The Seduction Game (8 page)

My God, this woman could pass for Kate’s sister. Yes, there were differences like the short, blonde hair and the blue eyes, but everything else about her was the same. He looked at her mouth and blinked. They were the exact same lips. A fuller bottom lip, moist, pink, her top lip well defined. Lips that were made for smiling. Lips that were definitely made for kissing.

“Are you all right, Miss?”

“I’m not sure. I think it may be sprained.”

Her voice was throaty, sultry, hinting at a suggestive message as she slid a leisurely blue gaze across his wide shoulders and chiseled arms. Adam stiffened. Her voice was nothing like Kate’s well-modulated, even tone.

“Let me take a look,” he said.

“Please do,” she replied breathily, lowering her gaze to his hands. Adam tentatively took her ankle, turning it from side to side, all the while glancing at her face to see if she registered any pain. Nothing. Only a blatant interest in her rescuer, he thought wryly. She smiled at him, as though they shared some secret, her striking gaze resting unabashedly on his mouth.

“No broken bones,” he said, rising. He knew Kyle was waiting for him, and he wanted to get in a good game before the evening rush came in.

“Lucky me,” she purred. She reached for his hand, stopping him from rising, and smiled coyly at him.

The blue of her eyes were too blue, a vivid aquamarine, he noticed. They almost looked unnatural.

“You have a nice touch. Are you a doctor?”

She may have looked like Kate, but she didn’t act like her. He thought about the pretty schoolteacher, her soft gray eyes mirroring her sharp intelligence, her simmering passions. He’d tasted what lay beneath her cool façade, her unwavering reserve. He recalled how Kate’s delicate features had darkened at the mention of her father and how his heart had swelled with unbidden compassion. He almost had to visibly shake the image away as he stared at the blonde woman seated on the court.

“No, I’m not a doctor.” For civility’s sake, he added politely, “You play very well.” Just because one woman got under his skin didn’t mean this one deserved his hostility.

“I do a lot of things well.”

The innuendo didn’t go unnoticed by him and he smiled politely at her. “I’ve never seen you here before.”

“First time. Are you a regular?”

“Every Sunday.”

“Then it won’t be my last,” she said, smiling. “I’m Katrina.”

“Adam.”

“Married?”

“No. Are you always so forward?” he asked, smiling to take the edge off his tone.

“Only when I see something I like. Do you have anyone special in your life?” He paused. Kate was special, but she wasn’t in his life. She didn’t even want to have dinner with him. His face hardened. “No.” He thought he caught a glimpse of disappointment on her face, but it disappeared so quickly he decided he must have imagined it.

She rose gracefully and tentatively stood on her injured foot. “I think I’d better call it quits today. It feels a little sore.”

“Do you need help getting to your car?”

A brief flash of alarm darkened her features and her gaze wavered under his. “N…no. Thank you.” She leaned towards him and placed a hand on his arm. “You’re very kind.”

“It was no trouble.” There was that feeling again. That strange twist in his gut that told him something wasn’t right.

Her breasts were a mere three inches from his chest and he avoided looking down at the abundant cleavage she displayed. He bit back a grimace. What the hell was the matter with him? Here was a beautiful woman who was obviously interested in him and he was acting like, hell, he didn’t know what he was acting like, because he’d never acted like this before.

“Adam, I would like to show you my appreciation for coming to my rescue and buy you a drink tonight. I’ll be at Fantasies tonight at nine o’clock.” She leaned a little closer and her breasts almost brushed his chest. He felt another familiar tug in his gut, a tug that reached his loins. “Meet me there.” And without another word, she turned around and sauntered out of the court.

Adam didn’t even have time to contemplate why she walked out of the court without so much as a limp, all he could see was the gentle sway of her backside, and he imagined the waist-length, light brown, silken hair reaching the sultry curve of her hips. Kate’s hair.

Disgusted, he shook himself out of his reverie. He had to stop thinking about Kate Moore.

“Well?” Kyle asked the moment Adam reached his side.

He made a firm decision. “I’m meeting her tonight.”

Fantasies was in full swing by the time Adam arrived. He looked around, trying to find Katrina amongst the crowds, but couldn’t see her anywhere.

He strode to the bar and ordered a whisky shot. He downed it, then leaned back against the bar and narrowed his dark gaze at all the people around him. He caught a group of women on the side giggling and stealing glances at him. He raised his glass in a silent salute and they all smiled. His lips curled sardonically as he glanced around. Everyone was either looking for that someone special or looking for a night filled with lust and pleasure.

Judging by the predatory looks he was getting from a number of women, he seemed high on the list for that prize. Maybe another time, another night he may have felt inclined to talk to them, but tonight was different. Since he’d met Katrina something didn’t sit well in his gut and he needed to get to the bottom of it.

He noticed a couple kissing to his left and he wondered cynically if that was the love of a committed couple or if they had just met.

Love. It came with a price. Pain, humiliation, betrayal. Dana had been too young to remember how their mother betrayed their father. How she had had countless affairs, letting their father work himself to the bone to support them, but his father loved his wife and would do anything to make her happy. The boating trip had been a gift he had scrimped and saved for over a year to surprise his wife with a long weekend at sea, but it had ended with their deaths when a sudden squall capsized them and sent them both to a watery grave.

Then there was Diana. Beautiful and elegant, cold and calculating. Diana Rowlings was the first woman Adam ever loved, and the last woman he ever loved. Not even Kyle knew why they’d broken up. Adam met Diana at a party a few months after his parents died. They shared a drink and a dance and that was all Adam needed to fall madly in love with her. She was poised, intelligent, graceful, everything he had ever wanted in a woman. After a couple of months of dating, he asked her to marry him.

“I don’t see a future for us,” Diana had said.

She had coldly rejected him, saying she didn’t love him and that she was going back to her ex-boyfriend, a man who was everything Adam was not. Rich.

Adam had been devastated. That night when he’d arrived home, he discovered the babysitter at her wits end with a wailing, inconsolable Dana.

“Adam, don’t ever leave me alone again,” Dana had cried onto his shoulders after he’d lifted her into his arms. “The new babysitter is mean. She wouldn’t let me watch TV.”

That’s when he realized he was all Dana had. He had to look after her. Give her the things he never had growing up. Stability, security, and a strong, solid role model. He’d never been blind to his parents’ faults. They’d always been too wrapped up in their own world to provide him and Dana a loving home.

Even though his parents had scared him off marriage, he’d been so blinded by Diana Rowlings, he had taken the risk for her. And then she scared him off love. He had vowed never to be in the same loveless marriage as his parents, and never to be hurt again by a woman.

Amidst the loud music in the crowded club, his thoughts veered to Kate.

He saw a small part of him in her. She was as wary of relationships as he was, but that’s where their similarities ended. Kate was vulnerable underneath her bravado. He was cold, hard, and had yet to feel anything remotely related to love for a woman. All he’d felt was pure, unadulterated lust.

Until he’d met Kate Moore. She had sparked a thread of life in his cynical heart that he thought was long dead. And he found himself facing the stunning realization that the pretty schoolteacher had gotten under his skin.

A tall, sexy brunette wearing a glittery pink top and black mini skirt brushed by him, tossing him a smile over her shoulder. He returned her smile, but his restless thoughts were still on Kate.

Then he saw her. Katrina, wearing a skimpy black dress and a disappointed frown on her face as she watched him.

* * * *

Kate took a deep breath as she made her way nervously towards him. Her gold strappy sandals were barely able to carry her shaking legs. She prayed she didn’t land on her face.

As she neared him, her jittery nerves worsened. She couldn’t forget the smile he’d given that brunette with the pink top. She wondered if he regretted meeting her here tonight.

God, she was confused! He wasn’t meeting Kate, he was meeting Katrina.

She took another deep breath and realized she wasn’t cut out for playing the bad girl. At the gym, she had nearly collapsed after she left Adam, because she’d been holding her breath the whole time she was with him. And now, she felt too self-conscious and naked in her skimpy black dress. She cringed inwardly, knowing what she had to do.

She was going to tell Adam the truth.

The only reason she’d donned her Katrina disguise was so she could gently and slowly explain her research, allowing him time to adjust to what she knew would shock him. She prayed her reasoning was right.

Their gazes met and she felt an attack of anxiety. This was going to be harder than she thought. She wished he would forgive her and realize she’d done this with good intentions. Her self-help books benefited so many women, and he couldn’t fault her for wanting to help people.

No. She wasn’t going to change her mind. She had to do this. All afternoon she’d been plagued with so much guilt and regret, she’d had to cancel her volunteer work at the hospital. The children would have noticed she wasn’t herself and she didn’t want to disappoint them with a sour visit.

“I’m glad you came,” she said as she reached him. He ran his dark gaze over her, his eyes narrowing.

“I’m glad I did.” The music slowed to a throbbing beat and couples melded together on the dance floor. Adam took her hand. “Let’s dance.”

Kate stiffened as she let him lead her toward the dance floor. Without taking his eyes off her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her towards him. Kate couldn’t hold his gaze, and stared at his black shirt front as she slid her hands up his arms. Their bodies moved to the heady, slow beat of the song, and she closed her eyes. He leaned in closer and their bodies met. Kate gasped under the loud music as his hard muscles pressed against her soft curves. She opened her eyes and looked up into his dark expression.

“You even smell like her,” he murmured.

Kate frowned. “I’m sorry? What did you say?”

He didn’t respond. He stared at her as their bodies moved in perfect harmony to the sultry sound of Barry White. He slid a hand up her back and touched her hair. Kate tried to pull back, but he kept his other arm firmly around her, his handsome face darkening as a series of expressions cast shadows along his features. Confusion. Doubt. Disbelief.

“What the hell!”
he said, looking like he’d been punched in the gut. Kate was frightened.

Before she could explain, his mouth claimed hers in a hard kiss. Stunned, she couldn’t move. Before she could react, he grabbed her by her shoulders and shoved her away from him.

He gave her a long, contemptuous look before he strode away, leaving her standing alone on the dance floor.

* * * *

Adam walked out of the club. He knew who Katrina was. The kiss. Katrina looked like her, smelled like her, even tasted like her.

Kate Moore.

* * * *

Kate struggled to understand what just happened. How could he have discovered who she was in such a short time? Her hand shook as she brought it to her mouth. She choked back a sob. But she was going to tell him! She was going to tell him after their dance!

Panic seized her. She had to explain. She ignored the curious looks from the other couples as she ran from the floor. She couldn’t let him disappear from her life thinking the worst of her.

What he must think of her! That she was crazy? Delusional? Weird? She nearly collided against a man as she ran out of the club and dashed into the parking lot. She saw Adam striding to his car, his shoulders tense, his hands clenched at his sides.

“Adam! Wait!” She tried to catch her breath when she caught up to him. He ran a heated look over the rapid rise and fall of her breasts and her courage fled at the derisive look he gave her. “Please. You have to hear me out.”

“I don’t know what sick game you’re playing Katrina, Kate, whatever the hell your name is, but you can count me out.”

Barbara had called it a seduction game and Kate flinched at the memory.

“Why?” he ground out with barely controlled anger. “Dammit, you knew I was going to be at the gym. You knew because I told you last night.” He paused and ran a shaky hand through his hair. He swallowed hard. “Answer me, dammit! Why?”

She withered under his grim look. “Adam, I was going to tell you the truth tonight. I never meant—”

“Who the hell are you?”

Kate drew in a shaky breath. “My name really is Kate Moore, but I’m a psychologist, not a school teacher.” She paused for a reaction from him, but he gave her none, only a cold, stony look that chilled her blood. “I’ve…I’ve written four self-help books. I’m currently writing my fifth book. It’s called,
Nice Girls. Bad Girls. An In-depth Look At What Men Really Want.”
He remained silent and she rushed on to explain the four phases of her research. “This book will help countless women, especially teenagers who rush headlong into sex without any thought of unwanted pregnancies or disease.” She drew in a shaky breath. “This book is about being yourself. About finding Mr. Right without having to compromise your morals or beliefs.” She thought she caught a flicker of interest on his handsome face, even admiration, but it disappeared too quickly for her to be certain.