A Christmas Seduction

‘Grim would be the word I’d choose to describe it. It will be the first holiday without Alexander. Speaking of which, you know that Philip and Stella wanted to contest the will?’

‘No! How could they?’ The suggestion that Alexander had been in less than full control of his faculties made her mad enough to spit nails. ‘What about Maxine?’

Jonathan smiled at her angry tone. She sounded like a she-bear defending her cubs. Alexander would have been pleased to know he had one of his staunchest defenders in the guise of his eldest daughter.

‘She would have none of it. Maxine is a very classy lady. She might resent like hell who she thinks you are, but if Alexander wanted to leave you money she is not about to challenge it. You’d like her.’

Laura let out a puff of air and relaxed again. ‘I want to like them all. I want to know them all. They’re my family, but how can I tell them? I can’t baldly come out with it. For heaven’s sake, the shock could kill her and then where would I be? Everything is such a mess.’

‘I agree, but the time will come when you can tell them.’

Laura shook her head, her eyes filling as they had a habit of doing whenever she thought about Alexander. She was constantly surprised by how much she missed her father, when she’d hardly known him. ‘He was a good man, wasn’t he?’

‘One of the best,’ Jonathan agreed, slipping an arm about her shoulders and giving her a hug.

Laura made a determined effort to chase the blues away. ‘I seem to remember Alexander telling me that the family always spend Christmas at the house in Vermont.’

‘That’s right. We all travel up a day or two before Christmas and stay until New Year,’ Jonathan confirmed.

She sighed. A genuine family gathering. She would have given a lot to be there. As a child she had always longed to be part of a large family, but there had been only herself and her mother. She had thought it might be different this year, but with Alexander gone…She was on her own again.

‘I don’t suppose you’re allowed to bring a guest, are you?’ she asked wistfully, then caught her breath as an audacious idea came to her out of the blue.

‘I could if I wanted,’ he acknowledged cautiously, something in her expression making him distinctly uneasy. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Dare I?’ Laura asked herself out loud, still lost in thought. ‘Dare you what? Why am I beginning to feel very uneasy?’ Jonathan muttered dryly, and she grimaced.

‘Probably because you’re getting to know me too well,’ she quipped, then, taking the bull by the horns, sent him a beguiling smile. ‘I really do want to meet them, Jonathan,’ she said huskily.

Jonathan suddenly felt like a man on the way to his own execution. ‘What exactly are you suggesting?’

She took a deep breath, then blurted it out. ‘How would you like some friendly company for Christmas?’

He blinked. ‘You’re not serious!’

‘I wouldn’t say a word, honestly,’ she insisted, intent on persuasion. ‘All I want to do is get to know them, and give them a chance to get to know me.”

Jonathan held up his hands to ward her off. ‘Oh, no. No way!’

‘Please!’ she begged. ‘I’ll be good. You’ll never know I’m there!’

He dragged a hand through his hair. ‘It’s not me I’m worried about. The family won’t like it,’ he warned.

She bit her lip. He had a point. Yet she knew she had to do this. ‘They can hardly turn me away if I’m with you,’ she declared, though she wasn’t entirely sure if that was true.

‘True, but. Good Lord, Laura, have you considered everything? It won’t be pleasant for you.’

Laura shrugged that off, warming to the idea more and more. If she could just get them to see she wasn’t some sort of monster, they might be more receptive to the facts she hoped to tell them. Besides, she would be better able to gauge Maxine’s possible reaction. Was it really so much to ask?

‘I know it, but I can take anything they throw at me.’

Jonathan shook his head. ‘I’ve got to be out of my mind,’ he murmured, and the oblique agreement made Laura fling her arms around him.

‘Oh, thank you. You’re a wonderful man.’

‘Don’t overdo it,’ he advised, and shook his head again. ‘I know I’m going to live to regret this.’

‘No, you aren’t. This is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for. When are they expecting you?’

‘Next Wednesday evening,’ he revealed, and tried one last time to dissuade her. ‘Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?’

Laura pressed a hand over her anxiously beating heart. ‘No, but I’m going to do it anyway.’

Realising she was not about to change her mind, Jonathan bowed to the inevitable. ‘I’ll pick you up at your apartment around seven.’

‘You’re not going to tell them I’m coming, are you?’ she asked as the thought struck her, but Jonathan shook his head.

‘I think I’d prefer to surprise them. They might shoot the messenger for bringing bad news,’ he told her dryly, rounding his desk and locking away in a drawer the file he had been reading. ‘Are you ready for supper now?’ Collecting his overcoat from the stand by the door, he draped it over his arm.

‘Won’t our table have gone?’ Laura reminded him, but he grinned.

‘Nope. I remembered what happened the last time I took you to an opening and ordered the table for an hour later. If we hurry we should just about make it,’ he revealed, taking her arm and guiding her from the office.

‘My, what a clever boy you are!’

‘If I was that clever, I wouldn’t be letting you persuade me to set the cat among the pigeons.’

‘I’ma very docile cat,’ Laura murmured sweetly.

‘Hmm. Tell that to the pigeons!’

CHAPTER TWO

‘WARM enough?’

Laura sighed and stretched her toes towards the warm air coming from the heater. The car was a luxury model. Jonathan never drove anything but the best.

‘Mmm. It’s sending me to sleep,’ she murmured. It had been a long day, and the traffic leaving the city for the holiday season had made it seem endless. They had left it behind now, though, and progress was quicker.

‘Why don’t you nap for a while? We’ve still got some way to go,’ Jonathan suggested, sparing her a glance which brought a smile to his lips, before concentrating once more on his driving.

Laura liked the sound of that. She hadn’t slept much the previous night for thinking of the visit ahead of her. Not that she regretted her decision to come. She didn’t. However, she knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant walking into a place where she knew she wasn’t wanted. Consequently she had slept only fitfully, and now her eyes felt gritty from lack of sleep.

‘You’d better wake me before we get there. I don’t want to turn up looking like something the cat dragged in,’ she drawled wryly, making herself as comfortable as the seat belt would allow.

‘You never look anything less than lovely to me,’ Jonathan responded gallantly, and she smiled without opening her eyes.

‘You always say the right thing. It’s a wonder some woman hasn’t snapped you up before now.’

There was an infinitesimal pause before he responded. ‘All the best women are already taken,’ he said flatly, and Laura heard the soft sigh which followed. She didn’t look at him, but rather belatedly she did begin to wonder about Jonathan’s love life. Could he be in love with somebody who was married to somebody else? The thought saddened her, for if that was so he was doomed to unhappiness.

‘Uh-oh!’

The muffled exclamation brought her eyes open again, in time to see the first snowflakes begin to fall. She sat up, forgetting all about sleep.

‘It’s snowing!’ she cried in delight.

Jonathan snorted. ‘Just what we needed,’ he said grumpily. He had never made any attempt to hide his dislike of driving in wintry conditions.

‘I love snow. It makes everything look clean, bright and magical.’

He rubbed at the windscreen. ‘You wouldn’t think it so wonderful if you got snowed in.’

Laura laughed ruefully. ‘Probably not, but the child in me refuses to think of frozen pipes and no electricity.’

‘Perhaps you should move here. There’s no shortage of snow in Vermont in winter.’

Laura sat back with a sigh. ‘Strange, I always wanted to see Vermont, but I never imagined visiting under these circumstances. It’s funny how things turn out.’

‘Hilarious.’

‘Don’t be a grouch,’ she reproved lightly. ‘Tell me who else will be there besides us.’ It would be as well to know beforehand.

‘Did anyone ever tell you you’re a nag?’ he complained before complying with her request. ‘Let me see. Besides Maxine there will be Stella and her husband Ian Nevin. Then Philip and his latest girlfriend,’ Jonathan enlarged for her. ‘Oh, and Quinn, of course.’

Quinn? Her heart executed a crazy lurch, and her mouth suddenly became a parched desert. Alarm shot through her. She hadn’t expected him to be one of the party. Her mind flew back to those dizzying few seconds when he had touched her hand, and she shivered. The sensation which had ripped its way through her had been incredible. The sheer intensity of it was still shocking in retrospect, so that she hadn’t been able to forget it. She hadn’t been able to forget him, either. Much to her chagrin.

He kept slipping into her mind at the most inconvenient times. The damned man seemed intent on proving the adage: once seen, never forgotten. It was driving her crazy. She swore he was haunting her. His name popped out of the newspaper every time she opened one, and just that morning she had seen a tall, rugged man wearing an Aran sweater walk into the studio and, for one electrifying moment, she had actually thought it was him! When it turned out to be a complete stranger, her sense of disappointment had come as an unpleasant shock. She had had to tell herself quite categorically that she did not want to see him before she could relax again.

Now, apparently, he was to be at the house for the holiday, and the knowledge took the bottom out of her stomach. She groaned. This was ridiculous. Of all the juvenile reactions! Especially as she despised the man. She really had to get a grip.

‘Why “of course”?’ she asked a few minutes later and Jonathan frowned, not taking his eyes from the road where the snow was beginning to settle.

‘What was that?’

‘Why did you say Quinn will be there “of course”?’ she repeated calmly, though her pulse rate was anything but calm.

‘Because he always spends Christmas with the family.’

Now he told her. ‘Another tradition?’ she enquired dryly.

‘He and his sister are Alex’s godchildren. Quinn loved your father, Laura. Dislike him as much as you want, but never doubt that.’

She would have liked to, considering his opinion of her, but honesty forbade it. She accepted that Quinn Mannion had one good point. He also had the ability to set her senses whirling like dervishes, even in absentia. It didn’t seem to matter that she disliked the man. Her skin actually prickled with anticipation. Face it, Laura, she told herself sardonically, you’re attracted to him. You react to him as you have to no other man.

It wasn’t a comforting thought.

Yet she was going to have to live with it. It was either that or cancel the trip. She wondered what Jonathan would say if she asked him to take her back. Nothing printable, of that she could be certain, when she had made such an effort to persuade him to bring her in the first place. Anyway, it wasn’t a genuine option. She was not going to turn tail simply because some man was able to light her up like a Christmas tree. She was going to meet her family, and nobody was going to stop her. Especially not Quinn Mannion.

The snow began to fall more heavily as the journey progressed and Laura was glad when, half an hour later, Jonathan turned the car into a gravel driveway and brought it to a halt beside several other vehicles already parked there. She glanced out of the window and her lips parted in pleasure at the sight which met her eyes. It was almost as if they had wandered into one of those glass snow globes. As if someone had just shaken it, the snow was falling over a gabled house which glittered with frost and fairy lights whilst, from inside, house lights issued a welcoming golden glow.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she breathed.

‘I thought you’d appreciate it,’ Jonathan declared with a smile.

Somebody must have been on the lookout for their arrival, because by the time Laura had climbed out of the car the front door was open. A young woman of about her own age, and two children, stood silhouetted in the doorway. A muffled sound from beside her brought her attention to Jonathan, who had frozen on the spot and was staring tensely at the house.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked and, when he didn’t answer, followed his gaze back to the small group. ‘Who are they?’

Jonathan took a deep breath. ‘Quinn’s sister Caroline and her two children. She was widowed a couple of years ago. I had no idea they would be here. You go on ahead and I’ll bring in the cases.’

There was a tone in his voice which warned her not to ask questions and, respecting it, Laura obediently made her way to the house. Her mind was whirring. Could this be the woman he was in love with? It didn’t seem in the least absurd as she climbed the steps and saw just how lovely the woman was. She was clearly surprised by Laura’s presence but, even so, her smile was cautiously welcoming.

‘Hello, I’m Caroline Stevens, and these two terrors are Tom and Ellie.’ Tom, Laura guessed, was about six, and Ellie four. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. Jon never mentioned he was bringing a guest. Come inside. Let me take your coat.’

She urged Laura into the warmth of the house and helped her off with her coat. Laura watched as she hung it in the closet, very much aware that, for all the other woman’s friendliness, she was struggling to be polite. It occurred to her that Caroline Stevens hadn’t expected Jonathan to bring a woman with him, and was surprised to find herself upset by it. Perhaps Jonathan’s feelings weren’t unreciprocated after all.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’

That never-to-be-forgotten voice set the fine hairs all over Laura’s body on end. She turned towards the stairs where the owner of it stood on the half-landing. Against her will, the sheer masculine appeal of him took her breath away. Damn it, she thought as her knees showed a tendency to go disastrously weak, why on earth did this have to be happening to her now? It didn’t seem to matter to her senses that he was glaring at her, and that she actively disliked him; she was responding to the unseen signals he was putting out. It was that left-over animal instinct. Nature was telling her receptive hormones that here was an ideal male with which to make sure of the continuation of the species. Well, she had news for Mother Nature. The man was far from ideal, and she had no intentions of getting within a good country mile of procreation!

‘And good evening to you too, Quinn,’ she greeted him blithely, and he descended the last few stairs in no time at all.

‘Never mind that. Just give me a straight answer,’ he commanded imperiously, and his sister hastily stepped forward.

‘Quinn, for heaven’s sake! She’s a guest!’ She remonstrated with him, but he met that with a snort of derision.

‘Laura Maclane is no guest in this house,’ he returned shortly, and the other woman’s eyes grew round as saucers.

‘Laura Maclane? Oh.!’ She stared at Laura as if she had suddenly grown horns.

‘Is she the witch lady Stella talked about?’ Tom’s young voice piped up, and Laura caught her breath in dismay.

She didn’t think ‘witch’ was the term her half-sister had used but, whatever word it had been, she found it hurt to be spoken of that way. And when Laura was hurt she got angry. How dared Stella talk about her in front of the children? It was inexcusable!

Their mother clearly thought so too. ‘Goodness, Tom, what a thing to say!’ Caroline exclaimed in embarrassment. ‘I must apologise for my son; he had no idea he was being rude.’

Tom frowned heavily, taking exception to the rebuke. ‘Uncle Quinn didn’t tell Stella off when she said it to him!’ he complained, and his mother’s colour deepened.

‘That’s quite enough, young man,’ she ordered in a choked voice, only to hear her daughter put in her ten cents’ worth.

‘Is she really a witch, Mama?’ Ellie asked in a quavering voice, and Laura realised the tot was close to being really scared.

Cursing her insensitive half-sister, Laura quickly set about allaying her fears. ‘Of course I’m not, sweetheart,’ she responded, squatting down so that she could smile directly into the little girl’s eyes. ‘But I think your uncle and I are about to exchange words, so perhaps it would be better if you went inside, hmm?’ she suggested gently, not wanting to alarm her further. Rising, she looked pointedly at Caroline who, after a momentary hesitation, caught her children by the hand and led them away.

Once they were gone, Laura turned to her protagonist.

‘Have you been telling tales about me, Quinn, darling?’ she drawled sweetly, whilst her eyes shot daggers at him. His own eyes took on a sardonic gleam.

‘I don’t need to. Your reputation goes before you. This is the last place you should look to for friends.’

‘I’m aware of that,’ she snapped. It was why she was

here, so she could change the way they thought about her. ‘I’m angry that somebody’s been talking in front of the children. That is unforgivable!’ she responded hotly.

‘I agree, which was why I put a stop to it,’ Quinn replied reasonably, promptly taking the wind out of her sails.

Disconcerted, she eyed him suspiciously. ‘You did?’

Quinn nodded in assent. ‘As soon as I realised what Stella was doing. Clearly I was too late for some of it.’

‘Oh.’ Darn it. She did not want to be grateful to this man for anything.

‘I can see you’re overwhelmed with gratitude,’ he observed laconically, and she scowled.

‘Stella ought to know that little pitchers have big ears,’ she rejoined huffily, refusing to do what he wanted and thank him. The words would choke her.

‘She knows now,’ Quinn asserted firmly. ‘She won’t be doing it again.’

In a dizzying about-face, Laura instantly felt sympathy for Stella. ‘I bet she loved that! Do you always expect everyone to do what you want?’

The faintest hint of a mocking smile twitched at his lips. ‘Let’s just say I’m dangerous to cross.’

Laura raised an eyebrow in a gesture less than impressed. ‘So is the street outside my studio, but I do it all the time.’

The statement produced another smile. ‘Am I supposed to take that as a challenge?’ he enquired mildly, and Laura was reminded that a crocodile appeared to smile just before it bit your hand off.

‘Do I look like a fool?’

‘Actually, no, but that can be deceptive. Looking at you, who would have thought you would sleep your way into a fortune?’ he remarked sardonically, and she felt her palm itch with a violent need to slap him hard.

Quinn Mannion had made up his mind about her before they had ever met. As far as he was concerned, the only thing she could have wanted from Alexander was money, and the only way to get it was with sex. What that said of his opinion of his godfather made her furious. Under the circumstances she had no qualms about responding in the provocative way he so disliked.

‘Oh, but I didn’t sleep. That wouldn’t have got me anywhere,’ she retorted silkily, and was immensely gratified to see she had indeed got under his skin.

‘You have no shame, do you?’

Her smile was as unrepentant as she could possibly make it. ‘None at all where Alexander is concerned.’

Quinn shook his head in reluctant admiration at her nerve. ‘It’s hard to know whether to call you brave or foolhardy. You almost defy description. So what does bring you here? Other than the need to flaunt your victory in the face of the family?’

Tipping her head to one side, Laura let her lips curve lazily. ‘Perhaps I simply wanted to see your fabulous blue eyes again. Did you know they look stunning when you’re angry?’ she taunted and, the funny thing was, it was quite true. Even sending out frosty messages, they were the most amazing eyes she had ever seen.

A strange expression flitted in and out of those blue depths as he went quite still. ‘Why are you coming on to me, Laura Maclane?’ he asked with disquieting softness, sending a trickle of unease down her spine.

Bearding the lion was a risky business, and probably not the wisest move she could have made under the circumstances. As a rule, her instinct for self-preservation would have made her back off, but not with this man. Unable to resist the impulse to drive a further dart under his skin, she sent him a sultry look from under her lashes and reached out to brush an imaginary speck of fluff off his Argyle sweater.

‘Why do you think?’ she returned audaciously, and almost leapt out of her skin when his hand snaked out and closed tightly about her wrist. She winced and had to bite down hard on her lip to keep from crying out. ‘Brute!’

‘I’ve warned you about playing games. I’m not my godfather. I am neither kind nor a fool. If you’ve come here to cause trouble, I can give you more trouble than you can imagine. Do you want to think again, darling?’

Of all the. If he thought he could get away with manhandling her, he was wrong. Laura was winding up to give him a strong piece of her mind when a sound at the door made them both turn.

‘What’s going on here?’ Jonathan asked sharply as he came in with their cases. Setting them aside, he closed the door and frowned at Quinn who slowly let Laura go.

‘So she came here with you, did she?’ he observed evenly, as Jonathan disposed of his own coat.

‘Do you have a problem with that?’ Turning from the closet, Jonathan crossed to Laura’s side and slipped an arm around her shoulder in a purely protective attitude.

Quinn eyed the gesture speculatively. ‘I’m wondering if you’re out of your mind. Bringing her here is the last thing everyone needs.’

‘It doesn’t alter the fact that Laura is my guest, and as such has a perfect right to be here,’ Jonathan argued, not in the least daunted by Quinn’s frosty response.

‘I wanted to see the house,’ Laura added expansively, not to be outdone. ‘When Jonathan told me he was coming here for Christmas, I knew it was the perfect time for me to come too.’

‘Even though you know you’re not wanted here?’ Quinn charged coldly.

Laura winced inwardly as that jibe found its mark. She knew she wasn’t wanted, but she hoped to change that. If it meant putting up with this man, she would do it.

‘I have a very thick skin,’ she lied, looking him squarely in the eye and daring him to say more.

Quinn gave them both long looks, then shrugged as if to say he had done his best. ‘Very well, if you’re determined to stay I can’t stop you, but I’m warning you now, Laura. If you upset anyone, you’ll have me to answer to. Do you hear me?’

‘I should imagine everyone can hear you,’ she replied with dismissive irony. ‘By the way, what will you do if someone upsets me?’

He sent her an old-fashioned. ‘Somehow, I seriously doubt that will happen.’

She couldn’t help but laugh, though her dislike of him was increasing by leaps and bounds. ‘You have me all worked out, don’t you?’ she charged, and he nodded, his eyes glinting mockingly.

‘Right down to the last dot so, if you’re wise, you’ll be very careful and walk softly.’ With which piece of advice, he turned his back on the pair of them and disappeared into the lounge.

Laura let out a soundless whistle. ‘Wow!’

‘Ditto,’ Jonathan drawled wryly.

‘I don’t think he likes me,’ she declared with a satisfied smile. The more he disliked her, the more she liked it.

‘I can tell you’re bothered.’

She laughed grimly. ‘Quinn Mannion needs taking down a peg or two. Did you see how easily he believed everything I said? Incredible!’