Million Dollar Mistake (12 page)

“It’s a draw,” Raven agreed.

“Your coffee’s getting cold,” Nicholas said, indicating the table.

Raven glanced at the delicate china cup and saucer. “I’ve had enough.”

“How’s your headache?”

“Gone,” she said, surprised.

He grinned. “Arguing with me always works.”

“I thought you said it wasn’t an argument.”

“You’re right. It was more like—”

“An intense discussion?”

Nodding, he looked around, finally saying, “As usual, we got off track. What were we talking about before?”

“Strategy?”

“Ah, that’s right. How to prove we’re in love.” He reached into his pants pocket.

“You’re not going to pull out a truce for us to sign, like two countries ending war?”

Nicholas laughed as he removed a small jeweler’s box. “Not bad, but I think I’ve got a better idea.” He hesitated for a moment, then flicked the snap.

Raven stared as the lid flipped up. “What the hell is that?”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like a ring.”

“Brains as well as beauty. What a combination.”

Raven ignored his teasing comment. “Do you always run around with a ring in your pocket just in case you need it?”

“Wrong guess. I was planning on delivering this to my mother.”

“You bought her a ring. Oh, that’s so sweet.” She giggled as a slash of red appeared on his cheekbones.

“This ring belonged to my great-grandmother.”

With a hesitant finger, Raven touched the circlet of carved silver and diamonds. “It’s beautiful.”

“It was the only thing my mother had left of hers. My father sold it in New York years ago.”

“Because of his—”

He waved off her question. “And, ever since, I’ve had jewelers and pawn shops looking out for it with orders to call me if it ever surfaced. It did, in New York last week.” He studied the ring. “I bought it back before I left the city.”

She ran her fingers over a knot of diamonds. She could almost feel the brilliant fire of them warming her, just as she could feel the warm satisfaction in the man standing so close to her. “What does this carving symbolize?”

“My great-grandmother was Irish. So these are the endless-knotted Celtic hearts, which means eternal love and friendship.”

Raven glanced up into his face, captivated by the glow in his eyes. “Love and friendship? That’s a hard trick to pull off.”

Nicholas smiled. “Some people get lucky.” He removed the ring from the box and reached for her left hand.

She jerked it back. “What are you doing?”

“Putting this ring on your finger.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why? Why do you think? So it looks as if we’re engaged. Like I’d planned it all along.”

She shook her head. “It’s not right.”

“Think of it as part of our strategy.”

“Can’t we just pretend you haven’t bought me a ring yet?”

“Well, technically, I didn’t buy you one. I bought one for my mother.”

Raven groaned. “That’s even worse. What’s your mother going to think when she sees this on my finger? I like your mother.”

He gave her a strange look. “You started this little charade.”

“But I didn’t think we’d—”

“We’d what? Have to go through with it?”

Raven was horrified, but at the same time strangely excited. “Go through with it?”

“Shhhh,” Nicholas hissed, “lower your voice. We’re engaged and supposed to be in love.”

“Engagements can be broken.”

“There speaks the voice of wisdom.” Nicholas laughed. “How many engagements have you broken now?”

“Two and a half. But no marriages. I draw the line at marriage.”

“How’d you get the half?” Nicholas asked, diverted from the point again.

“He put the ring on my finger, but I took it off an hour later and no one knew.”

Nicholas laughed. “Only you, sweetheart, only you. Now give me your hand, and don’t worry…”

Raven looked up into his amused eyes. Sometimes she thought she could look at him forever. It had always been that way. When she closed her eyes, she saw his handsome face, his wicked smile, shivered at his smooth, deep drawl, imagined what it would feel like to be held in his arms as the woman he loved. Getting engaged, even a fake engagement, to a man like Nicholas was dangerous.

“…no one will ever know.”

But she’d know, she thought as she fell into his gaze. He’d been right about one thing. Since she’d first seen him, she’d gone out of her way to make him pay attention to her. She’d bedeviled him, enraged him and made him laugh. And always, always he was there when she needed him, whether she wanted him there or not. Not always happy about it—what an understatement—but he was there. Just like he was this time. If only…

“And it won’t get as far as marriage,” he reassured her, his voice amused.

“Nicholas, I…” Suddenly shy, her voice trailed off as she placed her hand in his. The cool silver slid over her knuckle to rest on the ring finger of her left hand as if it belonged there. She sniffed. “I…think this is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me.”

He dropped her hand as if it was a piping-hot muffin. “Oh hell, you’re not going to cry, are you?”

“Of course not.” At least not when he was looking, although it was tempting. Who knew a few tears could throw him?

“’Cause if you’re going to cry—”

She sniffed again, wishing she could wipe her eyes on her sleeve. “I’m not crying, you nit. My sinuses are acting up.”

“Oh.” He looked relieved, shoving the ring box into his pocket. “That’s all right then. Want my handkerchief?”

“Ewww, no.”

“It’s clean.”

She blinked hard. “Thanks, but the moment’s passed.”

He nodded as if he’d just completed a business deal. “All right then, back on track.”

“Our strategy?”

“Right.”

“I’m listening,” Raven said, still a bit off balance.

“Now, I figure that if we want to convince everyone this engagement is real, we’ll have to pretend we can’t keep our hands off each other.”

Raven groaned. “This is going to be impossible.”

“I have faith in you,” he whispered.

She glanced down at the ring glittering on her finger, warning, “I’m going to have problems with this.” More than she’d ever let him know. She tried to cover the longing in her heart. “We don’t even like each other.”

“Not true. We just can’t get along for more than a few hours without going for the jugular. So we have to come to an understanding.”

“What kind of understanding?”

“We’ll have to quit sniping and start cooing—”

“Cooing?” Raven made a face. “Tell me you didn’t just say ‘cooing’.”

Nicholas grinned. “And get used to touching each other.”

“We touch each other. You just held my hand. And last night…” She gulped. Last night was better left alone.

His eyes gleamed. “We have to touch each other as if we’re so much in love we—”

“Maybe it’s stopped snowing?” Raven knew she sounded desperate, but the thought of him putting his “back” into the role of lover made her very nervous.

“Shhh, darling, just relax.” He stepped closer to her and tilted up her chin. “I know a few things that might help.”

She stiffened as she met his teasing eyes. “Such as?”

He stepped even closer.

She held her hand out like a traffic cop. “Hold it right there. If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking…”

“And what might that be?”

“You know very well what that might be.” Raven wanted to shake him until his teeth rattled as he stood there with an amused look on his face. He looked way too innocent for her peace of mind. Her expression darkened. “You’re trying to get me in bed.”

He chuckled. “I’ve already had you in bed.”

“Not like you’d like to have me in bed.”

He cocked his head. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

Eyes narrowing, she fisted her hands on her hips. “I haven’t had any complaints.”

“Perhaps you haven’t had a discriminating audience.”

“If you really had me in bed, you’d remember.”

His smile flashed as a dangerous look came into his eyes. “Is that a challenge, darling?”

With a defiant toss of her hair, she said, “No. It’s a fact.”

“A fact, hmm?”

“What do you want? Testimonials?”

In an abrupt change of mood, Nicholas pulled her into his arms. “Not necessary. I’d rather judge for myself.”

“What—” She couldn’t say more because his mouth abruptly covered hers. His lips teased hers until they softened and opened to allow more. She sank into the kiss as sensation upon sensation swamped her. He shifted her in his arms, slanting his mouth, teasing her with his tongue. She met him touch for touch. Their bodies heated as they pressed together, curves and angles aligned for pleasure. She shivered as his fingers walked up her spine, then under her hair to cup her neck. Her arms snaked around him, yanking him closer to her until she could feel the hard contours of his body straining against her softer ones. His tongue plunged deeper, urging her response, urging her to let go, to feel. His roving hands caressed her, inflamed her. Made her want. Want more. Want all. Want
Nicholas
.

“Am I interrupting?” The ice-cold voice sliced through the air like a winter wind.

Nicholas felt as if he was climbing his way out of a cave as he tried to bring his body under control. And Raven wasn’t helping matters. Dear God, when the woman got involved, she got involved. Since he’d arrived, he’d been trying to keep their relationship and current situation on a practical level. But Raven was never practical. Why couldn’t he remember that? Simple, he thought as he drew back from her and looked down into her face still flushed with passion. He didn’t want to. At this moment, he wanted to forget everything and lose himself in Raven, in her heat, her caress, her need which matched his own. With this woman, he’d always felt out of his depths. He pretended to be in control, but it was a lie. Raven had the ability to do what no other woman had ever done—inflame him until he lost himself in the fire.

“Sorry to intrude,” the unrepentant voice said again, “but there’s a phone call for Nicholas.”

Nicholas pressed Raven’s face against his chest, giving her another moment to capture her poise. He turned his head to glance at Jackson. He’d seen him hovering in the hallway just before he pulled Raven into his arms, expecting him to take one look and retreat. He’d kissed her to convince Jackson they were in love; but he hadn’t counted on the consequences. He hadn’t counted on his reactions. He hadn’t counted on forgetting the role he and Raven were playing and extending make-believe into reality.

He rested his cheek on the top of Raven’s head. “Darling, I have a phone call.”

She looked up at him, her head lolling like a satisfied flower after a rainfall. “I didn’t hear the phone ring.”

He chuckled and dropped a kiss on the top of her nose. “I’m not surprised. A nuclear blast could have gone off and we wouldn’t have heard it.”

She smiled. “Maybe this will work after all.”

Nicholas glanced over at the man watching them from the doorway. “I’m counting on it.”

Raven followed his movement and jerked at the sight of Jackson. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here.”

Jackson folded his lips into a severe line. “There’s a telephone call.”

“Do you know who it is?”

“No, but she said it was
personal.
”

The snide way Jackson said it had a hasty Raven backing from Nicholas’s arms as she snapped, “She?”

Nicholas grabbed her arm, smiling at the indignant expression on her face. “Raven, you’re jumping to conclusions—”

“As if you wouldn’t.”

He rolled his eyes. “My secretary is a
she
.”

“Naturally,” Raven said, giving Nicholas a grim look when he chuckled.

Jackson smirked as he indicated the hallway. “You can take it on the library phone. It’s more private.”

Nicholas strolled to the doorway, glancing over his shoulder at Jackson as he moved to stand protectively next to Raven. He bent his head toward hers, looking more like a lover than a discarded boyfriend. Nicholas clenched his hands into fists then relaxed them when he became aware of what he was doing. He walked up the hallway, reminding himself again that this was just a game, a role he was playing. Same as Raven.

The hell of it was, right now, he’d give everything to change the rules.

Chapter Six

“Is everything all right with you and Nicholas, Raven?”

“What?” Raven glanced at him. The hopeful expression on his face belied his concerned question. “Yes, of course, why wouldn’t it be?”

Jackson shrugged. “I thought I saw you arguing.”