A Daughter's Dilemma. Miranda Lee

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СКАЧАТЬ Madeline Powers... Anthea Maxwell... And how many countless others?

      Just as well that she had unwittingly taken Justin’s advice and made herself as unattractive as possible, otherwise he might even now be attempting to seduce her! Given this unwanted though undeniable sexual attraction she was feeling for him, who knew what disaster might have come of it?

      ‘I wasn’t avoiding your company,’ she lied frostily.

      His sardonic smile showed he didn’t believe her for a moment. ‘In that case you can come with me and nurse a drink while I eat.’

      Before she could stop him he took her elbow and began to usher her from the room. ‘You can tell me all about what you’re doing these days. Oddly enough, I’ve often thought of you over the years,’ came the wry remark. ‘Hard to dismiss the pretty blue-eyed little thing who used to glare at me with such obvious disapproval. Something which hasn’t changed much, has it?’ he added drily when she pulled away from him at the door. ‘You still think I’m some kind of ogre.’

      ‘Not at all,’ she returned with admirable coolness. ‘I don’t think of you as anything any more. You’re just my stepfather’s architect.’

      ‘Is that so?’ His gaze turned hard as it locked with hers. ‘And how should I think of you, Carolyn? As my client’s stepdaughter, here to help finish his house to everyone’s satisfaction? Or as a female harbouring an irrational grudge against me and who might be thinking of sabotaging my work out of revenge?’

      She gasped with true shock.

      ‘I think any suspicion on my part is well warranted,’ he went on coldly. ‘After all, you did give a false name to my secretary, then you wangled your way into my office. If I hadn’t come in when I did, you would have been left alone with my plans to do God knows what to them. And just now, you seemed eager to be left alone at the house. I wonder what might have been missing or damaged when I returned?’

      Her eyes widened even more. ‘I would never do such a low thing!’ she protested, trying not to colour guiltily over her earlier vengeful thoughts. ‘Never! I have a high regard for achievement and hard work, regardless of what my opinion is of the person behind them.’

      ‘And what is that, if you don’t mind my asking?’

      ‘Well, I...I...’

      ‘Go on, tell me exactly what you have against me, except a bit of ancient history that was hardly my fault, regardless of the consequences.’ He folded his arms and glared at her. ‘Well? Haven’t you anything to say? Don’t you think I deserve an explanation for this exaggerated hostility?’

      Carolyn’s mind was going round and round. All she could think of was that fury became him, making him draw his body up tall and straight and proud, making his eyes darken and flash with a wicked appeal, his jaw jutting strongly forward, highlighting the splendid bones in his face.

      Only later did she remember that she could have thrown his relationship with Anthea Maxwell in his face. Mrs Maxwell was, after all, a married woman, unlike Miss Powers who was clearly single. But at the time, she merely blushed furiously, giving him a dangerous glimpse of her vulnerability. ‘I...I don’t know,’ she said shakily, before pulling herself together and lifting an equally proud chin. ‘You seem to bring out the worst in me. You always have done. I just don’t like you, Vaughan. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.’

      Her blunt remarks surprised him. They rather surprised her too. But after the surprise came selfsatisfaction.

      At least I’m taking this ridiculous attraction by the scruff of the neck and killing its chances of going anywhere stone dead. Nothing puts a man off more than saying you don’t like him.

      Not that I really needed to put him off, she thought with a certain irony. He hasn’t shown one ounce of interest in me in a sexual sense. Quite understandable, looking as I do today.

      ‘Well, I’m sorry about that too,’ he returned brusquely. ‘I always rather liked you. Even as a child you had character. You weren’t a ditherheaded little nincompoop like most of your girlfriends.’

      ‘Oh? You mean because I didn’t drool over the gorgeous Vaughan Slater?’ she said acidly before she could bite the words back.

      His eyes narrowed slightly and Carolyn hoped she hadn’t just made a big mistake. Too much hostility was more revealing than none at all. With a supreme effort she dragged up a covering smile. ‘See?’ she laughed drily. ‘You’re still bringing out the worst in me. I’m not usually such a bitch.’

      Those thoughtful eyes travelled over her so intently that her arms broke out in goose-bumps under her jacket sleeves. ‘No,’ he said slowly. ‘I wouldn’t have thought you were. Frankly, I think that if you could put aside this irrational antagonism of yours you’d probably turn into quite the nicest, most sincere person I’ve ever met.’

      Her stomach clenched down hard. First sympathy, and now flattery. Oh, he had all the best weapons where women were concerned, didn’t he? Thank God he didn’t seem to fancy her or she’d be in real danger.

      ‘You know it will be hard working together, if you’re going to be glaring and sniping at me all the time,’ he went on quite reasonably. ‘Do you think, for the house’s sake, you could put your dislike of me on hold for two months? Or is that too long for you to control your—er—feelings?’

      Carolyn swallowed. She certainly hoped not. ‘I think I could just about manage two months.’

      He laughed. ‘Good lord, you don’t pull any punches do you? But who knows? Once you get to know me better, you might find I’m not quite the heartless cad you’ve obviously believed I was all these years.’

      I doubt that very much, she thought with private irony.

      Vaughan’s mouth curved back into a rueful smile as he surveyed her unrelenting face. ‘Come on. Maddie will be wondering where you are.’ And with that he took her elbow again, opened the door, and marched her from the room.

      She was jerked to a halt in front of the secretary’s desk.

      ‘I’m walking Carolyn here along to Maddie’s office, Nora,’ Vaughan pronounced. ‘I’ll be back in five minutes and you’ll be able to go home. The big bad ogre is giving you an early mark for putting up with his rudeness.’

      ‘Oh, Mr Slater,’ the woman simpered in return. ‘You’re never really rude.’

      His chuckle was dry. ‘That’s an opinion not shared by several building contractors I know.’

      ‘Some of them deserve a blast,’ the secretary defended loyally.

      ‘We had all sorts of trouble with the plumbers at Julian’s house,’ Vaughan confessed as they made their way along to Suite Four, that insidious male hand still glued to her arm. ‘Most of the time they just didn’t turn up when they said they would. It’s no wonder one can’t get a house built in the time scheduled if the tradesmen don’t even make an appearance some days.’

      ‘But what excuse do they give?’ Carolyn asked, curious, despite her discomfort. She was still shaking inside from their highly strung encounter, and quite rattled by her unexpected response to her once vowed enemy. If only he wouldn’t keep on touching her...

      Vaughan СКАЧАТЬ