Lucifer's Lover (9 page)

“She was so good at this stuff—at mixing and mingling and charming birds out of the tree to eat from her hand.” Lindsay sighed. “I’m not good at it at all. Actually, I suck at it.”

“It comes easier for some people but nobody is a complete natural at it, Lynds. You just have to practice more. Although I have to wonder how you’ve managed to come so far so fast if you genuinely are such a terrible schmoozer. You’re in marketing—it comes with the territory.”

“I…just got by, somehow. Mostly, I tried to make up for it with other skills.”

He nodded a little in the dark. Yes, he’d seen the force of will and determination she applied to everything else she did. Was that what drove her? A simple feeling of inadequacy? He knew it went deeper though—there were more secrets beneath this one. They enticed him to delve deeper but he resisted the impulse. He was content, tonight, with the little she had given him. It was an Olympic victory, really. This was the first time she had ever volunteered so much as a glimpse inside.

“You have to go out there again. You know that, don’t you?” he told her.

“I know.” Again, the small sigh. “I’ll be okay. I just had to…get my breath.”

He patted her hand. Despite her words, her trembling had not subsided. If anything it was worse. Transmitted through her hand, he could feel her whole body was shaking.

“Look at it this way,” he said. “What’s the worst thing that could happen to you out there?”

“I could embarrass you,” she said instantly.

“Never,” he shot back. “I do that to myself well enough. I don’t need help.”

“No, really,” she insisted. “I’m…a social klutz.”

Well, that’s the understatement of the year, Luke thought wryly.

He had been warned, when he’d taken the job, that Lindsay Eden was not exactly a people person. They’d been right on that score, although he suspected her lack of people skills had kept people at such an arm’s length they’d never thought to ask themselves
why
she was so bad at dealing with her fellow man.

He strove for a casual note. “So you make the odd
faux pas
. It’s not the end of the world, is it?”

“It could be.” She pulled her hand from his and covered her face, turning away. “What if you had to…apologize for me?”

It was said quietly and with deep dread in her voice. Luke knew the last thing he could afford to do was trivialize it.

He kept his voice as even and sincere as he could. “If you
do
make a klutz of yourself out there, I sincerely doubt anyone will notice. You’re rather dazzling, you know. People will forgive beautiful people for a
lot
of mistakes.”

“But you will see them. You’ll be embarrassed.”

“I doubt it. I’ve got armorhide protection. Your skin tends to grow a little thicker each time yet another relative tells you they don’t want you anymore and it’s time to move on.” He gave her hand a little shake for emphasis. “A couple of social screw-ups by you won’t even scratch the surface.”

She turned to look at him then and even in the poor light of the moon he could see the puzzled look on her face and a hint of empathy and warmth. It was the same look that had burrowed into his guts in the car, when he had unintentionally told her the real story of his name.

He used the same defense now and deflected the mood. He swiveled to face her more. “Listen…you go out there and make as much of an idiot of yourself as you want. I promise I won’t feel even the slightest need to apologize for you. And I won’t be embarrassed.”

Her chest lifted. A deep breath. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well…don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“I hear you.”

He stood and tugged on her hand. “C’mon. Up you get.”

She rose reluctantly. She was still trembling violently.

“You’ll be fine,” he assured her.

“I don’t believe you.” It was a whisper.

He lifted her chin. In the ghostly moonlight her eyes were eerie pools of shimmering light. The temptation was there.
Kiss her
. It was a shouted impulse but he clamped down on his mind and his body, subduing it. It would be far too easy to kiss her right now. She was too vulnerable, too open. And he knew he’d feel like a complete heel afterward if he did.

But man, oh man, was it hard to battle the temptation!

Finally, before he did something idiotic, he stepped back from her took her hand and led her out of the office, heading for the elevators.

And
she
was worried about embarrassing him?

Lindsay still felt like she had two giant pins stuck through her middle, so tied up in knots was she but there was a vast reassurance in having her hand in Luke’s. He didn’t let go even in the elevator when other hotel guests stepped in to go to the lobby and frankly stared at them in their formal clothes.

In fact, if her senses hadn’t been racked up to their most sensitive and her nerves prickly and at full alert, she may have missed the tiny movement he made toward her in reaction. But that small movement flooded her with reassurance. She didn’t have to do this alone.

They walked back into the function room and she felt his hand on the small of her back—a light touch—and she realized that her steps were faltering. She picked up her speed, heading for the thick group of people congregating on the dance floor on the other side of the tables. It was as if no time had passed since she had left.

But she felt much better now.

Sort of.

Fear was still clamping her stomach but at least this time her heart had subsided enough that she could actually hear what people were saying.

Vince Gormley saw them and lifted his hand to catch their attention. He excused himself from the small group he was with and moved in their direction. He nodded as he reached them and looked at Lindsay.

“Are you all right? I saw you rush off.”

Luke’s hand was on her back, warm and firm. “Actually, that was my fault,” he said. He touched his temple. “Migraine. Lindsay did a dash of mercy for some Tylenol. Sorry.”

Gormley looked relieved. “Oh, well, that’s good. I mean, it’s not, of course but I’m glad it’s not anything worse. Migraine, huh? You’re pushing yourself too hard, Pierse. I heard about your big coup, by the way.”

“Thanks. Although I couldn’t have done it without Lindsay.” She felt his hand give her a tiny nudge and she smiled mechanically as Vince glanced at her.

“Really?” he said. “You two appear to be building a bit of a team here. That’s good. That’s very good. It all helps the hotel, of course.”

“Of course,” she echoed.

If Vince had heard about Luke’s landing of the medical association account from someone else, then what
had
Luke been doing up in Vince’s office the morning after her disaster?

“Anyway,” Vince said, lifting his glass of champagne. “Don’t forget to mingle, you two.”

“Of course,” Luke assured him. “It’s the only reason for being here.”

Her heart gave a little leap.
Mingle
. Yuck.

But Luke’s hand was pushing her forward. He grabbed two glasses of wine from a waiter who appeared magically in front of them and handed one to her.

“Let’s go,” he murmured and led her further into the middle of the room.

She was deeply uneasy now. Most people were already talking in intimate little groups, their heads together. And even if Luke found someone just standing there looking lost, what was he going to do? Just walk up and introduce himself? Her heart fluttered at the thought of doing that herself.

But instead he aimed for a small group of guests standing together. There were no hotel staff with them. She watched him carefully. He was looking straight at them and inevitably one of them saw his approach. As soon as they saw him, he smiled warmly and moved to stand with them.

He drew her along, pushed by his hand on her back. His right hand he stuck out, grasping the offered hand of the man whose glance he had caught.

“Hi. Luke Pierse. I’m with the hotel.”

It was that easy. Suddenly the others were all echoing their own names and affiliations. A hand was offered to her and she shook it. “Lindsay Eden, Director of Marketing.”

“Really?” Myopic blue eyes behind thick lenses stared at her. “I’m in marketing, myself. Small electronics firm—try to compete with the Valley in California. You should know something about big city competition. How do you compete, way up here in the mountains?”

The sudden interest, the intense stare and on-point questions threw her. She swallowed, feeling the edges of panic returning.

“Lindsay has turned our remoteness into a marketing bonanza,” she heard Luke say. “For a hotel, location can be everything. Right, Lindsay?”

His hand slid across the back of her hip, warm and reassuring. Without thinking about it, she found herself moving back a few inches until she bumped up against Luke, her shoulders and buttocks firmly against him. It was like a wall of warmth and reassurance behind her and she was gratified when his hand slid around her waist to lie over her hip, in an intimate, possessive gesture.

“We’ve got bloody great big mountains all around us and snow that never fails. And sun that rarely quits. No city can offer that,” she answered the man in front of her.

He blinked at her forcefulness, then smiled. “Well, yes. Put that way…”

“It’s just a matter of figuring out what you offer that the competition can’t. Marketing isn’t rocket science, after all.”

Another man in the group—she hadn’t caught his name—laughed a little. “Know a bit about rocket science do you?” he asked.

“I should,” Lindsay said. “My father
is
a rocket scientist.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

Luke laughed. “The worst of it is, she means every word too.”

“Really?” asked the myopic man. “Your father works for NASA?”

“He worked for anyone who could afford him—including NASA,” Lindsay admitted. “Astronomical physicists are pretty thin on the ground, so he moved around a lot, trying to help out everyone.”

Again there was the stunned little silence and then something unexpected happened. A chuckle passed amongst them.

“And did you get your father’s genes?” she was asked. “Are you a professor of quantum physics in real life?”

Again, Luke answered for her. “Radcliffe. She graduated
summa cum laude
, in mathematics and physics and has a masters in mathematics.”

She looked up at him, utterly astonished.

“That’s right, isn’t it?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she said and the word came out a little breathlessly.
How did Luke know that, though?

“What on earth are you doing running the marketing department of a little hotel like this?” Blue Eyes asked her.

Before she could answer, the other smart alec snorted. “Remind me not to tell any blonde jokes while you’re around.”

Irritation bit into her. “Oh, don’t restrain yourself on my behalf. I wouldn’t want you to miss out on all that mental stimulation.”

She felt Luke pat her hip. A warning. Heedlessly, she finished. “Haven’t you heard? Most blonde jokes are one liners so men can remember them.”

Again there was a little stunned silence and she knew she’d done it again.

“Smile,” Luke breathed in her ear.

She plastered a brilliant smile on her face, while her heart skittered along unhappily and she held her breath, waiting for the fallout.

But somehow, the smile converted them. There was a nervous twitter and clearing of throats and a general easing of tension. Blue eyes laughed out loud. “Serves me right for judging by appearances, and such a lovely appearance it is, Miss Eden. One day, we must talk more about marketing. I suspect you could teach me a great deal.” And he nodded. It was an acknowledgment.

Lindsay nodded back and pretended to sip her champagne but she wasn’t really drinking it, for she was heady enough.

She didn’t need Luke’s warm “Well done,” murmured in her ear to know she had made it. This time.

* * * * *

She was still trembling when she got behind the wheel of the car to drive home but it was a heady mix of elation and relief, not the undiluted fear she had been feeling before. She tried to push the key home twice and failed.

Luke’s hand rested on hers a moment. “I’ll drive,” he said. “You relax and recover.”

No one had ever driven her car before except her but she silently climbed out and moved around to the passenger side, handing Luke the keys as they passed in front of the hood.

The drive to Luke’s place was silent and in the silence and the warmth from the car’s heater, she felt her body relax, her mind quiet and her nerves go off-line. By the time he halted the car in front of his apartment block, she was actually sleepy, tiredness gnawing at her.

“It’s nice,” she said, as he turned the engine off.

“What is?”

“You know how to be silent. And when. I didn’t realize that until tonight. You always seemed to be running off at the mouth whenever I saw you before.”