Tomorrow Will Be Too Late (10 page)

‘So
,
ho
w does it affect you, Justin?’
s
he had to ask, taken aback by the swift stab of pain at the thought that he still carried a torch for this woman. It was
none
of her business, really
.

‘She doesn’t love Lucas
, that’s how.’ He stated it with such
an
air of
confidence, she
couldn’t really doubt him. ‘
Ever
since she found out I was back from Africa and single again, she has been trying very hard to get us back to the place we left off years ago. Finding out that we are now in the same circle of friends doesn’t help
,
either. She knows I can’t really avoid her all the time and makes the
most
of it.’

‘
And that bothers you so much?’ S
he could tell that he found her question offensive, the muscles of his jaw tightening ever so slightly before he answered.

‘Surprisingly
,
yes. I
’
m not interested in a romance with a married woman, however attractive she might be. Especially since I
’
m pretty sure this is nothing more
than
her way to punish her husband. I’ve heard there was trouble in paradise when he refused to finance the modeling agency she wanted to start.’

‘So
,
talk to her, then. Make it clear that you aren’t interested. I can’t imagine she wouldn
’
t find anyone else if
all
she
’
s after
is
a fling. You said yourself that she
’
s very pretty, right?’

‘She wants me, period.’ He
shrugged,
his eyes stormy. ‘
Mostly
because I
’
m friends with her husband and the other guys
,
and also because we do have some history together.
Hooking up with someone from his own circle is bad enough, but knowing Marcy
,
that’s not all.
It would twist the knife just a bit more if Luke found out she decided to go back
down
memory lane
.
’

‘I guess you should stay
vigilant
,
then
.
’
Kate shrugged dismissively, acting more nonchalant than she really felt. ‘
If
you play hard to get, she’ll have to cut her losses eventually. Unless you think she plans on carrying
the
torch for you for the rest of her life
.
’
She
had to add it, she thought with satisfaction, hating the feeling of being weaker and at his mercy.

‘Irony doesn’t really become you, sweetheart.’ He smiled icily with a reproachful glance. ‘
And
your advice is not very useful
,
even though it’s most certainly heartfelt.

‘Quite frankly I don’t have either time
or patience to wait for things to take their natural cou
rse, Kate. Especially since Lucas
and I have become business partners on the new
est
enterprise. I have convinced him to take the plunge and join me in structuring and establishing a plant producing solar panels right here at home. It’s a natural choice for both of us.’

She knew he was involved in numer
ous eco
-
friendly enterprises,
his family’s
fruit orchards and processing plants converted into
a
bio
-
diverse
organic
paradise that gained more and more publicity. Even though his background was in business and he spent most of his time working as the
CEO
of his father’s agricultural company, his heart was in this other line of work, his efforts to reduce the carbon footprint with more innovative and efficient ways to do business not going unnoticed.

‘We decided to start our production here at home, with jobs available to local people
,
’
he
continued, his voice calm. ‘But this is just a part of our vision for the future
. M
y trip to Africa convinced me that it was an excellent opportunity for us to reach the markets, with my contacts ready to order large numbers of the product. The next step would be to set up sister companies over there,
of course.’

He looked up at her and added, his formidable
self-control
slipping ever so slightly
,
‘I’d be damned if I let
Marcy
put a wedge between us and maybe destroy something that could benefit a lot of people. And I know that is exactly what she will do if I resist her not
-
so
-
subtle advances.’

‘
And
my pr
esence would change all that?’ S
he smiled bitterly, her face heating up. ‘Justin, even if you brought me with you and flaunted our affair in her face, she isn’t stupid. Why would she be threatened by someone like me?’

‘
Because
we will have a past together to talk about. Our joined effort at your sister’s wedding is an excellent story. I can tell her how I fell for you the moment I saw you wearing this blue dress that did wonders
for
the hue of your skin and brought out the golden shimmer of your hazel eyes.’ He smiled mockingly and continued, his voice low and seductive. ‘I would tell her that you took my breath away when you looked my way and smiled,
Kate
. That I knew in that instan
t
that I wanted to see this smile every day, for the rest of my life
.
’

She felt a lump in her throat, the barely veiled irony that poisoned his words humiliating her totally. He made sure she knew it was the last thing he would ever think of her. His supercilious smile and the way he watched her from the sofa were meant to be offensive.

‘I can’t act that well
.’ S
he said the first thing that came to her mind, desperate to stop this farce. ‘
It
was a different thing to come to a bar and… and talk to just one person, Justin. I could never pull it off with all of your fri
ends around, even if I wanted.’

‘
Are
you saying that it was easier to lie to me, because I was alone an
d therefore an easier target?’ H
is mild interest brought blood to her cheeks
,
and she shook her head, trying to explain.

‘No, that’s not what I mean
,
and you know it.’ She sighed, her fingers going to her temples to press against her hot skin. She could feel a migraine starting to
build
above her eyes, the dull headache making it difficult to concentrate. ‘I am very bad at pretending. In the bar, for
just
a
short
time and with one spectator, it was
doable
.
At
least
,
I thought so at the time. With your friends and in some place with no privacy, it’s different. I would ruin it for you right away, I know I would.’

‘
It’s
really touching, this concern of yours.’ His eyes narrowed as he watched her unhappy face, his gaze merciless. ‘
But
as I said before, I
’
m willing to give it a shot. Of course
,
you’d be paid for it just like any other job well done. You might find me even more generous
than
my ex wife, Kate. If you tell me what she paid you for fooling me, I could double it to make the deal sweeter.’

‘Go to hell
.’ S
he didn’t want to cry, she thought furiously, blinking away the
tears
that threatened to spill.
She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply he hurt her with his total lack of respect. ‘
Go
and tell Thomas
what
ever
you want. I
’
m sure he won’t dump Alice anyway, no matter what you say.’

‘I agree, he most probably won’t do such a thing.’ His surrender took her by surprise
,
and she watched him suspiciously, waiting for the blow that was sure to follow. As it turned out
,
she was right, of course.

‘But his family won’t be so understanding
;
take my word for it, Kate.’ Silkily soft
,
his voice wormed its way into her brain, the simple facts he stated impossible to ignore. ‘
He
might take her side, of course. But would you really like this to become the reason
for
family discord even before your sister has any chance to prove herself to them?’

She knew Alice didn’t want to cause any more problems for
Thomas
. His family was pretty close knit
,
and even though he loved her, she feared he could start
to
resent their love if it meant losing the other people he cared for so much
.

‘I thought you guys were friends
,
’
she
whispered, unable to look into his arrogant face. ‘
Friends
don’t try
to
destroy
each other’s lives.’

‘I guess that’s great
,
then
,
that you haven’t ever had to co
nsider me a friend, isn’t it?’ H
e was unabashed, his voice strong and clear. ‘
As
much as I like Thomas, there are plenty of other people at stake here. If you help me to distance myself from Marcy, there will be no complication with our business
,
which is paramount to me at the moment.’

‘
The
money, you mean
.
’ Her throat was too tight to speak clearly, the bitter taste of disappointment making it almost impossible to form a sentence.

‘That
,
too, of course
.’ H
e nodded, casually. ‘
But
also the idea that is dear to me, more so than the financial profit. If we can start this project
ASAP
,
plenty of people will benefit from it, directly and indirectly. And that’s something worth fighting for, I’d say.’

‘What wo
uld happen after the weekend?’
she
asked,
the awful realization
settling in
that she was fighting
a
tide that would come and sweep her away
,
regardless
of her struggles. ‘D
o you have any plans for that?’

‘
Of
course
.’ H
is indulgent smile made her mad as hell. But
then
again, did she expect him to not have an answer to anything? Very unlikely
.

‘The meeting falls just a week from now, so it would leave us with another week
hanging on to our dream.’ He ignored
the
gasp of outrage she couldn’t quite silence and continued, his voice silky smooth. ‘Yes, I know it’s very short notice. I would lie if I didn’t admit I considered hiring someone for this job, Kate. You don’t have to worry that I haven’t explored other options, relying solely on your charm.’ The irony in his voice hurt physically, she thought, helplessly trying to find the man she remember
ed
from two years
before
.
Had
she help
ed
destroy him?

‘
Still, you are my best option, given the circumstances. As for my plans, they
’
re really simple.
I
’
m going back to Africa for another couple of months to oversee the construction of the first plant there, in
Morocco. They already
have
the largest wind power farm in Koudia Al Baida. Ours would go to Tarfaya, where the construction of another wind farm has already started. If all goes well, the next stop is Kenya.’

He had it all figured out, she thought with sinking heart. He knew exactly what he wanted and how to achieve it. Was it really so surprising? She recalled the
snippets
of information from years ago, even before he and Vic got entangled into the bitter divorce battle that somehow changed her own life along the way. He had been hailed
as
the new face of corporate consciousness, his strong involvement in creating new alternate sources of energy and the
restructuring
of his family’s agricultural business to match his green vision a talk not only of town but country.