Arden Lie to me

Deception: Book Two
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9925707-1-2
Verlag: Stirling Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 145 Seiten

Sexy contemporary romance about mistaken identity and deception. Second in the series about the lives and loves of three friends, Rosa, Tamsin and Sarah (the Three Graces), this story focuses on the fiery and passionate Tamsin. Deception: Sleeping with the Enemy She thought he was her perfect man - until she found she was sleeping with the enemy. Her hand slashed across his face leaving an imprint on his tanned skin. 'You bastard! How could you lie to me like that? How could you take advantage of me? You ...' She paused, struggling to regain control of a body quivering with fury. Benedict advanced on her slowly, putting his hands gently but firmly on her shoulders and resisting her attempts to pull away. 'You didn't want to know the truth Tamsin, because then you wouldn't have got what you wanted - me.' She shook her head in denial but knew he was right. And it was mortifying to realise how much she still wanted him - despite everything.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Arden, Emily

Leseproben

CHAPTER ONE – Searching Yet again the phone shrilled at her, rudely interrupting her introspection. Tamsin wanted to ignore it – she was so weary of all the endless demands. She knew it was up to her now to manage everything, that she was responsible for tidying up her father’s affairs. But it all seemed too much at the moment. She wished everyone would just go away and leave her alone! She reached for the receiver with misgivings. Was it a well-wisher checking to see how she was? Or another of Benedict Kingsborough’s lackeys, trying to intimidate her into selling? If it was the latter she’d give them short shrift. She was in no mood to be polite. “Good morning Miss Pargeter.” The voice was deep and yet melodious. Her heart sank. It must be someone she didn’t know, otherwise they would have called her Tamsin. And if she didn’t know them she certainly didn’t want to speak to them. Damn! “Who is this? What do you want?” Her voice sounded harsh even to her own ears, but she couldn’t help that. If only she’d not had manners instilled into her so firmly from her father, she’d have hung up straight away. “I wanted to talk to you about your property Maristhorpe Manor. We’re prepared to make a very generous offer and would appreciate a chance to…” “Are you anything to do with that greedy, environmental vandal Benedict Kingsborough? Because if you are, I don’t want to have anything to do with your… offer.” She bit out the last word with contempt. “Well yes I am, but…” She lost it. The last few weeks had all been too much for her, and here was someone on whom she could unleash her anger. It was his fault anyway – he shouldn’t have kept ringing her. Not when she was in mourning – devastated at the loss of her father not to mention having to abandon her university degree so close to finishing. It was not fair. “This is no time to be ringing me. I don’t even know you. What right do you have to keep bothering me like this?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. Now that she’d got up a head of steam she had plenty more to say. Her voice became accusing. “Do you know how many acres of beautiful forests and moors have been destroyed by your company? How many animals have lost their homes and how many trees have been murdered? I am sick of being bothered by you people. “If I have to sell Maristhorpe then you would be the last people in the world I’d sell to. I hate everything you stand for. I’d rather be dead than have anything to do with you.” She was fuming by now, barely aware of what she was saying. Surprisingly he was still there at the end of the line. “I see,” he spoke gently as her tirade petered out. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. But we do not intend to destroy the forest – we were planning a more integrated development…” “I don’t care.” She’d interrupted him rudely again – she had no patience with his excuses. “I’m not in the least interested in your plans. I’ve heard about some of the other projects you’ve worked on and I’m not impressed. “For you, it’s all about money, money, money. But what about the forests I say? Some of those trees have been there for hundreds of years. What right do you have to destroy that?” She was practically shouting down the phone as she finished her tirade. “I want you to tell your boss that I am NOT INTERESTED. I will never be interested. So please don’t ever ring me again. Any of you.” And with that she finally hung up, fuming at the effrontery of the man. Did he really think that she was so desperate she’d sell to him? He obviously knew nothing about her. And how rude of him to keep getting his minions to ring her. He didn’t even have the guts to ring her himself. At least she assumed he didn’t. She wasn’t sure who that had been just then, she hadn’t exactly given him a chance to introduce himself. It may even have been the man himself for all she knew, but what did she care! All the better if it had been him – it was about time he heard a few home truths. She still felt hot and bothered and decided that she had to let off steam. So she did the one thing that was always guaranteed to calm her down – she went for a walk in the forest. Benedict returned the receiver to its cradle feeling somewhat ruffled by his reception. He’d been frustrated that none of his staff had made any progress on the Maristhorpe deal and had decided to tackle the matter himself. He hadn’t realised just how feisty this Tamsin Pargeter was. She was forthright to the point of rudeness, yet he couldn’t help admiring her for saying what she really thought. It was rather refreshing to be challenged for a change – it had been many years since anyone had dared to do that. His wealth and power generally seemed to strike rather too much awe into those he associated with. It seemed this Tamsin was different. He flicked through the neat file that had been prepared for him, pausing at the photograph of a shapely yet rather sad-looking young woman walking alongside her father’s coffin. She interested him. Suddenly he felt a strong desire to meet her. He was not one to give up easily; he’d see if he could persuade her. After all, his research had shown that she needed the money. And he could be very generous when he was trying to secure something that he wanted. Tamsin’s head throbbed as she tried to make sense of the rows and rows of figures in her father’s spreadsheet. At least he’d kept pretty good records, but the picture they painted was by no means rosy. She’d already been in contact with his financial advisor and knew how hard he’d been struggling to keep this place going. Her father had invested all his time and money in the past two decades into creating a place of natural beauty. He’d battled weeds and planted thousands of seedlings in areas where the original forest had been thinned out. And the end result was that he’d achieved wonders. Only the fence between Maristhorpe and the Sherwood Forest National Park provided any clue that the smaller property was not part of the bigger public asset. It was such a privilege to be able to live here and it was heartbreaking for Tamsin to realise that she simply could not afford to stay here. She might perhaps have been able to battle on if it hadn’t been for the inheritance tax, but a bill of over £700,000 could only be paid in one way. She simply had to sell. Her hand wiped across her weary eyes, wishing there were something she could do – anything. It was terrible to think that she might be about to lose everything her father had worked so hard for. Especially when she knew that this part of the forest was not protected by law and that someone could destroy it if they wished. It would be devastating. She worried and thought about every possible solution but could think of nothing. The best she could hope for would be to sell to someone who would want to keep it as it was – perhaps even someone who’d be interested in making it into a wilderness sanctuary. She wondered if she should contact the local council; there must be something she could do! The phone rang again after she emerged from the shower and she considered ignoring it. Surely she could be forgiven for letting it ring out just this once? She closed her ears to its summons, deciding that she’d buy an answering machine the following day. Then she’d be able to screen her messages. She couldn’t bear another run-in like this morning’s. It should have been cathartic, but actually she’d found it far too distressing. It was true that she was a strong and even passionate woman, but even so, she didn’t particularly enjoy conflict. She’d much rather be left alone to lick her wounds in private. And so she did her best to ignore the phone when it started ringing again and dragged herself to a weary bed. It was early when she awoke the next day, and she was soon dressed and ready to venture into the village. She’d buy an answering machine and some food, and then she’d see if she could make another appointment with her father’s accountant. It was time she started to make plans about what she was going to do. She plugged in the machine as soon as she got home and was glad she had, for otherwise she might have ignored Rosa’s call. As soon as she heard her friend starting to leave a message she raced over and spoke to her, glad to talk with someone who cared about her. “How are you Tamsin?” Rosa’s voice was kind and Tamsin knew that unlike the average polite enquiry, Rosa really did want to know. She was one of the few people Tamsin had ever met who was always completely honest. She always meant exactly what she said and she’d always been there for Tamsin whenever she needed someone to talk to. Tamsin found it hard to keep the tears from her voice as she tried to reply bravely. “Since the funeral, things have been difficult. I miss him so much and there’s so much to do. It’s been a while since I’ve lived here and I hadn’t realised just how complicated everything is. “I want to be able to continue with Dad’s work – to look after the forest properly. But I was not ready for this so soon. And the worst thing is that it seems there’s little point in trying to keep it all going.” Her voice had grown husky with emotion. “It seems that the inheritance tax bill is as big as we feared. There’s nothing for it – I’ll have to sell.” “Oh no!” Rosa’s concern was genuine. “But...