Maggie Cox - Betrayal

‘Am I late?’ She blushed as she drew up beside him and Fin reached up to loosen the collar of his shirt slightly beneath his tuxedo. Suddenly the formal clothing was too warm for comfort.

‘It’s a lady’s prerogative. What would you like to drink?’

‘A glass of dry white wine please.’

After getting their drinks, by mutual consent they moved to a secluded corner table away from the too interested glances of some of the bar’s other inhabitants. When they finally sat down, Brenna expelled a long shaky breath of grateful relief. Could everyone tell she felt like a fish out of water in this scenario? she wondered. Self-consciousness descended like a heavily lined cloak and she almost jumped out of her skin when Fin leant across the table to speak to her. He looked very handsome in his tuxedo. Too handsome for words, Brenna thought wildly, as appreciation and desire set her heart pounding. She almost didn’t know where to rest her gaze.

‘You look stunning.’ Crystal-blue eyes drifted lazily downwards to her cleavage, to the shadowy cleft between her full breasts, highlighted by the balconette bodice of her dress. Brenna hadn’t meant to be provocative but the dress was the only one she possessed that had seemed to fit the bill for the occasion. Fin’s appreciative male glance, however, now made her question the wisdom of wearing it. The little flare of heat in his eyes that he hadn’t been able to hide scorched her skin as though he had caressed her body in the most intimate way. How was she supposed to keep her cool when inside she was blazing like a furnace?

‘It’s an old dress.’ Her fingers clutched the stem of her wineglass as if using it to anchor her senses. ‘I don’t often have reason to wear it.’

‘That’s a shame.’

‘That’s a matter of opinion. I’m not interested in decking myself up to go out, to be honest. I’d rather be home with Nancy any day than enduring some fancy occasion with people I have nothing in common with.’ Realizing her implication as soon as the words were out, Brenna was immediately contrite. It was one thing to speak your mind, quite another to cause offence.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—’

‘I’ve been sitting here wondering what you’re like when you’re not so angry or defensive,’ Fin calmly cut in. Though right now, being the full-blooded male that he was, he couldn’t deny the provocative appeal of breasts heaving in a low-cut dress because their lovely owner was irate.

‘You’ll probably never find that out.’

‘Can I ask why?’

‘Look, I have every right to be angry and defensive! My life was perfectly fine until I got that damned letter from Nick a few days ago. How would you like someone to put you in the position he’s put me in, to have power over you in some way just because he provided the necessary chromosome to make a baby? An event he was singularly uninterested in at the time, I hasten to add, and has been uninterested in for the past five years? Now he thinks he can summon me just like that because he has the brass nerve to decide he wants joint custody of my daughter.’ At the arresting sight of a muscle flexing in the side of the American’s lean sculpted cheek, she paused, her breathing harried.

‘ His daughter too, Brenna,’ he quietly reminded her. ‘Look … I don’t think for one second that Nick wants to make trouble. He only wants access to his child … to see her sometimes. Is that really so terrible? He’s a very wealthy man. He can provide things for her that will undoubtedly enhance her life: a good education, opportunities to travel and meet new people. He’s not trying to take her away from you.’ But even as Fin mouthed the words he had a horrible feeling that he was uttering them with very little belief in their content.

‘And do you think the things I provide, like love, care and attention, food and a roof over her head, don’t enhance her life?’

‘Did I say that?’ Fin’s expression suggested such cool implacability that it made Brenna even madder.

‘If Nick gets shared custody, then Nancy will probably have to spend part of the year in America. It will completely disrupt our lives. It’s an impossible situation and he has no right to—’

‘Whether you like it or not, he is her father. You’re both adults. You’ll work something out. Nancy won’t suffer if the two of you are absolutely committed to her welfare. I’m sure Nick would want nothing less.’

‘You really are his buddy, aren’t you?’ Her voice as scathing as she could make it, Brenna levered herself to her feet, eyes blazing. ‘If he isn’t here by midday tomorrow, I’m packing my bags and going home. End of story. You can tell him from me that if he can’t be bothered to turn up when he arranges a date and time for a meeting then he can forget the whole thing! I have a life, responsibilities. I don’t have the luxury of being able to sit here and wait until he deigns to honour me with his presence. You tell him that from me, Mr Malone!’

‘Brenna?’

But she was disappearing through the door of the bar before Fin had even got to his feet, before he even had a chance to defend himself and the stance he was taking on Nick’s behalf.

Drumming his fingers on the smooth polished surface of the table, he murmured a colourful expletive. When Nick had asked him to do him this favour he’d had his reservations considering the delicacy of the situation, but Lord knows he hadn’t expected a woman with so much fire in her veins that she threatened to ignite them both into an inferno whenever they were together. Intensely frustrated and annoyed, he picked up his glass and downed the contents in one hit. A few minutes later, he got up and went to the bar. The young barman threw him a sympathetic glance. Stony-faced, Fin took out his wallet.

‘Give me another bourbon,’ he irritably ground out.

Brenna’s eyes flew open at the insistent-sounding knock at the door. She’d been dozing in one of the armchairs, her body and mind exhausted with the sheer intensity of emotion she’d expended during the day. She was hungry too … ravenous , in fact. The growl in her stomach as she moved reminded her that wounded pride had cost her her dinner.

‘Damn.’ She speared her fingers through her hair, her mind racing with indecision. If Fin Malone was mad at her then he had every right. She’d acted appallingly downstairs in the bar. If she were him, she’d definitely be giving her a wide berth from now on. Suddenly the knock had a voice to accompany it.

‘For God’s sake, Brenna, open the door. I’m not quitting until you hear what I have to say.’

Steeling herself, she made herself move. He came in through the door without a word, broad shoulders sweeping past her with such an air of purpose that she hesitated briefly before closing the door behind him. The frisson of electricity as he passed her was tangible, so much so that she shivered with the force of it.

‘If it’s an apology you want then I—’

‘Dammit, woman, what’s your problem?’ His blue eyes narrowing to angry slits, Fin spun round to address her. ‘You’ve got a chip on your shoulder a mile wide. I don’t blame you for feeling scared about what Nick might be proposing but when are you going to get it through your thick skull that you’re not under attack here? If you keep treating every damn meeting we have like some blasted confrontation then we’re going to get nowhere fast.’

‘I don’t need a lecture on how to behave, Mr Malone.’

‘Oh yes you do, sweetheart.’

With barely restrained ire, Fin bore down on her, yanking her arm towards him by the elbow. All the breath whooshed out of Brenna’s body in a heated rush. Up close, the man was like some invincible warrior – the expression on his handsome face grim and purposeful … resolute . There was no question he was intimidating. There also wasn’t any doubt that he was the one in charge of this situation. All the strength suddenly seemed to drain out of her body.