Web of Deception by Nina Blake

naked. He knew the expression she’d have after he’d made love to her.
    If he’d thought she’d looked nervous minutes earlier, he’d clearly been wrong.
    She shot him one final glance as she turned. Never before had a woman looked so damn sexy walking away from him. As a general rule, women didn’t walk away from him. Not willingly, anyway.
    She wasn’t trying to be seductive but in those heels and that dress, she obviously couldn’t help it. From the jut of her petite shoulders to the camber of her waist and the sweep of those hips, she was effortlessly gorgeous.
    And she was walking away from him.
    For now.
     

Chapter Five
     
    Daniel Webb could be very charming when he wanted to. He’d most certainly proven that to Kate this evening. They were having another dinner together, another evening of elegant conversation, undercut by a heady undercurrent as always. He’d probably put it down to the chemistry between them but she was too practical to identify it as anything other than lust.
    She thanked the waitress as she delivered their final course. Daniel was so sophisticated finishing off his meal with a cognac while she’d ordered chocolate mousse. It might be an old-fashioned dessert but she didn’t care about trends in food. Not where her palate and her stomach were concerned.
    “I did everything in my power to make sure you’d come to dinner with me tonight,” he said.
    Kate wondered where that comment had come from. “You asked me and I said yes. How much more did you need to do?”
    “I made sure you were free tonight.”
    Mark had called her during the week to tell her he’d got the senior accounting position. It had been his goal for years and he was thrilled.
    He’d also mentioned that all the senior staff were being sent on a management camp in the Blue Mountains. It was a weekend of orienteering and abseiling and other organised activities designed to build team spirit.
    Then, when Daniel had called her to ask her out, it had crossed her mind that he might have organised the management camp to keep Mark out of the way bu t she’d brushed it off. It seemed a bit fetched that someone would go to all that trouble for her.
    I f he had, it was ironic because with no other engagements for the evening and no man in her life at the moment she’d been free all along.
    They were all things Daniel didn’t need to know . Yet.
    She was single so there was no reason she shouldn’t have dinner with him and, she had to admi t she found him intriguing.
    Still, a man like him was used to getting his way in both business and his personal life and he always seemed to have one over her.
    As far as she could tell, her supposed engagement to Mark was the only thing standing between them. Best to keep it that way. Just until she had a bit more time to think things through.
    “I know you sent your staff off for a management weekend,” she said. “That doesn’t change anything for me, one way or another.”
    Daniel ’s expression was as confident as ever. “I beg to differ. I think it has made all the difference tonight. You’re here. That was what I wanted.”
    “I have male friends too, you know. I am capable of friendship with a man.”
    “You know as well as I do that I’m not interested in being your friend .”
    She should have felt embarrassed. Her face should have reddened, but there was no point being coy whe n she felt the same way.
    T hat didn’t mean she should give way to her feelings, not when they were so shallow and she knew he was all wrong for her. She’d been through this before and getting involved with this man would only be setting herself up for disappointment. Still, she could play with him in the meantime.
    “Tell me,” she said, “does it really not bother you that I’m taken?”
    He raised his eyebrows. “It ups the ante a little.”
    “And two-timing doesn’t bother you either?”
    “ I’m not going to two-time anyone. Ever.”
    “N either am I. I have standards,