Page 11 of Tempting as Sin
Another long moment, during which he stood absolutely still, and then he crouched down, worked her heel out of the gap in the pier, picked up her soggy bread and carton of eggs, which had somehow not burst open on impact, and said, “Come on. Let’s go. Inside.”
She stared at him some more, but she finally had her voice and at least most of her wits back. “Let’sgo?I don’t think so, buddy.”
Absolute stillness. “No? Reckon Jace won’t be too pleased about that, seeing as how I’m his loving brother. You clearly have him fooled. Let’s say I’m not on board anymore.”
It was raining. It waspouring.And still, he lifted a hand to his hood.
A hand with a white, V-shaped scar on the first knuckle of the forefinger.
He drew the hood back, and it was…it was Clay. Except that the eyes were the wrong color. And so hard.
“Wh-what?” she managed to ask. “That was—Itcan’tbe you. I thought…”
“Yeah,” he said. “I thought so, too,Lindsay.I was wrong. Do you imagine Jace is going to be all right with what you do on your nights out? Loyalty may be just a word to you, but it isn’t to him. And I’ve got a question for you, as a matter of interest. Do you hate men because you’re a cop? Or are you a cop because you hate men?”
Now she was mad. She didn’t normally get mad. Correction—she almostnevergot mad. One thing could do it, though. Somebody talking smack about her twin, the bravest and most selfless person Lily had ever known. “You think I’m Paige?” Her voice wasneverhard. Except it was. She was seeing him through a red mist, too. “How much do you actually talk to your brother?”
“Try again,” he said. “I’ve seen your photo. Remember that little matter of the San Francisco Police Department, and all those newspaper stories? Blonde or brunette, it’s still the same lying little face. ‘Oh, Clay,’” he mimicked, the accent savage, “‘I can’t stay. I have to run away, because I’m so scared.’ And I bought it, even though I ought to know better. And Jace? He’d be a bloody walk in the park, I’m sure. For the record, I never thought the blonde was natural. I’m glad I didn’t have to find out the hard way. What a disappointment that would have been.”
When she dropped the grocery bag, she was only half-aware of it. But when her hand swung around to his cheek, she watched it all the way.
Slap.Her hand landed hard, his head rocked back, and she dropped her hand, breathing as if she’d been running, and hissed out, “How…dare…you.” Which was ridiculous, but it didn’t feel that way. It felt right.
He didn’t say anything. He just stood there. It should have been a frightening sight. It would have been, except for that red mist. She was ready to hit him again.
She hadn’t seen any of his movies—not her kind of thing, and she didn’t go much for modern movies anyway—but she knew who he was. Hard-muscled body, silver-blue eyes, devastating white grin, panty-melting stare, and all. And that other, fiercer self, once he’d transformed. The one she was starting to see now. She was out here with The Beast, halfway to changing. Or in other words—with Rafe Blackstone, action hero and megastar. A life form she appreciated, if possible, even less than men who disrespected her sister. Men wholiedto her. About who they were, and where they were from. About theireyecolor. About how they felt about you, and about how you were special.
What kind of man was that deceptive? An actor, that’s who. That was his job. It was hislife.
This wasn’t her first rodeo, though. She needed information, and he wasn’t the only one who could do some acting. He’d had something against Paige already, she was pretty sure. She needed to know what it was.
He was still standing there, his blue eyes burning cold, and she took a breath, hauled herself back under control with a major effort, and said, “Let’s start over. I apologize for getting physical. It would have been nice of you to introduce yourself properly, maybe, but we won’t dwell on that. So unpleasant, focusing on the negative.” She found her keys, handed him the grocery bags, and said, “Carry these in, will you? Make your werewolf self useful.”
His face hardened, and he stood there another minute, still as stone. Then he said, “You want to do this the hard way?”
“Sure,” she said. “Why not? Life’s an adventure. Plus, you’ll want to see your brother.” And smiled.
Let the werewolf chew on that.
He couldn’t believe it. She should have run. She should have cried. Hollywood was missing out on a natural. But that was how she wanted to play it? He’d play it that way. He’d just forget the moment when something about that walk had jarred the familiarity loose, and then when he’d seen her face, had got past the hair and taken in the features. Which he should have done before. Bloody hell, he wastrained.Somebody else could say that he hadn’t recognized her from her photos and out of context. An actor should have known better.
He was focusing on that, because it was better than remembering the plunge of his stomach. It had to be his stomach. It wasn’t going to be his heart. You didn’t lose your heart in a few hours to a stranger. You sure as hell didn’t lose it to a cheating little actress who was with yourbrother.
His cheek still stung where she’d hit him, as if she’d had a right to be that angry.
Pay her off fast,half his mind said.Get her out of here.The other half was thinking,How do I tell Jace?Whatdo I tell Jace?Or maybe those weren’t halves, because there was a part of his mind that wasn’t thinking anything at all. That was shutting down.
Right now, though, he needed to stay under control so he could make his next move. She was cool? She had no idea who she was up against. She’d stepped under the sheltering eaves of the ultramodern, white, wood and glass structure and was putting another key in another door, like some kind of bizarre twist on how he’d imagined they’d end up last night, so he followed her. And, yes, she flung the door wide and gestured him inside with mock civility.
“Nice place,” he said.Control. Cool.
“When I use my seductive wiles on a man,” she said, “I only go for the best. I’ve found it so much more lucrative.” No shame at all. Nothing but contempt for his gullibility, and his brother’s.
He’d stepped into a magnificent, high-ceilinged, wood-beamed, completely modern space that was still, somehow, full of warmth and filled with light even on this darkest of afternoons. On a clear day, you’d have million-dollar views of the Bay and the Marin hills. Or, more likely, multimillion-dollar ones. Paige knew a good thing when she found it, clearly.
And still, all she looked was pissed off, like she had a right to be.Thiswas Jace’s true love, the woman he was willing to die for? At the moment, she was sitting on a cherrywood bench beside the door, untying the bow at the top of her high-heeled, over-the-knee, fawn-colored boot, the most frivolous garment you could imagine, and working it down her leg, every movement as jerky as ithadn’tbeen last night. She examined the gouge marring the heel as if it were her main concern, set the boot down and started working on the other one, and asked him, “Do your skills extend to lighting a fire in a wood stove, or is that a stunt double? You might be more comfortable, seeing as you’re soaked. See, I’m the hostess, so I care about things like that.”
“Pushing it a bit, aren’t you?” He’d set the bags down and was dripping all over the slate-flagged entryway, and he didn’t care.
