Page 14 of A Talent for Temptation
Sparing a glare for the man, Quinn reached for her hand, but she snatched it away. The motion ripped through his chest as effectively as any blade.
To cover his pain, he concentrated on the familiar motions of donning his waistcoat and coat. “I know it was a stupid idea. I regretted it from the moment I put it into motion.”
“Only because I stabbed you,” she said hotly.
“No.” He cast her a long, meaningful glance. “I wasn’t lying about that. The stabbing was a small price to pay for sharing what we . . .” Frustrated by Fulkham’s presence, he gritted his teeth. “I would let you stab me a thousand times if it would get you to forgive me for . . . deceiving you.”
Her lips quivered a little.
“That could be arranged,” Fulkham quipped. “The stabbings, I mean.”
“Stay out of this!” Quinn and Meriel cried in unison, making Fulkham blink.
Quinn could barely resist the urge to touch her. “When I realized how much you hate subterfuge, I wanted to kick myself. Especially since, as you can tell, I’m not very good at it.”
Her features hardened. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said acidly. “You’re certainly more accomplished at deception than I gave you credit for.” She flashed Fulkham a dark look. “And I’ve known plenty of men who are accomplished at that, trust me.”
“Now see here—” Fulkham began, clearly starting to take offense.
“Meriel,” Quinn broke in. “I did it foryou. Because I thought you needed to see that I could take care of you every bit as well as Fulkham obviously has.” He released a shuddering breath. “But I misunderstood. What youneededto see was that I could give you what he cannot—honesty. So in my zeal to win you, I unwittingly proved the exact opposite. But if you’ll give me another chance—”
“I want you to leave,” she whispered, not meeting his eyes.
His gut twisted. “Please, darling.” He had nothing to lose now. And perhaps that had been the problem all along. He’d chosen a subterfuge because he was afraid to tell her the truth. “I love you.”
Tears glimmered in her eyes. “You certainly picked an . . . an awful time to discover that.”
“I’m not just now discovering it, damn it.” He shoved one hand through his hair. “I’ve known it for weeks. I was simply too afraid to tell you. Because being stabbed is a hell of a lot easier than baring my heart to the woman I love and risking that she doesn’t share my feelings.”
With his blood pounding, he reached up to caress her cheek. “Do you?”
She closed her eyes as if to shut him out, and it shredded his heart. Because that was an answer of sorts. “I see,” he managed to say, and dropped his hand. “It appears I’ve learned my lesson too late. So all I can do is fulfill your request that I leave.”
When she said nothing to make him stay, he headed for the door, the weight of her rejection so crushing his chest that he feared he’d never be able to breathe fully again.
“Give us a few minutes, Raines,” Fulkham surprised him by saying.
Quinn glanced back at the woman who stood mutely shutting him out, then met Fulkham’s gaze. “What’s the point? She’s made her desires clear.”
Then he walked out. Thanks to his stupid plan, he’d lost her for good. And he had no one to blame but himself.
The moment Quinn was out the door, Meriel wished she had called him back. She had let her temper get the best of her, and in doing so had lost the only man she’d ever really wanted to keep.
“Shall I fetch him back?” Gregory asked.
Lord, she’d forgotten Gregory was still here. That he’d witnessed her humiliation. “Why? So the two of you can plot more machinations, now that you’ve discovered you have that skill in common?”
Gregory gave a humorless laugh. “Raines and I havenothingin common. For one thing, he is clearly bloody awful at keeping a secret.”
Something she’d already realized. That’s what made her so angry—that she’d fallen for his silly ruse in the first place. That she’d been willing to tell herself whatever was necessary to keep believing that he truly was the wonderful, open book of a man she’d always thought him.
Instead of a person with flaws. Likeher. “He kept our relationship secret fromyoufor months,” she pointed out.
“Hedidn’t keep it secret. You did. And unlike him, you’re damned good at subterfuge, dear girl.” He walked over to pour himself some brandy. “Better than evenIrealized.”
The words gave her pause. How could she blame Quinn for keeping secrets when she’d been hiding her feelings from him, too? And even from herself. “You taught me well,” she said bitterly.
Gregory cast her a searching glance, then gestured to the settee. “Sit down. It’s time we talk about why you’re angry with me, and why that anger is spilling over onto Raines, who apparently wants to marry you so badly that he’d do an idiotic thing like engineer a fake kidnapping.” He grimaced. “An inept one, mind you. I would have handled it better.”
