examine the feelings that only she had ever drawn from him was too strong to let go. If she’d been behind the Carmen mask, they could still have something very powerful going between them. They weren’t so young anymore and the circumstances were very, very different.

“I’m clear for the rest of the morning,” he pressed, “and I must admit I’m curious to hear Miss Beaumont’s business plans.”

“Mmm…does she happen to be gorgeous?”

“You’re a married man, Robert,” Carver dryly reminded him, uncaring what his partner thought as long as he turned Katie over to him.

He laughed. “Just don’t be forgetting facts and figures in her undoubtedly delectable presence. Go to it, Carver. I’ll let Laura know to redirect the client to you.”

“I owe you one.”

“I’ll chalk it up.”

Done! He set the receiver down on its cradle, feeling a huge surge of satisfaction. Katie Beamont was his for the next hour or so. The only question was…how to play it to get what he wanted!

Katie was only too grateful that Robert Freeman was occupied on the telephone and not yet free to see her. She was far from being cool, calm and collected after the run-in with Carver Dane. Her focus on business was shot to pieces, and she was in desperate need of time to get her mind channelled towards her purpose in being here.

The shock of the link between Carver and the pirate king had left her shaky, too, forcefully reminding her of how terribly wanton she had been with the masked man. She had believed that secret was safe. And surely it was. It had to be. She was not normally a wild risk-taker. To have that kind of behaviour rebound on her now…here…no, she was getting in a stew over nothing. Even if Carver had been the buccaneer, he couldn’t know she had been Carmen.

It was good to sit down with the option of hopefully getting herself under control again. A few deep breaths helped. If she could just let the past go and concentrate on the future, managing this meeting shouldn’t be too difficult. Only the future counted now, she fiercely told herself, and neither Carver nor the pirate king held any part in that. She was on her own.

Definitely on her own.

She had to go into the meeting with Robert Freeman and prove an investment in her business would be worthwhile. All the necessary papers were in her attaché case. She simply had to pull them out and…

“Miss Beaumont?”

Katie’s heart leapt at the call from the receptionist, a pleasant young woman with a bright, friendly manner, obviously trained to put people at ease. She had auburn hair, cut in a short, chic style, and her navy suit, teamed with a patterned navy and white scarf knotted around her throat, looked very classy. The perfect frontline person for an investment company, Katie thought, and forced an inquiring smile.

Laura—that was the name Carver had given her—responded with an apologetic grimace. “I’m sorry. Mr. Freeman is tied up with some urgent business.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind waiting,” Katie quickly inserted, relieved to be given more time to calm her nerves before she had to perform at her best.

“As it happens, that isn’t necessary, Miss Beaumont.” Her mouth moved into a conciliatory smile. “One of the other partners is free to take over your meeting with Mr. Freeman. In fact, you came in with him… Mr. Dane.”

“Mr.…Dane?” Katie could barely get the words out. Her tongue felt as paralysed as the rest of her at the thought of facing Carver across a desk, spilling out where she was in her life and asking him for money.

“He’s very experienced at assessing presentations,” Laura assured her. “Your time won’t be wasted with Mr. Dane, Miss Beaumont.”

“But I don’t mind waiting for Mr. Freeman. It’s no problem for me,” Katie babbled, unable to quell a rising whirl of hysteria.

“The arrangement has already been made.”

Without any discussion with her? Didn’t she have any right to decide whom she dealt with? Not that she actually knew Robert Freeman, so she couldn’t claim an acquaintance with him. And Carver was a partner, so she couldn’t very well protest on the grounds of being handed to someone of lesser authority.

Having announced this official decision, Laura came out from behind the reception desk, clearly intending to gather Katie up and deposit her in the appointed place. Katie froze in her chair, her mind in a ferment of indecision, her body churning with sheer panic as her future and past collided head-on.

A benevolent smile was directed at her, along with the words, “I’ll show you to Mr. Dane’s office.”

What was she to do?

Somehow she levered herself out of the chair and picked up the attaché case, grasping the handle with both hands and holding the square of leather in front of her like some shield against the arrows of fate.

“This way…” An encouraging arm was waved towards the corridor Carver had taken.

The past was gone, Katie frantically reasoned. If she didn’t take this chance, she faced a future of always being an employee without any prospect of really getting ahead in life. Besides, this was a business deal. There shouldn’t be anything personal in it. If Carver turned it into something personal, she could walk out, with good reason to demand a more objective hearing.

“Miss Beaumont?”

Laura was paused in front of her, a slight frown questioning the delayed reaction from Katie.

“Sorry. I’m a bit thrown by the change.”

An understanding smile. “There’s no need to be, I promise you. Mr. Dane follows exactly the same company policies as Mr. Freeman.”

Katie expelled a long breath to ease the tightness in her chest. “Okay. I’m coming.”

Laura nodded approval as Katie pushed her feet into taking the path to Carver’s office. The carpet was dove-grey. It felt like sand dragging at every step she made.

She told herself Carver wouldn’t want this meeting any more than she did. He’d been landed with it because he was available and Robert Freeman was busy. Which surely meant he would keep it strictly business, totally ignoring the intimacy of their former relationship.

Or was the intimacy the buccaneer had shared with Carmen as sharply on his mind as it was on hers?

Katie instantly clamped down on that thought. But her stomach contracted at the memory and to her horror, some wanton rush of excitement attacked her breasts, just as Laura came to a halt, gave a courtesy knock on a door, and opened it.

“Miss Beaumont for you, Mr. Dane,” she announced.

“Thank you, Laura,” came Carver’s voice.

It had the same deep timbre of the pirate king’s! Why hadn’t she noticed that before? Because she’d been in too much of a flap over running into Carver and she hadn’t smelled the cologne until he was on the point of leaving her. But now…her heart started thundering in her ears.

Laura stood back and waved Katie forward.

She had to walk into Carver’s office, face him, and pretend everything they’d ever known together was water under the bridge, including a fantasy that was fast gathering too many shades of reality.

Having constructed a somewhat rueful smile to ease her over the next few moments which were fraught with pitfalls, Katie willed her legs to move without wobbling, thanked Laura for her services, then stepped into what she couldn’t help thinking of as the torture room.

Like going to the dentist.

Only worse.

No one here was going to give her an anaesthetic to kill pain.

She heard the door shut behind her. Goose bumps rose on her skin at the realisation she was once again enclosed in a space shared only with Carver Dane. At least it was bigger than an elevator, she hurriedly told herself, and there was furniture to keep them separated.

“Hello, again.”

The greeting forced her to fasten her gaze directly on the man himself. He’d been on the periphery of her vision, standing to the side of his desk. She’d felt him watching her, probably assessing her reaction to the changed appointment, and a sudden surge of stubborn pride tilted her chin in defiance of any judgement he might have made.

“I wasn’t expecting this, Carver,” she stated bluntly.

“I do appreciate that, Katie,” he returned, his quiet tone aimed to soothe frazzled nerves. His mouth quirked into whimsical appeal. “Will it help if we pretend we’re meeting for the first time?”

Impossible! He’d taken off his suitcoat. Her mind’s eye was already measuring his shoulders, matching them to old and fresh memories, and her body felt as though it was pulsing to the imprint of every hard muscle in his very male physique.

“Why aren’t you a doctor?” she blurted out, totally incapable of putting him in a business frame.

He shrugged and moved to the front of the desk, propping himself against it in a relaxed pose that suggested he was prepared to be patient with her. “That was a long time ago, Katie. I might well ask what you’re doing here, seeking a business investment? Why didn’t you pursue the course you were taking to become a kindergarten teacher?”

Because I couldn’t bear being in the same city as you after the break-up. Not even in the same country! The words screamed through her mind but couldn’t be spoken. As he said, it was a long time ago.

“It’s just that I always thought of you as working towards that goal,” she said to explain her intemperate outburst. “To find you here…”

Carver stared at her, a hard bitterness coiling through him. How much had she thought of him? Certainly not enough to bring her back to Australia to find out if anything had changed for them. All those years he’d worked around the clock, needing to prove to himself—and her father—he could amount to something…had she given him anything more than a fleeting thought?

Even when he’d gone to England, she’d been off trekking through Greece and Turkey, spending her money on more travel away from him, and staying away so long he’d given up on any response to his letter—given up and trapped himself into a marriage that was bound to be sour before it had even begun, all because he’d been thinking of Katie.

Well, she could think what she liked. He wasn’t about to tell her what he’d been through. And certainly not why! The sexual attraction was still strong, but he was never going to let Katie Beaumont into his heart again. He’d been there, done that, and any private intercourse between them now would be based on sex, which he very definitely wanted and would find very sweet…with her.

He enjoyed her obvious confusion of mind before cutting it off. “So…you want my credentials before dealing with me,” he drawled, and enjoyed it even more when a flush rose up her neck and spread into her cheeks, making them almost as red as her sweater…as red as the provocative dress Carmen had worn.

“I’m sure they’re everything they should be,” she rushed out, discomforted by the doubt she’d inadvertantly projected and retracting it as fast as she could. “You wouldn’t be in this position unless they were.”

“But it’s difficult for you to accept,” he taunted, cynically wondering if she’d come to accept her father’s view of him—a guy who was screwing a rich man’s daughter to make an easy track for himself to a better life.

“No. I…”

Words failed her. Her eyes flickered with confusion. Hazel eyes—grey and green with dots of gold, he remembered. Big, beautiful eyes to drown in…when he was much younger. Her face was still probably the most essentially feminine face he’d ever seen, its frame of black curls accentuating her pale creamy skin, the finely winged eyebrows, a delicately formed nose, and the very kissable, lushly curved lips.

Was she remembering how they’d once kissed?

Were the memories as recent as a few nights ago?

Right now she was boxed into a corner and struggling to get out, realising that referring to the past was a faux pas in these circumstances. She was the one in need of money, not him. Quite a delicious irony, given the background of their former relationship.

Carver noted that her mouth remained slightly parted, the full sensuality of her lips accentuated, and the kisses he’d taken from Carmen were vividly evoked, inciting the desire to taste them again.

She scooped in a quick breath and gestured an agitated appeal for his forebearance. “I’m sorry. Of course, I accept your credentials. I hope you’re prepared to accept mine.”

They would undoubtedly make fascinating listening, but Carver was not about to reveal any personal interest in them. “I’m here to be convinced that your proposition is well founded and potentially profitable,” he assured her, smiling his satisfaction in the concession to his obvious standing in the company. “If you’d like to start…”

He waved an invitation to the chair he’d placed handy to his desk for her to pass over papers. Without waiting for her to move, he straightened up and strolled around the large desktop to his own chair, a clear signal that he expected business to begin.

Control was his and he intended to keep it, right down the line.

Even when he kissed her.

Which he fully intended to do before she left this office…if Katie Beaumont reacted to the trigger of Carmen!