Deception: The Deception Trilogy, Book 1 Page 9

  “It’s nice to see Griff settling down with someone,” he said as the car moved into traffic.

  Not really wanting to converse with him about anything and definitely not about my relationship with Griff, I gave him a tight smile and gazed out the darkened window.

  “Well if you can call it settling down. Apparently, even in a serious relationship Griff still likes his space.”

  I turned to him, frowning in question.

  “The suite.” He eyed me and I saw the skepticism in his expression. “Your own suite in the penthouse. Really?”

  Annoyed at whatever point he was trying to make, I replied evenly, “I like my own space too. It means I have somewhere to go that’s just mine while Griff is working.”

  “Well it’s very... old school aristocratic. I guess Griff can’t shake that part of himself no matter how he tries.”

  I didn’t trust this man and decided the best policy was to remain silent so he couldn’t use my words against me.

  He grinned at me, his eyes trailing down my body to my legs. Strangely, it didn’t feel sexual. His gaze was hard and clinical. “You know he and I used to share women.”

  My uneasiness tripled and I turned my attention back to the passing scenery, wishing I didn’t have to be stuck in the car with this guy for thirty minutes.

  Suddenly the leather creaked beside me. I tensed and jerked around to glare at Pete who was sitting much closer than polite.

  His eyes were on my mouth. “We’ve never had a redhead together before. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we shared a women like you. All that hair, tits and ass. You make a man think bad things just sitting there, Melanie, so anytime you’re feeling lonely up in that big suite of yours, you just let me know.”

  His words were cool, lacking sexual heat. Lacking any real emotion. That didn’t mean I didn’t feel outraged, resentful, and, yes, more than a little apprehensive as I wondered how far he’d take this—whatever this was— with me trapped in the car. I concentrated on my anger. “No one shares me,” I hissed, “You even think of touching me and I’ll make sure there’s nothing left between your legs to use. Got me?”

  Pete’s eyes widened and then the bastard had the audacity to laugh. He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I got you, I got you. I just wanted to put the offer on the table.”

  I trembled inwardly, hoping he couldn’t feel my fear. “Move away from me. Now.”

  Smirking, he bowed his head in mockery and slid backward until there was a person’s worth of distance between us.

  He tried to engage me in conversation but I couldn’t even look at him.

  Anger simmered in my gut and as the minutes passed I realized it wasn’t just directed at Pete for being creepy, but at Griffin for putting me in a position where this slime had an opportunity to come onto me in a way that seemed like harmless flirtation but didn’t feel innocuous at all. It felt dark. Like he was playing a game with me and I didn’t understand the rules.

  Pete’s motivation didn’t feel sexual. In fact his motivation was entirely a mystery and that was what unnerved me.

  When we finally arrived at the Wellington’s estate in Weston, Pete held out his hand to me to help me out of the car and I ignored it. He sighed as I began walking toward the entrance all the other guests were flowing toward. “Look, I’m sorry if I offended you. That wasn’t my intent.”

  I stopped in the driveway, glowering at him. “You said sexually suggestive things to me that I in no way invited and you did it when you had me cornered. Now I don’t know why you did it, that remains unclear, but you crossed the line.”

  Pete made a face. “I was flirting. Stop being so melodramatic.”

  He wasn’t flirting.

  He was dangerous.

  I disliked him.

  I officially disliked him.

  When he tried to take my arm I shrugged him off. Every part of me felt brittle as the security guards took the invitation from Pete and allowed us entrance into the impressive home.

  We were offered champagne as we strolled through the marble entrance that wasn’t dissimilar to the one at The Patrician. I refused a glass. I needed my wits about me while Pete was in the vicinity.

  We weren’t at the party long when Amelia and Quentin Danvers approached us. I’d met the couple at a business dinner with Griffin a week ago and, if a bit pretentious, Amelia was very friendly and welcoming. Since we were going to be spending some time with them at their house party in Rhode Island in a few weeks, it felt important to bond with them. They’d be pivotal witnesses in the progression of my relationship with Griff.

  “You look stunning,” Amelia said grabbing my hands as she pressed a kiss to my left cheek.

  “So do you.” And she did.

  They both did.

  Quentin wasn’t as obviously good-looking as Griff, his features too harsh with his high cheekbones and hawk-like profile, but there was something extremely compelling about his light blue gaze and sardonic smirk. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would like to entertain people at his beach house for days on end. In fact, he was more brooding and monosyllabic than Griff and it was easy to believe they’d bonded over this similarity in nature. In his tux Quentin was a sight to behold.

  Amelia was his opposite. Tall with slender curves, she had honey-blonde hair and big dark brown eyes. There was a fresh, appealing, almost English rose, aspect to Amelia’s looks. She was very outgoing, clearly loved socializing, and knew everything about everybody. In her oyster-pink dress she was a sparkling light to Quentin’s magnetic dark.

  I’d have never matched her with Quentin Danvers but there was a quiet affinity between the two and Quentin looked at her in a way that made my heart thump with envy.

  Her husband nodded at me in greeting and I smiled back in return.

  “Amelia, Quentin, nice to see you.” Pete grinned at them.

  Amelia returned the sentiment but what interested me was the way Quentin stared blankly at Pete. His gaze flicked back to me. “Where’s Griff?”

  “I escorted Melanie this evening. Griff’s running late. He’ll be here.”

  Quentin’s gaze narrowed on me, as if he was studying me, and I’d soon realize that beneath that unreadable mask was a very perceptive man. “Everything okay, Melanie?”

  Apparently I wasn’t hiding my tension. I gave him a smile I hoped seemed genuine. “Absolutely. This place is amazing.”

  “Hmm, yes.” Amelia shrugged, clearly used to beautiful homes. It was then I remembered I was supposed to be too. But it was hard to act that way standing in a private ballroom. I mean, who owned homes with private ballrooms in them?

  “Svenson,” Quentin said. “I saw Gregg Inglewood in the foyer. Griff mentioned you had a membership open. Inglewood is interested.” The message was clear: ‘You’re dismissed’.

  I suddenly really liked Quentin.

  Pete smirked at him, not stupid. But he nodded. “I’ll go find him.”

  My whole body seemed to sag with relief before I could stop it, and Quentin noticed. His mouth tightened.

  Damn it. I really needed to master my reactions.

  Thankfully, Quentin didn’t pursue a conversation about it and Amelia pulled me further into the ballroom with them. We talked to other guests, and I was introduced to a lot of people who stared speculatively me, wondering what was so special about me that I’d caught Griff’s lasting attention. They asked questions about my life and I rhymed off the lies Griff had spoon-fed me.

  Thankfully, Amelia and Quentin didn’t leave my side as I waited for Griffin to arrive. Quentin unnerved me with his perceptiveness, but his presence kept Pete away from me.

  I felt Griff before I saw him.

  The hair on the back of my neck rose seconds before his strong, familiar hand rested on my lower back. I turned to look up at him as he pressed into my side. He gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’m late.” He brushed his mouth across mine, making my lips tingle.

  The man
looked damn fine in a tux.

  But neither his dashing, brooding good looks or the tingle of his kiss could diffuse my anger toward him for leaving me alone with Pete. I saw his eyes narrow as he felt me stiffen.

  Amelia and Quentin drew his focus away from me as they greeted each other. However, as they tried to make conversation I began to choke on my resentment and couldn’t open my mouth for fear of what I’d say in company. Griff grew stiffer and stiffer at my side, and eventually Quentin put his arm around Amelia’s waist and said, “Why don’t we let these two say a proper hello alone.”

  Amelia shot us a look of concern but let her husband lead her away.

  Griff immediately gripped my elbow and without a word cut through the ballroom, giving curt nods and ‘hellos’ to guests who called out to him. I felt their eyes following us and would have been worried about us making a scene if it weren’t for my building grievance against him.

  He practically dragged me into the foyer and past the opulent staircase. Soon we left the guests behind and Griff stopped at a closed door, tried the handle, and checked inside. He grunted and then pulled me in to the dark room, hitting the light and closing the door at the same time. I looked around at the beautiful office.

  “We shouldn’t be in here,” I said.

  “Well I’d prefer to ask you what the fuck has crawled up your arse in private rather than in front of everybody.”

  My blood heated and my cheeks flushed with temper as I spun around to face the arrogant bastard. I could still feel the fear I’d felt in that car not knowing what Pete Svenson was capable of, while my instincts seemed to know inherently that he didn’t like me. That he was trying to cause trouble for me. “Don’t you ever send that man in lieu of you again.”

  Griff’s expression hardened. “Let’s get something straight,” his deep voice was dangerously quiet, “You are not my girlfriend. You’re not being paid to get pissed off at me for being late.”

  He thought I was angry he was late? Egotistical asshole!

  “I could give a flying fuck if I never saw you again,” I sneered. “What I do care about is having some snake corner me in a car, talk about my body in a way that I did not invite, and suggest you wouldn’t mind sharing me since you’ve shared women in the past. I know you don’t think much of me but my body is my body and I decide who gets to touch it. I decide who gets to talk to me like that. Don’t ever put me in that position again.”

  My harsh breathing seemed to fill the silence between us while Griff’s features were so taut I thought his jaw might break.

  “Are you saying Pete came onto you in the car on the way here?” he repeated, his voice just as tight.

  There was something more to Pete’s interaction with me than that but with no evidence but my own instincts all I could go on were the facts. And the facts were the words that had come out of Pete’s mouth. “Yes.”

  Griff exhaled slowly and ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “I thought he understood. I’ll make it clear to him that you are not like the other women I’ve been with. That this is serious between us and he needs to back off. I’ll make sure he apologizes.”

  My anger only enflamed at the way he brushed it aside. “I don’t want him near me again.”

  “He’s my club factotum and my friend. He’s going to be around, Melanie. Look, he’s used to things being a certain way. Once I clear that up he’ll respect that and you’ll respect him. Understood?”

  It took everything within me not to claw his face off. All my good feelings toward him disappeared and whatever he saw in my gaze made the usually stoic Griff flinch. “I was alone in a car with a man and I gave him absolutely no indication that I was interested in him. In fact, I couldn’t have made it clearer that I didn’t want him anywhere near me. You might think it’s alright that he thought it was okay to talk to me like that, but I think it tells me a whole lot about Pete Svenson and none of it good. It is never okay for a man to corner a woman like that when she hasn’t invited his attention and if you think it’s acceptable, you and I have problems. I was frightened, Griff.” I emphasized and his face darkened. “I didn’t know how far he was going to take it and I was frightened. You put me in that position. Never again. Do you hear me? So if you want me to stay in this arrangement with you, you’ll keep that little prick away from me.” I stormed past him, reaching for the door handle but he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back against his chest.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured in my ear. “For the record, I don’t think it’s acceptable he came onto you. Period. And I hate that you were scared. He and I will have words. He’ll keep his distance from now on and you won’t have to spend time with him again.”

  I gave a brittle nod.

  His arm tightened around me. “Melanie, I am sorry.”

  I took a minute, trying to calm my anger toward him. I wanted him to get rid of Pete Svenson but I knew that was asking too much. After all, I was just some escort he’d hired while Pete was a long-time friend who hadn’t actually touched me. Technicalities were a bitch.

  For the sake of the job and the favor to my sister, I forced myself to relax. “Okay.”

  “I know you’re still angry.”

  “What do you want me to say, Griffin?” I snapped.

  “Nothing.” He trailed his fingertips down my arm, reached my hand and slid his fingers through mine until we were holding hands. “Just come back to the ballroom with me and cuddle into me as if you don’t hate me right now. We have appearances to keep up.”

  I didn’t tell him I didn’t hate him. I didn’t hate him. I just… I expected more from him. That was stupid of me.

  He tightened his grip on my hand and led me out of the office and back to the ballroom. I could feel people looking at us as we returned and I leaned into Griff, curling my other hand around his arm as we strolled casually around the room.

  After stopping to talk with a few people where I acted my ass off playing the loving girlfriend, Griff led me to the opposite end of the ballroom where people were dancing. A small string orchestra played in the corner while people swayed to the soft music.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, bemused.

  “Dancing with you.” He pulled me into his body.

  Butterflies cut through my simmering resentment. “I don’t know how to dance.”

  “It’s easy. Just sway.” He held my hand and pressed it to his chest, while I placed my other against his shoulder blade. The arm he had banded around my waist tightened until there was hardly a breath between us.

  I glanced around at the other dancing couples as my pelvis pressed and moved against Griff’s swaying body. “No one else is dancing this close,” I whispered, my lips almost touching his.

  If anything my words made him hold me tighter. “We’re supposed to be in the first flush of love, Melanie. I can hold you as indecently close as I want to.” He lowered his head to mine, his lips brushing my lips. “You in that dress… everyone here would suspect we weren’t fucking if I didn’t take every opportunity to touch you.”

  I flushed in pleasure at the compliment.

  “Though I prefer your hair down.”

  I stared directly into his eyes and smiled sweetly. “Well you’re paying me so I guess I should wear it down next time.”

  His eyes darkened with annoyance at my caustic tone. “Wear it however the hell you like.”

  “Don’t look at me like that, sweetheart, or people will know we’re still mad at each other.” I kissed him softly, enjoying antagonizing him in a way I’d never thought I would. He brought something out in me I didn’t know was there. Something wicked and full of mischief.

  Except he didn’t take it lying down. He sought to win at my game and took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, letting go of my hand to wrap his around my nape so I couldn’t escape from the brutal, hungry exploration of his lips and tongue.

  When we broke apart I didn’t know if people were staring. I was too busy trying not to glow
er in protest into Griff’s desire-sharpened gaze.

  “I know this might be bad timing,” Pete’s voice suddenly cut through the moment and we both turned to find him at our side, grinning like a frat boy, “But may I cut in?”

  I immediately froze.

  Griff’s squeezed my neck and if it had been anyone else I would have said it was meant to be a comforting gesture. “You and I will talk later, Svenson,” Griff said, his words tight and angry and not quiet, “But right now you can fuck off.”

  I almost gasped while Pete blinked rapidly in surprise. He cut me a quick, hostile look, before pasting a wide smile on his face. He laughed and held up his hands in that stupid surrender gesture like it was all a big joke. “All right then.”

  I looked back into Griff’s eyes as Pete wandered off. Griff released my neck to take my hand against his chest again. He swayed to the music, looking far too pleased with himself.

  “What?” I finally asked.

  His eyes glittered. “I’m angry at Pete. I meant what I said to him. I just didn’t realize until I said it how it would look to everyone else.”

  Understanding dawned. “As if you’re possessive of me?”

  “Exactly.”

  “I know it’s my job but I don’t care. I just really enjoyed watching you tell him to fuck off.”

  Griff chuckled and we shared a grin. But the tension between us didn’t dissipate.

  It never really had from the moment we’d met.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Somehow we’d gotten through the rest of the evening without another argument. In fact, Griffin seemed pretty happy with our performance at the party. Thankfully, Pete left after Griff told him to eff off and we spent a pleasant time chatting with guests but mostly hanging with Amelia and Quentin.

  I was exhausted from the argument, the anger and the pretense of the evening, and was glad to disappear into my bedroom upon our return at around one in the morning.

  Despite our late night I was an early bird and I’d already washed, dressed, and eaten breakfast when the knock came on my bedroom door that morning.