Blackmailed Into Bed (12 page)

The latter seemed to be half apology, half threat. Elena thought she should probably be offended, or at least act outraged that he would dictate her actions once they returned home to Gabriel’ s Crossing.

Instead, she felt almost elated. Ten days wasn’ t very long to collect the kind of money her father needed to stave off the Ramsey Corporation, which meant the chances were pretty good that they would need to buy more time. Time she’ d be required to remain with Chase.

That had been the deal, after all. She would play the part of his mistress for as long as it took for her father to raise the funds to save SRS. Just because they would no longer be a practically anonymous couple in the bright lights of Las Vegas didn’ t mean she could go back on her word.

Taking a deep breath, she met his gaze and nodded. “ Of course. I only ask that we be discreet. My family and the rest of world don’ t need to know the details of why we’ ll suddenly be spending so much time together.”

He inclined his head, his fingers dropping from her arm. “ Agreed.”

With that, he turned to open the door and she felt a wave of relief wash through her. She would be spending more time with Chase, after all, rather than being tossed aside like an old pair of gym socks as soon as their plane landed in Texas.

And if she also felt more than a small jab of guilt at hoping it took her father awhile longer to move the family back into the black, she would deal with that later.

They’ d been home nearly a week when Chase called Elena at work. She hadn’ t spoken to him since he’ d dropped her off at the house she shared with her father and sister the afternoon they’ d returned from Las Vegas.

She’ d wondered about him, caught herself jumping whenever the phone rang, half hoping he was calling to demand she spend the night with him. Or even that she accompany him to some dinner or another.

But he hadn’ t, and since she hadn’ t given him her work number, she’ d never expected him to call her there. Of course, she should have known that a man like Chase Ramsey could find her wherever she was, if he put his mind to it.

As always, he got right to the point.

“ My mother invited me to dinner tonight. My brother is going to be there with his wife and daughter and I thought you might like to go and meet everyone.” Before she could respond, he went on. “ No problem if you already have other plans. I’ ll just tell Mom I’ m in the middle of an important business deal and will be working all evening.”

For a minute, Elena didn’ t know what to say. She clutched the phone to her ear, her mouth hanging open in surprise.

He wanted her to meet his family? And if she said no, he wasn’ t going to go at all?

What did that mean? Was he simply being polite, or did he have a more personal, hidden agenda?

Her mind was spinning, her heart racing a mile a minute.

“ U-um,” she stuttered before quickly shaking herself. “ Yes, of course. I’ d love to go.”

“ You’ re sure?” he asked, sounding almost sorry he’ d called. “ Because— ”

“ I’ m sure. My evening is wide open.”

It hadn’ t been, but it would be now. Her sister would understand. They had only been going to the mall, anyway. Something about looking for toys for the children at one of Alandra’ s charities.

“ What time will you be picking me up? Or would you rather I met you there?”

“ No, I’ ll pick you up. Let’ s say… six o’ clock?”

“ Six it is. I’ ll see you then.”

“ Good. Great. See you then.”

The line went dead, leaving Elena to listen to the hum of the dial tone. Slowly, she lowered her arm to hang up, leaving her fingers curled around the earpiece. A second later, she put the phone back to her ear and jabbed out a number she knew by heart.

“ Hello?” her sister answered after only two rings.

Elena spoke only one word: “ Help.”

What should a girl wear to dinner to meet her lover’ s parents and brother? Especially when they were only lovers because he’ d blackmailed her into bed.

That might not be the full reason she was staying in his bed, but it was certainly how he’ d gotten her there to begin with.

Thankfully, she had a sister who was much more savvy about this sort of thing and knew the answers to these kinds of questions. As soon as Elena had called Alandra’ s cell phone with her semi-desperate plea, her sister had dropped everything and met her at home for a full sweep of both their closets.

It was only dinner at his parents’ house, so nothing fancy was required. Instead, she needed something casual but elegant. Attractive and becoming without looking as though she’ d worked at it.

Formal would have been easier, she soon realized. If she were attending a black-tie affair, she would simply have had to throw on something long and sequined with a pair of high heels. But dressing for dinner with Chase’ s family bordered on cruel and unusual punishment.

They immediately crossed blue jeans off the list for being too casual. And a dress of any type for being too fancy. Skirts were borderline, depending on the style and design.

Finally, after two or three hours of feeling like the mannequin for a window designer with multiple personality disorder, Elena held her arms up while Alandra pulled yet another top over her head, then stood back to study her latest creation.

“ I think we’ ve got it,” her sister announced, grinning as she pointed at the mirror for Elena to see for herself.

Elena sighed in relief as she saw that she looked almost perfect. Maybe a little overdressed, but not by much. Especially if Chase came straight from the office and was still wearing his usual suit and tie.

Alandra had decided on a pair of wide-legged black slacks, with one-inch plain black pumps and a periwinkle blue sweater set trimmed with red, white, and black embroidered flowers.

“ Are you sure?” she asked, tugging at the hem of the sweater and turning left and right to view the full effect.

“ Absolutely. You look gorgeous, but not like you’ re trying to impress anyone. If I were meeting my new boyfriend’ s parents for the first time, I’ d wear that exact outfit.”

Elena’ s heart shuddered at her sister’ s words. “ He’ s not my boyfriend,” she said softly, her mouth gone dry as she turned away from the mirror. She couldn’ t quite bring herself to meet Alandra’ s gaze, so she moved to the bed, busying herself with putting earlier discarded garments back on their hangers.

“ You’ re right,” her sister readily agreed. “ He’ s way too cute to be just a ‘ boyfriend.’ He’ s your red-hot secret lover.”

Face flaming, she whirled in Alandra’ s direction, waving a hand and glancing frantically toward the open bedroom door.

“ Shhh,” she hissed, marching past her sister to shut the door to hopefully provide them with a bit more privacy. Just in case. “ No one is supposed to know, remember? And it won’ t be a secret much longer if you keep talking about it at full volume.”

She turned back in time to see Alandra roll her eyes toward the ceiling. “ You’ re going to have to tell people eventually if you keep spending so much time with the man.”

“ I haven’ t spent any time with him. This is the first time he’ s called me all week.”

“ Yes, but you flew to Vegas with him and stayed there almost a week.”

Elena crossed her arms beneath her breasts and tapped her foot on the carpeted floor in agitation. “ I flew to Vegas on business,” she corrected. “ No one knows I went with Chase or what we did while we were there.”

“ I know,” Alandra murmured pointedly, crossing her arms in a mirror image of her sister’ s pose.

Elena raised a brow. “ What are you saying? That you’ re going to blackmail me, too?”

Honestly, was she giving off pheromones to signal that she was ripe for the picking? She’ d gone thirty-three years without being bribed or strong-armed into anything, and now she was about to be manipulated twice in the same month. And once by her sister, no less!

But Alandra quickly put the quash on any concerns about that.

“ Of course not! What kind of sister do you think I am?”

Dropping her arms, she stalked forward and took Elena’ s hand, tugging her to the set of pastel-striped armchairs by the window.

When they were both seated, Alandra said, “ I’ m worried about you, Elena. First you tell me you’ re being coerced into sleeping with this guy to help Pop save the company. And I understood your reasons for going through with it, really I did. I’ d have probably done the same thing. But now you’ re standing here nervous about meeting the man’ s parents and worrying over what to wear when you do. Do you realize what that means?”

Elena blinked. It meant she was nervous about meeting Chase’ s parents, and that she wasn’ t the ever self-assured fashion plate her sister was, didn’ t it?

“ It means you care,” Alandra informed her gently. “ If this were just a business arrangement, you wouldn’ t care how you looked tonight. You’ d have probably gone in the same outfit you wore to work today and not given it a second thought.”

“ That’ s not true. I care how I look,” Elena protested, but the words came out with so little confidence, even she didn’ t believe it.

“ Of course you do. But you looked fine in what you were wearing this morning. And that song you were humming when you got home from Vegas tells me you weren’ t exactly chained up in Chase Ramsey’ s bed all week, forced to be his love slave against your will. I think,” Alandra added, tipping her head to the side, “ things between you are starting to get serious.”

Elena swallowed past the lump in her throat, her heart pounding like a kettledrum. Once again, she was reminded that she could keep no secrets from a sister who knew her so well. For better or worse, Alandra could see straight through any attempts at subterfuge.

The air shuddered from her lungs. Her shoulders slumped and she let her chin fall to her chest. “ I’ m in trouble,” she admitted, barely loud enough to be heard.

Her sister leaned forward, her expression going serious as she laid a hand on Elena’ s knee. “ You’ re in love with him?” she asked.

Elena shook her head, slowly, almost as though she couldn’ t quite believe it herself. “ I don’ t know, but I think I’ m close.”

She raised her head and met her sister’ s understanding eyes as her own started to sting and grow damp. “ I’ m really, really close.”

Nine

B etween her nerves over meeting Chase’ s parents and her disturbing conversation with Alandra before leaving, Elena’ s stomach was in knots. Her palms were sweating, her knees were shaking and every once in a while, her chest tightened so much, she could barely draw a breath.

When Chase pulled up to the house at six on the dot, Elena made her sister stay in her room. The last thing she needed was for Alandra to race down the stairs to catch a glimpse of him or be caught peering around the corner like a child on Christmas morning, trying to catch Santa Claus piling presents under the tree.

But even though Alandra bided by her wishes and stayed out of sight, Elena knew she was watching from the upstairs window as Chase helped her into the car and they pulled away.

On the drive, she tried to make small talk, tried to respond with some modicum of sensibility when Chase spoke. But inside, her blood and muscles and bones felt as though they’ d been touched by a live wire. She was surprised he didn’ t notice a glow in her eyes or sparks shooting from her fingertips.

The Ramsey ranch was on the other side of Gabriel’ s Crossing, but they still arrived much too soon for Elena’ s peace of mind. Chase’ s shiny silver luxury car bumped down a long, rutted dirt driveway, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them.

A dark blue pickup truck was already parked in front of the house. Chase pulled up beside it and cut the engine.

For a moment, they sat there, neither one making a move to get out. Elena stared at the front door, fully expecting it to fly open and the stuff of nightmares to pour out.

Alandra was right; it meant something. Despite her better judgment, she was falling for Chase, and falling hard. And for some reason, whether or not his parents liked her felt like a very big deal.

She wished it didn’ t. She wished she could convince herself that this was merely another business dinner he’ d asked her to attend. Meeting his parents felt entirely too much like something a girlfriend would do.

A girlfriend, not a mistress.

The click of the door latch releasing on Chase’ s side of the car interrupted her thoughts and she hurried to open her own and climb to her feet. Brushing her hands on the legs of her slacks, she took a deep breath and tried to calm the jumble of anxiety tightening her stomach.

She was his mistress, she reminded herself as brutally as she could. Not his girlfriend, not his fiancée, not even, really, his lover. This might be his family, but to her, they were simply another group of strangers she needed to entertain and impress to fulfill her part of the bargain.

Chase met her at the front of the car, only steps from the narrow porch that ran the full length of the front of the house.

“ Ready?” he asked, seeming to sense her reluctance, even though she was doing her best to tame it.

She swallowed hard and let him take her hand, pasting on a wide smile she didn’ t quite feel. “ Of course.”