Web of Deception - By Nina Blake Page 0,1
thirty-five years old and if he’d wanted to get married, he would have done it by now. Only he hadn’t.
Why complicate your life? Why choose commitment when you could choose fun instead?
He should know. He’d learned the hard way. Ten years ago, he’d made a serious mistake with a woman he’d loved and he wasn’t about to make those same judgement errors again. It didn’t do to fall in love at the expense of all else. It was only setting yourself up for problems.
That still left him with one unanswered question. How had those words passed his lips? It was madness, a moment of madness. It must have been.
And now he’d come back to his senses, he knew exactly what he wanted.
Daniel looked around the crowded room. It was his party so he should have known all the guests but his personal assistant had taken care of the details.
Although Webb Corporation had several other major portfolios, he’d always wanted to be the biggest, most successful property developer in Australia. It was more than just a goal. It was his passion. It was why he’d invited all the big players to celebrate the company’s ten year anniversary and his own success.
Everyone had come. Except his father. The one person who mattered. Still, there was no point agonising over that.
Daniel had to find this woman. She wasn’t one of his staff. He’d definitely have remembered her. He didn’t think she was with one of the many firms his company dealt with. It was possible she was new to the business. Perhaps she’d only recently started working with one of the firms on tonight’s guest list.
Then again, she might be someone’s partner. That could make things a bit more complicated.
Daniel stepped inside the door and scanned the large, open-plan living space filled with people. It was much noisier in here than out on the balcony, voices and chatter reverberating against the room’s hard surfaces but, then, this was a party. One of the reasons he’d bought this huge apartment was because the living area and balcony were made for entertaining.
Spotting the woman’s blond hair at the far end of the room near the buffet table, he strode towards her. Though he’d let her get away before, he wasn’t a man who made the same mistake twice, particularly not when he knew what he wanted.
“Can we start all over again?” he asked. She didn’t answer so he added, “We haven’t been properly introduced.”
“You’re going to marry me but you don’t even know my name?”
“It’d be much easier if you just told me but I could always find something else to call you. Darling, perhaps…”
He was teasing, trying to get a rise out of her.
“I am not your darling,” she said, indignant.
It only made him want to play with her more.
“No, but this is my apartment, my party, and you are my guest. I deserve to know your name, at least. It’d be rude not to tell me.”
Her lips curled to an amused smile. “I didn’t think I was such a badly behaved guest.”
“I don’t know how bad you are. Perhaps you should show me.”
He couldn’t help baiting her. His hand brushed across hers but she pulled it away all too quickly.
“I am not your…” Holding her head high, she composed herself. “I’m Kate Henry. And there’s no need to introduce yourself. I know who you are Mr Webb.”
“Pleased to meet you, Kate Henry.” Her name rolled off his tongue. “You might know who I am but if you knew me at all, you’d know everyone calls me Daniel.”
She looked him in the eye. “Well, Daniel, I might be a bad guest but you’re letting me down as a host too.”
“Am I? I’ve opened up my home, hired the best caterers in Sydney, and you can drink all the Moet and Veuve you like. Have I missed something?”
“Absolutely. It’s a dreadful crime and you’re personally responsible. The worst thing a host could do.”
He had no idea what she was talking about. “What’s that?”
She smiled suddenly and that knocked him for six even more. “You’re standing between a woman and her food.”
Her fingers on his chest, she pushed him aside and stepped toward the buffet table.
And he liked it, liked the feel of her little hand on him, liked the way she took control. This was a woman he could have some fun with.
He watched as she scanned the buffet, plate in hand, a small furrow forming on her brow in concentration. Her fingers hovered over