The air went very still. Charity stiffened, her hands clutching the arm of the couch. She pinned the newcomer with a fierce stare while she slowly digested what he'd said. Then she rose and Ross rose behind her, wishing he had a clever one-liner on the tip of his tongue to save this situa tion.
"That's right," Charity said slowly, still staring at the newcomer. "Oh. I see." She pointed a finger at him. "You are Paul." She turned the finger in on herself. "And I'm Charity." She turned slowly and glared up at Ross, her tone turning to gravel. "And who the hell are you?"
He shrugged his arms wide and gave her a smile he hoped was ingratiating enough. "Ross Bennington," he said. "Your hired husband." He looked hopefully for signs that she saw the joke in all this.
But he looked in vain.
Charity was furious. Suddenly she was aware of just how comfortable she'd been with this man, and all the time he'd been lying to her! She'd said things she never would have told him if she'd realized who he was.
"Of all the sneaky, rotten-"
"I tried to tell you. I could hardly get a word in edge wise."
Her eyes sparked. Not only did he trick her, he insulted her as well!
"So I talk too much, do I?" she said, her eyes blazing at him. "Listen-" she jabbed a finger at his chest "-just exactly who are you and what are you doing here?"
Ross caught hold of her hand, his fingers gently cir cling her wrist. He had an impulse to protect her, but he didn't have the slightest idea what she needed protecting from.
"I told you. I was sent over by the agency."
She stared at his hand covering hers, then jerked her hand away, totally ignoring Paul, who still stood in the doorway, looking uncertainly from one of them to the other.
"I think I'll come back later," Paul said, and disappeared into the hall.
Neither Ross nor Charity said goodbye.
"I'm not dumb, you know," she snapped, rubbing her wrist as though to erase the sense of his touch. She looked up at him defiantly. "I look at you and I can see what kind of man you are. You aren't going to try to convince-me that you make a career out of playing husband. You don't work for any temporary agency."
Ross had come over with every intention of telling her the entire truth about his motives from the start. Fulfill ing the role of husband hadn't loomed large in his scheme of things, though he'd been prepared to follow through if necessary to achieve his goal. Now his instincts told him that this was not the best time to reveal himself fully. A bit of a delaying tactic might work out best in the short run.