Web of Deception by Nina Blake Read Free Book Online

can. I’m just saying Mark’s not acting very wisely. I certainly wouldn’t leave you to fend for yourself against a man like me. Not if you were my partner.”
    “I’m not your partner so you don’t need to worry.”
    But she was worried.
    Very much so.
    She didn’t like this little charade of pretending she and Mark were engaged, even though she was the one who’d started it. It hadn’t seemed so far from the truth when they’d been together.
    She shou ld tell Daniel the truth, that she and Mark had broken up, and get it over with.
    But she didn’t want to do that and lay herself wide open. Not because of Mark’s career aspirations because she knew he’d recover one way or the other.
    The problem was that if she told Daniel she was single, there would be nothing standing between them, no barriers.
    Kate was anything but a pushover. Many of her friends would have a few drinks and let themselves get sweet-talked by a man they though t looked good at the time. Not her. She knew what she wanted, knew how to stand up for herself and say no to a man.
    These days, she entered relatio nships with her eyes open. Sure, she’d made a few bad decisions in the past but they were her decisions. Now, she weighed up the facts, worked out what she wanted and acted accordingly. Above all, she always had control.
    So why maintain the farce that she was unavailable when she was perfectly capable of turning down Daniel Webb if that was what she wanted?
    That was the problem.
    She didn’t want to say no.
     

Chapter F our
     
    Daniel watched Kate spoon another mouthful of chocolate tart into her mouth. She looked despondent as a raspberry fell off the spoon and onto her plate so she scooped it up, staring at it as though the feat was a major success.
    It was only dessert but she was taking it so seriously that it made him smile. Concentrating hard on her food, her expression earnest, there was a certain naivety about her which Daniel found appealing. It made an interesting balance to the Kate Henry who argued with him, refusing to let him get away with anything.
    She looked gorgeous in that dress though he had to wonder if she knew just how alluring she was. He’d guessed the first time he saw her that she wasn’t the type to flaunt herself and with a body like that she didn’t need to.
    The dress wasn’t exactly revealing. In fact, he wished it were more so. It was simply that the fabric and cut meant it clung to her every curve, highlighting her shapely figure without showing off any flesh.
    And that only made him want to see more.
    When she’d first entered the room and strutted towards him in those strappy satin heels, he’d enjoyed every step of the way. Every stride made the skirt of her dress skim her slender thighs, her hips swaying just enough for the fabric to slide against her waist. It had felt like she’d been walking straight towards him.
    And if she hadn’t been? He didn’t care.
    She might think she was taken but she wasn’t. Not as far as Daniel was concerned.
    It’ d be tricky but he’d have to make sure he saw her again, and next time there wouldn’t be so many people around. He’d make sure of it.
    It occurred to him that she might be interested in a recent deal he’d made, that of the Mills Building. The previous owners had let it run down so Daniel would need to hire an architect to oversee the project. In fact, she might be extremely interested.
    “There are some excellent restoration architects,” she said when he told her about it. “I can recommend some but the firm I work for doesn’t do that sort of work. We concentrate on new buildings with cutting edge desig n. A building like the Mills deserves a specialist in the field.” She pushed her dessert bowl away and looked at him. “I didn’t know you were interested in art deco. Is that why you bought the Mills?”
    “Not quite. I knew it was a good deal from the star t, even before the finance team did the figures on it.”
    “H