He had no wish to talk about himself. “No. They died when I was eighteen.”
Sympathy flashed in her eyes. “I’m sorry. Any brothers or sisters?”
His jaw tightened. “A brother. And before you ask, he’s younger than me by a couple of years.” He looked at his watch and stood up. “Come on. Let’s go. It’s getting late.”
For a moment, surprise mixed with hurt appeared in her eyes, then cynicism took over. “Got a date, no doubt.”
“No doubt.” He didn’t tell her he was getting together with his two best mates for dinner, though Flynn and Damien would no doubt find it amusing that they were to be his “date” this evening.
Not that he’d tell them. The three of them had grown up together on the same street in this town—had shared everything from stories of their first kiss to their first million—but Kia Benton was one thing he wasn’t about to share with his rich and successful friends.
“Phillip Reid, how could you!” Kia exclaimed the next day as she swept into his study. She’d been phoning him on and off since returning from the art exhibition yesterday. He hadn’t answered, but she suspected he’d been at home. He’d been feeling low so she’d given him a reprieve, but now she had a few words to say to him whether he still felt bad or not.
He looked up and winced. “What can I say, Kia? I’m sorry.”
She stopped right in front of his desk. “I don’t like being used,” she said through gritted teeth.
His dark brows drew together. “I wasn’t…I didn’t mean…”
“Yes, you did.” She slapped the box containing the diamond necklace down in front of him. “Don’t try and fool me, Phillip. You gave me this because you knew Lynette was going to be at the party. And then you had Brant dance with me so she’d see who you’d brought as your partner. And to top things off, you tell everyone we’re engaged and leave me high and dry to field all sorts of questions.”
He looked thoroughly shamefaced and embarrassed. “I really am sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go so far.”
She was nowhere near ready to forgive him. Not after what she’d been through. “And yesterday? What happened to coming to the art exhibition with me?”
He swallowed hard as he leaned back in his wheelchair. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t up to going out.” Then he looked confused. “Didn’t Brant take you? He said he would.”
“Yes, but I’d rather have gone by myself,” she said sourly, preferring not to think about how much she’d enjoyed herself. She had to remember Brant could charm any woman into having a good time.
A speculative look came into Phillip’s eyes. “Are you upset because I didn’t go? Or because Brant did?”
Kia tensed, then forced herself to relax. “It’s awkward spending time with one’s boss,” she said, avoiding a direct answer.
“You don’t mind spending time with me.”
She shrugged. “You’re different.”
“Look, if there’s something between you two—”
Somehow she managed to hide her panic. “Don’t be an idiot, Phillip. And, by the way, what’s the deal about my security alarm? I don’t remember giving either of you permission to put one in my place.”
Phillip frowned, falling for the diversion. “It was the only thing to do, seeing you’re my…er…fiancée.
Brant would have been suspicious otherwise.”
Her teeth set on edge. “Engaged or not, I am not some feeble female who can’t take care of myself,” she said with more bravado than she’d felt the other night after the robbery. “And if Brant thinks he—”
“So this is about Brant?” Phillip said, pushing his wheelchair back from the desk, looking very much the all-knowing male now that the heat had been taken off him.
She realized she’d given too much away. “Phillip, will you stop this. I don’t know what’s come over you today.”
He wheeled his chair around the desk and toward her. “He gets to you, doesn’t he?”
She gave a hollow laugh. “Of course not.”
“And I’ve gone and spoiled it for you by telling everyone you’re my fiancée.” He stopped a few feet in front of her and thumped his hands on the armrests in helpless anger. “Hell. This is all such a bloody mess.”
“That’s an understatement.” She just wished he’d stopped to think things through before making drastic announcements like they were engaged. “The question is, what are we going to do about it?”
He looked up at her, his expression thoroughly wretched. “I’m not sure.”
“This can’t go on, Phillip.”
“I know. God, we were just supposed to be a couple for one date.”
Sympathy started to soften her. “Phillip, you didn’t know Lynette’s father was going to be at that dinner.”
“Yeah, but I knew he shared the same business circles. Dammit, I shouldn’t have asked you to continue with the charade after that. It wasn’t fair of me.” He looked down at his leg and his lips twisted. “Pity the accident got in the way and ruined everything. But this…” He gestured at the plaster from toe to thigh. “I know Lynette. She would’ve convinced herself that I needed her. And then she would have convinced me. I couldn’t let that happen.” He took a shuddering breath. “She deserves better than a cripple for the rest of her life.”
“Oh, Phillip.” She crouched down in front of his wheelchair. “Don’t say that. A limp does not make you a cripple.”
He took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m just full of self-pity today.”
“Look,” she said, thinking hard. “Let’s wait until after Christmas, then we’ll make an announcement that things didn’t work out after all.”
His eyes lit up, then drooped just as quick. “But your name will end up being mud. No one will care about the details, especially not the press. They’ll just know you broke off the engagement during a bad time for me.” He grimaced. “I’m sorry, Kia. I never meant for any of this to happen.”
She squeezed his hand, trying not to think about all this being made public to the people of Darwin. “Let’s ride it out, Phillip. In the meantime, we’ll carry on for another week until Christmas. I heard you tell Mary that you were going home to Queensland for the holidays anyway. That’ll give us some breathing space.”
Intense relief surged across his face. “Good idea.”
All at once Kia couldn’t help but think that Brant would never let anyone else sort out his problems for him the way Phillip was doing here. Brant would have taken charge and done what he had to do.
Actually, on second thought, he would never have gotten himself in this situation in the first place. Brant relied on no one except himself. He needed no one.
Just like her.
“Don’t let him get to you, Kia.”
She feigned ignorance. “Who?”
“Brant.”
She pretended to be unconcerned. “I wish you’d stop implying that there’s something going on between me and Brant. There isn’t. End of story.”
Is it? Phillip’s eyes asked, but she promptly looked away. She wasn’t about to tell him she suspected he was right.
The next week leading up to Christmas proved difficult for Kia. Not only was she extremely busy tidying things up at work so that she could enjoy their two-week closure over the holidays, but Brant seemed to sense something amiss between her and Phillip. She had the funny feeling he was homing in for the kill.
Then, just as she thought she might be able to relax, the airline phoned at the exact moment Brant walked into her office. They were checking to see if there was anything else they could do to assist Phillip on his trip to Queensland tomorrow.
Kia tried to sound as if she were talking to a client. She didn’t want Brant to know she wasn’t joining Phillip at this stage. “Thank you, but I believe everything’s under control.”
“What about on arrival in Brisbane?” the woman persisted on the other end of the line. “Can we arrange transport from the airport?”
“That’s kind of you, but there will be someone to meet him,” she said, then could have kicked herself when the look in Brant’s eyes sharpened.
“That’s fine then. But please let us know if there’s anything we can do.”
“Thank you, I will.” Kia hung up, swallowed, then planted a polite smile on her face. “Can I help you, Mr. Matthews?”
His mouth thinned. “You can’t keep calling me ‘mister’ for the next twenty years.”
She kept a reign on her temper. “Who knows where any of us will be by then?”
“You’ll be married to Phillip, of course.”
She’d forgotten that was what he’d think. “Yes, of course.”
“Who was on the telephone just now?”
Her heart thumped as she quickly began to tidy up some papers. “Oh, no one you should worry about.”
A pair of hands flattened on the desk in front of her, stilling her. “That was someone from the airline, wasn’t it?”
She drew a shaky breath and looked up into blue eyes that were riveted on her face. The caress of his warm breath on her cheeks stirred her senses. “Yes.”
“So you’re not on the same flight as Phillip?” he demanded, shooting each word at her with the precision of gunfire.
“No.”
“Are you catching another flight?”
“Yes.” To Adelaide.
“To Queensland?”
She lifted her chin in the air and decided she’d had enough of this. “I’m not going to Queensland. I’m spending Christmas with my family in Adelaide.”
He leaned in that little bit closer. “So you’re not spending Christmas with your new fiancé?”
She resisted shrinking back in her chair. “Not this year, no.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?”
Anger flared in his eyes as he pushed himself back from the desk and straightened. “It’s usual for an engaged couple to spend Christmas together.”
“We’re not a usual couple.” She realized what she said too late. “I’d already made other arrangements,”she pointed out as she slowly began to breathe again.
An odd glint appeared in his eyes. “I’d have thought you wouldn’t want to let him out of your sight.”
“I trust Phillip,” she said, slightly puzzled by his question. It wasn’t as though Phillip would be out nightclubbing every night. Now if it was Brant who was her fiancé…
“But do you trust Lynette Kelly?” he purred.
Shock ran through her. Had he guessed that Lynette still had feelings for Phillip? Did he know things hadn’t really been settled between them?
“Lynette and Phillip are no longer an item,” she said coolly, and before he could say anything further she handed him a piece of paper. “I believe this belongs to you, Mr. Matthews.”
His face hardened. “Kia, I swear if you call me Mr. Matthews one more time…” He trailed off as he opened the slip of paper. His head shot up. “What’s this?”
“A check for my security alarm.” She’d rung the man who’d come to her home only to find out the bill had already been paid.
Cynicism entered his eyes. “Forget it. You paid for it by coming to the art exhibition, remember?”
Yes, so why did she deserve that mocking look in his eyes? “I’m sorry, I don’t see it that way. Not even as Phillip’s fiancée.”
“My offer was non-negotiable.” He ripped it in two.
She got to her feet and walked to a cabinet too close to Brant to get her purse. “Fine. I’ll write another one and give it to Phillip.”
“No need for drama, Kia. Let it go.”
“Mr. Matthews, if you think you can do what you like—”
He captured her arm with his warm hand, sending a slew of shivers racing over her spine. “Listen, if I did what I’d really like—”
“Is everything all right in here?”
Kia drew a ragged breath before she looked up to see Phillip had wheeled to the office door and was looking at them in concern. She stepped sideways and Brant dropped his hand.
Somehow she planted a stiff smile on her lips. “Yes, everything’s fine. I was just reminding Mr. Matthews that you’re going to Queensland tomorrow.”
“The name’s Brant,” Brant snapped and stormed out of the office.
Phillip raised his brows as he looked at Kia. “Sure you don’t want to come with me tomorrow? It might be safer.”
Kia shook her head. There was no place on earth safe for her. Not another state. Not another country.
No, she’d just have to polish her armor and pray that Brant had better things to do on Christmas Eve than harass her.
And if she believed that, then maybe Santa Claus really did exist.
Chapter Five
Kia saw Phillip off at Darwin airport the next morning, then returned to the office to finish up some work before doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. She found Brant in Phillip’s office, riffling through some papers on his desk.
He looked up when she appeared in the doorway, and his eyes darkened when he saw her. “You’re back,” he said as if she’d returned just for him.
And suddenly she knew she had. Despite all the attraction she didn’t want to feel for this man, she still felt it. Her armor was paper-thin at best.
“Yes,” she murmured, willing him to come to her. To pull her into his arms. To make love to her. Long moments crept by, and she saw the struggle on his face to resist doing that very thing.