Spiraling Deception (5 page)

“
Thanks, Court,” I
whispered and wrapped my arms around her to pull her in for a hug.
After a few seconds of rocking back and forth in each other’s arms,
she pulled back and grinned at me. I grinned back at
her.

“
And you, handsome…” She
turned toward Jake. “Made me horny as hell just watching
you.”

Jake threw his arm around Courtney and
tucked her into his side. “Court, babe, you say that after every
performance.”

“
Yeah, well, because it’s
true.” She gave him a wink and added, “Now let’s party.”

Catching Courtney’s eyes,
I mouthed
thank-you
to her, and the three of us made our way into the
ballroom.

I stood to the side of the room as I watched
waiters dressed in white dinner jackets and carrying silver trays
with numerous bottles of wine atop flow fluidly among the chateau’s
guests. Courtney had coaxed Jake into dancing with her on the dance
floor, along with some of the members of the troupe, while the rest
were scattered around the room and enjoying the celebrations.

Everyone appeared to be having a great time,
except me. I silently counted down the minutes before an acceptable
time had passed and I could finally leave. An antique claw-footed
bathtub called my name from several floors above and I couldn’t
wait to be intimately acquainted with it. At least the white wine I
devoured by the glassful was delicious: light, sweet, and
delectably fruity. Although I wasn’t a wine connoisseur by any
stretch, I did have one hell of a sweet tooth, so I was also
thinking another glass might hit the spot.

“
Mademoiselle Charli.” The
sound of Henri’s voice pulled my gaze from the dance floor and I
turned toward him. “I would like to introduce Monsieur Knight, the
owner of Chateau Mon Desire and our host for this
evening.”

With a small smile, my
gaze flickered over to the man who stood casually beside Henri and
immediately the smile dissolved. Involuntarily, my lips parted and
a small gasp escaped them. Heat fused up my neck and into my cheeks
as the sound of my heartbeat thundered in my ears, pumping in
double time. It was
him—
the stranger from earlier that
evening. The
jerk
who’d nearly ruined my routine.

Piercing dark eyes drilled into mine,
reluctantly captivating my gaze once again. We stared at each other
in silence for a few moments before the sound of Henri clearing his
throat broke the spell.

Using the distraction of Henri’s voice, I
used the time to survey the man before me. So this was the man
who’d caused me to falter for the first time ever in my career and
almost derailed my routine.

He was…savagely beautiful, purely masculine
and now that I had the opportunity to see him in the light, he was
very, very tall—at least six three. With broad shoulders and a
narrow waist, he looked stunningly sophisticated in his three-piece
suit. It was obviously tailor-made for him.

His hair was rich black—thick with a natural
wave and artfully tousled to perfection. It looked soft, really
soft, and my fingers had the sudden urge to run themselves through
those silky locks.

Wait. Where in hell did
that thought come from?
Shaking my head, I
continued with my perusal.

Along with his straight, defined nose, he
had full, perfectly shaped lips and dark slashing eyebrows. His
complexion was olive, and his aristocratically strong jaw was
stippled in what appeared to be a carefully manicured five o’clock
shadow. Normally that combination—too long to be considered stubble
and too short for a beard—would have looked out of place on any
other man wearing an expensive three-piece suit and attending a
formal function like tonight. However, with this man, it equally
portrayed him as both suavely refined and roguishly defiant.

He cleared his throat and raised a brow.
“Charli, is it?”

Good God, his voice was
deep and smooth like honey.
And
surprisingly, his accent was…American—West Coast maybe, with that
distinctive lilt.

“
Er…yes. Charli Gilmore.”
I wasn’t sure what I was actually saying to him; those probing dark
eyes of his were too disconcerting. “Umm…all my friends call me
Charli, which is short for Charlotte.” I shrugged, hoping to God I
was at least making some sense. The man was just so handsome—it
hurt to look at him.

“
Hmm…” he replied
noncommittally, but I noticed those full lips of his twitch into
the barest hint of a smile. He appeared to be considering something
but the momentary silence between us only compounded the
awkwardness.

“
Well, it’s a pleasure to
meet you, Charlotte Gilmore,” he finally said. “I’m Roman
Knight.”

Roman Knight. Even his name was suave and
sophisticated.

Taking me completely by surprise, he
suddenly extended his large, masculine hand out toward me. I
flinched at first and then eventually placed my much smaller hand
in his. His gaze flickered down to our connected hands; mine
followed and together in silence we watched as his fingers wrapped
around mine in a firm grasp.

Heat suffused through my palm from our
connection and slowly made its way up my arm. I went to withdraw my
hand from his but he just held it tighter.

Frowning, I glanced back up and from my
peripheral vision I could see Henri slink away. My eyes swung back
to Roman. We were alone—off to one side of the room, almost nestled
entirely within a small alcove—and Roman Knight, the owner of this
breathtaking chateau and the man who just also happened to be
playing havoc on my equilibrium, still held my freaking hand. And
he refused to let go. The frown on my face turned into a scowl and
I bit my lip.

He took a step closer, totally invading my
personal space and bent forward, his mouth a whisper from my ear.
The warm breath from his lips ruffled the hair at my temple as he
murmured softly, “Don’t look so frightened, Charlotte. I promise I
don’t bite.”

He pulled back slightly. A wicked smirk
curved his lips. “Unless you want me to, that is.”

My shoulders stiffened and I forcibly jerked
my hand from his grip. Not only did I find his comment impertinent,
but also I was annoyed at myself for feeling the little spike of
pleasure I’d experienced at his closeness.

“
Try never,” I sneered,
noting with further irritation that his dark, fathomless eyes shone
back at me in amusement. Eyes I also now noticed were not a dark
brown like I’d initially thought, but were in fact a molten
midnight-blue.

“
Excuse me,” I said in the
frostiest tone I could manage, and turned in preparation to
leave.

He may have been the most breathtakingly
gorgeous man I’d ever seen in my life but clearly he was also the
most egotistical one I’d met too.

“
Not so fast, Princess,”
he drawled as he grabbed my wrist firmly. “We haven’t finished
talking.”

I spun back around and glared at the
arrogant jerk. “You may not be done, Mr. Knight, but I certainly
am.”

He didn’t reply and neither of us spoke for
several long minutes. We just stood facing each other like some
kind of weird Mexican standoff until Uncle Mike sidled up beside
us.

“
Charli,” greeted Uncle
Mike warmly and placed a kiss on my cheek. “Mr. Knight. So good to
see you again, sir.”

Huh?
When did Uncle Mike meet Knight?

“
Mr. Lawson.” Roman
inclined his head in acknowledgment. Politeness laced his
tone.

His grip on my wrist loosened marginally;
however, he didn’t relinquish his hold altogether. Instead, sliding
his palm up and over my elbow while he maintained eye contact with
Uncle Mike, Roman gently maneuvered me around to his left side, and
then placed his hand on the small of my back. And for some crazy
ass reason, I didn’t think to protest, but rather my mouth gaped
open, flabbergasted at his audacity.

“
The entire performance
tonight was highly entertaining. You have a very talented team, Mr.
Lawson.”

“
Thank you. I hope
everyone enjoyed themselves.” Uncle Mike beamed. “It was truly an
honor for the troupe to be invited all this way here to
perform.”

“
Unfortunately, I can’t
take credit. It was Henri who discovered your act. According to
Henri, your troupe was performing in Sonoma last year when he was
there on business. It made quite the impression on him and after
tonight’s performance, I concur. The entire show was thoroughly
mesmerizing.”

On the word
mesmerizing
, Roman
turned his compelling dark gaze back to me.
And there sprints my heartbeat.

“
And I see you’ve met my
niece, Charli.” Uncle Mike threw me a wink.

“
Indeed. Charlotte and I
were just getting better acquainted.”

Uncle Mike’s eyes moved between Roman’s and
mine with a mixture of surprise and confusion. “Oh. Oh, good,” he
muttered, his brows puckered.

“
Have you also met my son
Jake, Charli’s performing partner?” He gestured behind him with a
flick of his wrist. I looked over Uncle Mike’s shoulder and spotted
Jake and Courtney walking toward us, their arms around each other
and smiling.

“
Hey,” said Jake in way of
greeting when the two of them reached our little huddle.

I sighed. The whole scene had become
exasperating. I wanted to be as far away as possible from the man
beside me and I wanted to be alone. Alone to enjoy some peace and
quiet while soaking in a nice, long, hot bubble bath—an exquisitely
beautiful antique bath that even now beckoned me with the promise
of relaxation and solitude.

“
Hey,” I greeted. My gaze
shifted to Courtney, who stared open-mouthed, gawking unashamedly
at Roman.

I sighed again.
Yes, Court, the man is stunning—shame about his
personality
, I silently
thought.

“
Hi kids.” Uncle Mike
moved back to accommodate Jake and Courtney in our now expanding
huddle. “I’d like you both to meet Mr. Knight, our host for the
evening and the owner of this amazing chateau.”

Roman extended his hand to Jake. “Please,
call me Roman.”

“
Wait—you
own
this awesome place?”
breathed Courtney. Her hand struck out to shake Roman’s next. She
was so totally crushing on the jerk.

“
I do.” He nodded, and I
rolled my eyes as Courtney, my best friend, swooned. Freaking
swooned!

“
Wow,” breathed
Courtney,
again
.

Geez, what’s with the breathy voice all of a
sudden, Court?

Our little group began to talk among
themselves, mainly Courtney and Jake asking Roman questions about
the chateau—when it was built, the history, etc. However, I was
entirely too aware and focused on the proximity of Roman’s body to
mine. The sides of our arms would touch intermittently and damn it,
with every little brush of his shoulder against mine, electricity
would spark and ignite along my arms. It was maddening and
irritating and what annoyed me further was the effortless charisma
he wielded in charming my friends. He was witty, conversational,
and even stupidly amusing. From the expressions on their faces, he
had them eating out of the palm of his hand. Boy, did Knight have
them fooled!

For the most part, I kept
stubbornly silent throughout their exchange, still smarting from
his earlier jerk-
ish
comments. And just when I thought things couldn’t get
more…uncomfortable, a waiter came by carrying a tray filled with
more of that delectable sweet wine in elegant crystal-stemmed
glasses and my mouth watered. Wordlessly, Roman plucked a glass
from the tray and handed it to me without breaking stride in his
conversation with the others. It was as if he could read my
freaking mind.

The considerate jerk!

Disturbingly, the intimate gesture
aggravated me further. I was tired, my feet were killing me, and I
really couldn’t stand anymore of this awkward pretending. His
fingers began to trace little tiny circles around the base of my
spine. The heat of his touch on my bare skin sent spikes of
awareness right to the center of my pelvis—it was maddening. His
touch was driving me crazy with lust and it was insufferable.

As I peered up at Roman
from under my lashes, it was a tossup as to whether I really wanted
to punch him in his smugly arrogant handsome face or climb him like
a tree and lick those full, sensual lips. Lips, which I now
noticed, had the most annoyingly suggestive way of sipping from a
wine glass.
Argh!!!

Really!
The whole running his tongue slowly, sensually,
along his full lower lip after every sip was a little too
much.
Who does that?

“
And what do you think of
France so far, Charlotte?” Roman looked directly into my eyes and I
startled at the sound of his voice directed toward me. By the curl
of his mouth, he knew I’d been staring at him.

He then shifted his tall, lean, well-dressed
body and faced me head on. Those gorgeous midnight-blue eyes of his
narrowed slightly. The small grin that played around the edges of
his mouth grew into a full-fledged smile. It was blindingly
dazzling.

The jerk!

Clearing my throat, I
stood straighter. “Well, what little I’ve seen
so far,
which to be honest isn’t
much, I’m afraid—really only the drive from the airport to here—but
what I’ve seen has been beautiful…more than beautiful,
actually.”