Page 46 of Seduced By You

“Once or twice.” He didn’t need to know that I’d been captain of the shooting team at the finishing school Dad had sent me to in Switzerland, and if my attendance there hadn’t ended so abruptly, I’d have had a good chance at getting picked for the Olympics. The only difference was we didn’t shoot innocent birds. All this hunting shit was such outdated claptrap, a cruel sport hidden beneath a veneer of tradition.

“So you know the basics, then.” When I nodded, he responded with a gruff “Good,” then spun on his heel, shouted, “Okay, gentlemen, follow me,” and marched off with his band of sycophantic minions trailing behind. I glanced back at the house. I should have asked to join the women at the spa. I’d have had far more fun, not to mention spending the day with Lee rather than with this bunch of jerks.

My chest tightened, and my mind chose that moment to play our kiss by the bonfire like a movie reel in my head. If I concentrated hard enough, I could almost feel her in my arms, taste her lips, breathe in the scent of her bodywash and shampoo. Kissing her for show wasn’t enough. I hankered for the real thing, but wanting something and being able to have it were worlds apart. If Lee had even an inkling of attraction toward me, then she’d say. Wouldn’t she?

You haven’t.

Yeah, but that was different. I was in love with her, and I couldn’t face telling her and seeing shock paint her face, followed by her desperately trying to reassure me it was okay, that me loving her and her not feeling the same wasn’t a problem. That we could carry on as we always had.

We wouldn’t. If I told Lee how I felt, it would start a chain reaction I didn’t have the power to stop. No, it was better this way. As soon as we left here on Sunday, I’d rebury the feelings that being able to kiss her and touch her had allowed to surface. I’d head off to Dubai, then the US, as I did every winter season when my Saint Tropez property closed, and Lee… I wasn’t sure what Lee’s plans were other than taking a well-earned break. Regardless, they wouldn’t be with me, which was what I needed to reset our relationship and get it back onto an even keel.

Shotguns lay on top of a wooden trestle table at the wooded area where the shoot would take place. Gundogs milled about, sniffing the ground. As I understood it, they’d bring back the birds after these bloodthirsty English toffs had snuffed out their lives by shooting them full of lead.

“Here, Kingcaid. Choose your weapon.” Benny swept his hand over the guns. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

What the hell did Lee ever see in this pompous prick?

I shook my head. “You know, forget it. I’ve changed my mind. This isn’t my thing. I’ll take a walk or drive into the nearest town or something.”

“Squeamish, are you, old boy?”

Old boy? Jesus Christ Almighty.I’d somehow gotten sucked into a wormhole and transported back seventy years.

“No. However, I don’t see where the joy is in killing innocent life.”

Benny tilted his head to this side, his eyes narrowing. “Really? You surprise me.”

“I’m not sure why you’d say that when you don’t know me.”

“Oh, I know more than you think.” He picked up a shotgun and cocked it, inspecting the chamber. Lifting it to his eye, he aimed it at the sky, then returned it to the table.

“Is that so?”

He nodded, his smugness reminiscent of someone who’d been told a great secret and couldn’t wait to blab.

“I wouldn’t have thought killing innocent beings was something that would bother you at all, Kingcaid.”

A chill ran down my spine, and my shoulders stiffened. Had he put inflection into his comment about innocent beings, or had I imagined it? My heart set off at a gallop, sprinting out of the traps like a thoroughbred at the races. I somehow schooled my expression, gazing at him with feigned boredom while I read his body language. He was fishing. He had to be. Only a tight circle of people were aware of what had happened that night, and this joker was not in the pack.

Breathe. He doesn’t know a thing.

“Well, like I said, you don’t know me. Therefore, it’s probably advisable to keep your opinions to yourself,Benny. I’m not interested in hearing them.”

I turned away and walked across the field toward the house, flinching at the sound of gunfire permeating the air.

Sunday could not come quickly enough.

Chapter15

Leesa

Something’s afoot.

Benedict was such a twat.No wonder I often had the urge to regularly kick myself in the backside for how long it took me to realize his character was seriously flawed. There he was with all his cronies dressed in their stupid shooting getups, and he purposely hadn’t told Kadon, who’d turned up in jeans, boots, a warm jumper, and a waxed jacket.

Benedict and Kadon held a brief conversation—what I wouldn’t give to have bionic hearing—then Benedict walked away, laughing and chatting with his mates. Kadon followed behind, a solitary figure with his blond-streaked hair blowing in the wind.

I shouldn’t have let him bring me here. Not because of me, but because ofhim.Benedict wasn’t only a twat; he was a vengeful twat. He didn’t want me, but his ego didn’t want anyone else to have me, either. I’d seen that look of longing in his eyes at breakfast. I might lose the bet I’d made with Kadon on the Eurostar yet.

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