Body Heat (Vintage Category Romance) (17 page)

Soon, the sound of heels clicked across the floor above her head and Blaire let her narrowed gaze travel up the stair to the second floor landing.
There, Reva MacGlenary, impeccably dressed, glided across the floor to the carpeted stair and descended, her eyes locked with Blaire’s as she did so, her face taut and without expression.

When she reached Blair
’s level, a smile broke about her lips and she extended her hands to Blaire as she grew nearer. “Blaire. How nice. How is your father?”

Blaire placed her hands in
Reva’s, realizing that she was smiling back at this woman and didn’t know why. And before she knew it, she spoke sweetly and said, “Oh, Father, he’s fine. In fact, he’s why I’m here.”

“
Is that so?” Reva tucked Blaire’s hand into the crook of her elbow and patted her knuckles. Surprised, Blaire let her. Reva led her to the left through two heavy oak doors halfway slid back into their pockets in the wall. “Come. Let’s sit by the fire.”

As Blaire was led through the room toward the crackling warmth of the fireplace, she surveyed her surroundings.
Deeply polished furnishings shone about her. Refined draperies adorned the deep windows, more crystal candelabra and chandeliers reflected the fire’s glow, rich woven rugs accented the wood flooring, fine fabrics graced the elegant lines of the upholstered furnishings. Blaire wasn’t quite sure what Reva MacGlenary had tried to pull with her, but she knew she didn’t like it. She’d been laughed at enough in her short adult life, she didn’t care to be made fool of once more. Besides, she was getting tired of it.

Reva released her and Blaire sat gracefully on the sofa facing the fire.
Reva sat ramrod straight on the seat of an armchair next to her.

Blaire smiled a honeyed grin at her.
Reva smiled back. “Would you care for some tea?”

“
No, I don’t think so,” Blaire tilted her head at her thinking her lips were going to crack from stretching them across her teeth so far.

“
Well,” Reva continued. “How is your father, dear?”

“
The same. Once a bastard, always a bastard, I say.”

Blaire watched Reva
’s smile fade. “I always thought your father a fine man.”

Blaire crossed her legs and leaned toward Reva.
“I’m sure you do. You’re quite like him.”

She could tell Reva wasn
’t quite sure if she’d been insulted or not. She stared at Blaire for an instant and then continued in a rather matter-of-fact tone, “What brings you here, Blaire?”

“
Actually, it is my father who brings me here. We had quite an interesting chat yesterday afternoon.”

“
And what does that have to do with me?” The smile on her face was quickly turning sour.

Blaire nodded.
“Everything.” She stood. “What the hell are you trying to prove?”

Reva stood straight up
. “Prove? I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about, Miss Kincaid. Perhaps I should show you the door.”

Blaire stepped forward.
“I’ve seen the door, Ms. MacGlenary. And it looks quite nice, freshly painted and all. In fact, the whole place looks rather spiffy. Right now I want an answer to my question. What are you trying to pull here? You told me this estate was in near ruins. What were you trying to do, trick Darian out of his inheritance?” Blaire glanced around her and waved her arms at her side. “Obviously you were lying to me or I’ve just been dropped into Oz. This is a showplace.”

“
The state of my home is of no concern to you, Miss Kincaid. Now I suggest it’s time for you to leave.” She firmly placed a hand under Blaire’s elbow and began to escort her toward the doors leading out to the entryway. Blaire allowed herself to be led several steps away from the fireplace and then stopped, pulled her elbow out of Reva’s grasp, and turned to her.

“
That’s not the only reason I came here. What have you told my father about the case I worked on for you?”

Reva hesitated and Blaire watched her face.
“I simply told him the truth. That you had failed. It was a simple assignment and you had failed—miserably. Of course, he only laughed and said he had not expected anything else from you, incompetent as you are. But I assured him I would keep your failure under my hat, lest I kindle the flame for a bad reputation for your business.”

Blaire bristled.
“I spent over two months on that case and did the best I could,” she quipped. “The trail was over eighteen years old. Darian had not been seen or heard from for years. How in the hell was I supposed to find someone who never wanted to be found? I did the best I could, which was a damn good job, if you ask me. How dare you indicate to my father that I was incompetent.”

“
I didn’t say that. He did.”

Blaire tried to ignore her but the knife-like pain sliced deep.
“And how dare you ask for half of my money back when I did all I could! And…and particularly when you are sitting in here among crystal chandeliers and silk draperies when you indicated you were about to be sent to the poorhouse!”

“
You didn’t get Darian to sign the papers.”

But I did! I did get Darian to sign the papers.
Even though I didn’t want him to….

“
No. No, I didn’t. And I’m glad now that I didn’t. Obviously you misrepresented yourself to me in this matter. You lied to me and you tried to cheat Darian out of his inheritance.” Blaire glared at her. “And I’ll tell you something else, don’t you dare think you’re going to hold this thing over my head to my father. It won’t work. If I have to, I’ll go to the authorities, or… Or, the press.”

Reva took a step clos
er and peered deep into Blaire’s eyes. “Oh, no you won’t. For one, your father won’t be the half of it, Blaire Kincaid. If you go to the authorities,
or
the press with this, when I get through with you, there won’t be a person in the state of Vermont who will do business with you.
Or,
who will vote for your father. I don’t think that would be very pleasant for you.”

Blaire shook her head and chuckled.
“You don’t have a leg to stand on.”

“
I don’t need one, dearie. I’ve got money. And what I want, I get. Then I win. The only one who will lose is you. So you better keep your mouth shut!”

Blaire was in no mood to dally with the likes of Reva MacGlenary.
“Screw you!” She shouted as she backed away from Reva and started for the entryway door.

“
Is that what you did for six days in that cabin with my nephew, Blaire? Screw
him
?”

Halting, Blaire anchored her feet into the oak floor and closed her eyes against the pain piercing her chest.
How dare she desecrate what she and Darian shared, however brief? With her back still to Reva, she breathed deep, trying to cleanse herself of all the horrid thoughts that were running through her mind. Thoughts of strangling the woman behind her and tossing her into the fire. Screwing was not what she had done with Darian. Making love wasn’t even the best term for it. It was… More.

Slowly, Blaire turned to face her.

“
That
is none of your business,” she spat out.

“
So you admit you saw him. I think it is my business. You were on my time. I was paying you.”

Blaire
’s face became animated. “Paying me? You didn’t pay me to go down there and do anything but get the damn documents signed.”

“
And I told you to do anything you could to do it, didn’t I?”

“
I don’t recall that statement.”

Reva stepped closer, a sadistic grin stretched across her face.
“Oh, but Blaire. Don’t you remember? I told you to do whatever it took and you agreed, even if it meant screwing him to get him to sign. Remember, I know my nephew well, I told you that. He’d do anything for a good roll in the hay. And don’t you remember? I promised you more than the ten thousand dollars if you did. I promised you a whole lot more than that.”

Blaire was livid.
“You said nothing of the kind! The deal was five thousand up front. Five thousand when I returned with the papers.”

“
Which you didn’t do.”

“
Exactly. And I paid you back everything except for my expenses, which is fair. I lost two months’ worth of work. I didn’t expect anything else. We never agreed to anything else.”

“
That’s not what I remember, Blaire. You said you’d do anything to get away from your father and get your business off the ground. And for that, you needed money, which your father would not give you. You said right here, in this room, that if you had to you would seduce Darian to get him to sign away his inheritance.”

Blaire
’s heart pumped wildly in disbelief. “I did not! This is the first time I’ve been here. Why are you trying to destroy my credibility? Why did you tell my father you were not satisfied with my work?”

“
Because I’m not.”

“
Why?”

“
Because if you’d done what I’d paid you to do, all my problems would be solved by now. As it stands, they’ve only just begun.”

Blaire shook her head.
“I don’t understand.”

“
Turn around, and you’ll find out.”

“
What?”

“
Turn around.”

Blaire stared at
her, quite puzzled. Slowly, she turned to face the entry. And when she did, every muscle in her face fell lax.

Darian?

A man stood before her. A thick forest green sweater was stretched across his broad chest; khaki pants graced his muscled thighs. Close-cropped black hair laced with gray at the temples shone back at her. Steel gray eyes penetrated hers. She blinked and her mouth dropped open. His beard. It was gone. There was only a hint of a five-o’clock shadow. His upper lip and cheeks and neck were bare. Gone was the flannel shirt, the blue jeans, and the lace-up work boots. Gone was the man she fell in love with.

This was certainly not Darian MacGlenary. Not the man
she had made love to. This man was an impostor.

And a quite angry one at that.

Chapter Nine

“
Darian?” His name slipped from her lips on a wisp of breath. Realty was sinking in. It was him.

He
’d cut his hair. Shaved his beard. Oh, my.

His flannel shirt and faded work jeans were gone. He was dressed in a cable-knit sweater and black dress pants.

He was her Darian. And he wasn’t.

Darian
took a step forward. Blaire countered that step while watching his fists clench at his sides. He was obviously angry. She was in no mood for surprises. But the magnetism between them was palpable. He looked too damn good.

“
What are you doing here?” Her heart pounded.

“
I think you need to answer that question first, Blaire. And a whole lot more.” His gruff expression didn’t budge, his voice angry.

She
bristled. He’d heard what Reva said? Oh, God. “Darian, she’s lying.”

“
I’m not so sure. Perhaps you
were
after the money. Perhaps you were after more than that.”

“
Like what?”

“
Like half of my inheritance.”

“
Like hell! I don’t need your inheritance, Darian MacGlenary. I’ve got one of my own.”

“
Yes, but from what I just understood here, Daddy Warbucks doesn’t give in to his darling daughter so freely anymore. Perhaps you needed a meal ticket and I was the Sugar Daddy.”

She reached out and touched his arm
in an attempt to soften the conversation. She didn’t really want to argue with him. She had too many questions. “Darian, this is ridiculous. I told you the truth. I told you what
she
told me.” Blaire glanced back to indicate Reva. “I thought the estate was about to go under because some lawyer had embezzled most of yours and your grandfather’s money away.”

“
Then why are you here now?” He jerked his arm away.

Sighing, Blaire glared back at him.
“I could ask you that same question.”

“
Quit changing the subject. Are you
still
after my inheritance?”

She wanted to cry.
She wouldn’t let herself. She wouldn’t let him know how much that hurt. “You
are
a beast.”

He ignored her.
“Why are you here, Blaire?”

“
None of your business. Now you answer my question.”

“
This is my home.”

“
Since when?”