A Daring Deception. AMANDA BROWNING
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‘I’ll remember we’re on the same side, and you remember that we aren’t lovers,’ she told him bluntly.
He looked over at her with a faint curl of his lip. ‘A fact for which I am extremely grateful. Rest assured I don’t want you, and never will. Try any of your games on me and you’ll regret it.’
He couldn’t have said anything more guaranteed to get her dander up. She forgot in that moment that she didn’t want him to want her and acted purely on feminine instinct.
‘Oh, really?’ she murmured with sweet viciousness. ‘I’ve heard it said that people who protest too much generally have something to hide.’
He had no trouble following her drift. ‘Some men might, but I’m not one of them. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s concentrate on the real problem,’ Nathan responded evenly, and it annoyed her no end that she couldn’t rattle him. She wanted to knock the wind clean out of him, and upset his complacency once and for all. She’d do it, too. Somehow. Before this was over. It was a promise she made to herself right there and then. She would find his weakness and use it against him. Everyone had their Achilles’ heel—even men like Nathan Wade.
She eyed his bent head as he opened the envelope Linus had given him. ‘You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?’
He looked up, blue eyes glittering sardonically. ‘Very sure. Remember that, if you’re ever tempted to take me on.’
Oh, she was tempted all right, and when the time was right she would act. ‘I’ll be sure and make a memo in my diary,’ she drawled, and his teeth flashed whitely as he smiled in acknowledgement.
‘So you don’t know anything about Luther Ames?’
She shook her head. ‘I only know what Linus said, that he prefers blondes.’
‘Exactly. Just remember, although he prefers them, he’s no gentleman.’
His warning surprised her, given his opinion. ‘Don’t tell me you’re concerned about me, Nathan?’ she charged with patent disbelief.
He sent her a reproving look. ‘Don’t take it personally. I’d worry about anyone who got tangled up in Ames’s sticky web of corruption. A man who would stoop to blackmailing his own aunt doesn’t have an ethical bone in his body. We don’t know what else he gets up to. Keep your wits about you, but don’t let him see you have any. His women aren’t required to think, just look decorative. Add all their vital statistics together, and they still wouldn’t reach your IQ. You should fit right in.’
Rachel came as close as she ever had been to smacking another human being. ‘Are you trying to be deliberately offensive?’
He eyed her quizzically. ‘Don’t get your nose out of joint. I meant you’d fit in because of your talent for being all things to all men. You should be able to play a dumb blonde with your eyes shut.’
‘Thanks, that makes it even worse!’ she returned dryly. ‘Do me a favour and don’t pay me any more compliments like those.’ All things to all men! He made her sound as if she spent her life on her back. Lord, but he was hateful. If it was the last thing she ever did, she would show him just how wrong he was about Rachel Shaw!
She became aware that Nathan was looking her over with a jaundiced eye. ‘You’re going to have to ditch the glasses,’ he declared flatly, and she nodded, for that was the least of her problems.
‘I only wear glasses when I’m working, anyway.’
‘I suppose you think they promote a different type of image, like the suits,’ he observed dryly, and Rachel took umbrage.
‘I take my work very seriously and I do my best to appear professional at all times. There’s nothing wrong in that,’ she pointed out acidly.
Nathan’s expression spoke volumes. ‘Rachel, are you under the impression that by playing down your looks you’ve lost the ability to turn men’s heads? Take it from me, it ain’t so,’ he informed her mockingly, and every nerve in her body jumped. ‘When it comes to sex appeal, sweetheart, you’d be oozing it if your hair looked like a bird’s nest and you wore nothing but a sack tied up with a piece of string. You might not flaunt it by day, but it’s still there. You’re a sexy woman, and no amount of glasses and power suits is going to change that.’
Considering she was not the person he believed her to be, his description of her as sexy, indeed, oozing sex appeal, came as quite a surprise. It meant he had noticed her after all—not that that did her the least bit of good when the woman he thought he saw wasn’t the woman he was looking at. The knowledge hurt, and she responded accordingly.
‘I’m more than just a body and a pretty face!’
‘Maybe, but right now those are the only two of your plentiful attributes we’re interested in. They’re certainly all Luther Ames will see. Speaking of which, the more he sees, the quicker he’ll take the bait, so remember to pack your sexiest clothes,’ Nathan ordered.
Rachel knew that if she possessed any blatantly sexy clothes it was by accident, not design. She tended to wear more trendily casual clothes, not the designer dresses and evening wear he clearly expected. She would have to do some hasty shopping, though it would go very much against the grain. She didn’t much care for the idea of dressing solely to invite men to ogle her, and was beginning to see where her anger had taken her. However, she was committed, and never let it be said that Rachel Shaw ran away from anything!
‘I should be able to find something suitable,’ she confirmed.
‘We can always go shopping in Tahoe,’ Nathan offered, and her nerves jolted.
‘No!’ she refused quickly. ‘That won’t be necessary.’ The last thing she wanted was for him to buy her clothes. That would be going altogether too far.
Nathan shot her a mocking look. ‘I’d pay. You don’t have to worry about any of the bills,’ he said dryly, and the embers of her wrath flared up again.
Her smile was a gem of fake sincerity. ‘Oh, I wasn’t, but, since you’re offering, I’ll supply the clothes, you provide the diamonds.’
As she had hoped, his amusement died instantly. ‘Diamonds?’
This time her smile was entirely natural as she realised he didn’t like the implication. ‘You’re a wealthy man, and if I’m your lover you surely must have given me jewellery. I always think a woman looks naked without diamonds. Oh, but you don’t have to worry, I promise to give them back afterwards. I wouldn’t want to appear greedy.’
Blue eyes narrowed to icy chips. ‘Very generous of you. Is there anything else I should provide?’
Enjoying his irritation, Rachel’s shrug was casual. ‘I’ll let you know if I think of anything.’
A muscle ticked at the corner of his tantalising mouth. ‘I’m sure you will,’ he said frostily, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Perhaps this whole situation would have its amusing side after all.
‘Nothing cheap, mind. I have expensive tastes.’ A calm smile