The Trouble with Valentine’s (3 page)

Her chin came up, her eyes flashed warningly. ‘Can’t see it happening.’

‘Okay, I can see that simpering might be a stretch for you. Forget the simpering.’ He wouldn’t. ‘Can you do possessive?’

‘That I can do,’ she said. ‘You want the whole “hands-off-my-man”, slapping routine?’

‘No slapping,’ he said. ‘Ladies don’t slap.’

‘You never said anything about being ladylike.’

Fantasy number three.
Damn
she was good.

‘Oh, and there’s one more thing …’

‘There is?’ Every man had his limits and Nick had just reached his. His brain fogged, his blood headed south and he was thinking leather, possibly handcuffs, although where he was going to get handcuffs from was anyone’s guess. Silk then. No problem finding silk in Hong Kong.

‘Earth calling Nick?’ said Hallie in exasperation. She’d seen that glazed look before. Knew that Nick Cooper was definitely
not
thinking business. Men! They could never multitask. ‘Nick! Can you hear me?’

‘Oh I’m listening.’

He had the damnedest voice. The laziest smile. But this was a business arrangement. Business, no matter how tempting it was to think otherwise. ‘My return ticket stays with me.’

H
ALLIE COULDN’T QUITE REMEMBER
whose idea it had been to tour Nick’s workplace after dinner, only that it had seemed a sensible suggestion at the time. Business, she reminded herself as they stepped from the restaurant out into the cool night air and he slipped his jacket around her shoulders. Strictly business, as she snuggled down into the warmth of his coat and breathed in the rich, masculine scent of him. The fact that his chivalrous gesture made her feel feminine and desirable was irrelevant. So was the fact that he was quirky and charming and thoroughly good company. This wasn’t a date, not a real one. This was business.

Nick’s office was only a couple of blocks away, familiar territory, this part of Chelsea, and they walked there in companionable silence.

‘I need to make a phone call,’ she said as
Nick halted in front of a classy office block and unlocked the double doors that led through to a small but elegant foyer. ‘I’m sharing a house with one of my brothers at the moment. He’s a touch protective; he likes to know where I am if I’m out with someone new. I used to get annoyed with him. Nowadays I just tell him what he wants to know. No offence.’

‘None taken. It’s a smart move. Makes you a smart woman,’ said Nick.

Nice reply. Hallie pulled out her mobile and dialled Tris’s number, grateful when he picked up on the umpteenth ring. He told her he was fine and not to nag. She told him where she was and that she’d be back before midnight and disconnected fast, before he could give her the be careful speech.

Hallie slipped her phone back into her handbag. Nick ushered her into the lift, the doors closed, and it was intimate, very intimate in there. She cleared her throat, risked a glance. Impressive profile. Big feet. And an awareness between them that was so thick she could almost reach out and touch it, touch him, which wouldn’t be smart at all. He turned towards her and smiled that slow, easy smile that bypassed brains and headed straight for the senses, and then—

‘We’re here,’ he said, and the lift doors slid open.

Nick’s office suite was a visual explosion of colour and movement. Cartoon drawings covered every inch of available wall space; computers and scanners crammed every desk. There was a kitchenette full of coffee and cola; a plastic trout mounted above the microwave. The whole place was organised chaos and completely intriguing. ‘So how many people work here?’ she wanted to know.

‘Twelve, including me.’

‘Let me guess, they’re all men.’

‘Except for Fiona our secretary. Sadly she refuses to clean.’

‘I like her already.’

‘Figures,’ he said. ‘So does Clea. This is my office,’ he said, opening a door to a room that was surprisingly tidy.

‘What’s the basketball hoop for?’

‘Thinking.’

Right. ‘And the flat screen TV and recliner armchairs?’ There were two chairs, side by side, a metre or so back from the wall-mounted television.

‘Working.’

Ah. Why she’d expected a regular office with
regular décor was beyond her. There was nothing the least bit ordinary about Nicholas Cooper. ‘So tell me more about this game of yours. Is it something I’d know all about if we were married?’

‘You’d know about it.’ Nick’s voice was rich with humour as he slid a disc into the gaming console and gestured towards an armchair. ‘If we really had been married these past three years you’d have banned all talk of it by now.’

That didn’t sound very wifely. ‘Couldn’t I have been supportive and encouraging?’

‘Sure you could. I was thinking realistically but we don’t have to do that. We can do fantasy instead.’

‘Hey, it’s your call. You’re the fantasy expert. By the way, how long did you tell your distributor you’d been married for?’

‘I didn’t.’ He slid her a glance. ‘I’m thinking a couple of months, maybe less. That way if we don’t know something about the other it won’t seem so odd.’

‘Works for me.’ And then the game came on. The opening music was suitably raucous, the female figure on the screen impressively funky. ‘Very nice,’ she said politely. ‘What does she do?’

‘Mostly she fights.’ He handed her a gaming handset. ‘Press a button, any button.’

Hallie pressed buttons at random and was rewarded by a flurry of kicks, spins and feminine grunts. Not, Hallie noted, that the figure on the screen even came close to raising a sweat. ‘Are those proportions anatomically possible?’ she wanted to know.

‘Not for earth women,’ said Nick. ‘Which she’s not. Xia here is from New Mars.’

‘New Mars, huh? I should have guessed. The clothes she’s almost wearing are a dead giveaway. Does she have a wardrobe change option?’

‘You want to change her
clothes
?’

‘Well, she can hardly kick Martian butt in six inch stilettos, now can she?

He stared.

Hallie sighed. ‘You’re losing credibility here, Nick.’

‘What did you do before you sold shoes?’ he wanted to know. ‘Bust balls?’

‘I worked a blackjack table at a casino in Sydney for a while.’

‘Why did you stop?’

‘I never saw sunlight.’

‘And before that?’

‘A brief stint washing dogs in a poodle parlour.’
The memory was dim but still worthy of a shudder. ‘Too many fleas.’

‘So are you actually trained in anything?’

‘I have a fine arts degree, if that counts for anything. And I’m halfway through a Sotheby’s diploma in East Asian Art. That’s why I came to London.’

‘Why East Asian Art?’

‘My father’s a history professor with a particular interest in dynasty ceramics and I hung out in his workshop when I was a kid, read all his books.’ It had been the crazy-cracks in the glazes that had first captured her interest. The rich history behind each of the pieces had held it.

‘So you’re following in your father’s footsteps. He must be proud of you.’

‘No, mostly my father ignores me. I learn anyway. I can spot a fake dynasty vase at fifty paces. In fact I’m absolutely certain the Ming in the Museum of London’s a fake.’

He stared.

‘All right, ninety percent certain.’

‘So why aren’t you finishing your diploma?’

‘I will be. Just as soon as I earn enough money for my last two semesters.’

‘By selling shoes?’

‘It’s a job, isn’t it?’ she said defensively. ‘Interesting, well paid jobs are hard to come by when you’re a student. Employers know you’re just filling a gap.’

‘Couldn’t you ask your family to help out?’

‘No.’ Her voice was cool; he’d touched a nerve. Her brothers would have lent her the money. Hell, they’d wanted to
give
her the money and so had her father for that matter, but she’d refused them all. Little Miss Independent, and it galled her that they hadn’t understood why she’d refused. None of her brothers had taken money from anyone when
they’d
started out. She was staying with Tris because there was more than enough room for her in his home and because London rentals were outrageously expensive. That was all the help she was prepared to accept.

No, money for nothing wasn’t her style at all. But ten thousand pounds for a week’s work … a week’s fairly unorthodox and demanding work … Well now, that was a different matter altogether.

‘How much do you need to complete your studies?’ he asked curiously.

‘Ten thousand pounds plus money to live on. But I’ve already saved five so with your ten thousand I figure I’ve got it covered.’

‘And then what?’ he said. ‘Then will you roam
the world in search of ancient artefacts and long lost oriental treasure?’

‘Yeah, just like Lara Croft and Indiana Jones,’ she said, heavy on the sarcasm. ‘You know, maybe you need to get out more. You might just be spending too much time in fantasy land.’

‘See? I knew it wouldn’t take long before you started sounding like a real wife,’ he countered with a grin. ‘Don’t you want to be a Tomb Raider?’

Sure she did. She just didn’t think it very likely. And as for sounding like a nagging wife … Hah! Wait till she really put her mind to it. ‘Right now I’m thinking I want to be Xia here because she’s really good at this alien butt-kicking business, isn’t she? What does she get if she wins?’

‘Points.’

‘Points as in money? Does she get to shop afterwards?’

‘Only for a new weapon.’

‘What, no plastic surgery? Because I really think a breast reduction is a must here.’

‘Our target demographic is teenage boys.’

‘I’d never have guessed.’

‘Besides, there’s nothing wrong with her breasts; those are excellent breasts. Fantasy breasts.’

Hallie sighed.

‘Not that yours aren’t very nice too,’ Nick added politely.

‘Mine are real,’ she said dryly, slanting him a sideways glance. ‘Completely real. Just in case anyone should ask.’

‘I’m very impressed.’ His eyes were blue, very blue, and his smile was pure pirate. ‘Because they look to be in excellent shape. I should probably take a closer look; acquire a real feel for them so to speak. I’m not a fact-file person either.’

‘Is your distributor’s daughter watching?’ she countered smoothly, even as her breasts tingled and her nipples tightened at the thought of him touching her. ‘Are we in a public place?’

‘Sadly, no.’ And through eyes half closed, his attention back on the screen, ‘Man I love kinky women.’

Oh, boy. ‘So what’s in this game for us girls?’ she said hastily. ‘Other than this very cool vibrating controller.’

‘Shang.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Shang. Paladin princeling.’

Nick flicked back to the main menu and a male figure appeared on the screen. He had dark, carelessly cut hair, an exotic face, a tough lean bod, and was no slouch in the ammunition department
either. ‘Is that a gun in his pocket or is he just glad to see me?’

Now it was Nick’s turn to sigh. ‘You’re not taking this seriously.’

‘It’s a game, Nick. I’m not meant to.’

‘You’re right, you’re not. My mistake.
I’m
the one who has to take it seriously. My people have spent three years developing this platform, Hallie, and now it’s up to me to market it. I can’t afford to make mistakes. Not with John Tey, not with his daughter. That’s where you come in.’

‘Call me naive when it comes to big business but I think lying to a potential business partner about your marital status is a mistake,’ Hallie felt obliged to point out.

‘You sound like my conscience,’ he muttered. ‘If you have a plan C let’s hear it.’

‘Ah, well, I don’t currently have a plan C.’

‘Pity.’

He looked tired, sounded wistful. As if having to deceive John Tey really didn’t sit well with him. Sympathy washed over her and all of a sudden she wanted to slide on over to his recliner and comfort him. Weave her hands through that dark, tousled hair, touch her mouth to his and feel the passion slide through her and the heat start to build as she feasted on that clever, knowing
mouth and – Whoa! Stop right there. Because that wasn’t sympathy.

That was lust.

‘What?’ He was looking at her strangely.

‘Indigestion,’ she said. ‘I think it was something I ate. Probably the clams.’

‘Probably the situation,’ he said. ‘What’s it to be Hallie? Are you in or out?’

Hallie hesitated, tempted to say yes. Not for the adventure, the excitement, or the money but so that she could spend more time with Nick. The same Nick who was prepared to pay her ten thousand pounds so that at the end of the charade she’d
leave
.

A sensible woman would refuse him now and save herself the heartbreak, the
genuine
heartbreak, that was bound to come if a woman was careless enough to fall for him. A smart woman would sigh over that Hermès handbag, maybe even spend a minute or two imagining what it would look like on her arm, but in the end she’d turn away. That was what she
should
do.

What she said was, ‘Do you believe in destiny, Nick? Do you believe in fate?’

‘Only as a last resort. Why?’

‘I think we should let the game decide. Xia and Shang against the Martians. If we win we go to
Hong Kong as man and wife. If we lose, you throw yourself on the tender mercies of Mr Tey and spill your guts.’

‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’

She was.

‘Deal,’ he said, and the fighting began.

Two murderous hours later it was decided. They were going to Hong Kong.

J
ASMINE TEY HAD ALMOST
conquered her habit of stiffening with apprehension every time someone mentioned Nicholas Cooper’s name. It had taken a while. Two weeks, to be exact, and it had been a month since she’d last seen him. So much could happen in a month. New memories could replace excruciatingly embarrassing ones. Selective amnesia could happen, not that it
had
…

Not that it
could
with Kai standing in the kitchen telling her that Nick was coming back next week to finish his business dealings with her father.

And bringing his wife.

Jasmine would
never
have done what she did had she known about his wife.

‘So, are they staying here or downtown?’ she asked in what she hoped was a disinterested voice.

‘Here.’

‘Oh.’

‘You enjoyed Nick’s visit last time,’ said Kai mildly.

Yes, she had. Nicholas Cooper had been fun to have around. His eyes had so often been crinkled and smiling. He’d been careful to include Jasmine in his conversations and he’d paid attention to her opinions whenever she’d voiced them. She’d taken it as encouragement.

So heady, Nick’s attention.

So stupid, what she’d done next.

She’d gone to Nick’s room one night and waited for him. Not naked, nothing so shameful as that, but she’d waited, hands twisting, breathless with anticipation. She wanted to know what a man’s lips would feel like against hers. She ached for the slide of warm hands around her waist. She’d wanted
someone
to want her and there were so few some-ones in her sheltered world to choose from.

She’d wanted
Kai
to notice that Nicholas Cooper had treated her like a woman rather than a girl.

She’d been such a fool.

Nick had stepped into the guest room, taken one look at her standing to one side of the window and blanched.

He’d stammered something about leaving his computer downstairs and needing to go and get it.

‘
Wait
,’ she’d said. ‘I didn’t
mean
—I don’t mean to offend.’ She’d looked pleadingly at him. ‘I thought—’

She’d thought he might like to take their friendship further.

‘Jasmine.’ Nick’s voice had cut across hers, low and urgent. ‘God help me if I’ve given you the wrong impression, I never meant to, but if it’s romance that you want from me … I’m sorry, but I can’t.’

Humiliation had coursed through her, fierce and all consuming.

‘You’re a lovely girl,’ he’d continued. You are. And I’m honoured. And flattered.
Very
flattered. Really.’

He hadn’t looked flattered. He’d looked completely aghast and Jasmine had felt the hot prick of tears behind her eyes. ‘Is there something lacking in me?’ she’d found the courage to ask and he’d shaken his head and gone two shades paler.

‘No,’ he’d said. ‘No. Don’t go there; it’s not you. Don’t ever think that. I just—can’t. Jasmine, I’m
married
.’

Jasmine had fled his room after that and Nick
had left the following day on urgent business, with enough speed to make her father frown and wonder about the merits of doing business with flighty Englishmen. Kai had just looked at her, one eyebrow raised, and Jasmine had blushed hard and looked away.

Kai didn’t know what she’d done. He merely suspected that she’d done
something
.

‘Jasmine?’ Kai’s voice came to her, soft, as always, and threaded through with steel. As always. ‘Something bothering you?’

‘No. Nothing,’ she said and followed through with a restrained nod and a half-smile. Too much reaction and Kai would know there was something wrong. He knew her reactions, all of them.

And she knew his.

‘Your father would like you to entertain Mrs Cooper while she’s here.’

‘Of course,’ she said. It wasn’t the first time her father had called on her to help entertain his guests. ‘You have the dates?’

Kai gave them to her and she nodded again and turned back to the stir fry she was preparing. ‘Would you like some?’ she asked, knowing that once upon a time Kai would have helped her with the cooking and thought nothing of sitting down to a meal with her in her father’s kitchen. Not so these
days, and with Kai’s retreat came a loneliness that went bone- deep.

‘No, I’m going out.’

‘Oh.’ Oh, of course. ‘It’s Valentine’s Day.’ Of course he would be going out. All the beautiful people went parading on Valentine’s Day. Just because Kai had never brought a woman back to his apartment over the garage … just because he’d never introduced Jasmine to anyone … that didn’t mean he didn’t have a special friend. ‘I hope you brought her a big bunch of flowers.’

‘What?’ Kai looked momentarily puzzled.

‘Flowers. For your date. For Valentine’s Day. I hear it’s best to give them in public, and then you walk somewhere with her, while she’s holding them in her arms so that everyone can see how highly regarded she is. And you need a really big bunch.’ Kai was looking at her strangely. ‘What?’

‘How do you
know
all this?’

The question stung, mainly because of all the things he didn’t say.
You’ve only ever been on one date, and that was arranged by your father and the boy in question never asked for another,
he could have said.
And you’ve certainly never been given a gift on Valentine’s Day
. He could have said that too. Instead, he’d gone with ‘How do you know all this?’ and shamed her anyway.

‘I see what people do,’ she offered tightly. ‘I know what’s expected. Just because—

Just because she’d never had a proper boyfriend and barely knew kisses …

‘Just go,’ she said.

But Kai had never been one to take orders – at least, not from her. He stood there watching her; so many secrets behind those beautiful black eyes. Kai had been her bodyguard for eight years now, ever since she was eleven, and there’d never
not
been secrets in those eyes.

Nicholas Cooper’s laughing blue eyes had been refreshingly devoid of secrets.

Well … except for the fact that he had a
wife
.

‘It’s not a Valentine’s Day date,’ Kai offered finally. ‘I don’t have a Valentine. I’m not buying flowers. I’m going to watch a martial arts demonstration. Wing Chun style versus Aikido.’

‘Oh.’ The bean shoots were burning. Jasmine turned down the heat and gave the food another stir. ‘May I accompany you?’

‘It’ll be hot and crowded.’

This was Hong Kong. It often was. ‘I don’t mind. I wouldn’t treat it like a Valentine’s Day outing, or anything. I mean—that’s not how I think of you. At all.’

Much.

Kai just looked at her and then with a flicker of something in his beautiful black eyes, he looked away.

‘No, Jasmine,’ he told her quietly. ‘The answer’s no.’

Hallie’s bedside phone was ringing. She rolled across the bed, arm outstretched, groping wildly. Because no way on earth were her eyes going to open at this hour. She’d spent most of last night watching bad action adventure movies with Tris. She’d planned on a ten a.m. wake-up time, minimum. It wasn’t ten a.m. It was still dark, not even dawn. She found the phone, found her ear. ‘‘Lo,’ she mumbled.

‘Can you get some time off work this afternoon?’

‘Nick?’

‘Yes. Nick.’ He sounded impatient.

‘Couldn’t this have waited till morning?’ she mumbled.

‘It is morning. Were you still in bed?’

Hallie slitted her eyes open to glance at the glowing red numbers of her bedside clock. Five-fifty! A.m! Ugh, he was a morning person. The notion was going to take some time to digest. She held the receiver to her breast and took several
deep breaths before putting it back to her ear. ‘Nick, it’s the weekend. I have one day off a week and this is it and there’d better be a good reason for this call. What do you want?’

‘To let you know we have an appointment at Tiffany’s at two this afternoon to get your rings.’

‘Rings?’ Hallie’s eyes snapped open. ‘Tiffany’s? As in Tiffany and Co. the jewellers?’ She was wide awake.

‘Wedding ring, engagement ring. It’ll be expected. The manager of the store on Old Bond Street’s a friend of mine; he’s going to let me borrow some pieces,’ said Nick. ‘After that we’ll go shopping. You’ll need suitable clothes as well.’

Shopping for clothes? This coming from the lips of a man? ‘You’re gay, aren’t you?’

‘No,’ he said, with a smile in his voice that curled her toes.

‘Cross dresser?’

‘Nope.’

‘Have you been drinking?’

‘Nor am I drunk.’ Exasperation in his voice this time, giving her toes a chance to relax. ‘The way we present ourselves in Hong Kong is going to be important and I’m guessing there’s nothing in your wardrobe that’s suitable.’

‘Suitable how?’ she snapped as visions of
tailored suits and pillbox hats floated through her mind. ‘You’re going to dress me up like Jackie Kennedy, aren’t you? You’re having make-over fantasies!’

‘I wasn’t until now.’ The smile was back in his voice; yep, there went her toes. ‘And I’m not thinking First Lady exactly but we can’t have you looking like Marilyn Monroe either.’

She should have been insulted. Would have been except that this was a sex goddess he was comparing her to. ‘Who’s paying for these clothes?’

‘I am. Consider it a perk.’

‘I love this job,’ said Hallie. ‘I’m in. Two o’clock sharp at the jewellers. Oh, and Nick?’

‘What?’

He sounded complacent. Indulgent. As if she’d reacted exactly as any good little plaything would. ‘Bring your mother.’

‘How’d the big date go last night?’ asked Tris when finally she made it to the kitchen for breakfast. He was standing by the counter waiting for toast to pop. Hallie was all about getting to the coffee pot. ‘I didn’t hear you come in.’

‘That’s because you were totally out of it. I checked on you when I came in.’

Tris poured her a coffee without further comment.
Hallie added milk, blew gently on it for good measure and finally took a sip.

‘He’s a nice guy,’ she said. ‘Funny. Good company …’

‘Name?’

Hallie reached for the Hong Kong travel guide sitting on the counter, flipped to the back of the book and retrieved Nicholas Cooper’s business card. She held it up, rolling her eyes as Tris not-so-deftly plucked it from her outstretched fingers. ‘How’s the shoulder?’

‘Bruised.’ Tristan studied the card. ‘Seriously?’ His tawny, golden gaze pinned her once more, bright with amusement. ‘You’re dating a computer geek?’

‘Well, it beats dating a cop. Imagine if I brought home someone like you?’

‘No cops,’ growled Tris.

‘Amen.’

‘Brat.’

‘Boor.’ She took in the scrape high on his face and the discoloured skin that ran from shoulder to neckline. ‘You still look like hell.’

‘Perks of the job. Speaking of, I’m going to be in Prague most of next week. Maybe longer.’

As far as Tris destinations went, Prague was a new one. ‘What’s in Prague?’

‘Vice.’

‘Tris, this job you do—’

I wish you’d walk away from it, she wanted to say. I don’t like the distance you put between yourself and other people these days and I can’t bear to see the bleakness in your eyes when you think no one else is looking.

But the Bennett family never said things like that and Hallie was nothing if not one of them.

‘Be careful, won’t you?’ she said, and took comfort from his smile.

Hallie arrived at the jewellers at exactly two o clock, only to find Nick and Clea waiting for her outside, Clea looking thoughtful, Nick looking just plain smug.

‘We got here a little early so we’ve already been in,’ said Nick. ‘Henry’s given me some pieces on loan. I’m sure you’ll like them.’

‘What do you mean you’re sure I’ll like them? You mean I don’t even get to go into the shop and ogle the pieces for myself?’ Hallie stared at him, aghast. Surely he was kidding. ‘Don’t you need to measure my ring size or something? I mean, what if they don’t fit?’

‘Here, dear, try this on.’ Clea handed her one of her own rings, a wide band of square- cut diamonds
set in platinum. ‘We used this one for size. I usually have a good eye for these things.’

Hallie slipped the band on her wedding ring finger and stared at it in dismay. It was a perfect fit.

‘Does it fit?’ asked Nick, all solicitousness. ‘It looks like it fits.’

‘It does. But we’re still going inside. I for one will be far more amenable once I get to see all the pretties, even if I
don’t
get to choose anything.’ Hallie placed a dramatic hand over her heart. ‘Nick, I’m your future pretend wife. You need to humour me.’

‘This really isn’t going to plan,’ said Nick as Hallie handed Clea’s ring back to her and headed towards the plate glass doors of one of London’s landmark jewellery stores. ‘Why isn’t this going to plan?’

‘I have no idea,’ offered Clea dulcetly as she too headed back inside. ‘Coming?’

Henry, Nick’s Friday night poker buddy and current sales director of the jeweller’s UK branches, smirked when Nick stepped back inside. He’d said nothing when Nick had chosen the pieces earlier with Clea’s help, but he’d smirked when Nick had said that Hallie was meeting them here. Henry caught Nick’s gaze, highly amused about
something
, and then Henry adjusted his tie,
turned and bestowed a charming smile on Hallie and on Clea. ‘Let me guess,’ he said smoothly. ‘You’d like to see the pieces again?’

‘Just the rings,’ said Nick quickly, otherwise they’d never get out of here.

‘And maybe a tiara,’ said Hallie.

‘And the animal brooches,’ added Clea.

‘Good call,’ said Hallie.

‘Certainly, ladies. This way, please.’ Henry’s amusement was definitely not part of the regular Tiffany’s jewellery buying experience. Henry needed a refresher course. ‘Nicholas, my friend. Is there anything else I may show you?’

‘The door in half an hour would be excellent.’

‘I live to serve,’ said Henry. ‘And I do love a challenge. Shall we take it over to the chairs?’

‘No need—’

‘Henry, you angel,’ said Hallie. ‘I need a seat, a tiara and possibly a beverage. Give me the whole Tiffany’s excellent service experience. I’m currently in retail. I’m taking notes.’