A Wicked Persuasion by Catherine George Read Free Book Online Page A

other, James. Now I’m an adult and an accountant. Not a profession known for glamour—as Claudia pointed out.’
    He grinned. ‘She got to you, did she?’ His smiled faded as she deliberately backed to put space between them.
    ‘Before you go, James, tell me the truth. Why did you hire River House?’
    He shrugged. ‘I’m a businessman, Harriet. I met Charlotte Brewster, got interested in what she does for a living, and told her what I had in mind for a party. She suggested your place as the ideal location, and for obvious reasons I jumped at the chance.’ He eyed her challengingly. ‘I’ll have invitations sent to you and your father. Will you come, or will you hide away while the party’s on?’
    Secretly euphoric that he had no intention of cancelling, she smiled brightly. ‘Thank you for the invitation—I’d love to come.’
    James drove off deep in thought. His motive in hiring River House had been simple. It had been a heaven-sent opportunity to pay the Wildes back for their treatment of him all those years ago. His original intention, once the party was over, had been to make sure Aubrey Wilde knew exactly who’d paid him good money to hire his house, and then get the hell out of the place and never look back. But meeting up with Harriet again had changed all that. All buttoned up in her accountant persona she’d affected him enough, but the moment he’d seen her today in shirt and jeans, hair loose and looking like the girl he’d once adored, his mind was made up. With Moira living so close to hand it would be easy to come and go on Harriet’s territory and see what developed.

CHAPTER FOUR
    N ICK C ORBETT was relatively new to the town. Since the day he had taken over from Aubrey Wilde at the bank, he’d also adopted a proprietorial attitude towards Harriet, who found it rather amusing, and made no objection to spending the occasional evening in his company. His fair hair and bright blue eyes gave him a deceptive look of youth which, coupled with his easy manner and single status, had soon made him a great favourite socially. Harriet saw that tonight, as usual, she was the object of more than one envious look as he ushered her into the bar of the King’s Head.
    ‘This is good,’ he said, after the waiter brought their drinks. ‘I always feel so relaxed in your company, Harriet. Which I suppose isn’t surprising. I inherited your father’s job, so you could say I’m almost part of the family.’
    ‘A bit of a stretch,’ said Harriet, laughing.
    ‘You look amazingly different with your hair like that,’ he said, leaning closer. ‘You should let it loose more often.’
    She shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t jibe with my accountant persona.’
    He laughed, and moved closer to study the menu with her. ‘What do you fancy tonight?’
    ‘Practically anything—other than organs!’
    His crack of laughter brought heads swivelling in their direction. ‘I’m with you there! And don’t look now, butthere’s some chap at the bar looking our way. Friend of yours?’
    Harriet’s spirits plummeted when she saw James at the bar with Claudia. He nodded coolly as their eyes met and slid an arm round his companion’s waist to lead her away.
    ‘You know him?’ asked Nick.
    ‘He’s an acquaintance, yes.’
    The arrival of a waiter distracted Nick from any further speculation until they were in the dining room, where the entire Graveney family was dining with James. Lily alerted Moira and Marcus, who both waved, smiling. Harriet waved back, and Claudia moved closer to James, her smile a mere flash of teeth.
    ‘Just an acquaintance?’ murmured Nick.
    ‘Actually he’s a sort of client,’ said Harriet, resigned, and explained the connection. The takeover of River House for a party would soon be breaking news in the town anyway.
    ‘So
he’s
James Crawford,’ said Nick, impressed. ‘I’ve read quite a bit about him recently—quite a success story. But why is he using your house for his