The Player - By Rhonda Nelson Page 0,54

manipulation or Jamie’s part in it. The former pissed her off and the latter…Well, the latter felt like a well-placed punch straight to her heart. “You sent a man here to seduce me?” she asked, thunderstruck. Her eyes narrowed into angry slits. “How dare—”

“Not seduce,” the Colonel corrected swiftly. “He was supposed to flirt with you,” he explained a bit sheepishly, unable to hold her gaze. “He was supposed to instill doubt.” Her grandfather’s wrath turned upon Jamie once more. “He was never supposed to touch you. Period.”

Audrey went numb inside, absorbing what her grandfather had just said. She crossed her arms over her chest, chilled, and cleared her throat. “Is this true?” she asked, turning to Jamie.

“The simple answer is yes,” Jamie admitted. “But I’m hoping you’ll give me a chance to explain.”

Audrey nodded, felt icicles lick through her veins. Any second now she’d be frozen completely, then simply shatter. She swallowed. “I, uh…” She winced, shook her head. “I just want to be clear on something. You were supposed to change my mind about marrying Derrick and then report back to my grandfather, right? Is that the gist of it?”

Jamie nodded. “But—”

“And yet you’ve known the answer to that for a while, haven’t you, Jamie?” He’d seduced her, knowing that she’d never intended to marry Derrick. You knew, Audrey thought. She’d pegged Jamie Flanagan as many things—fierce, loyal, competent, hers, even, and yet an opportunistic player had never been one of them. He’d used her…and she’d made it easy for him.

Evidently reading her line of thinking, Jamie stepped toward her. “Audrey, I know that you’re angry and you have every right to be, but if you’ll just give me a chance to explain—”

She smirked, walked between his two friends—Payne and McCann, if she remembered correctly—and opened her door. “You’ve had plenty of opportunities to explain, Jamie, and no one is more disappointed, or feels more foolish right now than I do.” She lowered her head to hide her watering eyes. “Please go.”

“Audrey,” he repeated softly, a say-you-don’t-mean-it tone.

She merely opened the door wider.

“WE’VE BEEN TRYING to call you,” Payne told him. “To warn you. When that didn’t work…” He shrugged, not stating the obvious. They’d come to his rescue. Jamie was thankful, but couldn’t find the words at the moment.

“You know this isn’t over with Garrett,” Guy pointed out. He jerked his head toward Audrey’s cottage. “Once he gets finished covering his own ass up there, he’ll be down here on yours.”

Jamie tossed back another shot of whiskey, hoping like hell it would warm him up inside. Seeing the look on Audrey’s face when she’d realized that he’d made love to her after she’d given him the information he’d needed had practically flash-frozen his insides. The duplicity had been bad enough, but this…This was an even bigger betrayal.

You’ve had plenty of opportunities to explain, Jamie, and no one is more disappointed that you didn’t or feels more foolish right now than I do.

Anger was so much easier to accept than disappointment, he thought, remembering the look of complete regret on her hauntingly beautiful face.

“Let him come,” Jamie said, spoiling for a fight. Everything about this damned favor had been wrong. It was Garrett’s fault. Jamie hadn’t wanted to trick her to start with. He’d known then that it was wrong, that it could only end in disaster. His. “I’ve got a few things I’d like to say to him.”

Guy and Payne shared a look.

“I think you’d better start figuring out a way to keep Garrett from separating your stones from your shaft, if you know what I mean,” Guy suggested. “This was his granddaughter, Jamie.” He chuckled darkly. “This wasn’t just some three-date disposable girl you messed around with.”

Annoyed, Jamie looked up, glared menacingly at his friend and laced his voice with unmistakable lead. “She’s not disposable.”

Payne’s gaze sharpened. “What are you saying?”

Guy stilled, studied him for a moment. Any trace of humor vanished from his gaze. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

Jamie nodded. “She’s…it,” he finally finished, releasing a pent-up breath. And he’d blown the hell out of any chance with her. “I’ve screwed up. I should have told her and I didn’t. And she was right. I’ve had plenty of time, I just…” He laughed bitterly.

“You just thought she’d never have to know,” Payne finished.

“Stupid bastard,” Guy chimed in. “Granted I am not the authority on women that you are, but even I know they don’t like being lied to.”

Payne peered out the window. “Or