Million Dollar Mistake

know how I feel about him. God, this man might as well be deaf, dumb, blind and
three days dead. What the hell do I see in him?
Finally, Lorianne snapped, “If you don’t know, I’m not going to be the one to
tell you.” With that, she stood up, executed a military precision about-face and
marched from the room.
Hurting, eyes a bit teary now, she’d only taken a few rushed steps into the
hallway when she barreled straight into a wall. No, not a wall, she amended as a
hand clamped hard on her arm to keep her upright.
“Watch it, hot coffee,” said an alarmed male voice.
Lorianne jumped back just in time to avoid the steaming liquid now arching
over the china cup. It splashed on the hallway rug. She gasped as the stain
widened before looking up into Nicholas’s concerned face.
“Are you all right?”
She felt herself turning as bright red as Rudolph’s famous nose as she blinked
rapidly at the man Jackson had just told her to set her sights on. She opened her
mouth, but nothing came out.
“Lorianne? Are you—”
For nowhere came her tiny squeak, “I’m peachy, thanks.”
“You’re sure?”
“Oh, yes. Never better.” Lorianne would have sold her dog to disappear in a
cloud of smoke at that minute. She could feel Nicholas’s narrowed gaze boring
into her.
“You didn’t get burned?”
“No, just the carpet.”
Nicholas winced. “Damn. I’ll just take what’s left of this coffee to Raven and
then come back to clean—”
“Oh no, I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure? I’m the one who—”
“It was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going. As usual.” She tried to
chuckle. “I’m kind of a klutz.”
With one long finger Nicholas tilted her chin up. “I’ve never met a lovelier
klutz.”
At his kind look, Lorianne smiled. “Liar.”
Nicholas grinned and shrugged.
“Thanks for that, though. Now go on. Get that coffee to Raven while it’s still
hot.” Lorianne watched him walk away, heading down the hallway toward the
conservatory. What would it be like to have a spectacular man like that in love
with me, she wondered. There was something about Nicholas that made Jackson

---

seem pale in comparison. Then she felt a flash of guilt. How could she think
that? She loved Jackson. She sent a resentful glare at the room she’d just left.
Still, wouldn’t it serve you right, Jackson Exeter, if I took you up on your
request?
Raven had wandered into the glass conservatory after breakfast. Restless and
annoyed, she sat on a cushioned hassock and stared at the snow through a wall of
glass that nurtured the luxurious green plants and hot house flowers that belied
the weather. The snow was still falling so hard it might as well be a woolen
blanket.
Of all the bad luck. Trapped as part of the devil’s house party. She’d be lucky
if she got through the next few days without being scorched. To make matters
worse, her head felt as if it might explode. She should know better than to drink
in the morning.
“Here you go. I brought you caffeine just as you like it—black as Satan and
twice as hot.” Nicholas’s cheery voice broke into her morose thoughts.
“I don’t need any coffee.”
“Yes, you do. You’ve never been able to handle champagne.”
“I have, too. I’m a sophisticate.”
“Uh-huh, but champagne has always given you a hangover.”
Determined not to show any weakness, Raven threw all of her energy into
denial. “Not true. I love champagne. I make it a requirement for all the men in
my life to ply me with champagne and strawberries.”
He placed the china cup and saucer on a nearby table. “Well, at least you have
some requirements.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Raven bristled.
“Nothing.”
“Yes it did. You never just say nothing.”
Nicholas glanced at the teacup then stepped away from the table. “Well, I
can’t help but think that some of your recent ‘dalliances’ have been…” he sent
her a charming smile, “lacking, shall we say?”
“Lacking in what way?” she asked, noticing that Nicholas had positioned
himself out of firing range in case she lost her temper.
“In just about every way I can think of,” he said, with a dismissive wave of his
hand.
Raven was determined to hold on to her self-control, regardless of the
provocation. She hunched a shoulder, muttering, “Much you know about it.”
“Let’s take young Exeter, for example.”

---

She lifted her chin and nailed him with a defiant gaze. “Jackson is handsome,
wellborn, wealthy and has a brilliant future ahead of him.”
“I’m sure he does. Only not with you.”
Scowling like a punished child, she said, “I really wouldn’t have been an
anchor around his neck, no matter what everyone thinks.”
“Yes, you would.”
“I would not. I could be a wonderful wife for a politician.”
Nicholas considered her. “In what way?”
“I know how to talk to people and give parties.”
He grinned. “So did Heidi Fleiss.”
She glared at him. “How dare you compare me with the ‘Hollywood
Madam’?”
His glance wandered over her body so slowly that she felt a tingle in response
before he lifted his gaze to meet hers again. “I’m just saying there’s more to
being a good match for someone than the obvious things.”
“Like what?”
“Like the same values.”
Raven flinched. “I have values.”
“Yes,” he drawled, “I’ve read about them.”
“Look here, Mr. Holier-than-the-Pope,” Raven raged, “just because I’m
tabloid fodder doesn’t mean I don’t have values. I do know right from wrong.
And I don’t need a lecture from,” she flashed him a resentful look, “a self-
appointed Mr. Virtue.”
Nicholas considered her for a long minute. “I ran into Lorianne a few minutes
ago.”
“So?” she huffed, hurt by his dig at her perceived lack of values.
“So I think she’s got the right stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“Yes, the right…” he searched for words, “uh, the right… aura, I suppose.”
Raven rolled her eyes. “Aura? What? You’re a New Age guru now?”
Nicholas gave her a stubborn look. “I’m saying I find her manner and person
appealing. I think she’s the right one for Jackson.”
“Oh please, as if Jackson will fall in love with her. Not after he’s—” She
stopped, looking self-conscious.
“Come under your seductive spell?” Nicholas finished with a sarcastic twist.
Raven winced. “That came out wrong.”
Folding his arms, he arched a brow at her. “Did it, luv? It seems that’s what
your whole life has been about for the past few years…building your ego by
walking all over someone else’s.”

---

Raven didn’t say anything for a moment. She wanted to crawl in a hole as she
caught the look in his eyes. How had she become so self-absorbed, so arrogant?
It wasn’t the way she wanted to be. It wasn’t who she was inside. Still, she
couldn’t let him get away with speaking to her like that. He wasn’t her father.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His voice gentled. “Maybe it’s time you took a good look at yourself, Raven.”
She scowled. “Me? You’re a fine one to talk. Who died and made you God?
Always going around deciding what’s good for people.”
He laughed and rubbed a finger along his nose. “Fate, maybe.”
“Oh, poor you.”
“Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass,” Nicholas agreed. “Most of the time I find myself
watching over wayward, misguided”—he sent her an arched look—”‘sheep’ that
are more focused on enjoying themselves than doing what is good for them.”
She stood up. “This is one ‘sheep’ that didn’t ask you to butt in.”
Nicholas gave her an amazed look. “Oh yes, you did. Or did I misunderstand
that desperate kiss in the hallway, and all the events thereafter?”
“Okay, I did. But I didn’t ask you to stay involved.”
Nicholas grimaced as he glanced at the curtain of snow falling outside. “No, it
seems the weather did that for you.”
Raven followed his glance, watching the wall of white for a few moments
before sighing. “You’re right.”
“Excuse me?” He cupped his ear. “Did you just say I was right?”
She couldn’t help but grin. “Don’t get used to it.”
He chuckled. “Too late.”
Raven smiled, then picked up the coffee cup and took a sip before asking,
“What do we do now?”
“The best we can, I guess.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He looked around before lowering his voice. “We’ll have to convince
everyone that we’re real. That our engagement is real.”
“How?”
“By proving we’re in love with each other.”
With a wary expression, she took another sip before asking, “And how do you
suggest we do that?”
Nicholas sent her a stunned look. “You’re asking me?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, darling,” he drawled, his southern accent very evident. “You’re the one
who’s in and out of love constantly. I’d think you’d have all the rules down pat.”
She placed her cup and saucer on the table. “As if you haven’t earned your

---

stripes in the romantic wars. I can think of a few liaisons that—”
“Discrete liaisons, I should point out. Unlike yours.”
“You never miss a chance to rub it in, do you?”
He grinned. “Not usually.”
“Is it just with me, or is this the way you treat everyone?” She said it with
enough temper, hoping he didn’t see the yearning she was having more and more
trouble hiding from his astute gaze. For some reason, his opinion counted. After
last night, though, she refused to explore why.
Instead of the light response she’d expected, he was quiet for a moment as he
studied her. “I’ve never considered that question before. I know I don’t like
dealing with fools.”
Raven snorted at that. “No kidding.”
“But,” he continued, “there’s something about you that gets my temper up.”
She ticked off the reasons on her fingers. “How about my personality, my
antics, my boyfriends?”
“That all goes without saying.” He stared at her for a moment longer before
saying with a reluctant note in his voice, “But it’s more than that.”
Raven caught his intense gaze, her own widening until he was all she could
see. The air was so still, she swore she could hear the snowflakes hitting the
ground. Finally, she breathed, “More?”
Nicholas’s eyes held her intently, then he blinked, breaking the spell. Turning
away, he walked over to the window and cleared his throat. “Let’s get back to
our strategy discussion.”
“Is that what we were having?” Raven was disappointed, but she’d be damned
if she’d let him know it. She kept her tone light. “I thought it was an argument.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Not enough heat for an argument.”
“That’s always been a problem for you, hasn’t it?”
He glanced back. “What has?”
“Caring enough to go toe-to-toe in a big, loud, messy argument.”
“Reason works better.”
“Not as much fun, though.”
“Depends on your idea of fun, Raven,” he said, flicking her a glance.
She studied him. “Do you ever really let yourself go, Nicholas?”
He turned back to the window. “I can’t afford to run around making a scene.
‘Letting it all hang out,’ as my father used to say.”
“Yes, we must avoid scenes at all cost.” Nicholas didn’t bother to respond.
The self-control he showed the world drove her wild. She remembered the first
time she’d shaken it. “Do you remember that summer when you and Darcy were
visiting our family in Colorado?”

---

At Raven’s sisters’ suggestion, they’d thrown a pool party to welcome their
cousins; and her older sisters were showing off their beautiful faces and figures.
Raven, as the youngest and homeliest, with her wild hair, ugly-duckling looks
and pudgy figure had hid near the bushes and watched as her sisters preened,
posed and flirted with their handsome guests. Darcy Kristof flirted right back,
but Nicholas ignored them. Right then and there Raven decided he was too cool
and stuck on himself to join in. So she’d emerged from her hiding place and
casually walked over to join them before pretending to trip, crashing into
Nicholas.
Raven’s eyes gleamed at the memory. “You fell in the pool.”
He turned around at that, his expression darkening. “I remember.”
She raised a brow. “You weren’t so cool then. You were furious.”
“I was wearing a new pair of slacks, shirt and leather jacket.”
“It was a pool party. Why weren’t you wearing your bathing suit?”
Eyes clouded, he looked away from her. “I had my reasons.”
“I think you wanted to make everyone feel uncomfortable.”
“I did not.”
Raven tossed her head, shaking the hair back from her face. “You were always
standoffish, acting like you were better than us. Even Darcy didn’t do that.”
“That’s not true.”
“My sisters were falling all over you. But you just looked down your nose at
us, and replied to everything with a charming smile and a cool comment. You
drove me nuts.”
“That’s why you pushed me in the pool? Why you ruined my leather jacket?”
At the look in his eyes, she felt a flash of shame, but covered it by accusing,
“Why were you wearing a leather jacket, anyway? It was summer.”
“‘Cause it was special.”
“It was an ordinary leather jacket.”
“No, it wasn’t. I worked for eight months after school and bought it right
before Darcy and I came to visit.” He stepped closer, his eyes bright with temper.
“It was the first expensive thing I’d ever had that my father didn’t steal and sell
to pay for his gambling habit.”
“His what?” Shocked, Raven stared at him. “But your family was—”
“So damn deep in the hole we couldn’t see daylight, and sinking fast.”
Chilled by his expression and confused, she said, “I don’t understand. Why
didn’t the Kristofs—?”
“Drop it. That’s not the point of this discussion.”
“What is the point?”
“The point is, it’s time you grew up and stopped waging war on me.”

---

She flushed like a child caught in mischief. “I’m not waging war.”
“From that pool party on, you’ve done everything you could to drive me
crazy. Including this latest stunt.”
“My relationship with Jackson had nothing to do with you.”
“Oh no?” He snorted, waving a dismissive hand. “Don’t tell me you thought
you were in love with young Exeter.”
“Will you stop calling him ‘young Exeter’?” she flashed, standing up. “That’s
not only arrogant, but it makes you sound as if you’re a hundred years older than
the man, instead of four.”
“In terms of experience, I might as well be.”
“You know nothing of Jackson’s experience.”
“I know he fell for your tricks, honey. That says something about his
acumen.”
“I’ll have you know that I wasn’t using any tricks.”
Exasperated, he raked his hand through his hair. “Oh, give it up, Raven.
Flirting and making men jump through hoops is as necessary to you as breathing.
You can’t exist without some poor slob making a fool of himself over you.”
“That isn’t true. You make me sound very shallow, as well as childish.”
“If the shoe fits—”
She stalked over to him. “It doesn’t. You don’t know me.”
He chuckled. “Excuse me, sweetheart, but I think I do.”
“No,” Raven said, wincing at his expression. “You only know what I let you
and everyone else see. What they want to see.”
“Then for once, Raven, show me the real you.”
“Why?”
He hesitated, then gave her a charming smile. “I don’t know why.”
“It’s not as if you care.” She held her breath, hoping for…for what?
“Of course I care. I’m responsible for what happens to the family.”
“That’s Darcy’s job as the Kristof heir, isn’t it?”
“No. I mean, yes, but I’m the one with the responsibility to represent the
family’s financial and legal interests. Anything that can impact that, I handle.
That way Darcy can focus on his other obligations. On his dreams.”
“What about your dreams, Nicholas?” she asked, her voice quiet.
“They hit a snag.”
Raven was silent for a moment. The anger and pain in his eyes stunned her.
For the first time she saw more than she’d ever thought to see in his face. For a
moment he’d dropped his mask and was no longer the cool, controlled, charming
sophisticate; but instead seemed younger, more sensitive…vulnerable. Her heart
melted and she placed her hand on his arm. “When?”

---

“When reality slammed me in the face.”
“What do you—”
“Past history.” He frowned. “Although, the past does seem to be repeating
itself.”
At his direct look, Raven asked, “What do you mean by that?”
His eyes wavered, as he seemed to struggle with himself before saying,
“Never mind.”
“You said your past—”
His voice lightened. “We were talking about your past, darling, remember?”
“No, you said—”
“My past,” he said and smiled, “is now off-limits.”
That stung. “Fine. I’m not really interested anyway.”
Nicholas grinned. “That sounds like the Raven I know and love.”
“Don’t use the word love to me.”
“Why not? It’s something you hear all the time, isn’t it?”
Her chin lifted. “Only from people who mean it.”
Nicholas laughed, real amusement replacing the shadows in his eyes. “Honey,
I wish I had a nickel for every man who says it just so—”
She tossed her hair. “I’m the one who stops it. The one who can’t say I love
you back.”
He paused as her words sank in. His face softened. “Have you ever wondered
why that is?”
“No more than you have. How many women have you said it to?” Her body
tensed as she waited, not wanting to hear his answer. Not that she’d ever let him
know how much it mattered to her.
That shut him up for a moment. He gave her a self-mocking grin. “None.”
“Then you have no reason to sneer at me for not saying it either.”
“Right.” Nicholas nodded. “It’s a draw then.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, two antagonists in a
championship fight. Finally, they both backed off and sought their corners, ready
for the next round.
“It’s a draw,” Raven agreed.
“Your coffee’s getting cold,” Nicholas said, indicating the table.
Raven glanced at the delicate china cup and saucer. “I’ve had enough.”
“How’s your headache?”
“Gone,” she said, surprised.
He grinned. “Arguing with me always works.”
“I thought you said it wasn’t an argument.”
“You’re right. It was more like—”

---

“An intense discussion?”
Nodding, he looked around, finally saying, “As usual, we got off track. What
were we talking about before?”
“Strategy?”
“Ah, that’s right. How to prove we’re in love.” He reached into his pants
pocket.
“You’re not going to pull out a truce for us to sign, like two countries ending
war?”
Nicholas laughed as he removed a small jeweler’s box. “Not bad, but I think
I’ve got a better idea.” He hesitated for a moment, then flicked the snap.
Raven stared as the lid flipped up. “What the hell is that?”
“What does it look like?”
“It looks like a ring.”
“Brains as well as beauty. What a combination.”
Raven ignored his teasing comment. “Do you always run around with a ring in
your pocket just in case you need it?”
“Wrong guess. I was planning on delivering this to my mother.”
“You bought her a ring. Oh, that’s so sweet.” She giggled as a slash of red
appeared on his cheekbones.
“This ring belonged to my great-grandmother.”
With a hesitant finger, Raven touched the circlet of carved silver and
diamonds. “It’s beautiful.”
“It was the only thing my mother had left of hers. My father sold it in New
York years ago.”
“Because of his—”
He waved off her question. “And, ever since, I’ve had jewelers and pawn
shops looking out for it with orders to call me if it ever surfaced. It did, in New
York last week.” He studied the ring. “I bought it back before I left the city.”
She ran her fingers over a knot of diamonds. She could almost feel the
brilliant fire of them warming her, just as she could feel the warm satisfaction in
the man standing so close to her. “What does this carving symbolize?”
“My great-grandmother was Irish. So these are the endless-knotted Celtic
hearts, which means eternal love and friendship.”
Raven glanced up into his face, captivated by the glow in his eyes. “Love and
friendship? That’s a hard trick to pull off.”
Nicholas smiled. “Some people get lucky.” He removed the ring from the box
and reached for her left hand.
She jerked it back. “What are you doing?”
“Putting this ring on your finger.”

---

“Why?”
“What do you mean why? Why do you think? So it looks as if we’re engaged.
Like I’d planned it all along.”
She shook her head. “It’s not right.”
“Think of it as part of our strategy.”
“Can’t we just pretend you haven’t bought me a ring yet?”
“Well, technically, I didn’t buy you one. I bought one for my mother.”
Raven groaned. “That’s even worse. What’s your mother going to think when
she sees this on my finger? I like your mother.”
He gave her a strange look. “You started this little charade.”
“But I didn’t think we’d—”
“We’d what? Have to go through with it?”
Raven was horrified, but at the same time strangely excited. “Go through with
it?”
“Shhhh,” Nicholas hissed, “lower your voice. We’re engaged and supposed to
be in love.”
“Engagements can be broken.”
“There speaks the voice of wisdom.” Nicholas laughed. “How many
engagements have you broken now?”
“Two and a half. But no marriages. I draw the line at marriage.”
“How’d you get the half?” Nicholas asked, diverted from the point again.
“He put the ring on my finger, but I took it off an hour later and no one knew.”
Nicholas laughed. “Only you, sweetheart, only you. Now give me your hand,
and don’t worry…”
Raven looked up into his amused eyes. Sometimes she thought she could look
at him forever. It had always been that way. When she closed her eyes, she saw
his handsome face, his wicked smile, shivered at his smooth, deep drawl,
imagined what it would feel like to be held in his arms as the woman he loved.
Getting engaged, even a fake engagement, to a man like Nicholas was
dangerous.
“…no one will ever know.”
But she’d know, she thought as she fell into his gaze. He’d been right about
one thing. Since she’d first seen him, she’d gone out of her way to make him pay
attention to her. She’d bedeviled him, enraged him and made him laugh. And
always, always he was there when she needed him, whether she wanted him
there or not. Not always happy about it—what an understatement—but he was
there. Just like he was this time. If only…
“And it won’t get as far as marriage,” he reassured her, his voice amused.
“Nicholas, I…” Suddenly shy, her voice trailed off as she placed her hand in

---

his. The cool silver slid over her knuckle to rest on the ring finger of her left
hand as if it belonged there. She sniffed. “I…think this is the most beautiful
thing anyone has ever done for me.”
He dropped her hand as if it was a piping-hot muffin. “Oh hell, you’re not
going to cry, are you?”
“Of course not.” At least not when he was looking, although it was tempting.
Who knew a few tears could throw him?
“’Cause if you’re going to cry—”
She sniffed again, wishing she could wipe her eyes on her sleeve. “I’m not
crying, you nit. My sinuses are acting up.”
“Oh.” He looked relieved, shoving the ring box into his pocket. “That’s all
right then. Want my handkerchief?”
“Ewww, no.”
“It’s clean.”
She blinked hard. “Thanks, but the moment’s passed.”
He nodded as if he’d just completed a business deal. “All right then, back on
track.”
“Our strategy?”
“Right.”
“I’m listening,” Raven said, still a bit off balance.
“Now, I figure that if we want to convince everyone this engagement is real,
we’ll have to pretend we can’t keep our hands off each other.”
Raven groaned. “This is going to be impossible.”
“I have faith in you,” he whispered.
She glanced down at the ring glittering on her finger, warning, “I’m going to
have problems with this.” More than she’d ever let him know. She tried to cover
the longing in her heart. “We don’t even like each other.”
“Not true. We just can’t get along for more than a few hours without going for
the jugular. So we have to come to an understanding.”
“What kind of understanding?”
“We’ll have to quit sniping and start cooing—”
“Cooing?” Raven made a face. “Tell me you didn’t just say ‘cooing’.”
Nicholas grinned. “And get used to touching each other.”
“We touch each other. You just held my hand. And last night…” She gulped.
Last night was better left alone.
His eyes gleamed. “We have to touch each other as if we’re so much in love
we—”
“Maybe it’s stopped snowing?” Raven knew she sounded desperate, but the
thought of him putting his “back” into the role of lover made her very nervous.

---

“Shhh, darling, just relax.” He stepped closer to her and tilted up her chin. “I
know a few things that might help.”
She stiffened as she met his teasing eyes. “Such as?”
He stepped even closer.
She held her hand out like a traffic cop. “Hold it right there. If you’re thinking
what I think you’re thinking…”
“And what might that be?”
“You know very well what that might be.” Raven wanted to shake him until
his teeth rattled as he stood there with an amused look on his face. He looked
way too innocent for her peace of mind. Her expression darkened. “You’re trying
to get me in bed.”
He chuckled. “I’ve already had you in bed.”
“Not like you’d like to have me in bed.”
He cocked his head. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
Eyes narrowing, she fisted her hands on her hips. “I haven’t had any
complaints.”
“Perhaps you haven’t had a discriminating audience.”
“If you really had me in bed, you’d remember.”
His smile flashed as a dangerous look came into his eyes. “Is that a challenge,
darling?”
With a defiant toss of her hair, she said, “No. It’s a fact.”
“A fact, hmm?”
“What do you want? Testimonials?”
In an abrupt change of mood, Nicholas pulled her into his arms. “Not
necessary. I’d rather judge for myself.”
“What—” She couldn’t say more because his mouth abruptly covered hers.
His lips teased hers until they softened and opened to allow more. She sank into
the kiss as sensation upon sensation swamped her. He shifted her in his arms,
slanting his mouth, teasing her with his tongue. She met him touch for touch.
Their bodies heated as they pressed together, curves and angles aligned for
pleasure. She shivered as his fingers walked up her spine, then under her hair to
cup her neck. Her arms snaked around him, yanking him closer to her until she
could feel the hard contours of his body straining against her softer ones. His
tongue plunged deeper, urging her response, urging her to let go, to feel. His
roving hands caressed her, inflamed her. Made her want. Want more. Want all.
Want Nicholas.
“Am I interrupting?” The ice-cold voice sliced through the air like a winter
wind.

---

Nicholas felt as if he was climbing his way out of a cave as he tried to bring
his body under control. And Raven wasn’t helping matters. Dear God, when the
woman got involved, she got involved. Since he’d arrived, he’d been trying to
keep their relationship and current situation on a practical level. But Raven was
never practical. Why couldn’t he remember that? Simple, he thought as he drew
back from her and looked down into her face still flushed with passion. He didn’t
want to. At this moment, he wanted to forget everything and lose himself in
Raven, in her heat, her caress, her need which matched his own. With this
woman, he’d always felt out of his depths. He pretended to be in control, but it
was a lie. Raven had the ability to do what no other woman had ever done—
inflame him until he lost himself in the fire.
“Sorry to intrude,” the unrepentant voice said again, “but there’s a phone call
for Nicholas.”
Nicholas pressed Raven’s face against his chest, giving her another moment to
capture her poise. He turned his head to glance at Jackson. He’d seen him
hovering in the hallway just before he pulled Raven into his arms, expecting him
to take one look and retreat. He’d kissed her to convince Jackson they were in
love; but he hadn’t counted on the consequences. He hadn’t counted on his
reactions. He hadn’t counted on forgetting the role he and Raven were playing
and extending make-believe into reality.
He rested his cheek on the top of Raven’s head. “Darling, I have a phone call.”
She looked up at him, her head lolling like a satisfied flower after a rainfall. “I
didn’t hear the phone ring.”
He chuckled and dropped a kiss on the top of her nose. “I’m not surprised. A
nuclear blast could have gone off and we wouldn’t have heard it.”
She smiled. “Maybe this will work after all.”
Nicholas glanced over at the man watching them from the doorway. “I’m
counting on it.”
Raven followed his movement and jerked at the sight of Jackson. “I’m sorry. I
didn’t know you were here.”
Jackson folded his lips into a severe line. “There’s a telephone call.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“No, but she said it was personal.”
The snide way Jackson said it had a hasty Raven backing from Nicholas’s
arms as she snapped, “She?”
Nicholas grabbed her arm, smiling at the indignant expression on her face.
“Raven, you’re jumping to conclusions—”
“As if you wouldn’t.”
He rolled his eyes. “My secretary is a she.”

---

“Naturally,” Raven said, giving Nicholas a grim look when he chuckled.
Jackson smirked as he indicated the hallway. “You can take it on the library
phone. It’s more private.”
Nicholas strolled to the doorway, glancing over his shoulder at Jackson as he
moved to stand protectively next to Raven. He bent his head toward hers,
looking more like a lover than a discarded boyfriend. Nicholas clenched his
hands into fists then relaxed them when he became aware of what he was doing.
He walked up the hallway, reminding himself again that this was just a game, a
role he was playing. Same as Raven.
The hell of it was, right now, he’d give everything to change the rules.

---

Chapter Six
“Is everything all right with you and Nicholas, Raven?”
“What?” Raven glanced at him. The hopeful expression on his face belied his
concerned question. “Yes, of course, why wouldn’t it be?”
Jackson shrugged. “I thought I saw you arguing.”
“What gave you that impression?”
“The expression on Nicholas’s face.”
“How did you see—”
“He was facing the door as I was coming down the hallway. Right before
he…” Jackson hesitated, letting her draw her own conclusion.
“Kissed me,” Raven said, her voice quiet and to anyone who really knew her
—dangerous.
“That’s right.” His eyes met her questioning ones.
“I see,” Raven said slowly, pulling her gaze from Jackson. And she did. The
feeling, the passion, it had all been an act, one more example of Nicholas the
master strategist at work. She should have known.
“Raven? You look a bit pale. Aren’t you feeling well?”
She switched her attention back to Jackson, staring at him blankly for a
moment before pulling herself together to give him a small smile. “I have a
slight headache.”
“What you need is fresh air.”
“Oh yes, that would help.” Raven laughed as she glanced toward the
windows, weighing options on both hands. “Fresh air, freeze to death, fresh air,
freeze to death.”
He grabbed her hands. “I’m serious. I know the snow’s still falling, but the
winds have died down. What do you say to an old-fashioned horse-pulled sleigh
ride?”
“That’s tempting, very tempting.” Raven smiled. “I love horses.”
“Me, too,” he agreed, his expression satisfied. “That’s something we have in
common.”
“Nicholas also loves them,” she said, drawing her hands from his caressing
ones, trying to put some distance between them. Although she wasn’t sure why,
given what she’d just heard about that conniving cousin of hers.
“Naturally. The Kristof family is known for their stable of thoroughbreds.”
“Even more so since my cousin Darcy married a horsewoman.”

---

“Your father has horses, too, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t raise or train them.” She looked through the glass at the
falling snow. “A sleigh ride, hmm?”
“Come on. Say yes.”
She looked into his eager eyes. “You’re sure the weather—”
“Positive.” Jackson laughed and took her hand, all but pulling her into the
hallway. “But you’ll need to bundle up.”
Raven allowed him to lead her up the hall. “It does sound like fun.” And it had
the added attraction of not involving her so-called fiancé.