Reluctant Deception - Cambria Smyth Page 0,25

go room by room and note what items they would find of interest. I’ll pay double your hourly rate since I’m asking you to work on the weekend,” he added smoothly, delighting in the pained expression on her face at his more-than-generous offer.

Warring emotions played across her face. Finally, she spoke. “Why exactly do you need me?”

“To tell me what’s valuable and what isn’t. When the owner of the salvage company comes, I want to be prepared for the meeting. I like to leave nothing to chance.”

And that was why he was so damned successful, Libby thought inwardly, knowing the times she’d bested him were only because he’d underestimated the great community support she could muster. Obviously he’d honed his skills from their repeated clashes.

“Saturday afternoon is fine,” she replied crisply.

“Excellent. Meet me here in my office at 1 p.m. sharp.” He waved his hand dismissively and returned to the papers on his desk. He silently congratulated himself for resisting her obvious charms. Revenge was sweet, indeed.

She's nothing like Cynthia, Chris noted silently as he watched Libby make some adjustments to her camera before shooting the gazebo just outside the dining room later that day. With a wince, he carefully stood up and gingerly walked over to the windows to get a better view of her every movement. She made some notations on a clipboard, oblivious of his close surveillance. Her back was to him as she put the implements on the ground, stretched, and turned her face up towards the late morning sun.

Cynthia. Cynthia Moran. Her name evoked a thousand memories, ones he'd tried hard to bury in a frenzy of work over the years.

They'd met at a groundbreaking for one of his new buildings when he was just establishing his name and reputation in the real estate development field. Her father was a wealthy financier from one of Philadelphia's upscale Main Line suburbs and his bank was financing Chris's project.

Chris couldn't remember why Cynthia was at the ceremony, but he was immediately attracted to the cool, pale blonde who stood with willowy grace next to her father. She was sophisticated, worldly, and beautiful; he was instantly smitten with her and was delighted when she asked her father for an introduction.

They went out that night to a small Italian cafe where they dined on home-made pasta, drank Chianti, and talked until almost midnight. She had seemed so sincere, so interested in him and his ambitions. Chris was too ashamed to tell her about his past, but he was all too willing to share his plans for the future. She was an avid and encouraging listener, and Chris found himself falling in love with her that first night.

Very quickly, they started dating each other exclusively. He didn't mind going to her rich friends' parties and fetes, where he often felt out of place even though he was welcomed as one of their own. Cynthia assured Chris that his newly-acquired prominence in the business community gave him instant acceptance among the wealthy circles in which she had grown up. After several months, they began talking about getting married, buying a house, having a baby or two. Things that offered Chris the stability he desperately wanted to experience as an adult, never having done so as a child.

He still remembered the night she took him home to meet the rest of her family. He'd been awed by the sight of the huge, old Victorian mansion which dominated a full suburban block, sitting tall and proud and isolated. It was the kind of house only those with wealth and connections among the upper strata of society could afford. To Chris, the house symbolized the Moran's undeniable status as one of the old money families of prominence in Philadelphia's aristocracy.

A maid took their coats, while a butler showed them to the library and fixed them a drink. Chris had already met Cynthia's father. Her mother, he discovered while sipping a scotch and water, was distant and reserved, appearing to tolerate his presence only for the sake of her daughter.

Dinner was a quiet affair with Cynthia doing most of the talking. Every now and then her mother would ask subtle questions about Chris's background that he fielded with as much finesse as possible, revealing only the barest of facts. He got the distinct impression he was being interviewed for the position of son-in-law, and while he might have a rosy future, his past was definitely suspect.

Feeling uncomfortable and humbled, he drove Cynthia back to his