The Devil She Knew(3)

A waiter put their meals in front of them and Suzie snatched the name  card from behind his place setting and held it up triumphantly, her  bracelets jangling with the movement. "Nate," she exclaimed.

"Congratulations," Nate's voice dripped sarcasm. "You guessed it."         

     



 

She stared at the name card and her eyes widened with horror. "Nate  Mason? You're Nathaniel Mason, the one who made that Journeyman  website?" She slapped her forehead as though berating herself. "You're  who Laura was talking about. Why didn't I realize it was you? How could  she have sat me next to you, when she knew what you did to me? Sometimes  she can be so-"

Nate leaned forward, cutting off her flow of words. "I didn't create the Journeyman website."

"Liar." Her beautiful eyes narrowed. "Laura said you-"

"I came up with the idea, wrote the back end, and designed the engine to  connect with airline ticketing systems. My business partner added the  hotel booking and rating system. Then the company we sold it to added  features that screwed up the user interface. They ruined it. But they  spent enough on advertising to make sure it was the product everyone  used."

Suzie waved his name card like it was a stick she could use to beat him  with. Her voice rose. "I was a freelance corporate travel consultant,  until your stupid software put me out of business."

He snorted. "Journeyman isn't the only website for booking travel. There are lots of others out there."

She tossed her head, making her curls bounce angrily. "I was good at  what I did. My clients loved me. But thanks to you, my work dried up and  I couldn't go on."

She threw the name card back on the table and her blue eyes flashed.  They had been striking when she had brown hair. Now, framed by her fiery  red mane, the effect was so stunning he could barely drag his gaze away  from them.

Everything about her was designed to goad him, from the tangle of curls  he wanted to smooth back from her face, to the way she angled her upper  body toward him, teasing him with the gorgeous swell of her breasts,  emphasized by the low cut of her dress.

Did she have any idea what she could do to a man just by leaning close?  Silly question, of course she did. She did it deliberately to drive men  crazy. No wonder she'd been stuck in his head all these years.

He gave a slow, deliberate shrug, knowing it would irritate her. "The  industry had to change. It was inevitable. Any smart person could have  predicted it."

Her cheeks flushed to match her hair. "Any smart person?"

He held her gaze, though she was so alight with fury the air around her  was practically smoking. The implication that she hadn't been clever  enough to see it coming had taken her rage to a whole new level.

Now he knew what button to press to make her react this way, would it be  bad to take advantage of it? If only she wasn't so beautiful when she  was angry. The brighter her cheeks got, the more luminous her eyes.

"Change always brings opportunity. Plenty of other people found ways to make money from the shift in people's behavior."

She dragged in a breath, her full lips parted in outrage. "Could you be  any more arrogant? You think you're so clever, but all the brains in the  world can't keep you from being a jerk. And you're not just obnoxious,  you're also a liar."

She leaned forward, so close that Nate could take a deep, intoxicating  breath of her perfume. A single red curl fell over one eye, and Nate  burned to tuck it behind her ear.

"Thanks to you, everyone thought I was easy. When people asked Laura  about her plans for the future, it was always, ‘What college will you go  to?' And, ‘What's your major going to be?' Nobody ever asked me those  questions. After the rumor went around about me offering sex to get  better grades, all I got was sniggers and rude suggestions. I went  through hell because of you."

Nate had never meant his little untruth to go further than his brother,  but he should have guessed Harrison would blab to his friends.

"Technically, I didn't lie." That's what he'd told himself at the time,  at least, although the words stuck in his throat now. If he'd ever said  them aloud he might have realized how lame they sounded.

"You're trying to deny it?"

"I don't deny anything." He kept his gaze level. She had a right to be  angry, but it'd been a defensive move on his part, not an attack. "You  came into the store while I was working. Between serving customers, I  was doing my term paper. It was on the counter, and you groaned when you  saw it. You said you'd do anything to be able to hand in my paper  instead of your own."

She stared at him in horror. "That was me offering you sex? I don't even remember talking to you."

Of course she didn't remember. If only he could say the same. Her hair  had been even curlier when it was shorter, and she used to worry one  curl between her thumb and forefinger when she was deep in thought. He  used to watch her at school. He'd study her face and get totally  absorbed in the curve of her cheek, or the tilt of her head, or that  dark freckle below her right eye.         

     



 

And especially the larger-than-usual dip at the center of her upper lip.  What was it called? Her cupid's bow, that was it. Her mouth couldn't be  like everyone else's. Oh no, it had to have an extra flourish. Her  upper lip had two steep peaks like pink mountains, plump and perfectly  kissable …

Stop it, Nate!

He grabbed his beer bottle and squeezed it. Kryptonite, that's what she was.

"All I did was repeat your own words to Harrison," he said. "That you'd  told me you'd do anything if I gave you my paper to hand in."

"But I didn't mean it, and you knew it." With a toss of her head, she  flicked a stray curl back from her eyes. "You lied so Harrison wouldn't  go out with me. You thought he was too good for me. And it wasn't just  an asshole move, it was nothing short of evil. I'm surprised there  aren't horns growing out of your forehead." She stabbed her finger at  him and the curl fell right back down again. "I wish he were here, so  you could confess what you did."

Harrison's face flashed into his mind, the way he'd looked a few weeks  ago, last time Nate had paid him a visit. He spoke without thinking.  "Harrison wouldn't have come."

"Why not? Unlike you, he has nothing to be ashamed of."

Nate hesitated. He didn't like talking about his brother. "Harrison's  busy writing a book," he said after a moment. If only it were true. If  Harrison could summon the enthusiasm to actually start the thing, he  might finally manage to crawl out from the grief and depression that had  crippled him.

"What kind of book? No, let me guess. Is it a memoir on how he survived a  childhood living with his devil brother? A horror story to give people  nightmares?"

"It's nothing you'd want to read." Nate brushed off the question because  he was trying to remember what kind of book his brother had once wanted  to write.

Suzie flushed. "You'd be surprised at the books I read," she said in an  acid tone. She must have thought he was implying Harrison's book would  be too intellectual for her.

Hell, Nate even offended her when he wasn't trying. Maybe he should try  to clear the air and end their war. He couldn't blame her for being  angry he'd lied to Harrison to stop their date. It hadn't exactly been  his finest moment.

"Listen, Suzie. I-"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand that made her bracelets clatter.  "Don't bother to apologize, Milhouse. Nothing could make up for what  you did."

Her use of that hated nickname swept away his guilt in a flood of anger.  Being moved into advanced classes at school had meant he'd been younger  and smaller than everyone else. The bullies had already singled him  out, but when Suzie had christened him Milhouse she may as well have  painted a target on his chest.

"I never apologize, and I have no regrets," he growled. "Except the fact  I can't put you over my knee and give you the spanking you so richly  deserve."

She gasped. She was still leaning towards him, her face close. A rebel  curl was dangling over one eye, all-but-daring him to smooth it away.  The neckline of her dress swept low enough that he couldn't help but  admire the way her breasts heaved with each outraged breath. The small  buttons that ran down her front trembled, inviting speculation on how  easily they might come undone. Her beautiful lips had paled with the  strength of her fury, and he had a sudden, almost uncontrollable urge to  pull her to him, to cover her mouth with his. And then he'd yank that  dress up and give her the spanking he'd promised.

Hell, what was he thinking? Nate shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't let  himself imagine things like that, let alone get hard at the thought.  Hadn't he learned his lesson the first time he'd been infatuated with  her?