Old sins… New scandals!

Brenna Stewart is deeply suspicious of Fin Malone. He’s best friends with her ex, a Hollywood director who abandoned Brenna the minute he found out about her pregnancy! She can’t trust her ex, or his sudden interest in their daughter, so why is Fin here?

Fin claims he’s only the messenger, not here to split Brenna’s small family up. Little Nancy is instantly hooked by Fin’s easy charm, but Brenna won’t let Fin turn her own head. She keeps him at arm’s length, until the press gets wind of Nancy’s existence and Brenna has no choice but to seek out Fin’s protection…

Betrayal

Maggie Cox

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2013

Copyright © Maggie Cox 2013

Maggie Cox asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © June 2013 ISBN: 9781472017079

Version date: 2018-07-23

About the Author

The day MAGGIE COX saw the film version of Wuthering Heights, with a beautiful Merle Oberon and a very handsome Laurence Olivier, was the day she became hooked on romance. From that day onwards she spent a lot of time dreaming up her own romances, secretly hoping that one day she might become published and get paid for doing what she loved most! Now that her dream is being realised, she wakes up every morning and counts her blessings. She is married to a gorgeous man, and is the mother of two wonderful sons. Her two other great passions in life – besides her family and reading/writing – are music and films.

Maggie also writes for Mills & Boon® Modern Romance.

May the power of love and hope always prevail over darkness.

Table of Contents

Cover

Excerpt

Title Page

Copyright

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

Endpages

About the Publisher

Chapter One

When the knock on the door she’d been expecting finally came, Brenna experienced a flood of panic so acute that for a moment she felt like she was plunging down the steepest ravine in an out-of-control car.

With all her heart she wanted to turn and run. But run where? Ultimately there was no escape from the situation she was in. She knew that. Besides, she wasn’t the running-away type.

So, here she was – albeit under protest – in a luxurious hotel suite paid for by Nicholas Balcon, her little girl’s father. The same father who five years previously, on hearing that she was pregnant with his child, coldly informed her he was going to the States to further his career and his plans didn’t include Brenna and a baby.

So what had caused him to have a change of heart after all this time? Why, now, did he suddenly profess an interest in the child they had made together when for five whole years she hadn’t heard so much as a word from him … not one?

He didn’t even know if he had a son or a daughter. That’s how ‘interested’ in his offspring he’d been. Brenna’s blood ran icily cold as she approached the door to let him in. If he was expecting to meet a slightly older version of the eager, meek twenty-two-year-old she’d been when they’d first met then he was in for a very rude awakening. The woman he’d see on the outside might look similar, but inside she was changed beyond all recognition and Nick Balcon, with his heartless behaviour, had been the cause of that change.

But when she pulled back the door, it wasn’t Nicholas.

An inadvertent gasp escaped her at the sight of the tall broad-shouldered man who stood there in Nicholas’s place and for a moment she was rendered speechless by a sky-blue glance that made her feel as though she was free-falling out of an aeroplane.

‘Brenna Stewart?’

‘Yes.’ She knew her troubled brown eyes must easily convey her confusion. ‘I’m sorry. I was expecting someone else.’

‘You mean Nick?’ The stranger extended a large, capable-looking hand that would make her own much smaller one feel like a child’s should she entrust it to his grasp.

‘I’m Fintan Malone. You can call me Fin. I’m a friend and colleague of Nick’s. He asked me to look out for you until he got here.’

Ignoring the outstretched hand as a bolt of trepidation shot through her, Brenna didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What devious game was Nick playing with her now? She’d been suffering the most unbearable fear and tension from the moment she’d received that curt formal letter from him six days ago and now, as if to deliberately prolong her agony, he’d sent an emissary in his place. A confident, handsome American with a golden tan no doubt expensively acquired, who she didn’t know the first thing about and didn’t want to know. All she wanted was the opportunity to vent her spleen on Nick, to tell him to go to hell! She didn’t care how much wealth, fame or influence he had now. He wasn’t going to walk roughshod over her a second time. There was no way she was going to let him take Nancy. Not while she had breath left in her body.

‘I don’t need looking out for, Mr Malone, so you seem to have had a wasted journey. It’s Nick I came to see, not some stand-in that he’s sent in his place.’

Without a backward glance Brenna strode away from the door, for once her innate impulse to be polite utterly deserting her. When Fin Malone’s rich- timbred voice arrested her stride, she trembled with fury. If Nick were here now she really wouldn’t be able to trust herself not to do him some damage. Hate was an emotion she normally despised, but right now, God help her, just the thought of the man made her blood boil worse than if a wrecking ball had accidentally demolished her house.

‘I can understand how you must be feeling.’

‘No you can’t!’ Brimming with indignation and rage, she spun round. ‘You have absolutely no idea how I’m feeling. All you need to know is that I’m here under duress and Nicholas Balcon is not getting his hands on my daughter. Not now, not ever. Now you had better just go.’

To her chagrin, Fin Malone stayed put. Like a brick wall stays put. Beneath the crisp white shirt he wore casually with jeans, his muscular biceps strained at the flawless material, drawing Brenna’s gaze even when she didn’t want it to be drawn.

‘Have you eaten?’ he asked.

‘What?’

‘It’s just that it’s way past lunchtime and I know you had a long drive to get here. Would you like me to order you some food? I can have it sent up to the room if you like?’

The room? Brenna saw the irony but wasn’t amused. The suite of rooms she’d been shown into by an officious member of the hotel staff was the most luxurious, well-appointed accommodation she’d ever set eyes on, let alone stayed in. With its typically English country-house wallpaper and sumptuous French-polished antique furniture, it was a million miles away from anything that she was accustomed to. This is how the other half lives. This is how Nancy’s father lives, even as Brenna struggled to raise their daughter, to keep the roof over their heads and put food in their mouths.

All the same, she’d never begrudged Nick his success. It had always been a given as far as she was concerned that the man would make it. He was now one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood – light years away from directing a grammar-school performance of Jane Eyre or Romeo and Juliet with a bunch of eager sixth-formers, and a whole other galaxy away from an affair with a shy and unsophisticated dance teacher who had foolishly once been so besotted with him.

‘I don’t want any lunch, thank you.’ Brenna determinedly swallowed across the cramp in her throat. The fact of the matter was that it would probably choke her if she attempted to eat. Best avoid food for now. At least until she’d calmed down. At least until she knew exactly what twisted little game Nick was playing.

‘Presumably you know when Nick is getting here?’ It was getting harder and harder for her to regard the man in front of her with any sense of ease. It wasn’t every day that a woman was confronted by a man with the physical attributes of a modern-day Hercules as well as movie-star good looks that could certainly make someone even a little less arresting have an inferiority complex. Right now she desperately needed to feel like she was the one in charge so it was even more disconcerting.

‘He got waylaid by something back home but he’s booked on the next flight out.’

‘You mean he’s still in the States?’ Her chin wobbling dangerously, Brenna stared at Fin Malone in disbelief. Just what the blazes was going on?

‘He’s flying out tonight and should be here in the morning.’

In contrast to her own inner turmoil, Fin’s blue eyes reflected implacable calm, like a peaceful ocean without so much as a ripple on the surface to disturb its perfect symmetry.

‘I’ve booked reservations for dinner. They’re for eight-thirty, so I hope you’ll be hungry by then. Is there anything else you need?’

‘Like what, for instance?’

‘Anything.’ He shrugged and smiled. ‘Maybe you’d like some magazines or a book to read?’

Brenna shook her head. ‘I don’t need anything, thank you, and that includes looking after! And you shouldn’t have made dinner reservations without asking me first. If that’s what Nick asked you to do then I’m sorry but you’re wasting your time.’

Her arms crossed her chest, deliberately sending out a signal that she was closing him off from even the remotest chance of friendliness.

‘I wouldn’t be good company anyway. Thanks all the same.’

The glint in Fin Malone’s unsettling crystal-blue eyes caught her off guard. Just what did the man find so amusing? Had she said something funny?

‘Even so, I’ll call for you at eight. We can have a drink in the bar before dinner. By the way, it’s formal attire. I don’t mean to offend you by asking, but did you bring anything suitable to wear?’

Frowning, Brenna thought about the long black evening dress in her suitcase but baulked at the idea of wearing it. She wasn’t sure why she had packed it in the first place, but she supposed at the back of her mind she’d thought that something like this dinner might arise and she hadn’t wanted to appear before her now very successful ex looking like a pauper. Truthfully, she would much prefer staying in her sweater and jeans.

‘Mr Malone, I know you’re doing this as a favour to Nick and please don’t take it personally, but I don’t want to have dinner with you. I came here purely for the purpose of meeting with him and him alone. I don’t want to talk to anybody else. Two days away from my little girl is immensely hard for me, as I’m sure you can appreciate if you have children of your own? I’ve left her with my mother who hasn’t been in the best of health and I’ve also got classes to teach first thing Monday morning. There are things I need to do to prepare for the week on Sunday night.

‘The truth is this is the last place in the world I want to be and I wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for that cold-hearted summons from your charming “friend”. So please, why don’t you just go and enjoy your dinner with a much more amenable companion? I’m quite all right here on my own.’

Tucking her dark hair behind her ears, Brenna forced herself to meet Fin Malone’s impenetrable glance without flinching or looking away but everything inside her seemed to clench and tighten unbearably when those flawlessly arresting blue eyes locked onto hers.

‘I’m used to taking care of myself,’ she continued, alarmed at the waver in her voice. ‘Perhaps you’d just be good enough to let me know as soon as you hear from Nick? I’m anxious to get our business over and done with and then go home.’

Instead of responding immediately, Fin crossed his arms casually over the wide muscular chest that was just one of his disturbing physical attributes and smiled.

Why didn’t he seem to be taking her seriously? Was he one of those irritating men who regard women who stand up for themselves as slightly hysterical? The thought made her bristle. But just then the sexy little indentation in the centre of his hard-sculpted chin commanded her attention and caused an inconvenient flare of heat to explode inside her. Clearly, the man must be involved in the film industry. If he could light up a room just by virtue of entering it, what would the sight of him be like on the big screen in full cinematic glory? How had he come to be a friend of someone like Nick? Nick’s own accomplishments were of a far more cerebral nature, whereas Fin Malone’s assets were surely first and foremost his physical ones?

‘Why don’t you just rest for a couple of hours and see how you feel after that?’ he suggested smoothly, obviously undisturbed by her outburst. ‘I’m staying just across the hall from you if you should need me. I’ll come back in a little while to make sure you’re okay.’

As he turned and walked to the door, Brenna found herself admiring his striking physique from behind and brought herself up short with a silent appalled expletive. She had no business admiring any man – no matter how drop-dead gorgeous. She wasn’t a fool and never again would she risk replicating the kind of heartbreaking situation she’d found herself in five years ago.

‘He’s not going to take Nancy from me, is he?’ She couldn’t help the anguish that spilled out of her voice as Fin reached the door. Emotion was running high in her blood. Fear, too. The thought that she might lose her daughter – her reason for living – was like suffering a thousand tortures all at once. The big American slowly turned round. His gaze thoughtfully assessed her before he spoke, as if not wanting to squander his words.

‘So your little girl’s called Nancy? That’s a pretty name. Look, it’s not up to me to fill you in on the details about what Nick wants. That’s personal and between the two of you. All I can tell you is that he’s not the louse you seem to think he is … not in my experience. He’ll do what’s right. I know he will.’

With that he strode out into the corridor, closing the door firmly behind him.

Having donned her long black coat over her sweater and jeans, Brenna went for a walk. The hotel grounds were extensive with the most beautiful meandering gardens set against a backdrop of verdant rolling hills and valleys. Right now they were windswept and rain-washed but that merely added to their charm.

As soon as she strode out and fresh cold air circulated in her lungs, she had the reassuring sense of being a little more in control. Everything will be all right, she told herself. Nick might have money but she had her daughter’s love and nearly five years of unstinting devotion to bind them together. Nancy was beautiful and precious but anyone who knew her would never describe her as outgoing. Her nature was thoughtful and quiet. She wasn’t a child that naturally joined in with the other children’s games, whether at pre-school or during play-dates at home. She would flounder in any situation where she was the centre of attention. The kind of fame her father attracted would be overwhelming.

An acute pang of longing for her daughter assailed Brenna as she walked. Why now, she wondered, shaking her head in bewilderment, should Nick suddenly decide he wanted to see her? It had never been her aim to deliberately keep him out of Nancy’s life. It was he that had coldly told her that their relationship was over and that there was no room in his life for fatherhood. His words – echoing round his book-lined living room – had had the same effect on Brenna as a bomb exploding. Every emotion and tender feeling she’d ever had for him was devastated by his heartless announcement. He had, after all, pursued her from the beginning not the other way round. Being older and more experienced, he’d employed a ruthless charm offensive that she’d been unable to resist, demolishing her doubts and reservations with the seductive prowess of a formidable expert until she agreed to have dinner with him.

Less than a week later he had persuaded her into his bed. Shy and not remotely as experienced, Brenna had trembled violently when he’d first kissed her. Nothing could have prepared her for a flood of feelings so powerful that they all but knocked her off her feet whenever Nick was near.

‘Idiot!’

Muttering the derogatory word behind gritted teeth, her hand impatiently wiped away the foolish tears that gathered in her eyes. What good did it do berating herself? Something good had come out of the affair: Nancy. Her little girl was the light of her life.

‘Apparently there’s even more rain forecast.’

The deep voice behind her made her jump. Brenna spun round to find herself face to face with Fin Malone. His hands were pushed deep into the pockets of his expensive-looking leather jacket and his silky brown hair was boyishly mussed by the breeze. There was also a hint of a sardonic smile teasing the edges of his beautifully carved mouth.

Needing a moment to compose her feelings, Brenna deliberately turned away, her long black hair partially shielding her face as she dipped her head to gaze at the ground instead. She didn’t want him to see that she’d been crying … didn’t want this cool customer – this confident friend and colleague of Nick’s – to have the slightest clue that she was actually far more vulnerable than she might at first appear.

‘The weather doesn’t bother me. If it rains, you get wet. I don’t know why people make such a fuss.’ Still keeping her gaze averted, her slender shoulders lifted in a careless shrug.

‘Brenna?’ It stung Fin’s pride that she wouldn’t look at him. He wasn’t used to such a negative reaction from women. It made him more determined than ever to get her attention. From the moment he’d seen her she’d posed a challenge – not just because she was beautiful and he wanted her to notice him – but because there was something about her angry defensiveness and her determination not to let anyone else get the upper hand that intrigued him.

‘Have you heard from Nick?’

She suddenly turned round and Fin didn’t miss the flare of hope in her eyes. For a moment he didn’t know what to say because the stunning raven-haired beauty simply stopped his thoughts in their tracks. Surely it couldn’t have been easy for Nick to leave her behind even in the pursuit of the glittering career he had now? Fin honestly couldn’t fathom it.

‘Well, have you?’

There was a definite quaver in her voice that Fin wasn’t exactly impervious to.

‘Not yet,’ he answered. ‘Look, why don’t you come back inside with me? It’s bitter out here. We can have some coffee in the Library and talk. They’ve got a great fire burning in the fireplace.’

‘If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather just be left alone.’

‘To freeze out here, and be miserable thinking about what may or may not happen tomorrow when Nick arrives?’

‘That’s up to me, isn’t it?’

‘Nick said you could be stubborn.’

‘What?’ Resentment burned like corrosive acid in Brenna’s gut. The idea that she’d been discussed as if she were some tiresome little schoolgirl made her feel raw and enraged. The glance she gave Fin was stony.

‘I don’t think he—’

‘Nicholas Balcon can go to hell and you can join him! Don’t make the mistake of assuming you know anything about me just because you’ve heard some banal little sound-bites from that man. You people think you can just play with people’s lives because you have money and influence. Well, trust me I am not the compliant little pushover you might have expected. And I’m not going to make it easy for Nick to get what he wants … in this case my daughter!’

Her eyes brimming with fury, she swept past Fin only to find her arm irrevocably captured. She was unceremoniously hauled backwards with a strong steely hand and his face – lean and hard – hovered bare inches from her own. Shock made her silent as she watched his lips – tempered steel overlaid in satin – move in speech.

‘You’ll only hurt yourself even more if you keep this up. You’re letting your imagination run wild, Brenna. Nick’s not the heartless ogre you keep on trying to paint him as. Can you blame the man for wanting to get to know his one and only child? So he didn’t get to know her from the beginning, but people make mistakes. We all make mistakes. Time and circumstances can change people. Nick’s had plenty of both to reflect on what he let go. Just talk to him. I have every faith that you guys can work it out like civilized human beings.’

‘Did he pay you to say that?’ Brenna asked bitterly.

The strongly aligned features before her reflected his disappointment and perhaps even exasperation.

‘He’s not paying me for anything. I told you, I’m here as a friend.’ Fin hadn’t been sure of the reception he would receive from Nick’s ex-girlfriend but what he expressly hadn’t been expecting was a woman with looks that could grace a centrefold, and a temper as hot as Hades to match. Not that he couldn’t understand why she was so angry at not hearing from Nick in five long years then suddenly receiving a command from him out of the blue telling her he wanted to discuss their child at last.

But surely any woman with an iota of common sense would see that in the interests of that child there had to be certain advantages in letting her wealthy father make contact? It must have been tough for Brenna trying to manage all these years on her own without help. If she could just calm down for a few seconds she might – just might – start to see things in a more positive light.

‘Let me go.’

‘What?’

‘My arm. You’re hurting me.’

Fin dropped the slender limb like a hot potato, a hint of crimson reddening his jaw.

‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured. ‘Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.’

Brenna could believe it. She rubbed her arm where the impression of his hand left her smarting but tingling too. It was the tingling that disturbed her the most.

‘Lucky for Nick he has such a “trouper” on his side.’

‘And what about you? Do you have a champion on your side, Brenna?’

Her upper lip wobbled a little.

‘I fight my own battles … always have done and always will. So you see, Mr Malone, I really don’t need you or anyone else to look out for me.’

‘Lucky for you, then, that you’re so utterly self-sufficient.’ Not missing a beat, Fin came back at her, privately rattled that she continued to profess not to need him when his sense of it was that she could definitely use some help. ‘Ever heard the expression “no man is an island”? Presumably it applies to women, too.’

His comment completely threw her. The truth was that Brenna was weary of fighting all her battles on her own. It would be wonderful to have someone to share her fears and concerns with besides her poor over-worked mother. But never again would she make herself vulnerable to a man. She’d walk across hot molten lava in her bare feet first.

‘You’re wasting your time trying to win me round. All I want to do is see Nick and tell him to leave me and Nancy alone. As soon as I’ve done that then I’m going home. I’m sorry that he put you to all the trouble of having to come out here. I’m sure you’d much rather be at home in sunny California or wherever it is you’re from, and I can’t say I blame you. God knows, the winter here has little to commend it. Not unless you love it like I do.’

Digging her gloved hands into her pockets, Brenna was suddenly aware that her fingers were almost rendered frozen from the icy breeze that was blowing across the landscape. A weary sense of acute desolation made her heart feel like it was cracking.

‘I can see how you might feel like that. It definitely has a certain kind of charm,’ Fin commented.

Was he being facetious? Right then Brenna was too mentally drained even to try to analyse the remark.

‘Yes, it does,’ she softly agreed. ‘And I’m eccentric enough not to mind the cold. As long as I’m wrapped up warm it doesn’t really bother me. And the landscape …’ Her dark eyes misted over as she absorbed the view of the soft green hills that stretched as far as the eye could see. ‘The landscape just seeps into your soul.’ Her voice drifted away as self-consciousness uncomfortably gripped her.

‘Come and have a coffee with me,’ her companion suggested, his voice turning unwittingly smoky.

‘I’ve already said I—’

‘A person’s allowed to change their mind.’ Grinning, Fin’s appreciative gaze absorbed the wild windswept black tresses, the passionate soulful brown eyes and the sultry naked mouth. Truth to tell, right now the woman in front of him was all the landscape he cared to look at and admire. Windswept verdant vistas and rain-soaked flowerbeds were just no competition – no matter how lovely. ‘I promise if you let your guard down just a little and talk to me, I won’t try to take advantage.’

Brenna’s eyes instantly registered alarm. ‘You can be sure I won’t be letting my guard down – even a little – any time soon, Mr Malone. I would never make such a dangerous slip like that.’

Telling himself to be patient in the face of her continued defensiveness Fin sighed, his warm breath creating a puff of steam in the sharp cold air. ‘Message received loud and clear.’

‘And anyway,’ she surprisingly relented, ‘I prefer tea.’

‘Tea it is, then. And drop the “Mr Malone”, will you? Call me Fin. All my friends do.’

At the perplexed frown on the beautiful face in front of him, he smiled with unabashed amusement.

‘You never can tell. We could become friends. Wouldn’t that be the surprise of the century?’

Chapter Two

The heat of the fire was making her drowsy. Brenna deliberately widened her eyes as she reached forward for her cup of tea. Before she could get to it, from the other side of the ponderous oak table, Fin beat her to it. With a charming smile that was bordering on dazzling, he handed her the delicate porcelain cup and saucer and completely disarmed her. Feeling like she’d just reached the end of a path with a sheer drop at the end of it, she managed to stop her hand from shaking as she accepted it.

At all costs she had to keep a level head round this man, especially until she met up again with Nick. She didn’t want either of them to have the advantage over her.

‘Thanks.’ Taking a sip of fragrant Earl Grey tea, she leant back against the comfortable upholstery of the sumptuous sofa. Immense fatigue washed over her, just as though someone had slipped a sleeping tablet into her beverage. She supposed it was due to the combination of an early-morning start, then the long drive to reach the hotel, then the banked-up emotion that had been simmering constantly since she’d received Nick’s letter. Right then Brenna had the strongest desire to succumb to it – to simply give in and not fight it. But she couldn’t. Not when there was so much at stake. ‘So … do you work in the film industry too, Mr Malone?’

His eyebrow shot up at the question. Fin didn’t intend to give up on getting Brenna to call him by his first name but for now he would let it go. At least the lady was making conversation, not simply glaring at him with those gorgeous brown eyes of hers in deep suspicion as she was apt to do.

‘I was once. Up until a couple of years ago I’d worked as a stuntman for fifteen years. I busted my leg once too often, I’m afraid. Now I’m a stunt director with my own company. Less action but more pay so I’m not complaining.’

‘And how did you meet Nick?’

‘We met on a film set a few years back. He was between shots and I was on a break so we got talking. I guess you could say we hit it off and from time to time we meet up for a beer.’

They were friends yes, but not ‘bosom pals’, Fin acknowledged silently, the thought surprising him. The truth was he had college pals he was closer to than Nick Balcon. The British director wasn’t someone he’d ever exactly refer to as a ‘buddy’.

It was hard for Brenna to imagine Nick enjoying a close friendship with anyone. He wasn’t the kind of man that seemed to crave such a bond with another human being. Because of his self-contained character he’d naturally created an aura of aloofness around him – a mystique. He hadn’t really needed Brenna either in the end. How else could he have left her so easily and moved to the States? Not even the knowledge that she was carrying his child had interrupted his plans.

A jolt of pain assaulted her insides. Five years … Five years with no word, and now this. Their affair had lasted a bare six months but it had seemed like a lifetime to Brenna, such had been the intensity of her feelings at the time. If he had any memory, any compassionate feeling for the hopeful, unsophisticated, unconfident young woman she’d been, how could he do this to her? How could he contemplate putting her through such agony, to churn up emotions best left alone to fade away in peace?

‘Tell me about Nancy.’

Her spine went rigid at the unexpected request. What was Fin Malone really doing here? Was he gathering information to pass on to Nick to use against her in some way? She hated being so cynical. It really wasn’t in her nature. But Nick Balcon had been the instigator of that cynicism and she was sorry to say that here in this plush country hotel, it was growing by the second.

‘Why?’

‘Because she’s your daughter and I’m interested. Do you have a photograph?’

There were two in her purse but Brenna wasn’t about to admit it. ‘No. I’m sorry.’

Fin exhaled a sigh and her eyes went reluctantly to his face, flicking over the disturbing blue eyes with their long feathery lashes, the strong almost aquiline nose, and the sensuously straight slash of his mouth. Disturbingly, there was a feeling of intense trepidation in the pit of her stomach as she cautiously examined him.

‘That’s a pity. I would have liked to have seen one.’

‘Do you have children yourself?’

‘No.’ A shutter came down, along with a definite wariness that hadn’t been evident before. Well, what did Brenna expect? She’d been anything but open with Fin Malone but then she had reason to be cautious. This man was Nick’s friend. That made him dangerous in her book … very dangerous.

‘Nick tells me that you taught dance?’ he commented conversationally and it was very evident to her that the previous topic was strictly off limits.

‘I still do. I teach ballet, jazz and tap at a local private school.’

‘Is that how you’ve supported yourself and Nancy?’ Leaning forward in his armchair, Fin rested his elbows on his big, jean-clad thighs and Brenna’s tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth at the sheer unfettered physicality of the man.

‘That and a bit of bar work,’ she answered. Damn, she thought. She hadn’t meant to tell him as much as that. She could just imagine Nick looking down his nose at that particular snippet. And neither would it help her case if he took her to court for custody. No doubt his lawyers would make the whole scenario sound vaguely seedy.

Flushed with heat from the fireplace just a couple of feet away, her pinked cheeks grew even rosier.

‘I work in a local restaurant. I mean, it’s not an actual pub or anything like that. A friend of mine owns it. It’s a nice little place with a friendly atmosphere that serves exceptionally good food and it’s quite popular locally … to where I live, I mean …’

Realizing she was rambling because she was nervous of making any more unwitting mistakes, Brenna put her cup back down on the saucer with an inadvertent clatter and rose to her feet. She shouldn’t be talking to this man. It was too easy to let the suggestion of strength and dependability he exuded lull her into a false sense of security. Before she knew it, she’d be telling him her life story, including how difficult it had been to raise a child on her own with minimal money and support and that for four years she’d endured very little sleep because Nancy was a bright but anxious child plagued with nightmares that regularly woke Brenna during the night and cut her to the quick.

Then finally, she’d be confiding in him that she’d kept cuttings from all the newspapers or magazines she’d ever discovered about Nick so that one day she could show them to her daughter. Then Nancy could learn who her daddy was and maybe even be proud of him … But that would be far too much information to give to Fin. It would only provide ammunition for Nick and his more-than-likely slick and clever lawyers to enable him to get custody of Nancy. Her heartbeat slowed to an anxious thud inside her chest.

‘Thanks for the tea but I’m so tired I could literally drop. I think I should probably just go back to my room and lie down for a while.’

‘Are you sure?’

Fin got to his feet at the same time as she did, towering above her. He couldn’t deny he was fiercely disappointed that Brenna was cutting short their conversation. She might be as prickly as a porcupine with its needles erect, but with her gorgeous face and sexy curves she was so easy on the eye that he found he could easily overlook her less-than-friendly manner for a while. ‘I was just getting to know you a little bit better.’

‘No you weren’t.’ Slowly, Brenna moved her head from side to side. ‘That’s not going to happen because I won’t be here long enough.’

And with that, she fled from the seductive warmth of the Library to hurry along the thickly carpeted corridor to the lift back to the top of the house where her suite was located.

When she heard the phone ring a couple of hours later, Brenna rushed into the bedroom from the shower, a towel hastily wrapped round her sarong-style. Reaching for the receiver, she flopped down onto the big antique brass bed, spearing her fingers through her long damp tresses as she did so.

‘Hello?’

‘It’s Fin.’

She gulped down a breath and let it out again slowly.

‘You’ve heard from Nick?’

‘No. I just wanted to remind you about our dinner reservation.’

Another reprieve from the dreaded confrontation with Nancy’s father …

Brenna couldn’t curtail the strong sense of relief that swept through her. Glancing down at the little travel alarm clock she’d placed on the bedside table she saw that it was seven-thirty … dinner time. She couldn’t pretend she wasn’t hungry, even to save her pride. A girl couldn’t survive on tea and complimentary biscuits alone. But the thought of spending even the shortest time with Nicholas’s enigmatic emissary made her body tremble with disconcerting trepidation.

Oh, why had Nicholas done this to her? It was bad enough she had to be here at all without having the added dilemma of wondering how to conduct herself with his friend. A friend he’d apparently dispatched to ‘look out’ for her while she was there … whatever that meant. He obviously imagined she was still the same vulnerable, inexperienced young woman she’d been when they’d first met. Was he in for a surprise!

‘You’re not backing out on me?’ Fin’s voice with its disturbing rich timbre inadvertently caressed her ear and Brenna clutched the towel more securely to her chest, as if subconsciously protecting herself from too much sensation. That sexy voice seemed to have the power to reach parts of her that no other male had reached in five long years. Her body was pulsating in response to its sensual cadence, like a cat stroked into a state of bliss by its loving owner.

‘Not at all, I’m far too hungry to refuse your invitation,’ she admitted honestly and was doubly disconcerted to hear him chuckle.

‘Does that mean you’re feeling better after your lie-down?’

‘You could say that.’

‘Good. Then I’ll meet you in the bar at eight.’

Laying out his shaving gear on the bathroom shelf beneath the mirror, Fin confessed to feeling more than a little bit pleased that Brenna hadn’t flat out refused his dinner invitation. Whether he could ultimately placate her fears or not where Nick was concerned was not something he was going to fret about. Nick was a clever, articulate guy who could perfectly well state his own case without needing Fin to do it for him. Already Brenna was suspicious of his friendship with her ex – clearly believing he’d been sent on ahead to promote Nick’s ‘good name’ and convince her that he meant only the best for Nancy. Now that he’d met his friend’s arresting and feisty ex and gleaned the situation from her point of view, Fin had to confess to not feeling entirely comfortable in the role of flag bearer for Nick.

It was clear to him that the woman was in a lot of pain over her situation – who wouldn’t be in the circumstances? Brenna obviously believed that she was under threat and maybe she was? Perhaps her fears that Nick’s wealth and position would have an influential bearing on any desire he had regarding custody of Nancy were actually founded in some truth?

Fin thought about that. About the real possibility that Nick might take Brenna to court for full custody of their daughter instead of joint custody and he wished he’d quizzed his friend more about his intentions before agreeing to divert his vacation plans to go straight to London and travel out into the English countryside to meet up with Brenna on his behalf.

But it was too late now and, like it or not, Fin appeared to be colluding with Nick to do whatever he saw fit regarding Brenna and Nancy. Feeling an unwelcome prickle of unease unravel down his spine, he stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and bit back a softly uttered curse.

After replacing the receiver, Brenna lifted it again to call her mother.

‘Mum, how are you? How’s Nancy?’

‘Brenna! We’re both fine, pet. The little darling has just helped me finish doing the dishes. How’s everything going? Have you spoken to Nicholas?’

At the underlying thread of anxiety in her mother’s voice, Brenna quickly rallied to inflect optimism in hers.

‘Everything’s just fine, Mum. Nick hasn’t arrived yet because he’s been delayed but I’m hoping he’ll get here very soon.’

‘If he offers to help financially, don’t you dare even think of turning him down!’ Elsa Stewart warned sternly.

Brenna’s stomach lurched. She wouldn’t take a penny of that man’s money even if her life depended on it. She’d already done her best to explain as much to her mother, but Elsa had seen how her daughter was working herself into the ground with two jobs to keep everything together and she didn’t want the same relentless struggle that she’d endured for her daughter or granddaughter. Brenna understood, but the mere idea of accepting Nick’s financial help made her feel distinctly uneasy. The last thing she wanted was for the man to have some kind of ‘hold’ over her, no matter how tenuous. Besides, it was five years too late and that was a fact.

‘We haven’t even talked yet, Mum, so I’ve no idea what he wants to do.’

‘He said in his letter that he wanted shared custody of Nancy. I don’t think you’ll be able to talk him out of that idea if he wants it and you’ll be a fool if you do, pet. Don’t you think it’s about time you accepted some help? I won’t be here for ever, you know.’

Brenna bit down on her lip. ‘I know that, Mum. But at the end of the day I’ll do whatever I think is best for Nancy. She’s the priority here, not me. And I’m nowhere near convinced that having Nick in her life is the best thing.’

‘You’ve let what happened make you bitter. Let it go, love. Promise me you’ll work something out between the two of you that will benefit you all? You deserve a break, Brenna. A rest, at least.’

‘Mum, I’m fit and strong and not about to collapse any time soon. Look at you, you’ve worked all your life from the age of sixteen and you’re still fighting fit.’

‘Don’t use me as an example, pet. It’s taken its toll and that’s the truth. Don’t end up like me – alone and disappointed – when you could easily have so much more.’

‘Can I talk to Nancy now?’ Her breath escaping on a sigh, Brenna stared doggedly down at her ring-less fingers. Her mother had had her late in life and came from a different era, she mused – an era where for some women marriage was still ultimately the goal. More than ever nowadays, single parents were common. Brenna was just one of many. Besides … she didn’t intend to compromise her independence by being a drain on anyone … least of all Nick Balcon, even if he could easily afford it. She’d always believed in paying her own way and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

‘Mummy, when are you coming home? I miss you lots.’

At the sound of her daughter’s softly childish tones, Brenna melted. How she wished her little girl was with her now. What she wouldn’t give for the chance to just bury her face in her daughter’s silken dark curls and smell that sweet baby smell that even now as a four-year-old seemed to grow sweeter day by day.

‘Baby, I’ll be home soon … Just one more day, sweetheart, I promise. One more day and I’ll be driving home to you and Nana. Have you been a good girl? Nana says you’ve been helping her wash the dishes?’

‘We’ve been very busy doing housework and Nana says she couldn’t manage without me. I’m glad you’re coming home tomorrow. Will you bring me the comic I asked you for?’

‘Of course I will, sweetheart. I’ll pick one up at a service station on the way home. Take care now, darling. Mummy will see you tomorrow.’

There was the sound of a heartfelt kiss being blown into the receiver and Nancy’s dulcet little voice saying ‘I love you, Mummy’.

‘I love you too, sweetheart.’

The line clicked and returned to the dial tone. Brenna felt like crying. But she wouldn’t give into the need when she was meeting Fin Malone in the bar in a very short while. There was no way she was going to let him see her emotions laid bare again. How did she know he wasn’t going to feed it back to Nick to use against her in some way? No. She’d have a glass of wine for Dutch courage, she mused, then try to enjoy her meal and keep calm. In any case, she had to keep up her strength if she was going to be a match for Nancy’s father when he finally deigned to show up …

She slipped into the intimately lit bar, fervently hoping to pass relatively unnoticed. But even as she hovered briefly in the doorway, several male heads swivelled towards her with speculative regard. Fin Malone was one of them. He’d been chatting with the young uniformed barman but when he saw the man stop drying the glass in his hand to stare transfixed over his shoulder, the American turned slowly to see what had suddenly captured his attention. Heat – hot, hard and sensual – slammed into his gut when he did. In those few highly charged seconds, he honestly believed he’d never seen a woman more alluring than Brenna Stewart and he’d seen a lot of lovely women in his time. She had little adornment to complement the slinky black dress she wore that floated elegantly down to her ankles, but then what adornment did she need with that eye-catching cleavage and silky waist-length black hair? When she spotted him and started to move across the room towards him, Fin sensed a very satisfying male pride swell in his chest. She moved like a dream, too. Maybe it had something to do with her dance training? Whatever it was, the woman was possessed of the kind of grace that couldn’t be bought or learnt. Nick had told him that she was a real beauty, but nothing could have prepared Fin for the sensual, spine-tingling reality that was Brenna.

‘Am I late?’ She blushed as she drew up beside him and Fin reached up to loosen the collar of his shirt slightly beneath his tuxedo. Suddenly the formal clothing was too warm for comfort.

‘It’s a lady’s prerogative. What would you like to drink?’

‘A glass of dry white wine please.’

After getting their drinks, by mutual consent they moved to a secluded corner table away from the too interested glances of some of the bar’s other inhabitants. When they finally sat down, Brenna expelled a long shaky breath of grateful relief. Could everyone tell she felt like a fish out of water in this scenario? she wondered. Self-consciousness descended like a heavily lined cloak and she almost jumped out of her skin when Fin leant across the table to speak to her. He looked very handsome in his tuxedo. Too handsome for words, Brenna thought wildly, as appreciation and desire set her heart pounding. She almost didn’t know where to rest her gaze.

‘You look stunning.’ Crystal-blue eyes drifted lazily downwards to her cleavage, to the shadowy cleft between her full breasts, highlighted by the balconette bodice of her dress. Brenna hadn’t meant to be provocative but the dress was the only one she possessed that had seemed to fit the bill for the occasion. Fin’s appreciative male glance, however, now made her question the wisdom of wearing it. The little flare of heat in his eyes that he hadn’t been able to hide scorched her skin as though he had caressed her body in the most intimate way. How was she supposed to keep her cool when inside she was blazing like a furnace?

‘It’s an old dress.’ Her fingers clutched the stem of her wineglass as if using it to anchor her senses. ‘I don’t often have reason to wear it.’

‘That’s a shame.’

‘That’s a matter of opinion. I’m not interested in decking myself up to go out, to be honest. I’d rather be home with Nancy any day than enduring some fancy occasion with people I have nothing in common with.’ Realizing her implication as soon as the words were out, Brenna was immediately contrite. It was one thing to speak your mind, quite another to cause offence.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—’

‘I’ve been sitting here wondering what you’re like when you’re not so angry or defensive,’ Fin calmly cut in. Though right now, being the full-blooded male that he was, he couldn’t deny the provocative appeal of breasts heaving in a low-cut dress because their lovely owner was irate.

‘You’ll probably never find that out.’

‘Can I ask why?’

‘Look, I have every right to be angry and defensive! My life was perfectly fine until I got that damned letter from Nick a few days ago. How would you like someone to put you in the position he’s put me in, to have power over you in some way just because he provided the necessary chromosome to make a baby? An event he was singularly uninterested in at the time, I hasten to add, and has been uninterested in for the past five years? Now he thinks he can summon me just like that because he has the brass nerve to decide he wants joint custody of my daughter.’ At the arresting sight of a muscle flexing in the side of the American’s lean sculpted cheek, she paused, her breathing harried.

‘His daughter too, Brenna,’ he quietly reminded her. ‘Look … I don’t think for one second that Nick wants to make trouble. He only wants access to his child … to see her sometimes. Is that really so terrible? He’s a very wealthy man. He can provide things for her that will undoubtedly enhance her life: a good education, opportunities to travel and meet new people. He’s not trying to take her away from you.’ But even as Fin mouthed the words he had a horrible feeling that he was uttering them with very little belief in their content.

‘And do you think the things I provide, like love, care and attention, food and a roof over her head, don’t enhance her life?’

‘Did I say that?’ Fin’s expression suggested such cool implacability that it made Brenna even madder.

‘If Nick gets shared custody, then Nancy will probably have to spend part of the year in America. It will completely disrupt our lives. It’s an impossible situation and he has no right to—’

‘Whether you like it or not, he is her father. You’re both adults. You’ll work something out. Nancy won’t suffer if the two of you are absolutely committed to her welfare. I’m sure Nick would want nothing less.’

‘You really are his buddy, aren’t you?’ Her voice as scathing as she could make it, Brenna levered herself to her feet, eyes blazing. ‘If he isn’t here by midday tomorrow, I’m packing my bags and going home. End of story. You can tell him from me that if he can’t be bothered to turn up when he arranges a date and time for a meeting then he can forget the whole thing! I have a life, responsibilities. I don’t have the luxury of being able to sit here and wait until he deigns to honour me with his presence. You tell him that from me, Mr Malone!’

‘Brenna?’

But she was disappearing through the door of the bar before Fin had even got to his feet, before he even had a chance to defend himself and the stance he was taking on Nick’s behalf.

Drumming his fingers on the smooth polished surface of the table, he murmured a colourful expletive. When Nick had asked him to do him this favour he’d had his reservations considering the delicacy of the situation, but Lord knows he hadn’t expected a woman with so much fire in her veins that she threatened to ignite them both into an inferno whenever they were together. Intensely frustrated and annoyed, he picked up his glass and downed the contents in one hit. A few minutes later, he got up and went to the bar. The young barman threw him a sympathetic glance. Stony-faced, Fin took out his wallet.

‘Give me another bourbon,’ he irritably ground out.

Brenna’s eyes flew open at the insistent-sounding knock at the door. She’d been dozing in one of the armchairs, her body and mind exhausted with the sheer intensity of emotion she’d expended during the day. She was hungry too … ravenous, in fact. The growl in her stomach as she moved reminded her that wounded pride had cost her her dinner.

‘Damn.’ She speared her fingers through her hair, her mind racing with indecision. If Fin Malone was mad at her then he had every right. She’d acted appallingly downstairs in the bar. If she were him, she’d definitely be giving her a wide berth from now on. Suddenly the knock had a voice to accompany it.

‘For God’s sake, Brenna, open the door. I’m not quitting until you hear what I have to say.’

Steeling herself, she made herself move. He came in through the door without a word, broad shoulders sweeping past her with such an air of purpose that she hesitated briefly before closing the door behind him. The frisson of electricity as he passed her was tangible, so much so that she shivered with the force of it.

‘If it’s an apology you want then I—’

‘Dammit, woman, what’s your problem?’ His blue eyes narrowing to angry slits, Fin spun round to address her. ‘You’ve got a chip on your shoulder a mile wide. I don’t blame you for feeling scared about what Nick might be proposing but when are you going to get it through your thick skull that you’re not under attack here? If you keep treating every damn meeting we have like some blasted confrontation then we’re going to get nowhere fast.’

‘I don’t need a lecture on how to behave, Mr Malone.’

‘Oh yes you do, sweetheart.’

With barely restrained ire, Fin bore down on her, yanking her arm towards him by the elbow. All the breath whooshed out of Brenna’s body in a heated rush. Up close, the man was like some invincible warrior – the expression on his handsome face grim and purposeful … resolute. There was no question he was intimidating. There also wasn’t any doubt that he was the one in charge of this situation. All the strength suddenly seemed to drain out of her body.

‘Stop fighting me. I’m not your enemy.’

She knew that he was going to kiss her even before his mouth descended. She had ample time to twist away but the thought never even entered her head. In fact, her lips opened almost immediately to receive him just as soon as his satin smooth flesh made contact. A bolt of shock and desire so strong and powerful ricocheted through her body from her mouth to her womb that it rooted her feet irrevocably to the floor. At the hot demanding invasion of his tongue, the clash of lips and teeth mingling with the taste of bourbon and man, Brenna groaned longingly into his mouth. A feeling of such intense need and desire pulsed through her that she thought she might faint from it. Five years without a man’s touch and she never even knew that she missed or needed it so much … needed it like someone drowning needs to suck in fresh air to breathe.

Even as her mind formed the thought, Fin’s hands moved urgently down to her waist and hauled her hard against him. Sweet heaven! But as his hands moulded themselves round her hips to pull her against the hard aroused evidence of his manhood, Brenna’s mind awoke with stinging and shocking clarity at the implications of what her body was so helplessly aching to do. She’d already made a fool of herself once. Was she so eager to repeat the experience? Her heart started to beat so fast that she could barely catch her breath.

‘No!’ Her hands came up to his chest to push him away. His body stiffened in protest and she sensed the warmth of his breath hover momentarily against her cheek. She bent her head in shame.

‘I’m sorry.’

Breathing hard, his expression almost dazed, Fin not only let her go, but actively pushed her away. He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as if wiping away the taste of her.

‘Sorry for turning me on?’ He derisively shook his head. ‘God gives you a body like that and eyes a man could lose his soul to and all hell breaks loose. Not your fault, honey. However, I’m interested to know why the brittle “touch me not” act when you were clearly as interested in what was going on as me? We could have had a small conflagration going between us just now. Is this how you normally treat the men in your life?’

Shakily Brenna touched her cheek. Her skin did indeed feel as if it was on fire. What did he want from her? Was she supposed to feel ashamed because she’d briefly let her body capitulate to desire? Now he seemed to be suggesting that she was some kind of thoughtless tease.

‘There aren’t any men in my life. There hasn’t been anyone since Nick. I don’t even date.’

‘You don’t date?’ Fin stared at her as if she’d just uttered something totally incomprehensible. So what was she telling him? That she hadn’t made love with a man since Nick? Heat tore through his veins like a racing car speeding towards the chequered flag. In an instant he was hard and aching all over again. The woman was seriously getting to him and no mistake. He wished he’d never come here. If his sense of honour weren’t as such, he’d have told Nick to come and do his own dirty work. The woman was scared and hurting. Only a fool could imagine otherwise. Why else would she be so angry and defensive? Why else would she have stayed relationship-free since Nick walked out on her? That really bothered him.

Fin was privy to part of the reason Nick wanted to make contact with his child after all this time, but the unsettling feeling was growing inside him that perhaps his real motives were not as pure as Fin would like to think they were. How could he be sure that he’d told him the truth about anything? They were friends but really Nick Balcon was a law unto himself. A bit of a closed book, as some of their colleagues would describe him. Right then, Fin fervently wished he’d simply gone to dinner instead of staying in the bar and imbibing too much bourbon.

Chapter Three

‘I don’t date because my main priority is Nancy.’ Brenna swung away, returning to her armchair to pick up the black cashmere stole she’d draped round her shoulders; shoulders that were now drooping with tiredness and something that felt like a scant heartbeat away from defeat. ‘And anyway, working two jobs I don’t get time to date.’

‘So there’s been no one since Nick?’

‘That’s what I said.’

‘You’re asking me to believe that no man has shown an interest in you in five long years?’

Brenna didn’t say ‘they don’t get the chance’. She knew how it would sound and already Fin Malone must be thinking she was an uptight candidate for therapy of some kind.

‘I’m not interested in casual relationships. Do you really think I’d put my daughter through that? Besides, I can do without male company. I can do without … without …’ Her eyes shied away from Fin’s penetrating glance with growing embarrassment. ‘I can do without the physical side of things. First and foremost I’m a mother, Fin. That’s my priority.’

A burst of heat warmed his blood at the sound of his name on her lips. He was getting in deep here and that was the last thing he’d ever planned to do when Nick had approached him about preceding him to the UK. ‘Keep an eye on her for me,’ he’d said, ‘don’t antagonize her. Sweet talk her if you have to. I know your powers of persuasion with women are legendary.’ Fin groaned inwardly at the memory. He liked women. He’d always liked women … even though there’d been no one special in his life since Sam. But he’d never persuaded a woman to do something she didn’t want to do in the whole of his thirty-six years and he wasn’t about to start.

‘You’re a woman too, Brenna,’ he told her now. ‘A very beautiful and very desirable woman, with needs to match.’

‘I don’t need the complications that kind of thing inevitably brings. Nancy is my priority. She didn’t ask to be here. I brought her into the world because I gave into needs I should have controlled. Because I let Nick Balcon flatter me and cajole me, let him make me think I was important to him when all the time … all the time he was just using me. He was a clever, educated man and I fooled myself I was his equal because I had his regard … big mistake.’

Disparagingly discarding her stole, Brenna dropped tiredly down into the armchair. Pressing her fingers into her brow, she glanced up at Fin, unable to disguise the hurt that she knew must show in her eyes.

‘Please don’t think for one second that I’ve ever regretted having Nancy. I’ve loved her from the moment I first set eyes on her. She means everything to me. That’s why I can’t let Nick use his money and influence to get joint custody. Back then, he told me in no uncertain terms that he had no room in his life for children. He had plans, he said. He didn’t want to be encumbered by too much emotional baggage. I felt like he’d ripped out my heart then spat on it when he said that. I hadn’t exactly been thinking wedding bells, but I’d had hopes. What young woman wouldn’t? Anyway, I’m sure you don’t want to hear all this. It’s enough for you to know that I’m hurt and confused about what Nick may have planned. I just don’t understand why he would want to stake a claim on Nancy after all this time, I really don’t.’

Fin knew part of the answer and wished he didn’t. But it wasn’t his place to tell Brenna. That particular ball was definitely in Nick’s court. The fact that Fin was now having second thoughts about the wisdom of his friend’s decision was neither here nor there. He’d wait until Nick arrived tomorrow and then be on his way. Why stay here and probably buy more trouble than he needed? There was no need for him to linger. He had a month’s leave ahead of him and intended to tour around for a while and see some of the famed European sights.

‘Hey. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. It’s not too late to go down and get dinner. I had a word with the maître d’ on the way up here. What do you say we call a truce for now and just enjoy a meal together? It can’t hurt, can it?’

‘Okay.’

‘Just okay?’ His lips quirking in amusement, Fin couldn’t contain his surprise. ‘What? No fight?’

Getting to her feet, Brenna shrugged. ‘Shocking, isn’t it? Who would have thought that a girl like me could be so compliant?’

Fin almost strained his stomach muscles with the fierce rush of need that tore through him just then. If only … he thought with an inward groan, his eyes drifting helplessly from the gorgeous raven-haired beauty in front of him towards the door of the bedroom and back again. There were other types of hunger he’d like to feed right now but that could only happen with Brenna’s willing cooperation and it wasn’t something he envisaged happening easily, if at all. Still, he imagined the fantasy would keep him nicely warm all the way through dinner …

‘More wine?’

‘No thanks. I feel light-headed enough as it is.’ Brenna watched Fin replenish his own glass. Truth to tell, she was feeling replete and relaxed after the fabulous meal they’d just eaten, more relaxed than she would ever have dreamt was possible given the gravity of her situation – and that was due to the fact that Fin Malone was a surprisingly entertaining dinner companion. He’d regaled her throughout the meal with both humorous and breathtaking tales of his years as a stuntman and Brenna had been so transfixed by his stories that she’d scarcely spared Nick Balcon a thought.

Leaning back against his seat as he cradled his wineglass between long tanned fingers, Fin gave her a lazy smile. ‘Now it’s your turn,’ he told her.

‘What?’

‘I mean for you to tell me something about yourself. What prompted you to become a dance teacher, for instance?’

‘Love of music and movement. My mum says I was dancing almost before I could walk. It was something that came very naturally to me so when it came to deciding what to do as a career, it seemed the perfect solution.’ Reaching for the water jug, Brenna poured herself a glass. Now that the meal was over and she seemed to have commanded Fin’s full and undivided attention, she was suddenly uneasy.

‘And that’s how you met Nick? When you were teaching?’ he asked.

‘I’m sure he’s filled you in on all the details.’ Her face grew hot at the very idea.

Her defences were up again – the ten-foot-high gates padlocked and the key thrown away.

‘Obviously not in the way that you imply.’ Fin returned his wineglass to its smart coaster, compelling her to meet his enigmatic gaze. ‘He told me you were beautiful, irresistible. He didn’t lie.’

The compliment tingled between them like little sparks of electricity as Brenna struggled hard not to let down her guard. ‘Well, clearly I wasn’t that irresistible or he wouldn’t have left,’ she retorted smartly.

‘Do you really believe he never regretted that?’ Fin questioned her. He’d already privately concluded that perhaps his friend wasn’t as smart as he gave him credit for.

‘I doubt it. Nick always knew what he wanted. He was very definite about going to America and making a name for himself as a director, and who could blame him? He had the talent and the drive. He’s amply proved that, hasn’t he? He’s got a very successful career so what’s to regret? That he left behind a twenty-two-year-old girl he had a meaningless fling with? I don’t think so.’

Lowering her eyes, she reached for her glass of water and took a sip. Please God, don’t let him see that my hands are shaking, she thought as she swallowed. I can’t keep coming undone like this at every single question he asks me.

‘He never told me it was meaningless. Having met you I couldn’t begin to imagine that for even a second. It must have been a real wrench for him to leave you behind – whatever he may have told you at the time.’

‘Well.’ Brenna shrugged, her expression carefully veiled. ‘It’s all water under the bridge, as they say. All that concerns me now is Nancy’s welfare. Why are you smiling?’

‘I’m wondering what that beautiful twenty-two-year-old dance teacher was like back then … wondering what she was like before she became prickly and so guarded that it would take one hell of a determined suitor to scale those walls and get behind her carefully erected defences. I’m wondering how many have tried and failed?’

‘I told you,’ her dark lashes fluttered against her too-warm cheeks, ‘I don’t date. There haven’t been any suitors, determined or otherwise.’

‘I don’t believe you. My guess is that you freeze out any guy who even tries.’

Fin’s evenly voiced statement was so close to the truth that for a moment Brenna didn’t know what to say. Anguish flared inside her at the painful memory of more than a couple of hurtful male taunts she’d had in her time since Nicholas. ‘Frigid’ seemed to be a favourite. ‘Ice-maiden’ was another. Men didn’t respond well to rejection, she’d found. Especially when they thought she should be grateful for the attention, being a single mum and all.

‘Of course you’re entitled to believe whatever you want to believe, Mr Malone. Far be it from me to try to convince you otherwise when you so clearly know the answer to everything. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m very tired. I think I’ll go to bed.’

Dropping her pristine starched napkin onto the table as she rose to her feet, Brenna couldn’t prevent herself from feeling upset. Getting to his feet at almost the same time, Fin’s relentlessly blue eyes fixed her with a penetrating stare as she went to turn away. To her shock, his hand came out and encircled her wrist firmly.

‘Don’t shut me out, Brenna. I think you’ll find I don’t give up as easily as some of the other men you might have met.’

‘Is that some kind of a threat?’ She glared back at him, even as her skin turned almost feverishly hot beneath his touch.

His blue eyes narrowed meaningfully. ‘It’s a promise. And when you get to know me better, you’ll realize that I’m a man of my word. When I make a promise I always make sure I keep it. Honour and integrity are commodities I don’t take lightly.’

When you get to know me better …

Fin’s words rang worryingly in Brenna’s head as she buttered her triangular slice of toast with unnecessary force. Of all the conceited, arrogant— Her thoughts broke off as she glanced round the scarcely populated elegant dining room. She’d risen early as she normally did at home, surprisingly hungry considering she’d eaten late last night. But breakfast was one meal she always made sure she had. Her work demanded a lot of energy and food really was fuel, as far as she was concerned. But now, now she really was on tenterhooks and not simply in anticipation of Nick’s arrival.

She and Fin Malone hadn’t exactly got off to a good start and that kiss they’d shared yesterday had presented her with another problem she hadn’t dreamt of anticipating in a million years – plain and simple lust. The need to act with a modicum of common sense had flown out the window as soon as he’d looked at her. Desire had drenched her with all the elemental power of an electrical summer storm and all she could do now was groan at the lack of self-control she’d displayed. She’d been utterly mad to encourage Fin’s kiss whether he’d aroused her or not. The sooner she dealt with her business with Nick, the sooner she could go home to Nancy and never see Fin Malone again, she vowed.

‘Something told me you were an early riser.’

With a guilty start, Brenna abandoned the toast on her plate to glance up into teasing blue eyes that were a mesmerizing blend of sea and sky. Dressed casually in a light blue chambray shirt and faded jeans, the mere sight of Fin Malone reduced all of her recently made vows to confetti.

‘Force of habit,’ she mumbled, inadvertently taking an over-anxious sip of too-hot coffee. Fin pulled out the chair opposite and drew himself up to the table. A soft-footed waiter appeared as if out of nowhere and took his order for breakfast. Brenna waited until the man had gone before speaking again.

‘I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Nick yet?’

To her surprise, her arresting companion breathed out a long drawn-out sigh. A disconcerting mental tussle seemed to be going on behind his riveting blue gaze that made her stomach anxiously cartwheel. What now? Please don’t let it be bad news …

‘The reason Nick hasn’t shown up is because there’s been some difficulty back home.’

‘Difficulty? What do you mean?’ She tried so hard to remain calm but it wasn’t easy to keep a lid on her anger at the cavalier way Nick had so far kept her dangling and now she was impatient for Fin to enlighten her with an explanation.

‘I don’t suppose you’ve had a chance to look at the papers this morning?’ he asked.

‘The newspapers, you mean?’ She frowned. ‘No. I try to avoid them as much as possible. Too much negativity … Why?’

Sitting up straight, Fin raked his fingers through his freshly showered hair as if mulling over the best way to tell her his news. When Brenna heard what he had to say there would be no chance she would ever let her guard down round him again … none. Already he found he was mourning the loss of that precious chance.

‘There’s no way I can cushion this so I’ll just have to tell you straight. Nick got married two days ago and since then the Press has been on his tail morning, noon and night. He just hasn’t been able to get away as easily as he hoped he might.’

Nick … married? Brenna’s stomach muscles clenched tight as if warding off a blow. Tension coiled between her shoulder blades, and she strove hard to get a grip on a tumult of emotions. She’d known a long time ago that he was never coming back to her – any hope that he might had finally been obliterated on the day of her daughter’s birth when she had gazed into Nancy’s innocent infant eyes and realized she was the most important thing in her life now. It didn’t matter if she never set eyes on Nicholas Balcon for the rest of her life. Still, it was a shock to suddenly learn that he’d got married.

Examining the firmly implacable set of Fin’s chiselled jawline, Brenna wondered if he’d known all along that his friend was planning on getting wed the day before coming to England to stake a claim on his child? But of course he knew … he was Nick’s friend, wasn’t he?

‘You should have told me before,’ she said quietly, dark eyes pained. ‘Why didn’t you?’

Good question, why hadn’t he? Perhaps it was due to a misguided sense of loyalty? At any rate, now Brenna had another good reason to view him with suspicion. Damn.

‘The plan was for Nick to be here and tell you himself.’

‘Well, he’s put you in a rather uncomfortable position now, hasn’t he?’ Forcing a smile to lips that felt strangely frozen, Brenna glanced round at the other hotel guests who had slowly started to enter the dining room for breakfast. She wished she could be like one of them, she thought vehemently – just an ordinary woman taking a quiet break away from the daily grind like any other ‘normal’ person. Instead, she was here under duress and suffering all kinds of agony because once upon a time she’d believed a man loved her …

‘I didn’t realize he was so famous that the Press would hound him like that,’ she said quietly, dragging her gaze away from Fin’s to stare down at her now cold piece of toast with a sinking heart.

‘It’s not totally because of Nick,’ Fin reluctantly confessed, wishing he could spare her this added blow. ‘It’s because he married Andrea Denny – the movie star.’

Andrea Denny … the top of America’s ‘A’ list of screen actresses. No wonder the Press was on their trail. Brenna went hot then cold. Nick really had hit the big time, hadn’t he? Good luck to him … but only if he left her and Nancy alone.

‘Well, that’s that then, isn’t it?’

‘What do you mean?’

Was she going to break down, have a fit or storm off in a rage? Fin seriously hoped not. He didn’t want to see her any more distressed than she’d been already. One thing was certain, when he next set eyes on Nick, Fin was going to make sure the other man knew exactly what excruciating torment he had put his ex-girlfriend through. There was no way he was going to cushion the truth for him.

‘I mean, he obviously isn’t coming now, is he?’ The huge dark eyes in front of him glistened with what looked like sadness and resignation as her skin turned visibly pale. ‘It’s been a complete waste of time coming here. Why on earth would he arrange to meet me so soon after he got married anyway? I don’t understand. Shouldn’t he be on honeymoon or something?’

‘He was planning on honeymooning in Europe. The UK was going to be his first stop. I’m really sorry, Brenna. I didn’t expect to have to tell you all of this myself. I actually believed Nick would make it and tell you in person.’

‘I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. It’s done now and I’m not as surprised by his behaviour as you might think I am. But the next time you see your infamous friend, please tell him from me to stay out of our lives. Nancy needs neither his money nor his interference. We’ve managed well enough without him all these years and we’ll continue to do so just as long as I have breath left in my body!

‘I’m serious about this. I know he has my mother’s address because that’s where he sent his letter, but he doesn’t know mine and that’s not something I’ll be divulging in a hurry. My mother won’t tell him either, so he needn’t waste his time trying.’

‘I’m afraid it’s not going to be as simple as that.’

The gravity of Fin’s rich transatlantic drawl made Brenna’s brown eyes widen in fear. Her mouth suddenly felt like it was full of sand.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that the Press are going to hound you too when they find out you’ve got a child by Nick. Think about it. They’re especially going to have a field day if they get as much as a sniff of animosity between the pair of you. Things could get very awkward and unpleasant all round.’

‘No.’

But even as she uttered the word, Brenna knew it was futile. They lived in a world dominated more and more by the media. Anyone with so much as a hint of fame or a connection to somebody who did was fair game in their book. They didn’t care about the lives they disrupted or the misery their invasive intrusion inflicted on their targets. What would such an intrusion do to Nancy? Right now she was happily settled in her pre-school class and it hadn’t been easy making the transition between being looked after during the day by her grandmother, to joining a class of fifteen enthusiastic little four-year-olds in a completely new environment. Nancy had spent the first four weeks of term there in tears. To imagine that their already sometimes difficult lives were going to be even more disrupted was unspeakably horrible. Right now she could cheerfully strangle Nick. The waiter appeared at Fin’s side with his breakfast but the American waved him perfunctorily away.

‘Take it back. Just bring us some more coffee, could you? Brenna? Are you okay?’

Fighting off despair, she folded her arms wearily across the table.

‘Am I okay? This is like some horrible nightmare. I just want to go home and forget all about it but I can’t, can I?’

Meeting her hurt gaze head on, Fin despised himself right then. His discomfort deepened, took another uncomfortable dive then surfaced again leaving a trail of anger and profound regret in its wake. As much as he’d been loyal to his friend, Fin had had no idea what he was getting into when he’d agreed to do him this ‘small favour’. And it was only now when faced with the consequences of Nick’s behaviour that he realized what deep implications it had all round. Brenna didn’t deserve this. She’d done a damn good job as far as he could detect of bringing up their daughter alone. The last thing she needed right now was the kind of routine invasion of privacy that Nick and many of their colleagues had to contend with. This wasn’t Hollywood and she had every right to just be allowed to get on with her life unimpeded.

‘Nick’s enjoyed terrific success in his work. He directed two of the top box-office rated movies last year. He just reached a point where he knew it wasn’t the be all and end all, I guess … he wanted family. He wanted to finally know what it was really like to be a father. That’s what he told me, anyway. I honestly don’t believe he wants to hurt you, Brenna. It was Andrea who pressed him to bring their wedding date forward. They’d originally planned to get married in the spring. Knowing Nick, I can honestly say he wouldn’t have wanted things to get as complicated as this.’

‘That doesn’t help me or Nancy, does it?’

‘Look … why don’t you both try to get away for a while? Maybe even out of the country? At least until things die down a bit.’

The ache in Brenna’s throat got worse.

‘Get away? It’s impossible. I have to work, Fin. I’m our total means of support – mine, Nancy’s and my mother’s.’

‘Nothing’s impossible,’ he answered. ‘I’m on a month’s leave. I’d planned to tour round the country for a while before heading off to see a bit of Europe. I’ve even rented a house. You and Nancy could come with me. You won’t have to worry about money. Whatever you need you can have, I mean it. I’m a wealthy man and I don’t have a family of my own to take care of. I’d gladly do this for you and the baby.’

Something tingled inside her at the way he referred to Nancy as the ‘baby’. It was the same term she often used herself when referring to her daughter. But acknowledging Fin’s kindness was one thing, accepting it was quite another. And in Brenna’s book it was totally out of the question.

‘None of this is even anything to do with you. You shouldn’t feel remotely responsible for our welfare. It’s bad enough that Nick would put you in such an untenable position in the first place. Thank you, but I can’t possibly accept your offer. Whatever happens concerning the Press I’ll just have to deal with it in the best way I can.’

Fin scowled. He found it almost unbearably painful that he had to tarnish her innocence with the tawdry truth.

‘You can’t possibly know what you’re letting yourself in for,’ he said. ‘Those people are about as mercenary as they come. They’d sell their own mothers to get a story! If you think you can appeal to their better natures, you’re wasting your time because they don’t even understand the concept. They’ll camp on your doorstep morning, noon and night, they’ll follow you to work … go wherever you go. You’ll have flashbulbs popping in your face every which way you turn. Listen to me, honey, I know what I’m talking about.’

It was a nightmare scenario he was painting for her and that was a fact. Moving her head despairingly from side to side, Brenna tried hard to ward off the unwanted images that were gathering like storm clouds inside her mind.

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