object, then moved beside her, making sure to keep what she would consider a safe distance between them. He was playing by her rules for the time being.
“You don’t need a ring to be engaged,” she said, still staring ahead at the water.
“Well, that tells me one of two things. Either you’re in a relationship so strong and secure that you don’t need any outward signs to prove your affections to anyone else.”
“That’s it exactly.”
“Or it’s not much of a relationship at all.”
She turned to glare at him. “You’ve got a nerve.”
“Then tell me,” he said, “what kind of man wouldn’t bother to give you an engagement ring? To stake his claim. To stop another man from making a move on you.”
“You’re on the wrong track completely. My fiancé trusts me. Perhaps that’s something you don’t know about.”
“It can be dangerous to be too trusting,” he said.
“Don’t forget, I’m in charge here. Not you. Not my fiancé. It’s all up to me.”
Daniel slid along the balcony, inching closer to her. “It still doesn’t explain your relationship with this…this fiancé. It doesn’t explain why there’s no passion for him.”
“That shows you’re no expert. I love him very much.”
“I love my sisters too.” He added with a shrug, “It doesn’t mean I want to marry them.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. This passion, this ‘chemistry’ you keep talking about, it doesn’t last. It’s not something to build a future upon. Passion fades. Love grows.”
Daniel thought she looked pleased with her pronouncement but she clearly wasn’t a woman in love, no matter what she might say.
She turned her head and looked across the harbour. She was ignoring him, perhaps trying to let her point sink in. It gave him more time to look at her. A gentle breeze blew the hair back from her face, allowing him better to admire the curve of her neck and the delicate line of her profile.
If she looked enticing now, he couldn’t help but wonder what she would look like naked in his arms. How would she look with her hair falling across a pillow, her eyes burning for him, her parted lips whispering his name?
One thing was for sure. He was going to find out.
Lust. That’s what this was. It was nothing new. He’d felt it before.
The words he’d spoken when he first laid eyes on her reverberated in his head. Married? Him? How had he ever come out with that one?
No, he wouldn’t mistake this for something more than it was. He knew better than to complicate his life and, when he cut it down to its most basic level, it was quite simple, really.
He wanted her.
And he would have her.
* * *
Daniel Webb might not care she had a boyfriend, that she was engaged. He might even find it amusing. It didn’t seem to make any difference to him at all.
But it did to Kate.
It made a hell of a difference.
All this talk about passion and chemistry. That didn’t make it right, didn’t make it a good idea. In fact, it was a sure-fire way to screw up her whole life.
“So tell me,” Daniel said. “Who is this elusive fiancé? Is he someone I know?”
The problem was that Mark wasn’t exactly her fiancé but they were practically engaged. Surely that was good enough.
Getting married was something she and Mark had talked about. Although now that she thought of it, he’d only mentioned it on two occasions, both times when she’d expressed doubts about their relationship and suggested breaking up.
He loved her. It didn’t matter that they’d had a few problems lately. Or that he’d never actually told her he loved her. He said his feelings were too deep and complex to put into such simple language. It still came down to the same thing. He talked about building a life together. Marriage was part of that.
And if she kept telling herself all of this, she might actually believe it.
She looked across at Daniel. “Oh, you know him, all right. He works for you. He was here just a few minutes ago. Mark Elliot.”
Daniel let out a chuckle and covered his mouth as though trying to hold it back but he laughed more. “M…Mark Eliott,” he spluttered.
“What’s so funny about that?”
He touched her arm, then pulled his hand back. “The accountant?”
“Yes, he’s second-in-charge of your Accounting Branch.”
“Sorry, but I just can’t see you with an accountant.”
“How can you say that when you don’t know anything about me? You don’t even know what I do?”
“Then tell me. Let me