In response to my puzzled look, he nodded toward the other side of the table, where Dad was still holding court. My heart clutched as I saw Hardy Cates standing there shaking hands with him. Hardy didn't wear a tux with the languid ease of an aristocrat, but instead with the vague impatience of someone who'd rather be having a cold one with the boys. Leashed and restrained in civilized clothing, he seemed more a force of nature than ever.
My father was staring at him with narrow-eyed interest. As usual, he was as subtle as a pickax. And as usual, everyone held their breath when he spoke. "You plannin' to mess with the Travises?" Dad asked in a tone of amiable interest. "You tryin' to put something over on us?
Hardy met his gaze squarely, a young scoundrel sizing up an old scoundrel, not without respect. "No, sir."
"Then why have you taken up livin' in my building?"
A slight smile touched Hardy's lips. "Travises aren't the only ones who want a view from the top floor."
I didn't have to look at my father's face to know he loved that. Loved it. On the other hand, he wasn't one to forget old scores. "All right," he said to Hardy. "You paid your respect to the big dog, you can go along now."
"Thank you. But you're not the Travis I came to see."
And Hardy looked at me.
I was being pursued, right in front of my family. I threw Todd a quick, desperate glance, pleading silently for help. But he was enjoying the show way too much.
While the collective gaze of the Travis clan focused on me, I looked back at Hardy. And in as normal a tone as I could manage, I said, "Hello, Mr. Cates. Are you having a good evening?"
"Hoping to."
A world of trouble lurked in those two words. "Hey, Cates," Jack said, standing and clapping Hardy on the shoulder. "What do you say we go get a beer at the bar?"
Hardy didn't budge. "No, thanks."
"It's on me. I insist."
As if things weren't bad enough, Gage and Liberty returned to the table. And Gage, who was more than a little territorial where his wife was concerned, fixed Hardy with a stare that promised death.
Liberty seized Gage's hand and gripped it tightly. "Hardy," she said with a relaxed smile, "it's been a long time. How are you?"
"Great. You?"
"Wonderful," she said. "We have a little boy now. Matthew."
"I heard about that. Congratulations."
Gage stared at Hardy in a way that raised the hairs on my arms. "What do you want?" he asked quietly.
Hardy's gaze turned to me, and held, as he answered. "I want to dance with your sister."
Before I could even answer, Gage said, "Not a chance."
And Jack said almost simultaneously, "I don't think so."
My father glanced at me from across the table and raised his brows.
And my brother Joe chose that moment to come up behind my chair and rest a hand on my shoulder. "We having a problem?" he asked of no one in particular.
I felt smothered by them, the men in my family, who were so determined to protect me that they weren't even considering my opinion on the matter. I pulled away from Joe's hand. "No problem," I told him. "Mr. Cates just asked me to dance. And I'm going to — "
"No way in hell," Joe said putting his hand back on my shoulder. Irritably I dug my elbow into his side. "I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Maybe you should," Joe muttered, giving me a hard look. "Need to talk to you, Haven."
"Later," I said, mortified. We were causing a scene. People were looking.
"Now," Joe insisted.
I stared at him in disbelief. "For God's sake," I said, "even for a family of crazy Texan control freaks, this is ridiculous."
Hardy had begun to scowl. "While you have a committee meeting to decide if you're allowed to dance," he told me, "I'll be at the bar."
And he sauntered off while I glared at Joe, who was usually the least interfering brother.
Of course, that wasn't saying much. But still.
"'Scuse us," Joe said to the rest of the Travises, and he led me away from the table.
"What's going on?" I demanded in a taut whisper as we meandered through the crowd. "Why is it such a big deal if I dance with Hardy Cates?"
"The guy's trouble," Joe said calmly, "and everyone knows it. With all the men here to choose from, why give him a second thought? Are you that determined to push the family's buttons?"
"Newsflash, Joe: there are some things in life I get to decide without taking the family's buttons into consideration."
"You're right," he allowed after a moment. "But I'm still not going to keep quiet if I see you walking toward another hole in the ground. Not if there's a chance I can stop you from falling into it."
"Whatever I do or don't do with Hardy Cates, it's my business,"
I said. "I'll handle the consequences."
"Fine. As long as you understand that the chances of being set up and used are high."
I glanced at him sharply. "Why do you say that?"
"Two years ago, not long after you got married, I was called to do the Texas Monthly shoot for the piece they did on Cates. At his request. I spent the better part of the day with him. We talked about a lot of stuff, but what I realized near the end of the shoot was that every thread of conversation had led back to one person . . . he kept asking questions, digging up information, wanting private details . . . "
"About Liberty," I muttered.
"Hell, no, not about Liberty. About you."
"What?" I asked faintly.
"He said you two had met at the wedding."
My heart seemed to stop. "Did he tell you how?"
"No, but it made an impression on him, to say the least. So I made it clear you were off-limits. Told him you were married. And that didn't seem to matter to him one damn bit. He still wanted to know more. I got a bad feeling about it, even then." Joe stopped and looked down at me with eyes the same dark brown as my own. "And now you're coming off a divorce, and vulnerable, and he's after you."
"He's not after me, he just asked me to dance."
"He's after you," Joe repeated firmly. "Of all the women in this room, you're the one he went for. Why do you think that is, Haven?"
A wave of coldness went through me. Shit. Maybe I was being the woman in the Astrodome again. Maybe my attraction to Hardy was a form of self-destructive masochism.
"He's got some kind of plan," Joe said. "He wants to make his mark, get back at the Travises, get something from us. And he'll have no problem using you to do it. Because he's figured out there's no bigger turn-on for you than a guy your family doesn't approve of."
"That's not true," I protested.
"I think it is." Joe dragged his hand through his hair, looking exasperated. "For God's sake, Haven, find someone else. You want to meet guys, I know a ton of — "
"No," I said sullenly. "I don't want to meet anyone."
"Then let's go back to the table."
I shook my head. The idea of returning to my family's table like a chastened child was unbearable. "You want to dance?" Joe asked.
That provoked a reluctant grin from me. "With my brother? No, that would be too pathetic. Besides, you hate dancing."
"True," Joe said, looking relieved.
"I'm going to the ladies' room to check my makeup," I said. "I'll be back at the table in a few minutes."
After Joe left me, I wandered disconsolately through the room. Obviously I shouldn't have gone to the theater opening. I should have stayed home. I needed to think about things, including the question of why, in spite of my better judgment and my family's conviction that it was a mistake, I was still attracted to Hardy Cates.
But before I was even aware I was doing it, I had gone to the bar.
It was easy to locate Hardy's tall, rangy form. He was half leaning against the bar, a rocks glass in his hand. It appeared he was talking to someone, although his shoulder blocked the view. I approached him hesitantly, tilting my head a little as I tried to get a glimpse of his companion.
He was talking to a woman. Naturally. It was inconceivable that a man with his looks wouldn't attract female attention. The woman was slim and busty and dressed in a sparkling gold gown. All that, along with her light blond hair, made her look like an awards show statuette.
I stiffened as I saw her face.
"Hi, Vanessa," I said weakly.
CHAPTER TEN
Vanessa Flint gave me a look I was familiar with, the one that said she didn't want to be interrupted. But her voice was warm and friendly. "Haven, how nice to see you here! Are you having fun?""Words can't describe it," I said. It was just not my night. Of all people for Hardy to hook up with, it had to be my boss from hell. Fate was trying to get it through to me that this wasn't going to work on any level.
Hardy set his glass on the bar. "Haven — "
"Hi, Mr. Cates," I said coolly. "Have a good night, you two. I was just leaving."
Without giving either Vanessa or Hardy a chance to react, I turned and pushed through the crowd. Nauseous and white-faced with fury, I acknowledged that my family was absolutely right about Hardy. He was trouble I didn't need.
I'd made it about halfway through the room when I felt him come up behind me, his touch on my arm. I stiffened and turned to face him. His face was as hard as granite.
"Go back to Vanessa," I told him. "If she thinks I've taken you away from her, I'll be cleaning the office bathroom for the next week."
"I wasn't with her, I was having a drink. Was I supposed to wait alone in the corner while you were trying to make up your mind about me? "
"Not in the corner, no." I glared at him. "But you could have at least waited five minutes before finding a replacement."
"She wasn't a replacement. I was waiting for you. And it took you a hell of a lot longer than five minutes to decide if you wanted to dance with me. I'm not going to take that shit from you or your family, Haven."
"After the way you've behaved in the past, what do you expect? Flowers and a parade? They have every right to distrust your motives."
"What about you? What do you think my motives are?"
"I don't think you want me to answer that in front of all these people."
"Then we'll go somewhere private," he said through clenched teeth. "Because I'm going to have an answer, by God."
"Fine." My mind went blank, frozen in white panic, as I felt him take my wrist. The last time I'd been handled by an angry man, I'd ended up at the hospital. But his grip, firm as it was, was not painful. I forced myself to relax and go along with him as he steered me through the crowd.
A female singer was crooning "Summertime," the dark, moody melody weaving around us like smoke.
I was in a daze as we made our way out of the room, past the crush in the lobby. We reached a set of doors, but we were forced to stop as someone stepped in our way. Gage. His eyes flashed like bottled lightning as he glanced over both of us, missing no detail, including the way Hardy was gripping my wrist.
"Do you need me?" Gage asked me quietly.
Hardy looked like he was ready to commit murder. "She's fine," he said.
My brother paid no attention to that, only kept his gaze on me. I felt a wave of gratitude for him, understanding how difficult it was for him to let me go off with a man he despised. But Gage knew it was my choice. He was there to offer help only if I wanted it.
"It's okay," I said to him. "I don't need anything."
My brother nodded, although it was obvious he was struggling not to interfere. As we left him, he looked as if he were watching me walk off with Lucifer himself. I knew Gage was afraid for me. He didn't trust Hardy Cates.
Neither did I, come to think of it.
Hardy pulled me past the set of doors, and around a corner, working deeper into the building until we finally stopped in some kind of maintenance stairwell, which smelled of concrete and metal and musty dankness. It was quiet except for a dripping sound, and the broken rhythms of our breathing. A light from somewhere above shed uncertain fluorescence over us.
Hardy faced me, looking huge and dark against a background of concrete. "Now," he said brusquely, "tell me what you wouldn't say back there."
I let him have it. "I think if I were anyone but a Travis, you wouldn't give me the time of day. I think you want to show my brother Gage that if he got Liberty, you're going to get back at him by sleeping with his sister. I think you have more hidden agendas than you can admit even to yourself. I think — "
I stopped with a gasp as he grabbed me. a wild feeling pumped through me, a mixture of fear and anger and, unbelievably, arousal.
"Wrong," he bit out, his accent heavy and charred with scorn. "I'm not that complicated, Haven. The truth is, I've wanted you ever since I met you in that damned wine cellar. Because I got a bigger charge out of that five minutes than I have with any woman before or since. No secret plot against your family, Haven. No hidden agendas. Plain and simple, I'm just interested in screwing your brains out."
My face was stiff with offended bewilderment. Before I could string a few coherent syllables together, Hardy kissed me. I pushed at him, and his mouth lifted, and he muttered something that sounded obscene, but I couldn't quite hear it over the rampaging pulse in my ears.
He took my head in both his hands, fingers shaping around my skull. His lips found mine again. The taste and heat of him were unbearably sweet as his tongue sank into my mouth. The pleasure of it went screaming through me, hunger striking against equal hunger, creating fire. I opened to him, shaking so hard I could barely stand. His arm went around me, shielding my back from the cold press of concrete, the other hand running down the front of my body. I kissed him back, licking into his mouth the way he was doing with mine. I was feeling too much, losing control.
His mouth broke from mine, roughly searching the side of my neck. The rasp of his shaven jaw sent bolts of delight down to my stomach. I heard him mutter something to the effect that after going to a fancy college I should at least be smart enough to know when a man wanted to go to bed with me. Except that he said it a lot more crudely.