Her Man with Iceberg Eyes (14 page)

His photographer’s sense was acute. The
details of the house were totally his. The unexpected flashes of
colour in clever juxtaposition to each other, the skilful
arrangements of the wonderful pieces of art, the fittings and
finishes in every room...all Matthew, all superb, all the result of
his sharp and clever eyes.

She hoped she met his standards, whatever
they were. She’d pulled her hair up in an elegant twist, out of the
way of his long exploring fingers, and applied her makeup lightly
but with care. Yes, it was only a movie, and they’d be sitting in
the dark, but she had her standards, too. “Are you sure Lottie will
be all right without us?” she asked as he eased off the accelerator
before the main road.

“She’s safe enough in bed. It’s only for a
couple of hours, Katie. Relax and enjoy some time off.”

Relax? With him?

But being dressed up, transported in such a
slinky car, and looked after by a man whose every glance suggested
extreme pleasure could be hers if she’d only say yes, was certainly
no hardship.

“So what’s this movie?”

“The latest 007. Guns, girls, gadgets. One of
the service clubs is raising money for things. Child cancer
research from memory.”

He fell suddenly and unnervingly silent.

Awareness flooded through her. Was that what
had happened to the boy in the photo? The little dark-haired boy
who was possibly his son? There was no way she could ask—Matthew
had never mentioned him. She’d only discovered him by spying.

“You can enjoy the girls and I’ll enjoy James
then,” she said as lightly as she could.

“Your sort of man, is he? Vicious? Dangerous?
Single-minded?”

“In your dreams.”

She saw the snowy flash of his teeth as
Matthew smiled. They were into the town now, and the streetlights
slid long shadows and bright moving pools of gold over the car’s
interior.

“You should have worn that chain with your
shirt,” he said.

“It’s in my room. I meant to give it back to
you, but the day took some interesting twists.”

“Agreed.”

She shot him a suspicious glance. What did he
mean? “So?”

His face remained innocence itself. “You’re
on a fairly difficult mission, Katie.”

“Well, I’m only on it for a few more
days.”

“More’s the pity. Never mind, we’ll make the
most of them.” He slowed to a crawl and pressed the button on a
remote control unit before turning into an alleyway. “Not the sort
of car you leave out on the street at night, if you can avoid it,”
he added as a warehouse door rumbled open and lights flickered
on.

Kate caught her breath. Waves of apprehension
skittered up her spine. She hadn’t expected this. “Where are
we?”

“A little place I own. Nice and central for
parking. We lived upstairs while the house was being built.”

“Not
so
little,” she said, relaxing
slightly and gazing around.

“Space for Lottie to paint. And to store the
furniture and fittings we collected for the house. I don’t use it
for much, now. Hamish has a remote, too.”

Right on cue, another vehicle rolled
inside.

The door crept slowly down again as he and
Kate climbed out of the Alpha. “You going to be warm enough?” he
asked.

She shrugged. “Is it far?”

“How’s Sis?” Hamish asked her before Matthew
could answer. “Driving you mad yet?”

Kate prickled hot and cold, suddenly alight
with suspicion. Could he mean Lottie?

She swallowed.

Sis?

If Matthew and Lottie were not man and wife,
that put a totally different spin on things. Made an affair between
him and herself possible—and even more impossible.

“She...um...insisted on starting a painting
as soon as we arrived home.”

Sis?
The name scorched and sizzled in
her brain.

“And then she sensibly...went to bed for a
rest...”

Hamish laughed. “Minor miracle,” he agreed,
apparently noticing nothing strange in Kate’s hesitant speech.

“Nice to see you again,” Diana said, as if
Kate’s world hadn’t just been tossed upside down.

“Yes. And you,” she murmured, fighting
tremors of dread and delight.

Matthew led the way through the building. He
opened the door to the street. It was only a short walk in the
chilly air before they were inside the cinema, but Kate shook for
the whole distance as shivers danced up and down her spine.

She feverishly reviewed the family’s
composition. Hamish and Matthew were brothers. Diana was Hamish’s
wife. Surely Lottie was Matthew’s wife? No-one had said she wasn’t.
But when she thought about it carefully, no-one had actually said
she
was
, either. Her mind whirled with possibilities,
probabilities, complications.

Matthew had mentioned a stepmother. His
father had married twice. Could Lottie be the child of the second
marriage? A half-sister to the two boys?

Or maybe a stepsister? No blood relation at
all? In which case Matthew could perfectly well have married her.
Kate had a friend who’d done just that, so she was no further ahead
with her speculations.

They handed in their tickets. Diana greeted
friends and introduced Kate. Beside them, Matthew and Hamish
discussing pruning the vines. Everything was normal. And everything
had just been blown apart. How could she find out for sure?

Matthew took her arm as the queue moved
slowly forward, and Hamish positioned himself beside Diana. Kate
was dismayed to find they’d not all be sitting together; Hamish and
Diana had seats three rows in front of Matthew. His were at the far
end of the back row, in the darkest, most private corner.

She stared at him in disbelief. Her face must
have spoken volumes because he laughed softly and bent to whisper
close to her ear. “Top-secret seat next to the wall, Katie. Heaps
of leg-room. I’m too tall to be really comfortable anywhere
else.”

And she had to admit there was indeed room
for his long legs because of the way the seats were arranged.

They sat. Kate was now wedged right beside
him for the rest of the evening. She held her arms close against
her sides so they wouldn’t rub against his, but the scent of his
cologne floated in her direction. The heat of his big lean body
came with it, wrapping around her. She became ever more conscious
of his impressive physicality, his broad shoulders, his unyielding
strength. No-one had yet arrived to claim the next seat, so she
leaned a little in that direction while she could.

It was exquisite torture to be so close, and
to still have no answer to her ‘Sis’ dilemma. How could she ask him
without giving herself away? The last thing she wanted was for him
to think she was curious about his marital status and open to
starting anything that could have no satisfactory end.

After two or three excruciating minutes, the
lights dimmed. The service club president appeared with a
microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s wonderful to see so many of
you here this evening. I thank you for your generosity in
supporting these two most worthy causes.” A scattering of applause
broke out and she waited for silence. “Yes, our community will be
making a substantial donation towards child cancer research. New
Zealand has leading scientists in this field, and your money will
be put to excellent use.” Again, the audience applauded. “And,” the
president continued, “of huge importance in this area of the
country is the work of the mountain rescue teams. The police and
experienced volunteers pluck locals and tourists alike from
life-threatening situations in our mountains and rivers. They need
specialised equipment to carry out this dangerous work, and that’s
where the other half of this evening’s contributions are
headed.”

This time louder applause erupted from the
audience.

And as the lights slowly dimmed further,
Matthew slid an arm around Kate’s shoulders.

She drew a sharp breath as the warm weight
settled about her.

“This is pleasant, isn’t it?” he said.

She shot him a venomous glare. His lips
twitched, laughing at her, teasing her.

“As long as it stays pleasant,” she said in a
tight voice.

“I’m sure I can promise you that,” he
murmured as the lights faded to full darkness.

“Take your arm away please.”

The opening music was strident...the volume
high. He either hadn’t heard or pretended he hadn’t.

She leaned closer and put her lips against
his ear. “Take your arm away please.”

It lifted from her shoulders, but instantly
his big hand cradled the back of her head, holding her captive
unnervingly near to his face. He nudged the tip of her nose with
his own, and slowly, softly, began to explore her mouth. Gentle
kisses. Hardly making contact. But Kate sensed every nerve ending
leaping to panic level as he moved his lips over hers with delicate
butterfly brushes. His tongue traced the outline of her mouth, and
he leisurely kissed the bow of her top lip, each corner, and then
nipped softly as he slid lower.

She’d instantly tried to pull away, but his
grip was sure. His mouth swallowed her exclamation of annoyance,
and then her resistance fled on swift feet. She’d wanted this.
Wanted him. Wanted to know the taste of him. Wanted to touch and
take. Her fingers slid though his short thick hair, caressed his
neck, cupped his jaw.

His scent swirled around her—earthy, musky,
male.

He tasted sweet. Dark. Dangerous.

Kate parted her lips, and he responded by
deepening his kiss, plunging his tongue inside her mouth to duel
with hers. She heard herself moan. Thank God for the noisy movie
soundtrack!

She’d not been expecting to have to fend him
off so soon.

Fend him off? What a
joke.
She was
pulling him closer with each passing second.

She dismissed a twinge of guilt about Lottie.
Lottie would never know.
Must
never know. It was just a
kiss. Only a kiss. No way would it lead to anything more.

And she mightn’t be his wife, anyway.

Delicious warmth ricocheted everywhere as his
assured tongue explored. Deep in her belly, she quivered, hot and
liquid. Tiny muscles clenched and relaxed in a foretaste of
ecstasy.

You should
pull away from him right
now
, her brain commanded.

But not for a few more seconds
, her
body argued.

And to her utter devastation, it was Matthew
who broke the contact, leaving her confused and abandoned, awakened
and shaking, and on fire.

He settled back into his seat with a sigh,
linked his fingers through hers, and laid her hand high on his
thigh, confining it there with the pressure of his own. The back of
her wrist registered his cock was rock-hard. She sat there,
stunned.

Her mind had embroidered that kiss into
something truly sinful. It had obviously affected Matthew, too, but
it seemed he’d remembered he was married. Or decided she wasn’t
really worth the bother. Or, worse still, proved he could get her
to respond to him and felt no need to take the game further.

She’d wanted him so much. Today was Thursday.
She had three days to enjoy being close to him without actually
falling into his bed. Now he seemed engrossed in the movie! She
felt his long thigh muscles responding to the action...tensing with
the car-chase excitement...shaking with laughter during the lighter
moments...jerking with the gunshots. He made no other move in her
direction, but he was sure as hell still violently aroused.

She seethed—furious with him, even more
furious with herself. He thought she was so easy, did he? And she’d
damned well proved him right.

She had no idea what was happening on the
screen—Matthew had taken over her brain. Sweet surrenders and sharp
rejoinders whirled around in a vivid and sickening mess. She felt
cheap and foolish. And alive and desirous. And angry beyond
belief.

As the movie ended, he turned to her. “Fair
enough way to spend an hour or two,” he said, seeming to think
she’d feel the same.

Kate tried very hard to keep her cool. No way
would she let him know she’d been demolished with lust for him, and
shaking with disappointment at his desertion.

She summoned up a small nod, not trusting
herself to speak. Not trusting herself to even look him in the eye
after what he’d done. And after the way she’d reacted.

He finally released her hand. What would
Hamish and Diana have thought if he hadn’t? God, it didn’t bear
thinking about!

The four of them met in the foyer, and
strolled together back to the cars. “Who’s for the spa?” Matthew
enquired.

Diana shook her head. “Early start tomorrow,”
she said.

“Not if you’re opening those damn doors
again,” Hamish added.

“Looks like it’s just you and me then,
Katie.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said tartly.

The temperature had plummeted. Freezing mist
haloed the street-lights. Already tiny spikes of ice stood
glistening on every level surface. A soak in the spa would have
been heaven, but not after what had happened at the cinema, and
certainly not if they’d be alone this time.

Matthew laughed—his warm breath a steaming
wreath in the sub-zero air. He seemed not to mind either way.

“Love to Sis,” Hamish called. “Tell her we
missed her.”

And there it was again. Kate prickled hot and
cold, desperate to know the truth.

Hamish beeped his car unlocked, and in
seconds, he and Diana were seated and reversing out of the
warehouse.

Matthew opened the Alpha Romeo, and watched
as Kate arranged her long legs. “Silly car for tall people, but it
was a promise I made myself.”

“It’s yours then, not your... Lottie’s?”

How could she find out if they were married
or not? She didn’t want to ask him outright, and possibly broadcast
her interest in him.