The Seduction Game (7 page)

Ellie was a textbook case. She hadn’t been prepared for her parents’ deaths. The news of their plane going down had devastated her and after she went to live with her grandfather she had nothing but anger and despair in her heart. Kate had made a lot of progress with the young girl in the past year, but every once in a while, Ellie back-stepped and Kate had had to step in for damage control. In this case, Ellie had gotten involved with a seventeen-year-old boy who got her pregnant, and left.

Ellie left after an hour and as Kate walked out to her car her cellphone rang.

“Where are you?” Barbara cried. “I’ve been calling your place all morning.”

“I’m leaving my office. I had to see someone. It was urgent.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you, but I’ve been trying to reach you the past couple of hours, and it’s pretty urgent, too.”

Kate felt a rush of alarm. “My cellphone was turned off. What is it? Is it the kids? Mom?”

“No, no, don’t panic. It’s Adam Tyler.”

Kate froze. Adam? “What about him?”

“I’ll tell you what about him, but first, why did you leave last night without so much as a good-bye to me?”

“You were sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you. So I called a cab, picked up my car, and went home.”

Kate felt a twinge of guilt, especially since Barbara had been so accommodating. She made her way to her car. It was a clear, bright morning, and she hoped the weather was a good sign. Her meeting with Adam at the gym this afternoon was looming closer, and the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became.

“Well, I must say I think you made quite an impression on Adam Tyler,” Barbara began dryly. “I’m staring at two dozen long-stemmed roses sitting on my table.”

Kate stopped in her tracks. “He sent me flowers?”

“Uh huh. And a card. Want me to read it to you?”

Kate pictured the smug grin on her sister’s face and squeezed her eyes shut. Adam had sent her flowers! She couldn’t ignore the pleasure flowing through her. But
why
did he send her flowers? God, she was confused. She didn’t know what to feel. Elated, nervous, suspicious.

“Read it to me,” she said, trying to keep the flutters in her stomach under control.

“Let’s start over. 555-1256. Your friend, Adam.”

Her hand trembled as she opened her car door. “I’ll…I’ll pick them up when I have a chance.”

“Kate, what happened last night? And why did he sign the card as
your friend
?”

“Nothing happened. I told him we should just be friends.”

There was a long pause before Barbara spoke. “Kate, friends don’t send each other two dozen long-stemmed roses. What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,” she replied tautly. She wasn’t ready for the third degree she knew was coming from her sister. “Look, I have to go. You know I don’t like to drive and talk on my cell at the same time.”

“Then don’t drive.” Barbara made an exasperated sound. “Aren’t you even going to call him to thank him?”

Kate shut her door and leaned her head back on the head rest. “No, maybe. I…I don’t know.”

“I’ve never known you as someone who lacked manners.”

Kate sighed as she started the car. “Barb, it wasn’t a real date, remember? It was pretend. I’m really sorry, but I have to go now.”

“What are you doing today?” her sister asked suspiciously.

“Nothing. I’m going out later.”

“You never go out. Oh my God! You’re going to meet him as the bad girl, as Katrina, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I’m hanging up now, Barb.”

“Fine,” her younger sister snapped, “but I warn you, if you don’t come clean with him soon, I’m bringing in the reinforcements.”

Kate groaned, trying to ignore the alarm her sister’s words invoked. “If you tell mom or Gail any of this, I swear I’ll never speak to you again.”

“Fine. And you can forget about my help with your Katrina disguise. I refuse to take any more part in this.”

As Kate drove home, she thought about what her sister said and admitted Barbara was right. Kate should end the research and explore her feelings for Adam and his feelings for her, but Barbara didn’t have all the facts.

For one, Adam was every woman’s dream. And two, Kate wasn’t every woman. She was scared. Worse, she didn’t know if she was even capable of intimacy with a man after what she had experienced with Simon. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Adam was different.

Before she met him, she had wanted to analyze his reaction with her two personas. Now, she just wanted to analyze the man. So much about him interested her, but it was all moot in her eyes now.

The gloom she felt settling in her heart dimmed the brightness of the sunny morning.

He said he wanted honesty first and foremost. She knew he would never forgive her if she told him he had been an experiment.

Kate realized she would never know more about him. His struggles to survive with an eight-year-old sister after his parents died. His will to overcome his challenges. His cynicism toward marriage and love. His driving need to succeed.

Kate would never know more about him because after today she would never see him again. She felt lonely just thinking about it. She hadn’t felt like this for anyone in years. The realization that she was possibly letting go of the first interesting man she’d met in a long time depressed her.

Back at home, she went upstairs to her bedroom and eyed the short platinum wig, black tights, and lavender body suit on her bed.

She didn’t feel well. Did she even have to meet him as Katrina? He liked Kate, the schoolteacher. Wasn’t that enough?

Her unease grew. It was too late to go back now. He’d already met her as a fake and a phony. Going back to him now and telling him the truth was too late.

She’d have to complete her research and meet him as Katrina.

And after today, her life would go back to normal.

* * * *

Adam and his best friend, Kyle Wilder, were getting ready to hit the courts and put in a few games of racquet ball.

“Sorry, buddy, but I didn’t think she was actually going to do it.”

Adam frowned at his friend before he tossed his keys and wallet into his locker. “You could have warned me,” he said, slamming the door shut and locking it. “In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never been on the other team. Has Dana finally turned you against me?” Adam couldn’t help scowling. “And don’t tell me it slipped your mind. She probably swore you to secrecy, didn’t she?”

Kyle made a face. “I take it the date went bad.”

“No, it didn’t go bad. Actually, I had an interesting evening.”

“Then why do you look like hell?”

“I was up all night working on the Ryerson account. Edward’s still undecided about going with us. I think his granddaughter, Ellie, has been taking up all his time.”

“Is that the client you’ve mentioned whose granddaughter lost her parents, and she went to live with him? The young girl who got pregnant?”

“That’s the one.”

“Poor kid.”

“Edward’s been having a really hard time dealing with her lately, and at our last meeting, he spent most of our time talking about her and how worried he is.”

“That’s a shame. Having a kid at sixteen is going to be rough on her. I hope she knows what she’s getting into.”

Adam’s face was grim. He had just lied to his best friend of eighteen years. The Ryerson account hadn’t kept him up all night. Kate had. Yes, he had the Ryerson file in front of him, but all he had seen was a woman with a sharp tongue, a sharp mind, and hair a man could drown in. And her lips were another matter altogether. More than once he thought of their kiss and the gentle sway of her hips, and his loins tightened uncomfortably.

Adam swore under his breath and Kyle gave him a curious look. “Are you worried Edward won’t sign?”

Adam shook his head. “He’ll sign.
Easy Business Works
is just the software his resorts need to make them more efficient.”

“So why do you look like hell? It must be tough being a genius software developer.”

Adam tensed. He knew Kyle was digging. His friend never missed a thing. Kyle could read people, memorize details, and notice things most people missed. Adam shot him a sardonic look. “That bruise on your forehead tells me being a private investigator is no walk in the park either,” he countered dryly.

Kyle touched his temple and shrugged. “I told you that thug got in a sucker punch. He’s doing time and I have a throbbing headache. Not a bad deal if you ask me.” He gave Adam a shrewd look. “So are you going to tell me what’s really bothering you?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Are you going to see her again?”

Adam grimaced. There was no way out of this. He realized where his sister got her persistence from. “No.”

“Why not?”

They walked through the locker room doors down the hall that led to the racquet ball courts. They made a striking pair and more than one woman stared at them. They were both tall and powerfully built, Kyle with blonde good looks and Adam with darkly handsome features. Adam wished he’d cancelled today’s game. The gym was notorious for being a pick-up joint and he wasn’t in the mood for being hit on. A busty redhead sashayed past him, giving him an inviting smile.

“I asked her to have dinner with me tonight and she refused.”

Kyle stopped dead. Two women walked past them, smiling up at them. Both men were oblivious to their unabashed interest.

Adam glared at Kyle. “Are you just going to stand there?”

“Did I hear you correctly? Did you just say you asked a woman out on a date and she said no?” He let out a low whistle, annoying the hell out of Adam. “Well, I’ll be. Adam Tyler, the alpha male, has finally met his match.”

“Save it.”

The two women walked away, but not before the brunette purred a sultry, “I would have said yes.”

Adam gripped his racquet tighter in his hand. “Come on. Let’s find a court.”

Kyle laughed. “Are you kidding me? We have to talk about this. I don’t think there’s ever been a woman who said no to you.”

“You’d get along great with Kate. She thinks talking’s good, too,” Adam said dryly.

Kyle chuckled. “I like her already.” They passed the first court. It was occupied by two couples. “Is she pretty?”

“Yes.”

“Mm. Maybe you should set her up with me?”

Adam gave his friend a menacing look. “Like hell I will.”

Kyle’s brow rose. “Hey, easy, buddy. I was only kidding.”

Adam had the grace to look ashamed. “I know.”

“Then why do you look like you’re ready to clobber me with your racquet?” His expression turned serious. “Something tells me you should pursue this woman.”

“It would never work. She’s the kind of woman who needs a ring before she sleeps with someone.”

“Did she tell you that?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know?”

“I can tell. Besides, she’s still in love with her ex-boyfriend.”

“Did she tell you that, too?”

“She didn’t have to. She still has all his things in her bathroom.”

Kyle gave him a strange look. “Look, this isn’t any of my business, but have you ever thought it was time to settle down?”

Adam stiffened. “What
didn’t
you and my sister discuss?”

Kyle shrugged. “If you think about it, Dana did have some very good arguments. It’s no secret you’ve had some bad breaks with your ex-girlfriends. You hook up with women who self-destruct on you. Granted they’re all gorgeous and sexy, but they all turn clingy and needy and drive you crazy. Maybe you have been dating the wrong kind of woman.”

“Maybe you and Dana have been spending too much time together.” Adam’s irritation was just about to boil over. And there was no way in hell he was going to tell Kyle he’d sent Kate roses and she hadn’t even called him up to thank him. “Look, it was one date, one night. When she wasn’t getting under my skin, she was insulting me.” He ran a rough hand though his hair. “And when we finally got along, she said she just wanted to be friends.”

“And you still asked her out?”

“It’s complicated.” Was it? Adam wasn’t so sure anymore. The only thing he was sure of was that Kate excited and intrigued him more than any other woman had.

Kyle flicked a blue glance over Adam’s shoulder and a wicked glint appeared on his handsome face. He whistled appreciatively. “Now
she
can get under
my
skin any time.”

Adam’s dark gaze followed his friend’s. He found himself staring at a woman playing in a court alone. Her back was facing him, and she moved effortlessly as she hit the ball with precise moves. His gaze roamed over her shapely body covered in black tights and a lavender body suit. He flicked an appreciative glance at her backside. She was definitely a knockout, from the back, anyway. His gaze dipped lower to her firm calves, and back up to her small waist. Her hair was short, just above the shoulders, and so blonde it almost looked white. She turned a little to the side and he caught a glimpse of her breasts. She had great curves, all in the right places.

What intrigued Adam more, however, was that she played one hell of a game. He was impressed.

“She hits better than you,” he said to Kyle.

The woman, as if sensing them through the glass wall behind her, caught the ball deftly in her right hand and turned around. Her gaze found Adam’s and she smiled provocatively.

“Speaking of which, I think
she
just hit on
you
,” Kyle said.

Adam watched her through hooded eyes. Something about her struck a familiar cord in him.

“Go talk to her,” Kyle urged.

“Another time. Let’s find a court before they’re all taken.”

Adam couldn’t for the life of him get rid of that strange feeling. He practically had to tear his gaze away from her as he began to walk away.

“Are you kidding? She’s sexy and she plays great racquet ball. Look at her.” Adam did look at her. She had returned to her game. His brow knotted into a dark frown. All of a sudden, she missed her step. Before either man knew what happened, she collapsed onto the court. Adam dropped his racquet and ran to her.

The woman sat on the court, rubbing her ankle. Her delicate features were partially shielded by the glossy fall of her pale hair, and when she turned and looked up at him, he felt his breath catch.