Intent to Seduce

Reaching into her bag, Mac took out her phone. She was about to press a button to speed-dial Sophie when she realized that it wasn’t her phone. It was the color of white mother-of-pearl. Hers was black. A quick search of her bag confirmed her suspicion. When they’d switched outfits in the back of Sophie’s shop, they’d switched the identical purses they’d bought too. After punching in her own number, she listened to it ring.

“Mac?” Sophie asked. “Where are you?”

“I’m in the air.”

“Lucky you. I’m still on the ground, but we should be moving away from the gate soon. I take it everything went smoothly.”

“Everything except that I have your purse.”

“Yeah. I figured that out when I grabbed the phone. But it shouldn’t be a problem. You have my permission to use my credit cards. I doubt that I’ll need yours at the spa.”

“Go ahead and use them if you have to.”

“We’re lucky that’s the only thing that’s gone wrong. I can’t believe we’ve pulled this off.”

“I hate to rain on your parade, but there’s still the possibility that Lucas will send me packing and show up at your spa.”

“They don’t allow men on the premises. Besides, he’s going to be much too busy engaging in those sexual fantasies you’re going to create for him.”

What if he doesn’t? What if he refuses to—

“You’re having second thoughts, aren’t you?”

“No…well, maybe a few.” Mac sighed.

“Stick to your first answer. And don’t let my brother intimidate you. He’s a man. And in spite of his numerous and infuriating faults, he’s fair. The moment he realizes we’ve made a switch, he’ll get me on my cell phone and lecture me. I’ll make sure he knows this was all my idea—and then I’ll suggest he have one of his hotshot security people check out the spa. Uh-oh. We’re starting to pull away from the gate. Just remember that when Lucas finds out I’m perfectly safe, he’ll calm right down. The rest is up to you.”

For a few minutes after Sophie broke the connection, Mac stared straight in front of her. It was up to her. She was used to that kind of pressure in her lab. She could handle it there.

And she would handle it once she got to Key West. In the meantime, she was going to find something else to think about. An idea bloomed in her mind and she pushed the button on her armrest.

“What can I do for you, Ms. Wainright?”

“First, you can call me Sophie.”

“Only if you agree to call me Jill.”

“Do you ever fly with a copilot?”

Jill’s laugh flowed into the cabin. “Frequently. In fact, when I fly with Mr. Wainright, I usually sit in the copilot’s seat. He prefers to be in charge.”

“A top gun?”

“You got it.”

“Could I come up there with you? I’d love to learn about flying.”

“Sure thing. I’d love the company.”

“WHERE’S SOPHIE?” Lucas bit out the words as he glanced from MacKenzie Lloyd to the pilot of his private jet. Somehow he’d managed to keep his voice low and controlled—a sharp contrast to the feelings coursing through him. The first thing he’d felt when Mac had walked down the short flight of steps from the plane was pleasure. It had sprung to life so quickly that he’d barely had time to recognize it before he’d discovered that his sister was not with her. Then the fear had struck.

“Sophie’s perfectly safe,” Mac said. “She’s at a spa in North Carolina. I…we switched places.”

Lucas shifted his gaze to Jill Roberts who had descended the short flight of steps directly behind Mac. “Are you involved in this deception?”

Mac stepped in front of his pilot. “No. I told her the truth just as we landed. Before that, I was wearing a blond wig, and she believed I was Sophie. Please don’t blame Captain Roberts. Sophie said you’d be fair.”

Ruthlessly shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts, Lucas narrowed his eyes. It was a look he’d honed to perfection when dealing with employees who’d displeased him. He kept Mac pinned with it while he considered what she’d said.

It would have been easy enough to fool his pilot. She hadn’t worked for Wainright Enterprises that long, and he seldom used his private jet to transport family. He’d done it this time to ensure that Sophie arrived safely. And he was also blaming Mac for something he was almost certain his sister was behind. “I want to talk to Sophie.”

“Of course.” Instead of withering under his glance, Mac efficiently punched numbers into her cell phone, then handed it to him.

He listened to two rings.

“Lucas?”

His sister’s voice had some of his fear fading. “Where in hell are you?”

“Didn’t Mac tell you? I’m on my way to the Serenity Spa in Serenity, North Carolina.”

“Hold on.” Lucas cut her off, then directed his gaze at Mac and his pilot. “You two wait right here. We’re not finished.” Turning, he strode to the privacy and shade offered by a nearby hangar.

“Where exactly is this spa?”

“I told you, Serenity, North Carolina—about an hour’s drive from Charlotte. I’ll be quite safe. The place is run by women for women. No chance of any fortune hunters here—although you might argue the prices they charge puts them in that category. I’ll give you their phone number and their Web site address. You can have one of your security men check it out.”

“I intend to. They can do it in person when they pick you up and bring you here.”

“Not a good idea, bro. I told you before, I won’t have you running my life. You promised you’d back off for a while.”

“And in return you agreed to spend some time with me down here in the Keys.”

“You had me followed. That isn’t backing off. And it’s something I won’t put up with.”

Lucas sighed. “Soph, there’s something I haven’t told you. It’s why I wanted you to come down here for a while. We need to talk.”

“Talk is the last thing I need right now. I’m sorry. I know I agreed to come there, but I…just couldn’t.”

The quick change in her tone from anger to contrition pulled at him.

“I love you, Lucas. And I know that you did what you thought was best for the family. But being with you right now is only going to make me think of how lousy I am at choosing men. I really need to be alone.”

It was the catch in her voice that had the pain shooting through him. He couldn’t help recalling the scene in his office when he’d forced her to look at the evidence Tracker had gathered on Bradley Davis. It would be a long time before he could forget the words she’d hurled at him. They’d hurt much more than the right cross she’d managed to land on his chin. She’d accused him of having ice water in his veins, of being a ruthless dictator, of caring only about Wainright Enterprises.

What else could he expect her to say? He was prepared to go to almost any length to protect the company his grandfather had built and his father had almost destroyed. He stared past the low-slung buildings that formed the small private airport. The air was stifling, not even a hint of a breeze stirred the palms. If Sophie had a built-in homing device that seemed to attract fortune hunters, she’d inherited that gene directly from their father. His last and fifth divorce had come close to destroying Wainright Enterprises.

He’d tried to tell himself that Sophie would have been hurt even more if she’d gone ahead and married Bradley Davis. But that certainty hadn’t helped a bit when she’d broken down and sobbed in his office.