Foolish Deceiver Read online

  Why had he joined her now? Glancing along the terrace she saw that the others had all gone inside.

  'It's cool out here,' Allie said, like a coward, rubbing her hands over the goose-bumps that had sprung up on her arms. The breeze hadn't bothered her before, but she hadn't known that she was alone with Linc then. 'I think I'll go back inside.'

  She took a step away from the railing at the same time that Linc straightened and moved towards her.

  'I wanted to talk to you for a moment.'

  Even though there was a good foot between them when he stopped, Allie still had to steal herself not to retreat back to the railing. She fixed her eyes on his shirt, then hastily raised her gaze to somewhere in the vicinity of his chin. It was a curious phenomenon. Greg's shirt was too small for Linc, and the material stretched taut over the rock-hard muscles of his chest. It made her incredibly aware of his male strength and power. She wasn't normally susceptible to the magnetic draw of the opposite sex. Her physical relationship with Kevin had been perfunctory and amazingly passionless. She'd only wanted it because it had seemed that they should have something more between them than the common ground of mere business colleagues. Even with the sex, though, that was all she'd really ever had with Kevin, she thought unhappily.

  Linc said suddenly, intruding into her thoughts, 'You look different tonight from the way you did the other day.'

  Allie gave him a puzzled glance, sensing that that wasn't what he'd sought her out to say. 'Do I?' She shrugged with apparent nonchalance. 'Maybe it's because I'm not soaking wet.' Even if she hadn't been caught in the rain that day, she knew she would have looked different. She didn't want to admit it to him, though. Although she'd been delighted with her new look, in retrospect, there seemed something appallingly vain in having spent that much time and effort on her appearance.

  'Perhaps that's it,' he said, pensively. Linc lifted his hand and fingered one of the locks of golden hair that framed her face. 'I rather liked that "lost kitten in the rain" look you had that day, though,' he murmured, half to himself.

  'Oh,' Allie said uncertainly. The back of his hand accidentally brushed against her cheek and she started in reaction. Immediately, he withdrew his hand, letting it fall to his side. Allie felt a stab of disappointment. Glancing upwards to the clear night sky,, black velvet studded with diamond stars, she had an unreasoning wish for a sudden cloudburst.

  She half turned away from him, staring out across the Strait. The moon was rising above the horizon, bathing the ocean in pale silver light. It was a beautiful, romantic evening, and she was alone out here on the terrace with Linc. She could sense his nearness, smell the faint tang of the spicy aftershave he was wearing.

  She wondered again why he had joined her. She'd made such an awful first impression on him that she'd have thought he would go to great lengths to avoid her. She slid him a brief glance, her pulse quickening. Was it possible that, despite everything, he was attracted to her? He'd called her beautiful that first day. His comment just now seemed to reaffirm that opinion. He'd touched her hair. She was cautious since her experience with Kevin, but the novelty of the present situation intrigued her. Men didn't usually seek out Dr Smith to make a pass at her. If he were to kiss her, how would she react?

  'Clare mentioned that you were planning to spend the summer here—find a place to rent in the area.'

  Allie looked back at him and saw he had moved, increasing the space between them. The moon had risen over the horizon, and by its pale light she searched his expression. She must have been imagining things. He didn't appear to be contemplating kissing anyone. She sighed, then answered him. 'That's right.'

  'The thing is, I have a cabin on my property. Clare knows I've been thinking of finding a tenant for it. She's sure to mention it to you.'

  Was he offering to rent it to her? 'What's it like?' she asked curiously.

  'It's nothing fancy,' he said quickly. 'Just a couple of rooms. It was on the property when I bought it, and I stayed in it when I was having my present house built. It's quite primitive, actually.'

  He wasn't much of a salesman, Allie thought. There was something faintly off-putting in his sketchy description of the cabin. On the other hand, perhaps he was just being frank. She was about to tell him that she'd like to look at it none the less, but he spoke first.

  'I don't really think that it would suit you. I just thought that I'd warn you that Clare will probably want to drag you over to have a look at it, but you might as well save yourself the effort.'

  'Oh,' Allie said, disconcerted. 'Surely it wouldn't hurt for me to at least see it? I mean, after all, if Clare thinks ...'

  'But I'm telling you, you wouldn't be comfortable in it,' Linc cut in. 'Besides, I'm not sure that I still want to rent it out.'

  Allie didn't have a high IQ for nothing. She frosted her voice with ice so he wouldn't be able to detect her hurt at his snub. 'Don't you mean, you don't want to rent it to me?'

  He hesitated for several moments. She wished that it wasn't so dark out here on the terrace, so she could tell if he had the grace to blush.

  At last he said baldly, 'You're brighter than I gave you credit for.'

  Linc Summerville had probably never blushed in his life, Allie thought angrily.

  'It's nothing personal,' he went on to say. 'The thing is, I spend a lot of time in Vancouver, my business is over there. I have a housekeeper who looks after my son for me while I'm away, but I wanted someone in the cabin whom she could fall back on in an emergency, someone she could count on.'

  'And she couldn't count on me?'

  Ignoring her interjection, he went on, 'Mrs Dorcus does a great job, but she's a little temperamental. She doesn't suffer fools gladly, and it would be better to have someone in the cabin who would pretty much keep to themselves.'

  'Meaning that I am a fool,' Allie said acidly. 'I'm overwhelmed by your flattery.' She half stepped forward to go past him and back into the house. However, he caught her by the upper arms and held her facing him.

  'I'm putting this badly and I'm sorry. I'm not trying to offend you.'

  'You're doing a good job of it, though!'

  She heard his sigh. He was still holding her by the arms, his hands creating burning patches of heat on her cool flesh. They also sparked an unwanted awareness kindling in the base of her stomach. Allie made a little movement to cause him to release her. He didn't, but spoke instead.

  'Look, you're a very attractive, very sexy lady with a lot of good qualities, I'm sure,' he Said gently. 'Unfortunately, I need someone who's self-sufficient to take over the cabin.'

  'And what would you know about my self-sufficiency?' she demanded, although she didn't know why she was arguing. She wouldn't live on his property now if he offered her Buckingham Palace. She wasn't even sure she wanted to live in the same province!

  'I don't think I should bring that up,' he responded drily. Allie felt colour moving up her cheeks, and she pressed her lips together in angry embarrassment. You'd think no one had ever run out of petrol before! 'Some women need a lot of looking after,' he continued. 'There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm sure that practically every man at this party tonight would be more than happy to take on the job. I simply don't have time, though. I can't be running around after you, and that's what I would end up having to do if you took that cabin. You're the type who'd always be losing your key or needing help to get your car started in the morning. I don't have room in my life to take on a clinging vine.'

  'I didn't ask you to,' Allie said in a tight voice. The trouble was, he wasn't that far out in his assessment of her. She never had managed to deal efficiently with the trivial, mundane parts of life. The couple who ran the apartment building where she lived had frequently been called on to help her out. 'I didn't ask you to,' she repeated, her voice shaking as she tried to control an unexpected desire to cry. Why should she care what he thought of her?

  She did, however. Pulling free of his hold, she turned her back to him and gripped the ra
iling to stare blindly out into the night.

  Behind her, Linc swore softly. 'I'm sorry. I was just trying to explain my position. I know I was blunt, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings.' When she didn't answer, he asked worriedly, 'You're not crying, are you?'

  Allie felt his hand touch her shoulder uncertainly and hastily tried to blink away the moisture that filmed her eyes. There was an enormous lump blocking her throat, and she couldn't seem to swallow it away so that she could speak without betraying herself.

  Linc muttered another imprecation and then he was turning her to face him. At that moment, someone switched on the outside light and Allie knew he'd caught the sheen of moisture on her lashes. Quickly she jerked free, twisting away so he could no longer see her face.

  'So this is where you two have hidden yourselves,' Clare said, walking along the terrace to join them. When she reached them, she asked, 'What are you up to—or shouldn't I ask?'

  If she only knew! Allie would hardly call these past few minutes with that insulting beast a dalliance. Surreptitiously Allie rubbed the tears from her eyes with the base of her palms before turning to greet her friend. She needn't have bothered about Clare seeing the tears, for, surprisingly, Linc had moved to position himself so that she was sheltered by his shadow. He cast her a quick look before saying to Clare, 'We were just discussing that cabin on my property. It looks as if Allie's going to rent it from me.'

  Clare's exclamation of pleasure drowned out Allie's gasp. She stared at Linc, bewildered by his abrupt about-face, while Clare prattled on, 'This is super! Linc's place is only a couple of miles down the road, so you won't be far away. First thing tomorrow, we can start getting you organised for moving you in. I've got lots of extra dishes and stuff you can use, so you shouldn't have to buy much. Let's see ...'

  'Clare?' Greg was standing in the doorway of the house. 'You out there?'

  'You need something? I'll be right there,' she called to him.

  'Go ahead, Clare,' Linc suggested. 'We'll be right along.'

  As soon as the other woman had departed, he turned to Allie. Before he could speak, though, she got in first.

  'What made you change your mind?'

  He stayed silent for several moments, then suddenly lifted his hand to rub long fingers over the nape of his neck. 'Just don't be more of a bloody nuisance than you have to be.'

  Allie glared at him in irritation as he started to turn away, exploding with, 'I suppose it never occurred to you that I might not want to rent your precious cabin? That I'm no more keen to have you for a landlord than you are to have me for a tenant!'

  There was a faint gleam of malice in his navy eyes as he looked at her. 'Well, then, I'll let you tell Clare,' he said mildly.

  With a snort of annoyance, Allie moved to push past him and go inside. Clare was already carried away by the idea. Unless the place was an absolute hovel, her friend would never accept that Allie didn't want to live in Linc Summerville's cabin.

  She had only gone a couple of paces when Linc caught her arm and halted her. He had a habit of doing that. 'Allie,' he said, holding out something to her. She looked down and saw his white handkerchief. 'Your mascara's run under your eyes. You look like a raccoon,' he gibed. 'Maybe you should wipe it off before you go in.'

  Pushing the handkerchief into her hand, he walked away. In the brief seconds before he did so, his lips had brushed her cheek. As she stared after him in bewildered anger, Allie slowly began to repair the damages.

  As Allie didn't really want to move into Linc Summerville's cabin, it was rather disconcerting to discover that was exactly what she was doing three weeks later. Clare and Greg were expecting an influx of house-guests, so it wasn't convenient for them to continue having her. However, there were plenty of places to rent, and Allie could have made Clare understand her reluctance to live on Linc's property.

  She couldn't quite figure out why she hadn't made more of an effort. Even if Glare wouldn't have understood, Allie was long past the stage of being bullied. Since leaving university at seventeen, she had taken full charge of her life. Up until that time, her parents had mapped out her existence, selecting the courses she took in school, enrolling her in specialised mathematics and computer camps during her breaks. However, when they decided that she should accept a teaching position with a major university back east following her graduation, Allie had rebelled. She was far more interested in research than in teaching, so the job offered her by the Institute was more attractive and suitable. However, while the Institute was highly respected among scientists, it was virtually unheard of by the general public. Having a daughter working there would carry none of the prestige among the Smiths' friends that a position at the well-known university would have.

  The schism that resulted from Allie's making her own career choice had never healed. At first, her parents had promoted the rift, wanting to punish her for her disobedience. However, as she began making a name for herself, and occasionally receiving a mention in the Press, they had made overtures to bring her back into the fold. By that time, though, Allie understood their motivations much better than she had as a child, and kept her distance, seeing them only infrequently. They placed her in the same category as their Cadillac and classically elegant home with the swimming pool in the back yard. A highly educated, super-intelligent child was a status symbol, and Allie never wanted to go back to being the prime exhibit at their cocktail parties, paraded before the guests like a trained monkey.

  Her parents wouldn't approve of her present situation, Allie mused as she drew her car to a halt in front of Linc's cabin. They hadn't been pleased with her when she was working at the Institute and living in a comfortable apartment. Now, not only was she unemployed and living off her savings, but her summer accommodation was every bit as primitive as Linc had warned her.

  Although it did boast indoor plumbing, Allie had to admit that it was nevertheless pretty rustic when she'd viewed it with Clare a few days after the party. Built on an A-frame design, the lower floor consisted of an L-shaped sitting-room/kitchen, a minuscule bedroom that would barely accommodate a single bed, and a tiny bathroom. The narrow kitchen area was separated from the sitting-room by a wooden counter skirted with faded calico. The floors were bare plywood, the ceilings merely clear plastic sheeting over the fibreglass insulation between the joists. The unfinished upper floor formed by an open loft over the kitchen and bedroom below was reached by a crude, home-made ladder.

  On the other hand, it might not be too bad once there was some furniture and maybe a few rugs, Allie told herself as she left the car and moved towards the front door. She turned her back to it for a moment to look out over the scene before her. The cabin was sited on a bluff rising above the rocky shore that afforded a fabulous view of sea and islands. The air was fresh and clear as crystal, the sky a rich robin's egg blue. Allie sighed faintly with pleasure. Whatever the drawbacks of the cabin itself, its surroundings were a paradise.

  When she turned back towards the house, the door was open and Linc Summerville was leaning against the jamb, watching her.

  Allie jumped slightly. 'You startled me!'

  'Sorry,' he said, although he didn't look particularly apologetic. 'The kitchen tap was dripping, so I came over to change the washer on it so that it would be fixed before you moved in.'

  'I see.' Instead of gratitude, Allie felt a niggling sense of irritation. Her act of playing the dumb blonde had succeeded only too well with Linc, and it annoyed her that he didn't even credit her with the intelligence to install a simple washer. She didn't understand it. She wasn't even interested in Linc Summerville. She didn't need to be. Since Clare's party, she had had several dates with different men that she'd met there. While none of them had any idea of the extent of her intelligence, neither had they treated her as though she were exceptionally stupid. Only Linc seemed to think that—and he hadn't shown any interest in seeing her socially.

  He had moved from his casual position in the doorway, and was looking past her
shoulder to her packed car. 'So you're all ready to move in today.'

  Allie nodded, automatically shifting so that she could follow his gaze. She could see the boxes and bags jammed nearly to the roof in the back seat.

  Harold was among them, carefully packed in a padded carton. Harold was a very special fellow who, in a fit of whimsy, Allie had named after 'Hal', the computer in 2001. He was a Compaq with a 640k memory, and she'd added a 2-meg. above-board memory and hard disk drive as well as an 8087 maths co-processor. She almost wished that she could show him to Linc. He knew about computers. Clare had told her that he owned a computer software development firm in Vancouver. He wouldn't think she was so stupid once he saw her putting Harold through his paces.

  But he would never have the opportunity. She turned back to look at him. 'I brought most of my things over. Clare's coming along in her station-wagon later with some dishes and bedding she rounded up for me.'

  'Fine. She passed my message on that you didn't need to worry about getting any furniture, didn't she? I told her I would take care of the basics.'

  'Yes, she told me.' Allie had wondered about that. Linc had made it more than clear that he didn't want her causing him any bother, but he had offered to furnish the cabin for her. She guessed that it couldn't be that much trouble to go down to the local junk shop and pick up some second-hand furniture.

  'You haven't seen it since we started fixing it up, have you?' he commented and stepped back so that she could precede him into the cabin. 'Come have a look and see what you think.'