Foolish Deceiver Read online

  The meal passed in an atmosphere of relaxed congeniality. It was so relaxed, in fact, that when their easy conversation hit a perilous stretch as they lingered over coffee, Allie nearly blundered. Up until now, she hadn't had to take many pains to conceal the level of her intelligence from Linc. Fate had given her more than a generous helping hand in that direction! Linc seemed to catch her out in the most idiotic situations, and she knew he thought she was a bit dim, to say the least.

  Consequently, she wasn't expecting him to speak of his work on anything more than a superficial level. The conversation had been flowing smoothly in shallow channels. Suddenly, though, Allie felt as if she were navigating rapids, and one error would swamp the fragile relationship with Linc.

  It started simply enough, with his explaining his daily routine. 'I expect you'll still be asleep when I leave in the morning. I plan my day to get over to my office on the mainland early so I don't get back too late in the afternoon. Jason gets back from school around three, so I try not to be too much later than that.'

  'I knew you left early. I've heard the plane leave.'

  'Sorry, do I wake you up?'

  Allie shook her head. 'I'm an early riser.'

  Linc reached across the table and picked up her left hand. Stroking the back of it With his thumb, he looked intently into her eyes. 'Then we have something in common,' he said softly.

  Warm, fluid sensation flowed from the gentle touch of his hand, arousing sleeping desires. Speechless, she stared back at him. She could have drowned in the pools of his deep, deep blue eyes.

  The moment passed, though, and he released her hand to sit back in his chair and take a sip from his coffee-cup. 'Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get home very early from work lately. We've been really busy.'

  'You do something with computers, don't you?' Allie asked, although she knew the answer.

  'That's right. We started out custom-fitting existing software packages for individual businesses, but more and more we're getting into the development of our own programs.'

  Allie nodded, her interest caught. 'It must be very interesting.' She looked down at her lap, not wanting him to see just how keen her interest was. She knew that program development was interesting. It was what she did, and she found it fascinating!

  'It is, although I don't do that much programming myself these days. Most of my time is spent on administration. I do have one baby I'm keeping to myself.' He leaned towards her, his elbow resting on the table. His eyes were fired with enthusiasm. 'Some fellows came in a couple of months ago—sunken treasure hunters. They've developed a new type of echo-sounder for mapping the ocean floor, and want my company to work up the program to read the data it produces. With this new equipment they're hoping to get a much more detailed picture of what's down there.'

  Despite herself, Allie looked up at him, questions burning on the tip of her tongue. It was the echo-sounder that did it. The tie-in with her own pet project was obvious. Could a parallel application be to use it to count fish—to get a more detailed read-out? With better data, could she ...

  She braked her thoughts ruthlessly, almost choking on the words she'd been about to speak. Linc was watching her with disturbing alertness. Although she knew her comments couldn't be of the least importance to him, she sensed he was waiting for them with unnatural intensity.

  And she'd been almost ready to give the game away! Earlier this self-same evening she had been thinking how Elaine had earned Frances's enmity by being a know-it-all. And here she was, almost ready to make the same mistake as the other woman.

  Men did not like intelligent women! Particularly when they competed in the same field as themselves!

  She shrugged slightly, giving what she hoped was an apologetic but flirtatious smile. 'I'm afraid you lost me somewhere back at the software level. That sounds as if you make cuddly sweaters.' As the keen light faded from his eyes, Allie rushed on, 'That was a super meal. Maybe I should clear the table for Frances. I expect she wants to get the kitchen cleaned up for the day and relax.'

  Hastily crumpling her napkin, she set it beside her plate and stood up. Linc said, 'You don't have to bother. You're a guest.'

  Although he protested, there was a certain flatness to Linc's voice. Rattled by her near slip, Allie barely noticed. 'I don't mind helping,' she assured him, starting to gather up the used dishes. She wanted to get away from him for a few minutes. The enjoyment in their evening together had temporarily gone stale, and she needed a few minutes away to regain her equilibrium.

  Allie lingered in the kitchen, helping Frances to load the dishwasher and put away the leftover food. When she finally went back to Linc, he was standing in the living-room, moodily staring out across the water. He turned at her entrance, and although he smiled at her she sensed a certain reserve in him, a faint withdrawal.

  She could have kicked herself. He'd told her she was a guest, but she'd ignored him. He was probably annoyed by her presumption in making herself at home in his housekeeper's kitchen.

  'I hope you didn't get tired of waiting for me,' she offered tentatively. 'I ... er ... Frances seemed to have quite a bit of cleaning up, so I helped her. I hope you don't mind.'

  'No, of course not,' Linc said, looking surprised.

  'You don't have to apologise. It was great of you to pitch in ... Mrs Dorcus has a lot to do every day, and it's nice for her to have some help for a change.'

  He sounded totally sincere, and yet Allie still sensed a faint reserve in him. Although she didn't really think that was the problem, she mentally vowed to decline Frances's offer to give her a few cooking lessons while she was staying here. In future, she'd stay out of the kitchen. It would be better to remember she was a guest, and not risk appearing as though she was trying to entrench herself into Linc's household.

  A few minutes later, Allie admitted that somehow the companionable atmosphere between them had dissipated. She had declined Linc's offer of an after-dinner drink and seated herself in a chair near the fireplace. When he had his brandy, Linc came to stand near her, his elbow resting on the mantelpiece.

  Although they chatted, the conversation was sluggish, marred by long periods of silence. With one finger, Allie traced the squares on the chess-board set on the end-table by her. She wished she could turn back the clock, find some way of recapturing their earlier rapport. She didn't know what to say or do, where to begin.

  'Do you play chess?'

  Startled from her unhappy thoughts by Linc's sudden question, Allie answered automatically, 'Yes.' Of course, that wasn't what she should have said at all. She knew it as soon as she noted Linc's surprise, as well as the keen light that suddenly shone in his dark eyes. With the uneasy strain in their relationship since dinner, the last thing she wanted was for him to find out how she had been deceiving him about the level of her intelligence.

  'Let's have a game, then,' he suggested, setting his glass aside. Before she could stop him, he pulled the end-table with the chess-set on it around to the front of her. Next, he brought another easy chair over for himself, and sat down across from her.

  Dismayed, Allie stared down at the board. Why had she ever said she played? The 'yes' had leapt from her tongue before she knew what had happened. It was like having the minister to lunch and suddenly spouting swear words you never realised you knew, just to afford the Fates a laugh.

  'When I said I played, I didn't really mean it.' On seeing Linc's frown, she amended, 'I mean, I've only played a few times ... a long time ago. I barely know which pieces are which.'

  He sat silently for a moment, then his jaw muscle suddenly firmed. He said in an oddly determined tone, 'Let's give it a try. I'll make allowances for you and help you with your game. You can start. Do you remember which are the pawns and how they move?'

  Reluctantly, Allie nodded and randomly pushed one of her light jade pawns forward one space. She was going to hate this. Temperamentally, she wasn't geared to doing less than her best, and she was a very good, very competitive ch
ess-player. To pretend she was a rank beginner so that Linc wouldn't discover just how good she was, was going to be one of the most unsatisfying charades she'd had to undertake since embarking on the role of the dumb blonde.

  'You know you could have moved that pawn forward two spaces, because this is the first time you've moved it?' Linc asked her, studying the board.

  'I forgot,' Allie lied, shoving the pawn forward another square.

  Linc nodded, then moved one of his own pawns forward.

  The play continued for another forty-five minutes. Linc was really being very patient and kind, but Allie was nearing the point of screaming in irritation and frustration. It had been different when Frances was showing her how to cook—for one thing, she didn't know how to cook! She did know how to play chess, though, but she dared not protest when she disagreed with Linc's advice or congratulate him when he made an astute move. Whenever he pointed out a glaring error on her part, she was forced to clench her teeth to hold back telling him that she knew very well what she had done. His constructive criticism was driving her mad!

  It wasn't really fair to him—however, Linc appeared to be a very fine player and she was dying to pit herself against him in a genuine contest of skill.

  She knew she should probably excuse herself and go off to bed before she said or did something stupid and gave herself away. Unfortunately, temptation loomed at that moment. Allie surveyed the board. Her light green forces had been seriously diminished, while Linc's dark men gained control of the board. However, she could see that by sacrificing her remaining rook, she could achieve a checkmate in six moves.

  Recklessly, she pushed the rook four squares forward and captured one of Linc's pawns.

  He studied her move for a few seconds, then looked up at her. 'Are you sure that's what you want to do?'

  She nodded, unknowingly wearing a faintly smug smile.

  He cut it off with a glare of exasperation. 'Allie, haven't you learned anything from what I've been telling you?' he demanded, his patience run out. 'You have to think ahead in this game and keep an eye on where my men are! Look what you want to do. You're going to lose your rook if you go ahead with this move, and all you'll have to show for it is a lousy pawn. My knight is sitting right here ready to take your piece.'

  'I know that,' Allie retorted, stung by his curt tones, her own patience gone. If he was tired of her apparent denseness, well, tough! She was sick and tired of the condescending advice. 'That's the move I want to make!'

  'Umph,' he snorted, giving the board a disgusted look. 'This obviously wasn't a very good idea.' He reached beside him and picked up one of the pieces he had previously captured and started to set it back on the board.

  'What are you doing?' she demanded, catching his hand so he couldn't place the piece. 'Aren't we going to finish?'

  'I am finished!' Pulling his hand free, he set the knight in its place with a decided clunk.

  Incensed, Allie didn't consider her next words, 'You only want to quit because I was on my way to winning!'

  Linc treated her to a scathing look, his eyebrows lifting. 'Don't kid yourself, honey. I don't know if you just don't want to learn or you can't. Whatever, there was no way you were going to beat me, so stop being a poor sport!'

  Allie opened her mouth to argue further, then shut it with a snap. She didn't know whether she wanted to curse or cry. It was only natural for Linc to think she couldn't defeat him. Until that last move, she'd either pushed the pieces at random or deliberately erred. He couldn't be expected to know that that last play had been the start of a trap for his king several moves later.

  In a way, his ending the game was a lucky escape for her. Had it continued, she would have checkmated him. How would she have explained it? She didn't want him to guess at her expertise, to know that she was smarter than she'd led him to believe. She'd had a lucky escape all right, so why wasn't she feeling relieved? Why did she feel resentful?

  In a rather ominous silence, Linc returned his easy chair to its original position and moved the chess-table back to the side of Allie's chair. When he'd finished, he walked back to the fireplace and glanced rather pointedly at his watch. 'It's gone ten o'clock.'

  It was hardly a subtle hint, but Allie wasn't going to ignore it. Their time together had gone sour, and she could do with an excuse to escape. Rising to her feet, she gave Linc a terse smile, 'If it's that late, I think that I'll be on my way to bed. Goodnight.'

  'Goodnight,' he echoed briefly. She felt him watching her as she walked from the room. Earlier that evening, she hadn't really expected that she'd be going to bed alone tonight. When she walked from this room, down the hall, she'd pictured him beside her, his arm around her waist.

  However, Linc was making no move to accompany her. She was glad about that, she told herself. She wasn't in the mood for lovemaking. She didn't want his arms around her; she didn't want his kisses. She didn't want him to come after her ... did she?

  CHAPTER NINE

  ALLIE spent most of the next day ensconced on Linc's veranda with a fashion magazine. Although she tried to work up some enthusiasm for the illustrations, it wasn't easy. A lot of women went into raptures over the idea of fur coats and silk dresses, but Allie wasn't so sure she liked the idea of wearing the skins of dead animals and the secretions of worms.

  She wished Linc hadn't buried himself in his study. They should talk things out. The atmosphere when they had met at breakfast had been decidedly frosty. She'd tried to bring their disagreement out into the open, she really had. She knew she had been unreasonable when Linc had cut their chess-
  But their mutual expressions of regret hadn't seemed to make much difference. They were still uncomfortable with each other. It was odd, really. Allie sensed that Linc honestly wanted to make up with her, that he disliked the strain between them as much as she did. Something was holding him back, though, and as a result he was making a conscious effort to keep a barrier between them.

  Allie was a brilliant problem solver. Her work didn't involve just sitting before a computer punching in commands. She analysed, probed, and sometimes worried over the snags that arose. Once she discovered the root cause of the difficulty, with innovation and imagination she would devise a solution.

  But her relationship with Linc wasn't a mathematical algorithm, it wasn't a computer program. She couldn't think the 'bugs' out of it. She couldn't even figure out exactly what it was that was wrong.

  Or did she know what was wrong and didn't want to admit it? She had dismissed Elaine as a rival, and yet, could it be that thoughts of the other woman were causing Linc to back off? If Linc was committed to Elaine, in love with her, his conscience must be giving him hell right now. In a moment of transient passion, had he betrayed the woman he really loved? He wasn't the philandering type, and he would bitterly regret what had happened between himself and Allie.

  The sound of a car drawing up to the house broke into Allie's musings. She glanced at her watch, then cast her magazine aside and got up from the lounger. It was probably Jason's grandparents bringing him back from his weekend with them. Maybe with Jason's return things would improve between her and Linc, she thought, then hastily tempered the idea. There was no point in indulging in delusions. It was perhaps more realistic to view the return of Linc's boisterous son as providing her with an excuse to cut short her stay.

  Linc had emerged from his study when Allie went into the house. He was standing in the foyer talking with an older couple as his son stood scuffing the toe of his shoe against the tile flooring. They broke off their discussion when Allie joined them, and Linc quickly made the introductions.

  'Jean and Alvin, this is Allie Smith. She's staying here for a few days to recuperate from an accident. Allie, these are my in-laws, Jean and Alvin Delaine.'

  As she shook hands with the couple, Allie wondered what Jason's grandparents thought about their son-in-law's having
a young woman staying at the house. However, she soon realised that they were paying scant attention to her.

  The formalities out of the Way, Mr Delaine turned back to Linc to continue with their discussion. His florid complexion was rather flushed, and there was a hard look in his pale blue eyes. 'What's this nonsense Jason's been telling me about you hauling him over to Vancouver to see some headshrinker?' He reached down and tousled his grandchild's hair. 'Jason is a perfectly normal little boy. He's just high-spirited, and all this cock-and-bull his teachers have been laying on you is just that! If they knew how to do their jobs, there wouldn't be any problem. And as for his being—'

  'Excuse me a moment, Alvin,' Linc cut him off. 'I think that my son has already eavesdropped on too many discussions.' He looked over to Allie. 'Would you mind taking Jason to his room and keeping him company while he unpacks his suitcase?'

  'Certainly,' Allie agreed, smiling down at the little boy and holding out her hand to him. In a way, she wished she could stay. She hadn't known that Linc was seeking professional help for Jason. She knew the child was a handful, but she hadn't realised his problems were that serious.

  Jason's response to her overture was a rather sulky glare, but at a curt order from his father he accompanied Allie down the hallway to his room, dragging his weekend case behind him.

  'I wanted to hear what they were going to say,' Jason grumbled, when Allie closed the door after they'd entered the room. 'They were talking about me.'

  'Well, yes,' she admitted. 'But you need to get unpacked now.' Using her uninjured arm, she lifted the suitcase on to his single bed and opened the lid. Lying atop the jumble of clothes was a mutilated starfish with one tentacle missing. It had obviously died recently, and the stench of rotting fish wafted up at her. 'Jason, what have you got this in here for?' Allie grimaced, making a face at the smell. It was enough to make her sick. Gingerly, she picked out the mangled rock creature with her thumb and forefinger, and held it away from her. 'Bring me the wastebasket.'