Banking on Him

When she awoke from her nap, Bethany took a quick shower before getting back into her clothes. The shower in the adjoining bathroom was tiny, but the warm water helped to wake her up.

With her shower done, she put her clothes back on. Kirk couldn’t have been gone long. Chewing her lip, she looked around the room until she spotted a handwritten note on the nightstand. He’d stepped out to say goodbye to his cousin.

That knowledge did nothing to stop her rapidly-pounding heart. If his mother had actually recognized her, he’d know soon enough. Which meant she wouldn’t have the chance to tell him her side of the story. His mother could poison him against her. That scared her more than her mission being found out. Scared her more, because she cared what Kirk thought of her. It was dangerous to be so invested in him, and yet here she was, hoping he still had faith in her. She needed that. Needed to know that he didn’t end up thinking he had wasted his kindness on helping her out.

The guest room door swung open as she set the note back down.

“Kirk. There you are.” Her heart was pounding so loudly she could hear it.

He came inside and shut the door. The look on his face was troubled. Dark and stormy, like he’d just received the worst news of his life. “Here I am.”

“Did…did you say goodbye to your cousin?” she asked. “Why didn’t you ask me to come with you? It would have been polite to say goodbye to him.”

“I missed saying goodbye because he left a while ago,” he replied. “Anyway, I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so peaceful.” For one unmistakable moment, sadness flickered in his eyes. And then it was gone so fast she wasn’t sure she’d actually seen it.

“What’s wrong?” They might not have known each other for long, but she knew his moods by now. Knew when there was a change in him. Bethany took a hesitant step closer. “What’s happened?”

“Nothing.” He ran his hand through his dark hair. “It’s just… I spoke to my mother. We talked about you.”

A sudden chill in the air between them made her shiver, sending unexpected goose bumps across her skin. “About me? What did she say?”

“It’s not important.”

“It sounds important to me. You look…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t have the words for how he looked right now. Grave. With a simmering rage underneath. Like he wanted to rip the world in two. She had never seen him like this, and it frightened her. Only the truth could make him react this way. Dread roiled in her stomach. “What did she say?”

He gazed at her, his expression darkening even more. “She accused you of things. Awful things. Things I don’t want to believe.”

Hearing his words made it a struggle to breathe. Like her chest was slowly being squeezed. “What things?”

Kirk walked over to her, holding her gaze as he moved. There was something so masculine about the way he moved. With grace and power. And purpose. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was just about ready to pick her up and toss her over his shoulder. To what end she couldn’t guess, but a sudden excited thrill mixed with her apprehension.

When he got close enough to stop, he didn’t. Instead, he circled her. Like a predator cornering its prey. “Can you guess what she told me?”

Swallowing hard, she nodded. “I can.” Pain filled her heart. This wasn’t the way she’d wanted him to find out the truth. She had planned on confessing. Being upfront with him, because he deserved that much. No. He deserved more than that. For weeks she had lied to him. Tricked him. When he had been nothing but kind to her. Even though she could never forgive the Sterlings, she knew that Kirk wasn’t callous and cruel like she had believed. His parents were her real enemies.

Bethany shut her eyes. “She told you why I’m really here.”

“And why are you here?”

Her mouth went dry and she opened her eyes. Telling him that she was a Livingston was one thing. Revealing the truth about her father’s plans was another. She couldn’t betray her father. Not like this. “I’m here because my family is ruined. I have nowhere else to go.” Tears welled up in her eyes and she lowered her gaze.

After a pause he stopped walking. “That’s what I thought. You just need help, don’t you?”

“What did your mother say?”

“She accused you of being a gold digger. Of being interested in me for my money.” He placed his hand underneath her chin, forcing her to meet his hard stare. “Is that true?”

“It’s not.” With a lump forming in her throat, her voice was barely above a whisper. Still, she pressed on. “I’ve been going through a lot lately, but I’m not after your money. I swear I’m not.”

“I believe that,” he said.

If that was all his mother had said to him, then that meant she was in the clear. Her hand wouldn’t be forced. She could reveal the truth on her terms. Instead of relief, however, apprehension rocked through her.

Suddenly, her legs started to shake. The room started to spin. Lightheaded, she scrambled to sit down on the bed before she lost her balance.

“Hey, are you okay?” He crossed over to sit beside her on the bed. “You look a little ill. Let’s get you something to eat.”

All she could do was nod in agreement. There was no point in telling him that a wave of nausea was starting to take over. Keeping the truth from him was taking a physical toll now. But the truth would have to wait. At least until she got in touch with her father.

Once she found a way to reason with her dad, and got him to back off dragging Kirk down with the rest of the Sterlings, she’d tell Kirk the truth. It made no sense to tell him now after he had seemed so relieved that she wasn’t after his money. With his wealth, he was probably used to backstabbing. Bringing up her betrayal now would only make him feel worse after what his mother had told him.

He got up to head to the door. “I’ll be right back with some food.”

She nodded as he stepped out and closed the door.

With Kirk out of the room, she struggled to catch a breath. She’d only have to keep the truth from him for a little while longer. After she convinced her dad that Kirk wasn’t a threat, she’d tell him who she really was.

Though there was a very good chance that he’d never forgive her, she needed to confess. Knowing that he might reject her after the truth came out was like a knife to her heart. Because, even though she hated Kirk’s family, she didn’t hate him. Not even a little bit. Not now that she had seen who he really was. Somewhere along the way she had begun to care for him. And that depth of feeling filled her with a new and unfamiliar fear. The fear that she might lose Kirk before they even got a chance.

“YOU’RE LOOKING WELL.” He watched her like a hawk as she walked around the swimming pool to approach him.

After he had tried to finesse the truth out of her yesterday, she been ill for the remainder of the day. He didn’t know if her reaction had been guilt or genuine illness, and it bothered him that he didn’t. Bothered him that he couldn’t tell where her lies even began.

Now that she’d gotten some rest, she did look better. The color had returned to her face and she looked far less troubled.

“I feel much better,” she said.

“Glad to hear it. Guess the wedding exhausted you.” He motioned for her to sit beside him in one of the lounge chairs.

As she took a seat she glanced over his shoulder, spotting the tablet he gripped in his hands. “Don’t tell me you’re working on a weekend.”

“I work all the time,” he said. “Even when it looks like I’m taking a break, I’m working.”

She frowned. “Don’t you ever take time off to have fun?”

“I have no idea what the word fun even means,” he said. “Unless I’m spending time with you.”

Her cheeks reddened. “Yesterday was… fun.” She threw him a seductive gaze, no doubt remembering their hook-up at the wedding reception. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He set his tablet aside and turned his attention to Bethany. Damn, her responses to him seemed so genuine. So real. Knowing that she must have learned how to lie so well from her father served as a warning to him. He was up against a pro, and he couldn’t let his guard down around her.

The only way to get her to confess was to make her think he still trusted her. Still believed whatever she said. It might be easier to coax the truth out of her if she thought he was on her side. A confrontation might just get her to clam up and hide the truth.

But her lies weren’t the worst of it. Realizing that his feelings for her were one-sided was like the worst gut-punch imaginable. It hurt like hell to know that she had played him this whole time. That unfamiliar ache was why he was going to make her pay for what she’d done. Just like his family had made her father pay all those years ago, he’d force her to admit what she was up to. Somehow.

In response to her question, he leaned forward to press his lips to hers. Her mouth was as soft and inviting as ever. It would be so easy to lose his head if he gave in to his primal impulses. He pulled back to look at her. “Sometimes talking is overrated.”

She laughed. “Maybe, but I’m curious about your father. Did we manage to convince him?”

“That we’re a couple?” His mother had contacted him last night to let him know that all she had told his father was that he’d brought a suitable date to Ian’s wedding. “Yeah, I think he bought it.”

The laughter vanished from her eyes. “What exactly are we doing here? I know we were pretending at the wedding, but sleeping together was definitely real to me.” She lowered her eyes.

“It was real. Yesterday was incredible.” That was true. When he had gotten into bed with her, all of that had been real. To him. To her, it was probably just part of her con. “Since you’re still staying here and I’m still working on getting you a loan, we should take things slow. It’s best if we don’t move too fast while you live here, because I don’t ever want to take advantage of your situation. I definitely don’t want to pressure you.” He took her small hand in his and squeezed. “But I do hope you know that I want to see where this goes. Even though I think it’s best to slow things down, I want to take you out to dinner. Going on a real date with you is all that I ask.”

“I want that, too. Though, while I stay here, it probably is best if we keep it PG-13.” She let out a soft laugh. “If we do want a repeat of yesterday, we can’t do that here. We have to be off the property. That way we’ll be keeping things professional.”

“Tough, but fair.” He forced a smile, ignoring the ache of his bruised heart. The entire setup she was negotiating was fake, and yet all he wanted to do was take her to dinner. And to his bed. Kirk was almost certain that she was a conniving viper, but he still wanted her. Desperately and completely. “Does that mean I have to let go of your hand?”

Bethany looked down at her hand, still in his. “No. It does mean that I can do this.” Closing her eyes, she dipped her head forwards to kiss him. When she pulled back, there was a satisfied smile on her face and flames dancing in her eyes. “We just can’t do anything below the waist. At least, not here.”

It was incredible how one kiss from her could make his thoughts go all incoherent. He hadn’t been taken with a woman like this in years. How had she figured out how to get under his skin the way she did? When he hadn’t known better, Kirk really had thought she was sincere. Even now, part of him believed she desired him. Maybe even cared.

Could his mother have been mistaken? Nothing about her reminded him of Lloyd. He remembered Lloyd well. The man had been brash, ego-driven, self-centered, and downright vicious at times. Bethany was nothing like that.

In truth, one of the few things she seemed to share with Lloyd was charm. Lloyd had possessed that trait in spades. It was how he had gotten people to put up with his other, far more negative qualities. Livingston could charm the devil himself if he put his mind to it. And when he couldn’t charm, he knew how to manipulate and cajole people into doing whatever he wanted. A useful trait for business, but a surefire way to sabotage everything else.

His heart sank. On that score as well, she was almost exactly like him. Charming and so manipulative, her prey couldn’t even tell they were being manipulated.

Perhaps it was time for him to turn the tables on her. An idea hit him and he wondered how he’d never thought of it before. “I’ve got an idea for us to spend more time together. I could use another wine lesson.”

Her face lit up. “That would be perfect. Plus, you could take time off from working so much.”

He got to his feet and held his hand out to help her up. The plan he wanted to execute was devious, but harmless. The easiest way to get the truth out of her was to get her to drink. If Bethany was drunk, there was a good chance he’d finally pry the truth out of her.