Sandra Marton - A Proper Wife

“I’m still breathing, if that’s what you mean.”

Bettina giggled again. “Such a charming sense of humor,” she said gaily. She swung around and held her hand out to her daughter. “Come and give your grandpa a kiss, darling.”

Ryan watched with grim pleasure as the girl took a minute to pull herself together. Then she squared her shoulders and stepped into the center of the room.

Did she think she could bluff it out?

“Good evening, Mr. Kincaid,” she said. Her voice was softer than Ryan remembered it, but then, it would have to be, to suit the role she was playing. “Thank you for inviting us this evening.”

“Nonsense, darling.” Bettina’s smile was as bright as neon. “There’s no need to be so formal with your grandfather.”

Ryan saw something flash in the girl’s eyes. “He isn’t my grandfather, Mother.”

“Why, Devon. Don’t be so silly. Of course he is.”

“Mother...”

Devon’s voice was low but there seemed to be a thread of warning in it. Ryan’s eyes narrowed. The game was getting interesting.

“Leave the girl alone, Bettina. She can address me however she likes.” James smiled and held out his hand. “Come here, girl, and let me see you.”

Ryan’s mouth thinned. Was that the plan? To contrast Bettina’s avarice with the girl’s modesty?

He almost smiled. It was clever, but it didn’t fool him.

Devon looked at James’s outstretched hand. She wanted to look anywhere but at the man she now knew was Ryan Kincaid.

Damn, she thought, it’s not possible!

Bettina had not shut up from the instant they’d gotten into the Kincaid limousine. She’d rattled on and on about how much James Kincaid had liked Devon. She’d talked about how he’d never had a daughter or a granddaughter. And, oh, she’d said, she just knew how impressed he’d been with Devon when he’d had them to dinner the previous week; he’d never taken his eyes off her.

Devon hadn’t replied and eventually Bettina had changed the subject. Perhaps Ryan would be there tonight, she’d said, and sighed girlishly. Did Devon remember him? He’d been at the old man’s house the night Gordon had brought them there for dinner.

Devon had said she didn’t and let it go at that. What was the point in adding that all she could remember of that night was wishing the floor beneath the dining room table would open and swallow her whole? It had been horrible, hearing the contempt in the old man’s voice each time he spoke to Bettina; it had been even more horrible, watching her mother crawl.

And then there’d been Gordon’s younger brother who’d come in late, left early, and never so much as looked at her in between.

Ryan, his name was, and Bettina had babbled on and on about him all the way here tonight, about his good looks and his money and his bachelor eligibility.

“Devon!”

She looked up. Bettina was staring at her, her eyes shooting sparks, her smile fixed and feral.

“Grandfather Kincaid is waiting,” she said sharply.

Devon swallowed and started forward. Ryan was standing in her way; she expected him to move but he just stood there like a rock, his eyes cold and flat as green glass, so that she had to brush past him, her shoulder and hip feathering against his.

“It’s...it’s nice to see you again, Mr. Kincaid,” she said, and gave James her hand.

“Such cold hands, girl.” James chuckled. “What is it they say, Ryan? Cold hands, warm heart?”

“Something like that,” Ryan said.

Devon looked up. She saw the faint smile on his handsome mouth, the chill in his eyes, and she stiffened. It was time for someone to make the first move, and it might as well be she.

“Good evening, Mr. Kincaid,” she said. Her voice was steady, though her heart was thumping. “What an unpleasant surprise.”

It was like throwing a bucket of water on a red-hot stove. There was an instant’s silence, and then, with a hiss like supercharged steam, Bettina swung toward Devon, eyes wide.

“What did you say?”

It was Ryan who answered, his voice icy.

“She said that we’ve met before. Isn’t that right, Miss Franklin?”

“We certainly have. We met this afternoon, at Montano’s.”

Bettina gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t understand. Devon, you naughty girl, you never said-”

“I didn’t know. We weren’t formally introduced.” Devon’s smile was rimmed with frost. “I had no idea this—gentleman—was Ryan Kincaid.”

Bettina looked from Ryan to Devon. “You mean, you sold something to Ryan today, at Montano’s?”

Ryan gave a harsh, cold bark of laughter. Devon shot him a furious look, then turned toward Bettina.

“No, Mother. I didn’t sell Mr. Kincaid anything.”

James cleared his throat. “Ryan? I’m afraid I’m lost here, too. How do you and Devon know each other?”

Ryan smiled thinly. “I went into Montano’s today. Miss Franklin works there. Isn’t that right, Miss Franklin?”

“I worked there until this afternoon,” Devon said defiantly. “I was fired.”

“How unfortunate.” Ryan smiled and leaned back against the edge of his grandfather’s desk. “Why not tell us about it?”

Devon felt color rush into her cheeks. Damn Ryan Kincaid! Hadn’t he embarrassed her enough today?

“Miss Franklin?” His voice was silky. “We’re all waiting to hear the details. I’m sure it’s a fascinating story.”

He smiled, folded his arms over his chest and rocked back just a little on his heels. That was just how he’d looked at Montano’s, that smug, superior smile curling across his too handsome face, that arms-folded, back-on-his-heels stance that said he was far too good for the rest of the world and especially for mere peons like her.

Devon drew a deep, deep breath.

“It’s not fascinating,” she said, “it’s depressing. To think that a...a male chauvinist pig like you could—”

“Devon!”

“It’s the truth, Mother,” Devon said furiously, “and I’m not going to pretty things up just so we don’t offend the Kincaids!”

“The truth is never offensive,” James said mildly. “Why don’t you tell us what happened, girl?”

Devon spun toward him. “I’ll tell you what happened,” she said through her teeth. “I was doing my job and your grandson here decided to make an ass of himself, that’s what happened!” She flung back her head, crossed her arms over her breasts, and glared at Ryan. “And when I refused to let him insult me, I was fired.”

Ryan smiled thinly. “It’s amazing, how a few details left out of a story can change it so completely.”

“The only detail I’ve left out is my full opinion of you,” Devon retorted, “but I’ll keep that much to myself.” Her eyes glittered. “I wouldn’t want to shock your grandfather.”

“How generous of you,” Ryan said.

“Listen, you...you—”

“Careful, sweetheart. Watch your language, or you’ll blow the Miss Innocent image completely.” He smiled with malice. “Actually, I think you already have. It’s probably too late to salvage anything now.”

“Devon?” Bettina, her knuckles white as she clenched the back of a chair, stared at her daughter. “What on earth is he talking about?”

Devon gave Ryan one last glare, then swung toward her mother.

“He’s talking lies,” she snapped. “I told you, I was at work—”

“She was coming down the steps in an ankle-length, velvet cape,” Ryan said coldly, “looking like every man’s dream, and I said—”

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