Past Lies Page 4

  His lips twitched. “Careful now,” he murmured. “I might start to think you’ve eaten a whole meal in the last month.”

  Anna bit back the words she wanted to lash at him.

  There had been a gleam to his eyes. He knew she was trying to stay polite. And he was deliberately goading her. No. Calm. She was calm. He could be childish if he wanted—

  The smile on his mouth widened.

  And that need to slap him shot back.

  “Don’t even think it, Anna.”

  “What?”

  He leaned in close and Anna forced herself not to shrink away. The warmth of his breath stirred her skin. She bit her lip. His mouth, so close, almost touching…

  “Misbehave. I dare you.” The softly spoken words sent a shiver deep through her body. “And it will give me the very good excuse to put you over my knee and spank you.”

  His words infused her with a promise of pleasure…and her stupid, stupid imagination ran with so much more. Anna could feel his lips curve into a smile over the sensitive shell of her ear. She remembered the heat of his mouth, the taste of him, large hands moulding—

  Her fingers gripped her knees to stop their trembling.

  This was insane.

  “Misbehave, Anna.” A ripple of quiet laughter had her nails digging deep. “I double dare you.”

  This was why she hated him.

  He could reduce her to a shuddering wreck in moments and to him it was all a game. Not that she could care for a man like Zach. No. A quivering mess she might be, but she was not completely stupid.

  Anna took a steadying breath. “You don’t want to start this, Zach.”

  “Why?”

  That one little word tempted her. To lose herself and the week in him.

  And then reality crashed into her daydream.

  It would all have to come out, the lies that had twisted the last six years. No. She didn’t do relationships. And seven days was a relationship to her. Had been since that short, disastrous engagement to Freddie Lewis.

  Thoughts of Freddie made her cringe.

  Zach stilled.

  “You’re right.” His voice was cold, clipped.

  He sat back and chill air replaced the warmth of his breath, the brush of his lips. Sensible. It was sensible. Teenage hormones couldn’t influence her now. But she couldn’t look at him.

  Zach knew how attractive he was to women. How he could turn them to mush with a single glance, a few whispered words.

  It was obvious. Even with her, a woman he hated, that it was a game he couldn’t stop himself playing.

  Anna made herself look out of the window. She blinked. She knew the way to his central office. This wasn’t it.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To lunch.”

  “Lunch? But I thought…”

  His smile was cutting. “…that you could enjoy watching my befuddled senior executives simper over you?” The Bentley turned onto a side road and stopped before the entrance to a luxurious hotel. The chauffeur climbed out.

  Anna let the seat belt slide back into place. This was why Zach had frowned at her choice of clothes. She could feel the heat already staining her cheeks.

  The chauffeur opened the passenger door and she murmured her thanks. Anna swung her legs out and tried not to let the general public see any more of her thighs. It would be laughable. It would. If she wasn’t so mortified.

  “Shall we?” Zach offered his arm.

  Anna’s fingers curled into his arm, pressing the soft, cool material of his sleeve. Up the steps to the dark wooded revolving door. Anna pushed her way inside, caught the narrowed eye of the smartly dressed man behind the wide curve of the desk…until he found Zach following after her.

  The man’s expression slid into a well-rehearsed simper.

  “Welcome, Mr. Quinn.” He waved a finger at a porter. “Please show—”

  “That’s all right, thank you, Edward. I know the way.”

  His arm was on offer again.

  Fine. A formal lunch. Sharing a meal with a few of the very senior executives. She may have even met them before, so the awkward explaining of who she was exactly would be easier. She would sit, have incredible food, they would talk figures and acronyms about which she’d know nothing. It would be an almost pleasant afternoon…

  A man in a smart black uniform, smiling, opened a door.

  …or not.

  Every head turned.

  There had to be fifty, sixty of them at least, crowding the sumptuous and ornately gilded room. In reflex, her fingers dug into Zach’s arm. She could feel her cheeks burning.

  “My father’s memorial lunch.”

  Anna’s stomach hit her feet. Gregory’s will had dragged Zach away from this. “I…I didn’t know.”

  “Really?” His voice was sharp. “I thought you dressed for the occasion.”

  Damn it. It looked that way.

  Had Gregory’s will also held a stipulation on when it should be read? He had wanted them to be public. And parading them in front of all of the company’s senior people, Zach’s family and friends…

  Had Sofia realised?

  She’d tutted over Anna’s conservative and staid wardrobe. Said she had something in her own vast collection of clothes that was a little too big on her.

  Damn her. This wasn’t a joke. Sofia had made it cruel.

  Waiters had already set an extra place and Anna slipped into her seat.

  Silent.

  The whole room was silent, staring at them, at her.

  Anna remembered to breathe, focused her attention briefly on the gleaming silver cutlery before she lifted her gaze and stitched a practiced, social smile on her mouth. Sofia revelled in attention. Always had, always would. For Anna, it was torture.

  She could already feel the trickle of sweat at the base of her spine.

  And she didn’t know anyone at the table.

  Seconds stretched, pulling at Anna’s already taut nerves. She deconstructed the intricate fold of her napkin. Zach could at least introduce her.

  “This is Gregory’s sister-in-law,” he said, rearranging his own napkin. “Anna Shrewsbury.”

  A waiter poured wine, murmured something to Zach and then vanished.

  “Sofia’s sister?”

  Anna stopped feeling sorry for Zach in that instant. She held the speaker’s heated gaze, felt the man sizing her up in comparison to her sister. The linen napkin covered her thighs. For that, she was very grateful. However, Sofia’s reputation covered her too. Men made assumptions. “Yes.”

  The man’s attention slid from her to Zach. “So, known each other long?”

  “Yes.”

  Zach had paused. She could imagine the anger surging behind that civilised façade.

  Tough.

  She had been mauled once too often.

  Anna’s fingers closed around the wineglass. It was better she admit that than have the man sitting next to her grope her leg through what remained of the meal.

  The wine was cold and tart. She focused her attention on that and the square plate the waiter slid in front of her. The warmed scent of orange, red onion, of langoustines artfully arranged made her stomach tighten with hunger.

  Yes, breakfast had been a rushed slice of toast and lukewarm coffee.

  A trickle of conversation started again around her table.

  Fine. Zach wasn’t introducing anyone. And they seemed more than happy to stay anonymous.

  “No games, Anna.”

  His soft voice made her fingers press hard around her cutlery. Gooseflesh prickled her skin. But she made herself look up, ignore his stern expression. “No games, Zach.” She smiled and pointed her fork at him. “But making people aware whose sister I am?” She turned back to her plate. “That just invites trouble.”

  “I’m sure under normal circumstances you are able to…” He paused. “…handle…any problem. But this week, that is not an option. Are we clear?”

  Her fork speared the flesh of a Du
blin bay prawn. “Perfectly.” Her attention slid to him. “I’m sure I can abstain for one whole week.” The fork slipped into her mouth and with satisfaction, she watched the anger fire through him. Let him imply that she slept with any man who asked her.

  She stared back at her plate.

  It was a myth she had been weaving around herself for six years.

  And it kept her safe.

  From him.

  ˜™

  Zach stopped himself from scrubbing at his face.

  That Gregory could do this to him.

  Him.

  No.

  He didn’t want to think ill of Gregory Brabant. The man had been more than a partner to him over the previous twelve years. He ignored the grief that burned through his gut. No. Not thinking ill of him. But Zach really wanted a very sharp word with the old man.

  His gaze slid involuntarily over Anna’s exquisite profile, her dark, bobbed hair curling under her jaw. Her lips closed around the spoon, her eyes drifting shut and he heard her sigh…

  Damn her. She was doing it deliberately.

  Zach unclenched his teeth.

  A week of this.

  Her scent was something gently vanilla mixed with the familiar warm aroma of her skin. It had been years since he had been this close to her for this long. And that denial had sent him slightly insane. That had to be the excuse. Had to be.

  He threw his linen napkin onto the table, drawing her unwanted attention. Deep brown eyes held him, sparked with wry humour. “Not to your taste?” Her smile was teasing and Zach found it hard to pull his thoughts away from her lips, remembering how his teeth—

  “No.” Good. His voice was steady, controlled. He had given up on Anna a long time ago. It was her life. And he, very wisely, had stayed the hell out of it. “But I’m glad to see you’ve rediscovered eating.”

  A flash of anger burned through her, staining a blush across her flawless skin. His gut tightened. Damn it, he had to stop goading her but her anger aroused him. It always had.

  “It’s still early, but I’m thinking of the winter.”

  And then Andrew Wood took her attention again, fat fingers mauling her shoulder. She gave him the same bright smile.

  Gregory had to be laughing himself into fits.

  Gregory had been besotted with his wife, focusing all his attentions onto Sofia, to the exclusion of the business, his friends, everything. But Zach knew Gregory hadn’t been totally blind, had been aware of how he…reacted…to his sister-in-law.

  No.

  Zach put Anna from his mind, tried to find interest in the chatter of the woman to his right, but one thought preoccupied him. This was his father’s memorial lunch. He had to keep fixed in his mind how a scheming woman, intent only on money, power and position, had duped and betrayed his father.

  And Zach hadn’t spoken to his mother in twelve years.

  A waiter appeared at Andrew Wood’s shoulder, murmuring.

  Andrew pushed his chair back. “Would you excuse me? Important phone call.”

  Zach watched Wood’s gaze slide possessively over Anna, a blunt fingertip tracing along her shoulder. He couldn’t catch the man’s rushed whisper.

  “I warned you, Anna…”

  She straightened and pulled at the hem of her short jacket. Absently, her fingers played with the white linen napkin still covering her legs. She looked up and her eyes were bright, sharp. Her lips pursed, before she said, “He’s just offering what men always offer.”

  Her words were a kick to his gut. “Really?”

  “You should know.”

  She smiled up at the waiter who poured her coffee, then drank the steaming, black liquid. Her eyes closed, briefly, before turning back to him. Her lips had reddened with the heat and Zach found it difficult to focus on anything else.

  “How much longer is this going to go on?”

  He blinked. “Not much longer. Why? Planning an assignation with Andrew?” A scorch of anger burned through him. To imagine that man pawing her… “Need I remind you that your social calendar is filled for the next week?”

  The slight blush to her cheeks only intensified the burn of red to her mouth. “Not by you, Zach.” Brown eyes fixed on him. “Never by you.”

  His blood thrummed. Her denial perversely intensified his need. He’d been hard from the second he saw her in Petersen’s office. The damn woman was going to kill him.

  No.

  She was right.

  And he was taunted by that difficult, bitter lesson.

  Still, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Are you so sure?”

  Her eyes darkened. There was a rapid pulse at the base of her throat. The destructive desire for each other still pulsed between them. Always had. Probably always would.

  “Yes. I am.”

  He couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his mouth. She sounded so certain. He picked up his coffee and relaxed back into his chair. She couldn’t be that naïve. Not anymore. Zach cut out those thoughts. He would not think about why she was no longer naïve.

  “We have a deal, Anna.”

  “And you seem to forget that.” She put her cup down, refusing a refill from the waiter. Her breathing was unnatural, controlled. Colour still slashed her cheeks. “Neither of us wanted this, Zach.”

  He knew her too well. She was never as overblown as Sofia, but Anna loved her little fits of pique. “Oh, I’m sure you’re just making the best of a bad situation.” He followed the path Andrew Wood had taken. “And you’re not using this week to…fish.”

  She was also staring at the doors. The colour deepened in her cheeks and her gaze dropped to her coffee cup. A finger traced the white rim. “He said—”

  “I don’t need the details, Anna.”

  She closed her eyes. Long lashes brushed her cheeks and Zach was surprised to see the delicate veins in her eyelids. He ignored the twist in his gut. It made her look vulnerable. Anna? Vulnerable? A wry smile pulled at his mouth. The woman really did have every trick.

  “Zach…”

  That tremble in her voice. His mouth flattened. He could feel the lies brewing. “What?”

  She winced. “I want…”

  Her dark eyes were extra bright. His chest tightened. Was she going to cry? Oh, Sofia had taught her sister well. “What, Anna?”

  Her gaze dropped again. “What he just said…” She took a deep breath. “I need to—”

  “No!”

  He did not want to know what she needed from a man like Andrew Wood.

  “Fine.” Anna put her napkin on the table. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  “Where are you going?”

  Brown eyes, angry, bright, held him. “I’m sure Gregory would allow me to go to the ladies on my own.”

  And she was gone.

  Zach watched her leave the room, weaving through the tables, her long, lithe form, clad in that amazing red, reflected and re-reflected in the suite’s many mirrors. The sway of her hips. And that skirt. It revealed an utterly indecent amount of perfect, pale thigh.

  Too many others followed her progress.

  His jaw tightened.

  Damn it.

  Anna’s affect on him should’ve been a relic of his past.

  “Zach, we have to go…” His father’s cousin broke into his thoughts.

  Yes, his guests were starting to leave.

  Zach struggled to his feet, had to focus on them, smile, agree with their comments about how wonderful his father had been, how he was still sorely missed. Guilt tugged at him. It was his father’s memorial lunch. That’s where his mind should be. Not trapped by the thoughts of Anna.

  He had to look at his watch. Fifteen minutes.

  What was she doing?

  He scanned the room. But it was just him and usual die-hard stragglers.

  Normally, he relaxed, chatted with remaining people, arranged to move onto the bar. He looked at his watch again. Twenty minutes.

  And Andrew Wood hadn’t returned either.

 
His gut was tight.

  The woman would not jeopardise his rightful share of the company.

  He was in the quiet of the corridor before he realised he’d moved. He buttoned his jacket, smoothed his hand over his tie. There was the chatter of the people behind him and soft shoes on the thick carpet. Anna?

  No.

  “Can I help you, Mr. Quinn?”

  “Ah…” He paused. He needed to find her. He expelled a slow breath. “Have you seen one of my guests? A tall woman, dressed in red?”

  The porter’s polite façade didn’t slip and he pointed back along the corridor. “I believe I saw her and a gentleman—”

  Zach was running. The bloody woman would not embarrass him. Not today. Especially not today. He stopped when he burst into the foyer. Steady breaths, his gaze everywhere. The porters were busy with newly arrived customers…too many doors, staircases, alcoves—

  There.

  The unmistakeable flash of that red suit.

  Outside the lifts. With Andrew Wood.

  A raw surge of fury powered him forward. To think that once he’d wanted this woman. Zach crushed those thoughts. No. He had saved himself from another very public scandal.

  Anna was poison.

  Yes. And his for the week.

  His hands curled into bloodless fists.

  But when this was over, he would never see her again. Ever.

  ˜™

  “Leaving so soon, Andrew?” Zach’s arm wound around her waist, fingers tight.

  Anna released a slow breath. She had been monumentally stupid. She hadn’t flirted with Andrew Wood during lunch. She hadn’t. She’d just been polite and hoped that Zach would misconstrue that attention. Which he had.

  Good. Fine. She would try anything that kept him at arm’s length.

  But then Andrew made his vile suggestion. And it had hit her. How people viewed her. How she had played into that view, thinking it protected her from Zach.

  But nothing, nothing would protect her from him. Not anymore.

  She had tried to tell Zach, needed to tell him. However, Zach was his usual self. Completely uninterested in her telling the truth. She’d run, hoping to find a place away from him to gather her courage.

  Then Andrew had cornered her coming out of the ladies. All but hustled her through the hotel to the lifts. She would have a bruise on her arm from his meaty fingers and the fact that she had just wrenched herself free.