“I don’t mean to overstep boundaries, but is there something unusual going on in your personal life?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You’ve been very distracted lately and your moods are all over the place.” Vanessa was an impeccable employee. Forty-five, caramel-skinned, always professionally dressed and well put together. She also didn’t pry into his private life, not usually. But that could have been because up until now he hadn’t had much of a private life.
“Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.” On his wild lunchtime encounter with Katie.
“On the warehouse-condo renovations?”
“Yeah,” he lied, “that’s it.”
She crossed the room, settled some files on his desk. “These contracts need your signature.”
“Thanks.” He nodded.
Vanessa started to leave, but stopped at the door. “Oh, and one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“Finn Delancy’s secretary called from the mayor’s office.”
“What?” He planted both palms on his desk and shot to his feet. Irrationally, his first thought was, He’s finally calling to acknowledge he’s my father. “When?”
“Just a few minutes ago.” Her eyes narrowed. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine,” Liam said curtly, his pulse pounding in his temple. “What did Delancy want?”
“Why, to invite you to a dinner party at his house. That whole Young Bostonian thing has the city buzzing about you. Plus, he might want to put the squeeze on you for a campaign contribution.”
Here it was. A second chance to confront Delancy in public. Honestly, he’d been so wrapped up in Katie that he’d almost forgotten about his vendetta against Delancy.
Almost.
“When’s the party?” he asked.
“This Wednesday at eight. Should I tell him you’re available?”
Liam swallowed hard, curled his hands into fists. “You bet.”
“I’ll let his PA know.” Vanessa headed for the door, but paused when she reached it and turned back. “Oh, he’s expecting you to bring a date.”
EMPOWERED BY the bold thing she’d done during her lunch hour, Katie called Lindsay Beckham the minute she sank into the chair behind her desk at Sharper Designs.
“Chassys bar.”
“Is this Lindsay?”
“It is. Who’s speaking?”
“Katie Winfield.”
“Yes?”
“I did it.”
“Did what?” the unflappable blonde asked. Even over the phone, she sounded cool and utterly in control.
“My Martini dare. You know, I made love in a forbidden place.”
“Good for you.” Was it her imagination or was there a self-satisfied note in Lindsay’s voice? “And the object of your affections? What did he think about the dare?”
Katie grinned, thinking of the wiped-out expression on Liam’s face. “I’m quite confident he liked it, too. Although I never told him that he was part of a dare.”
“Excellent. As you know, you’re sworn to secrecy about the details of your Martini dares. Are you ready for the next one?”
Katie sucked in her breath. Was she? Her encounter with Liam had been so intimately erotic she wasn’t sure she was emotionally ready for another dare.
“You have to complete all three dares before next month’s Martinis and Bikinis meeting,” Lindsay reminded her.
“Yeah, okay, sure, send it my way.”
“That’s the spirit.” Lindsay chuckled. “I’ll put the new dare in the mail today.”
“What was that all about?” Tanisha asked, after Katie had hung up.
“Um, nothing,” she hedged.
“You’ve been acting very odd lately,” Tanisha said. “Ever since Max made you art director. I think it’s going to your head.”
“It’s not going to my head,” she denied.
“No?” Tanisha looked as if she didn’t believe it for a second.
“No.”
“Well, something’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“You-” she pointed a pitiless finger “-are seriously into denial.”
Feeling badgered, she crossed her arms over her chest. “What makes you think something is wrong?”
“Because your skirt’s on backward.”
Katie looked down and saw that Tanisha was right. Her zipper was twisted around to the front, not in the back where it belonged. It must have happened in the theatre.
Her face heated. Good grief, she was seriously into denial.
Denial that her feelings for Liam were growing too fast and too strong.
Tanisha narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Have you fallen off the cold-turkey wagon? Where were you during your lunch hour?”
Thankfully, her extension rang and she snatched up the receiver to avoid answering her friend’s probing questions.
“Katie?”
She caught a skittish breath. The sound of Liam’s voice, as spellbinding as snake-charmer music, curled through her body. Her tongue was cemented to the roof of her mouth and her hand tightened around the receiver. A dozen erotic images erupted in her mind.
She recalled the way he had looked at the movie theatre, muscles coiled tight, face scrunched up in ecstasy. Her hands tingled, recalling how her fingers had brushed against the smooth skin of his strong, clean-shaven jaw. Her nose twitched in memory of the tangy scent their lovemaking generated. Her mouth watered and her sex clenched with electric shivers. She wanted to do it again.
And soon.
But it wasn’t just the physical act, and her enjoyment of it, that had her aching to be joined with him again. What she remembered most about their adventure in the theatre, what frayed her heart with an emotion she didn’t want to think about, was the way he’d tenderly cupped her face in his hands. He’d stared deeply into her eyes and then kissed her lightly, tenderly, the moment after they’d climaxed together.
“Katie,” he repeated.
“Uh-huh,” she whispered, her pulse skipped a zealous message to her brain. I want him.
“I know this is short notice,” he apologized, “but are you free on Wednesday night?”
“Um…what’s up?”
“Mayor Delancy is having a dinner party at his house and I need a date. Can you come with me?”
Can I come with you? That was a loaded question if she’d ever heard one. “I’d love to.”
“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty.” He rang off without another word.
Katie hung up, feeling a strange mix of emotions-anticipation mingled with sheepishness and a light dusting of bafflement. She’d been a flirt since childhood. Teasing men, leading them on and then taking off when things got too serious for her to handle. She liked keeping guys off balance, making them unsure of where they stood with her.
But Liam was different. Here he’d gone and asked her for a last-minute date and she hadn’t hesitated. In the past-with any other guy-she would have pretended she had another date. Instead, she eagerly accepted Liam’s invitation without thinking twice. How messed up was that?
Katie put a hand to her stomach, alarmed. Something very strange was happening to her. Something she could not control or explain.
And she wasn’t at all sure she liked the path she was headed down.
9
LIAM PACED his penthouse apartment, his nerves shredded, even though he was loath to admit Finn Delancy held that much power over him. Tough guys didn’t get nervous over being the guest of honor at dinner parties thrown by their illegitimate fathers.
The only thing that calmed him was the knowledge that he would have Katie by his side. She knew how to successfully navigate blue-blooded waters. One ally. That was all he needed to give him the strength to confront the man he’d never called father.
He picked Katie up in his Lamborghini at seven-thirty on the dot. She opened the door looking exactly like what she was-a well-bred Boston Brahmin. She wore a little black cocktail dress that fit her curves perfectly and showcased her sleek blond hair. The dress showed enough cleavage to be enticing without being vulgar. The skirt hem hit right above her knees. Not too long, not too short.