Tomorrow Will Be Too Late (9 page)

That was it. She could see it with brilliant clarity now. If she wasn’t sure before what made him come to her house, gloating like a conqueror dealing with the spoils of his won wars, she didn’t have to wonder any longer. He
had come
here to make sure she knew how vulnerable she was to him and whatever he decided to do next. Not directly
,
of course, but
then
again
,
her sister’s future was as close as it got to her own skin. If he hoped for her to beg him to keep his mouth shut
,
he had another thing
coming
. Her rebellious spirit might have suffered a major dent, but she was nobody’s pushover, not even the man whom she
had
helped to destroy
.

She
paused, appalled at her own thoughts. She
had done
the
unthinkable;
there was no denying it. She
had
lied, cheated
,
and acted her way into his vulnerable heart on
that
toughest night of the year.

‘Look, I
’
m very sorry for what happened two years ago
,
’
she
started now, unable to remain silent any longer. ‘I
’
ve wondered many times if I would get the opportunity to say it in person to you, Justin.’ Was it a smirk that appeared on his handsome face? Undeterred she continued, encouraged by his silence. If he was so absolutely and
unforgivably
angry
,
he would interrupt her, right?

‘I
’
m truly sorry for what I did
,
’
she
repeated, her voice strong
er. ‘
I have not much to say in my defense. Just that Victoria described you as someone absolutely different
,
and stupid as I was,
I believed
her. I was naïve and blind to think that she really wanted to be my friend, while all
that
time she was just using me for
that
one single purpose. I realized it later, much too late
,
unfortunately. It’s not much of a justification, I know, but that’s what happened.’

‘Aren’t you forgetting one small detail in this touching story?’
L
ethally
calm
,
he watched her from across the room, the space between them as vast as a chasm. ‘
There
were only two people in the pub that night
—y
ou and me, Kate. If…’ he paused momentarily, as if the words didn’t really want to leave his throat, ‘if you really realized I wasn’t the monster Victoria made me out to be, what stopped you from coming clean? Why did you decide to continue with
that
farce and let me believe I
had
met
the
woman of my dreams? I can only think of one reason for that, which
has
always had the power to make people forget decency and honor. Money and position, isn’t it?’

She needed to make him see that he was wrong. Not only because his cold, calculated anger scared her more than she cared to admit, but because she couldn’t bear
to think
he really believed her to be so manipulative and heartless.

Once again, she was too slow. He didn’t wait for her answer, his voice cool and collected.

‘It doesn’t matter now,
Kate
. Why should we discuss the past when there is so much to look forward to in the weeks to
come?’ S
omehow she knew that the question didn’t really beg for an answer, her eyes watching him with sick fascination as he came nearer, one long finger lifting her chin to his inspecting gaze. She should have stepped away instantly, she thought, her energy seeping away as she felt the warmth of his skin on hers, surprisingly familiar.

‘
You
see, there is a perfect way for you to redeem yourself
,
’
he
said, looking down into her pale face. ‘
This
time it
’
s me who is asking for your great acting service, and I don’t think you can refuse me. Not if you don’t want your sister’s future family to see those infamous photos of us, your attire and purpose leaving little to one’s imagination. Even less, I don’t think they would take it well to find their son marrying a woman
whose
sister was involved in a pathetic attempt to rip off a man who had the misfortune to be rich. What do you think?’

She couldn’t find the right words to answer. Could he really mean it? Was
he
the same man who kissed her and looked at her with such infinite tenderness? She could not believe that he was capable of something so low and awful,
even though his set face told her that he meant every single word of it.

‘Would you really go and tell them all that, Justin?’
she
asked, his forbidding face doing little to boost her courage. ‘Do you really think your friend would appreciate you destroying his relationship?’

‘I guess we
’
ll ha
ve to wait and see, won’t we?’ H
e shrugged his powerful shoulders,
the muscles
of his strong chest moving under the thin fabric of his
t-shirt
. ‘
Maybe
he would be grateful to escape
the
sad fate of being nothing more than a bank account with a name attached to it, Kate.’

‘My sister would never marry him for the money, both he and I know it
,
’
she
exploded, her
caution
thrown to
the
wind. She would not stand by and listen to him
condemn
her sister, no matter how many reasons she
had
give
n
him to dislike her. ‘
She
loves him very much
,
and it would break her heart if you tried to destroy their
future.’

‘
Well
then, her fate is in your lovely
hands.
’ H
e was unimpressed with her outburst, his quizzical gaze just as frosty as before. ‘
As
I said, if you do me a favor
,
I might overlook it and allow Thomas to find out for himself if he betted on the right horse, no offense.’

‘Offense taken,’ she hissed, her eyes furious. ‘What exactly did you have in mind
,
anyway? As I told Vic two years ago
,
I
’
m a terrible actress
,
so you’d better not hope for too much.’

‘You could have fooled me
.’ H
e smiled coolly, his fingers reaching out to trace the outline of her
collarbone
. ‘I think that you are unnecessarily modest, Kate. And for what it’s worth
,
the role I
have
in mind
has
been already rehearsed and quite successful, so you won’t need to fret about it one bit.’

She watched him like a hypnotized animal, the light touch of his hand doing horrible things to her
self-composure
. It was unfair that he could still affect her like that, she
thought
miserably, every square inch of her skin gloriously alive under the touch of his warm fingertips.

‘
Aren’t
you going to ask me what
it is that I want you to do?’ H
e smiled at her,
his face a perfect mask of sarcastic amusement. She hated
that
smile, she thought miserably, missing the warm promise of his face that she remembered so well.

‘All rig
ht, what is it then?’
s
he
managed finally, her voice husky with
the
effort to appear calm. ‘
What
is it that you want me to do,
Justin
?’

‘Nothing you haven’t done before
.’ B
efore she could react, his fingers tightened around her shoulders
,
and he pulled her
to him
, his face dangerously close. For a second
,
she thought he would kiss her, a strange look coming and going over his features before he locked
them
down, the impassive expression firmly reinstated.

‘
You
will pretend to be my girlfriend, Kate
,
’
he
said, each word perfectly accentuated as he watched her reaction with hawkish gaze. ‘
You
will act your best and convince everyone that I am all you want, our romance fast but convincing after the wedding.
That should be easy for you, given the spectacular performance I remember so well
.
’

‘That’s insane
,
and you know it.’ She shook her head in despair, her eyes huge. ‘I would never ever even consider something like that. And why? Why on earth would you want me
,
anyway?’

‘Because I know that you can do it
,
’
came
his bullet
-
fast answer, his blue gaze unperturbed by her passionate outburst. ‘
After
my fiasco with Vic
,
I
ha
ve decided never to go down the same path again. One misery is enough for a lifetime
,
as far as I
’
m concerned.’ He stepped back and sat down on her sofa, his large frame dwarfing the otherwise regular
-
sized piece of furniture
. He watched her stand stiffly, reluctant to
sit
down as well. It would be
a
kind of surrender
.

‘Unfortunately
,
I seem to attract attention from some people for exactly that reason
,
’
he
continued calmly. ‘It’s puzzling how much more attractive a man becomes, once he had been through some tough times in the love department. Couldn’t figure it out for myself, but the fact that I
’
m divorced and rather distant to the female charms works like a magnet for the wrong kind of women. It has nothing to do with me in particular
,
I think, just the usual thrill of the hunt
.
’

He
was wrong, she wanted to say
,
and just about managed to clamp her mouth shut before she embarrassed herself with her honesty. Because whatever he said, there was more to him than just a challenge of seducing and claiming him like some kind of trophy. She could understand his allure, better than she wanted to.

‘I
’
m invited to a weekend on
Mercer Island
.’ H
e looked at her again,
his face indifferent. ‘
A
friend of mine owns a house at
Faben
Point and has this annual tradition of getting together all of his business partners
and friends
. It includes me, as you have most probably guessed.’

‘So what? Is it
forbidden to show up single?’ S
he shook her head, unconvinced
.

‘No, of course it isn’t
.
’
He
wasn’t impressed with her doubtful attitude, she could tell. ‘I missed it last year
,
since I was away in Africa, but before that I did come by myself, more than once.’
He
leaned
back against the sage green cushions of her sectional, his face enigmatic. ‘
What
changed
,
unfortunately, is the dynamics of our group. One of the partners got married to a woman I used to date before I met Vic. Yes, it doesn’t seem so outlandish, but it gets worse
,
’ he responded to her unspoken question, still perfectly polite. If she didn’t know any better, she’d be able to consider his visit nothing more
than
a conventional
chitchat
, she thought bitterly.

‘Marcy falls into pretty much the same
category
as Vic, unfortunately. She is lovely, witty
,
and… high maintenance.’ He grinned humorlessly. ‘
Maybe
that’s something you should throw at me, Kate. I do seem to fall for the wrong type of women, over and over again. She married Lucas after a short and passionate courtship, most of the passion and courting very much one
-
sided, I
’
m afraid.’