Spiraling Deception (11 page)

His offer was exceedingly generous and
despite not trusting him as far as I could throw him, I had no
other choice—I had to accept his gracious offer.

I squared my shoulders, stood a little
taller, cleared my throat and felt mildly calmer now that I had a
plan.

“
Thank you, Roman. I
appreciate your help and I accept.” I extended my hand to his but
he just looked at my proffered hand, grinned mischievously and
brought my hand up to his lips for a soft, lingering
kiss.

Courtney visibly sighed in relief and Jake
threw a withering glare in Roman’s direction but when Jake opened
his mouth to protest, Roman cut him off. “I’ll take good care of
her and this is my personal cell number. Feel free to check in on
Charlotte daily.” He handed Jake a small white card from the pocket
of his pants. “Seth, would you mind taking Miss Gilmore’s things
down to the car when she’s finished packing them.”

Courtney promptly packed up my scattered
clothing while I headed to the bathroom to collect my cosmetics. My
stomach rolled with nerves and swarming butterflies.

So, less than forty-eight hours after
meeting Roman Knight—a man who simultaneously stole my breath every
time I saw him and infuriated me to no end—he would escort me to
what amounted to a cozy, romantic dinner alone together before I
would accompany him back to his hotel suite, where I would spend
the next two days.

After reluctant hugs and
kisses good-bye, along with promises that I would call Courtney and
Jake every day, I followed Roman down to a waiting Seth standing
sentinel over
a sleek black Mercedes town
car, the same one I saw Roman get into yesterday
morning.

And now I was all alone—well, not entirely
alone—with Roman in what was undoubtedly the most romantic city in
the world, and we were walking into a charmingly quaint, rustically
intimate little French restaurant on one of the most famous avenues
in the world and we were…bickering. Yes, bickering like some old
married couple.

“
Manipulating you?” Roman
snorted incredulously. He whirled me around and tugged me forward
until the front of my body hit the solid muscled wall of his
chest.

“
How?” he demanded, his
tone low and menacing. Before I could reply, he continued, each
word delivered like a sobering slap in the face.

“
Was I manipulating you,
Charlotte, when I called the police, then translated on your behalf
because you couldn’t speak French? Or was it when I phoned in a
favor to a friend of mine at the US Embassy to speed the process
along for your replacement passport? Was it when I offered the use
of my hotel for your extended stay here in Paris and thus assuring
your continued wellbeing in a foreign country with the imminent
absence of your friends? Perhaps it’s the offered aid of my plane
to safely ensure you get back home without further expensive costs
to you?”

I blinked several times and swallowed hard.
He was mad; he was beyond mad—he was furious. His features were
thunderous and his eyes were hard like black coals staring back at
me.

I thought back over the events of the
evening. Tonight, Roman had been nothing but gracious—exceedingly
generous—and very accommodating throughout this whole dilemma. His
only transgression was to be assertive and insist on my compliance
in his plan. But that was the type of man Roman Knight was. He was
decisive, authoritative, and a natural leader: he saw a problem and
provided an instant solution.

And although partly
true—he
did
kind
of manipulate or rather, guilt, me into going along with his plan
out of concern for Courtney and Jake—I didn’t have to agree and go
willingly with him. I made that decision all on my own and mainly
because I knew Courtney and Jake would’ve never have left me here
in Paris by myself and I also knew they couldn’t afford to stay
either. Ultimately, Roman’s solution was the best course of action
for everyone concerned.

Oh fucking hell—I sounded like an
ungrateful, spoiled, and petulant child.

Everything he said was true. He was a
tremendous help with both the police and the US Embassy and I felt
a hell of a lot safer knowing I would be staying with Roman. But in
the back recess of my mind, I couldn’t help the small nagging
suspicion that Roman Knight also had an ulterior motive.

Trusting people and taking them at face
value did not always come easy to me. I’d always been overly
cautious when allowing people to see the vulnerable side of my
personality and whether those insecurities stemmed from losing my
parents at an early age or because of the partially nomadic
lifestyle I grew up in, either way, I was immediately ashamed of my
behavior.

I looked into his beautiful face, bit my lip
and then sighed. “You’re right. I’m not being fair and I’m sorry.
Thank you for all your help tonight and for so generously offering
me a place to stay.” I tilted my head and smiled at him. “And thank
you for offering me a seat on your very posh private plane.”

He gave a short bark of laughter at my
reference to his jet, and then his features sobered. I stared,
mesmerized, as those enchanting midnight-blue eyes of his
intensified and held mine captive in the entrance to the
restaurant.

The sound of a clearing throat broke the
spell between us and Roman shuffled us with an arm around my
shoulder to the side and made way for the passing patron. Then he
tucked an errant curl of my hair behind my ear and he entwined his
hand in mine. “Apology accepted but let me make myself perfectly
clear, Charli: my offer of assistance comes freely, without any
strings attached. Now, let’s get something to eat.”

The meal was amazingly good; the wine Roman
chose even better; the service, view and ambiance, spectacular; but
by far the best part was Roman’s company. He was…unexpectedly
easygoing and surprisingly, a great listener. Although he didn’t
readily open up about himself, he was both engaging and inquisitive
regarding my life. He asked me questions about my teaching degree
and college, what it was like to perform in an acrobatic troupe,
about Uncle Mike, Jake, and Courtney, and he was subtly sensitive
when I shied away from answering questions about my parents and
their deaths, which I was grateful for.

The topic of my parents was a subject I
tended to avoid but the rest of my life was more or less an open
book. My unconventional childhood always sparked a certain level of
curiosity and Roman was no exception, openly laughing when I shared
some of the more crazy stories that had happened on the road. By
the end of our meal, I was relaxed and thoroughly enjoying our time
together. However, it did not escape my attention that Roman wasn’t
as forthcoming regarding his own life. A closed book was more an
accurate description and when I tried to steer the conversation
back to him, he’d volley yet another question at me. It was a
textbook distraction technique, which I’d let slide during our
dinner conversation but now I was intrigued.

“
So…” I hedged
tentatively, stalling until the waiter finished placing our coffees
down on the table.

“
So…” he mimicked with a
grin, picking his coffee up and taking a mouthful.

As his throat worked to swallow the liquid,
I watched, fascinated for a moment until I regained my train of
thought. “I’ve spoken enough about me all evening. Now I want to
hear about you.”

“
I’m really not that
interesting.”

My brows rose. “Oh, I beg to differ.”

“
Alright…” With his cup
down on the table, his gaze returned to mine. “What would you like
to know?”

“
Married?”

“
No.”

“
Have you always lived in
New York?”

“
Yes.”

“
Age?”

“
Older than
you.”

I shook my head. “You’re not very
forthcoming, are you?”

“
No, not particularly,” he
deadpanned.

With a frustrated sigh, I
took a sip of my own coffee. “And apparently you have a preference
for monosyllabic
answers.”

His lips twitched in amusement at my
sarcasm.

“
I don’t find your
ambiguity amusing, Mr. Knight,” I huffed. “I’ve been more than
candid about myself with you all evening, which I can assure you
doesn’t come naturally to me. You can’t expect me to accompany you
back to your hotel, alone, without even knowing the basics about
yourself. You’re virtually a stranger and I have trust
issues.”

All previous humor fled his features as he
studied me for a long time and I was proud of myself for not
recoiling from the intensity of his scrutiny.

“
I can assure you,
Charlotte, you’re perfectly safe with me.” He leaned back in the
chair, arms crossed over his chest, but I caught the flicker of
apprehension flash over his features before the mask of stoicism
dropped firmly into place. The man definitely had hidden
layers.

“
I’m thirty-two, born and
raised in New York. I have two sisters—one older and one
younger—and my parents are divorced. I’m an extremely private
person and I don’t particularly enjoy discussing my
family.”

He paused briefly, as if thinking about his
next words. “I don’t have a wife nor do I have a girlfriend—I
relish my freedom too much. Between my company and its vast
investments, I barely have the time for a personal life, let alone
a relationship.”

With my elbow propped on the table, I rested
my chin on the palm of my hand and smirked at him. “Hmm, so what
you’re telling me is you’re a middle-aged workaholic with
commitment issues.”

His answering bark of laughter lifted the
heavy mood between us. “Middle-aged, eh? I don’t know whether I
should take offense to that or not. Perhaps you should have majored
in psychotherapy and not teaching, Miss Gilmore.”

“
Oh, heavens no—children
are so delightfully uncomplicated and much more virtuous than
adults.” I picked up my cup to take another sip of coffee. “Take
you, for example.” I motioned to him with my cup. “Totally
unscrupulous. Within an hour of meeting me, you crudely
propositioned me.”

His grin was almost predatory and completely
unapologetic. “What can I say—I’m a man who knows what he wants,
and make no mistake about it, Charlotte—I always get what I want.”
With a shrug, he finished the last of his coffee and motioned the
nearby waiter for the check.

“
Not this time,” I mumbled
under my breath.

Roman handed over his credit card to the
waiter and then turned his attention back to me. “I’ll let you in
on a little secret, Princess. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I
was a scrupulous man. From that first moment I first saw you wander
onto that stage, in that sexy little costume of yours, I wanted
you.” He leaned across the table toward me and his gaze intensified
with determination. The tenor of his voice lowered and I
instinctively leaned closer to listen. “And Charlotte, I will have
you. I will have you in my bed, writhing beneath me, begging me to
fuck you harder and you will scream my name over and over until
your voice is hoarse.”

Flinching, I hissed in indignation, “You’re
one arrogant, cocky man, Mr. Knight. What makes you think I’d sleep
with you?” But his words had my thighs pressing together in a
veiled attempt to stem the unsolicited heat my body felt from his
words.

God—what was up with
me?
My brain was offended while my body
practically hummed aloud with desire.

Scoffing, I folded my arms across my chest.
“Other women may be impressed by your designer suits, private
planes, expensive cars, and wealth—you’re probably some obscenely
rich millionaire—but I can assure you, I’m not one of them.”

His only response was to smirk
unrepentantly. It appeared the magnanimous man who had so
generously helped me earlier that evening was gone, replaced by the
conceited jerk I met two nights ago.

“
I thought you said there
weren’t strings attached to your offer of help.”

“
We back to this again? As
I’ve already explained—my offer to assist is without obligations.
Something
you
should know about me is that I detest being questioned
repetitively regarding my actions, and I don’t tolerate being
called a liar.” Each word was clipped through clenched teeth as
fury blanketed his features.

Contritely, I bit my lip and looked anywhere
but at him. Twice in so many hours, I had ungraciously thrown his
generosity back in his face. “I’m sorry. I apologize…again.”

When his glower turned to skepticism, I
attempted to explain my thoughts. “It’s just that I find you very
confusing. One moment you’re this presumptuous jerk—” I hesitated
for a moment when I noticed his scowl morph into a glare.

“
And…well, the next
minute, you’re this literal knight in shining armor coming to my
rescue. Then as soon as I let my guard down, you’re back to being a
jerk with the…,” I paused to use air quotes with my fingers,
“the whole
‘I’m going to
fuck you’
thing.”

He tilted his head to the side and studied
me for a moment as his gaze roamed over my face. “Hmm, I see. Then
allow me to make myself perfectly clear, Charlotte. I’m attracted
to you. Now, whether you choose to admit it to yourself or not,
you’re equally attracted to me.”

When I started to balk at his words, he held
up a finger to stop me. “You have two choices here. You can be
naïve, denying yourself the pleasure on acting on those feelings,
or we can, as two mutually consenting adults, enjoy a few
passion-filled nights together. Either way, the choice will always
remain yours.”