Читать книгу Secrets Of The Night: A Case of Kiss and Tell - Katherine Garbera, Ann Major, Ann Major - Страница 13

Conner worked up until the last moment when he could leave and get to his sister’s apartment but still be fashionably late. If Nichole had been here to see him, she’d have realized that he wasn’t a social animal. He dreaded parties and other social gatherings because he didn’t do small talk.

Yeah, right. He didn’t like them because he hated being around strangers who might know too much about his past. He didn’t know how Jane was able to survive her life in the spotlight. There were always people who wanted to prod her about the past and ask questions about how it had felt to go through that public humiliation.

Something that Conner hoped never to relive. When he was a block from Jane’s apartment, he remembered that he hadn’t picked up flowers and didn’t have a bottle of wine. And there was no way he could show up at the home of America’s leading hostess without a hostess gift. Janey would nail him for it.

“Stop at the corner, Randall,” he said to his driver. “I need to get a bottle of wine.”

“Yes, sir,” Randall said.

Conner ran into the corner store and bought the best bottle of wine they had available. It wasn’t a pricey vintage, but he knew it was one his sister liked. As he was waiting in line to pay, he caught a glimpse of Nichole’s face next to her byline in America Today that the woman in front of him was reading.

Glancing over the woman’s shoulder he saw that the article was about Jack Crown’s latest daredevil stunt. Conner had met Jack since he had been brought in to host the reality TV show, but he hadn’t had a chance to get to know the other man.

“Why don’t you buy your own copy?” the lady said, folding the paper in half and putting it on the counter.

“My apologies,” he said, embarrassed to be taken to task by the woman. But he wasn’t going to read the society column of any paper. It was little better than gossiping and he wouldn’t do it. Though, if he’d been pressed about it, he would have had to admit that Nichole’s writing style was very inviting. He’d wanted to read more.

But not today. He paid for his wine and shoved the sexy, redheaded reporter out of his mind as he got back in his car. Randall drove the rest of the way to Janey’s high-rise but when he pulled up to the curb, Conner was reluctant to get out.

“I’ll text you when I’m ready to leave,” he said. “It might not be too long.”

Randall laughed. “I’ll be in the garage waiting for your text.”

Conner took the elevator to the penthouse, entering the code that would take him straight to his sister’s place. When he exited the elevator, he had the uneasy feeling that he hadn’t timed his entrance to be as late as he’d hoped. The first person he saw when he walked into her hallway was Palmer Cassini.

“So, she roped you into this as well,” Palmer said.

“Sadly, yes. But I was corraled because of an uneven number of guests.”

“She used a different technique to get me to come tonight. How have things been?”

“Good. Business is business, but we’re turning a profit and in this economy that’s all anyone can ask for.”

“You say it like you’re blasé about it, but I know that you’re in the black because of your savvy and leadership,” Palmer said.

Conner tucked his hands into his pockets and tried to look nonchalant, but Palmer had hit the nail on the head. Conner wasn’t about to let years of hard work go down the drain because of a downturn in the economy.

“Where’s my sister?”

“In the kitchen with another guest. One I suspect she may have invited for you,” Palmer said.

“Should I leave now?” Conner asked jokingly.

“I wouldn’t. She’s a very sexy woman.”

“Do you wish she’d invited this mystery woman for you?” Conner asked. He’d be more than happy to bow out of the dinner and let Palmer go after her.

“Not at all. I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m very interested in your sister,” Palmer said.

“You are?”

“Yes, but she’s stubborn and refuses to let me get too close.”

“Don’t mess around with Jane,” he said. “If you hurt my sister …”

“You’ll come after me, I know. But it is she who hurts me. She doesn’t want anything serious to develop between us and every time I get too close she shuts me out … the way she did at the Fourth of July party.”

He sympathized with his friend. It was hard to court a difficult woman. And though he wasn’t courting Nichole, she was difficult and he did want her. He clapped a hand on Palmer’s shoulder. “If it’s meant to be, it will happen.”

“I’m not sure I want fate on my side. She can be a cruel mistress,” Palmer said with a laugh. “Come on, let’s go join the women.”

Conner wasn’t too sure he wanted to, but hopefully whoever Jane invited would take his mind off Nichole, even if it was only for tonight. He needed to put the attraction to her in perspective. He’d been working too hard. That was probably why he’d been so consumed with her lately. She was, after all, the only woman he’d kissed and held in his arms recently.

Of course, he was going to be thinking about her all the time. In fact, he was doing it again, he thought. The woman in the kitchen even sounded like Nichole as he walked toward it. But as soon as he crossed the threshold and entered the kitchen he realized it wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him.

Nichole was standing next to his sister, helping her assemble some kind of hors d’oeuvre and laughing at something Jane had said.

Remembering the last time he’d seen her, only a day ago, and how she’d left his office, he couldn’t help believing that she was here for revenge. She had gone after his sister when she hadn’t been able to get the dirt on him.

Of course a woman like Nichole would never understand that Jane wouldn’t give him up. His sister was very loyal and knew better than to talk about their past with any reporter, no matter how charming she was.

“Uh-oh, my brother doesn’t look happy to see you,” Jane said.

“I told you he wouldn’t be,” Nichole said.

He handed the bottle of wine to Jane and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Nichole, I’d like a word with you in private. Jane, I’m using your study.”

He turned on his heel and walked out of the kitchen. He heard the sound of Nichole’s carefully measured footsteps behind him as he entered Jane’s study and waited for her to follow him in.

He gestured for her to enter the room and carefully closed the door behind them. Then turned to her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

Nichole had suspected that Conner wouldn’t be pleased to see her here, but she’d never guessed that he’d be so angry. “Having dinner.”

“Don’t be flip. It was cute the first time we met but now, not so much,” he said.

“I’m not being flip. I’m here to have dinner,” she said. “I had no idea that you’d be here.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t.”

“What exactly do you think I’m plotting to do?” she asked. “Your sister is friends with one of my BFFs … actually you know her, too. Willow.”

“So you asked Willow to get you close to my sister?” he asked.

“Not at all. I want an interview with you, Conner, not with your sister. She’s funny. She thinks that we’d make a great couple but that you’re letting the fact that I’m a reporter keep you from seeing my charms—her words,” Nichole said.

“I can see your charms,” he muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. “So you’re not here to dig up dirt on me?”

“Nope,” she said. “And I’m insulted that you’d think I’d do something like that. I’m a reporter with ethics. I don’t make up stories or dig through trash cans to find leads. When I write my story on you, it will be because you gave me an interview,” she said. To be honest, she was insulted, and who wouldn’t be. But more than that, she was hurt. She had the feeling that Conner was doing everything he could to keep from being attracted to her, and if that meant that he had to make her into the bad guy, then she guessed that’s what he’d do.

“I’m not going to stay for dinner. Your sister is delightful, but you are not the man I thought you were,” she said, turning to walk away.

He grabbed her elbow and tugged her off balance until she fell back into his arms. “I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I felt cornered by Janey and then seeing you just added fuel to the fire. I was happy to see you, I am happy to see you. Dammit, Nichole you are a complication.”

“I said the same thing about you earlier. I don’t know why you can’t simply agree to the interview and then we can get it out of the way.”

“I can’t do that. I’ve sworn I’d never give an interview.”

“But you can bargain with me?” she asked.

“It’s the only card I have,” he admitted. “It’s the only thing I can say to keep you interested in staying here with me.”

“You could try asking me to stay.”

He shook his head. “I can’t. Then you’d know how much I really want you.”

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close, putting her head on his shoulder. “You make things so hard.”

“I do, don’t I?”

She pushed away from him, taking a step back. “Why is it so hard for you?”

“Just between us?” he asked.

She nodded, realizing that he was more vulnerable than she ever would have guessed.

“You’re not like the women I’ve dated,” he said.

She arched one eyebrow at him. “That sounds like a line.”

“It isn’t. You are so fiery and passionate about your work. You don’t let anything stand in your way, but when I hold you in my arms I can tell that you are equally passionate with me. I want that, but …”

“But what?”

“You can also seem all-consuming,” he admitted.

She understood what he was trying not to say. She suspected that he was afraid, just as she was, of letting him get too close. They were both, in their own ways, used to being alone, and meeting someone of the opposite sex with this much chemistry was a threat.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. Jane stood there with two cocktail glasses in her hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell each of you that the other was coming.”

“It’s okay,” Nichole said.

“We’ll talk later,” Conner said.

But Jane just handed a cocktail glass to Nichole and then hugged her brother. “It’s your own fault for refusing to say what happened between the two of you. I knew there was something going on.”

She saw Conner’s face tighten and though Nichole knew Jane had been trying to help, she’d just done the one thing guaranteed to drive Conner further away from her. He prided himself on being aloof, but he couldn’t be if everyone saw them as a couple.

Dinner wasn’t as awkward as he’d feared it might be. First of all, the only people at the party were the four of them and since Palmer and Jane were two of his favorite people, Conner found it easy to relax. But that just kept him on guard a little more. He didn’t want to inadvertently give anything away to Nichole that she’d use later.

Once the meal was served, Jane was in her element at the head of the table. As the hostess, she kept the cocktails flowing and the conversation moving.

“So, Nichole, inquiring minds want to know. Why did you decide to become a reporter?” Jane asked after Palmer finished telling them a hilarious story about his first polo game when nerves had gotten the better of him and he’d fallen off the horse.

“I always wanted to be one. I think I saw myself as a Nancy Drew type when I was little,” she said.

“Oh, I liked Nancy Drew, too,” Jane said. “But solving crimes isn’t the same as being a reporter.”

Nichole put her fork and knife down and took a sip of her drink before she leaned forward. “When I was in high school, I had Mr. Fletcher for freshman English and he was the sponsor of the school newspaper. He liked my writing and told me I should join the newspaper staff. I did. I liked it,” she said.

“What did you like about it?” Conner asked, fascinated at learning more about her. Suddenly she wasn’t just a nosey reporter—hell, she’d never really been just that—but now she seemed more real to him.

“My family had a lot of secrets growing up. Stuff we didn’t talk about with each other or with anyone outside the family. That’s not healthy. I liked the fact that my job was to find out the truth, to report and let everyone know what was going on. It was such a change from my home life that I was addicted to it, I think.”

“Sort of like me and making this perfect lifestyle on television,” Jane said. “In real life I’m so not perfect.”

“I’d have to disagree,” Palmer said.

“You don’t know me well enough to disagree,” Jane said, wrinkling her nose at Palmer.

“I’m trying to,” he said with a laugh.

Nichole picked up her fork and toyed with the asparagus on her plate. Conner wanted to know more. What kind of secrets had she learned to keep? He doubted it was anything like the ones his father had kept. But when she looked up and caught him staring at her, he smiled gently in her direction and she blushed.

“What made you decide to do a cooking and lifestyle show?” Nichole asked.

“I always liked to make my room a retreat. So I started learning how to sew and craft things. And then when we had to leave our home in the Hamptons there was a six-month period where we didn’t have a cook—do you remember?” she asked, turning to her brother.

“I do,” he said. “You started cooking for Mom and me.”

“Well, Mom is an excellent fund-raiser and bridge player, but the woman cannot cook,” Jane said with a laugh.

“Sounds like you found your calling,” Nichole said.

“I did,” Jane admitted. “I just liked the feeling I had when Mom and Conner ate my food. I made them happy and life was good while we were sitting around the table.”

Conner wished Janey wouldn’t talk like that in front of Nichole. He had no idea what she’d print about him or his sister. He had nothing but her word that she’d only use what she learned in an interview.

“I feel the same way about being at my mother’s kitchen table,” Palmer said. “We have a cook but my mama likes to cook for me and my brothers. There is such a feeling of love in the dishes she prepares.”

“What about you, Nichole?” Jane asked. “Are you like me or your mom?”

Nichole nibbled her bottom lip, something he realized she did when she wasn’t sure what to say. “I don’t know. It’s just me at home and I don’t cook much for myself. But I think maybe someday, if I have a family, I’d like to create something special like you or Palmer’s mom do.”

He didn’t like the thought of Nichole having a family someday and he didn’t want to acknowledge why it disturbed him. He knew he wouldn’t be the man in her life and he didn’t like the thought of another man being with her.

“That’s sweet,” Jane said.

“What about you, brother?”

“What about me? I’m never getting married. I like my freedom too much.”

“I don’t believe that’s true, but that’s a conversation for another night,” Jane said.

“What about me, darling Jane? Don’t you want to know what I’d want?”

“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.