Secret Affairs: The End of Faking It / Her Secret Fling / The Ultimate Risk

‘I’ve met her type before. The first stepmother—remember?’

‘So you’re not close to your dad.’ She figured his scathing attitude might get in the way of that.

‘Actually we are pretty close. He retired from the companies completely a few years ago—mainly to be with her. And part of me hopes their marriage will last because, I think it’d kill him to lose the kid, but it won’t. Then he’ll undoubtedly find someone else. I try to treat Lucinda with respect. But he knows I don’t trust her. He tells me time will take care of that and I guess it will. They’ll either break up or last the distance.’

‘You don’t think it’s kind of romantic?’

‘I don’t believe anything is romantic.’

Ah. Penny sat up and repositioned her towel, her interest totally piqued. ‘Who taught you not to?’

Even in the gloom she could see the devilish spark light up his eyes. ‘My stepmother’s yoga instructor.’

‘You’re kidding.’ She couldn’t help but smile. He was so naughty. ‘A yoga instructor.’ Giggles bubbled then. ‘No wonder you won’t settle for one woman—she gave you unrealistic expectations.’

‘You think she set the bar too high?’ he asked, all wickedness.

‘A cougar who taught you hot yoga sex? Way too high.’ And no wonder he’d shot her through the roof with a mere touch, probably some Tantric trick.

‘My stepmother was only eight years older than me,’ he pointed out sarcastically. ‘And Renee was only six.’

Her name was Renee? Penny maintained her grin, but her teeth gritted. ‘But you were how old?’

‘Sixteen. What?’ His grin broadened. ‘Too young?’

‘Too young to have your heart broken.’

He laughed. ‘That wasn’t what happened. It was just sex.’

‘Your first time is never just sex,’ she said with feeling. ‘So what happened?’

‘She had a fiancé I didn’t know about. She wanted to play around on her man for the power trip. And she wanted to break me in.’

Penny had the distinct impression no woman had ever broken Carter, and none ever would. But he’d definitely been bruised. ‘What happens with your first can really leave a mark.’ She knew that for a fact.

‘You think?’ He laughed. ‘Renee was just about fun. It was the next one who really tried to do me over.’

‘Oh? How old was she?’

He chuckled. ‘Three months younger than me, honey. She was Head Girl of the school, I was Head Boy. The perfect match—on paper.’

‘You were Head Boy?’

He shrugged, looked a bit sheepish. ‘Good all-rounder.’

She knew what it took to be appointed the head of one of those elite schools—excellent grades, good sporting or musical achievement, community spirit. The golden boy going with the golden girl. Yeah, she knew all about that. ‘So you were King and Queen of the prom. Then what happened?’

‘We went to university. She switched to be at the same as me.’

‘Oh.’ Penny smiled wryly. ‘Her first mistake.’

‘We were only eighteen, you know? I wasn’t looking to settle down.’

She understood that too. And a decade or so later, Carter still wasn’t looking to settle. ‘So it turned to custard?’

‘She started getting serious about us getting married. Lots of pressure and angst. Eventually she used another guy to try to push me into it.’

‘She tried to make you jealous?’

‘Yeah, but I don’t get jealous. Frankly, I didn’t care that much—as bad as that sounds. So it didn’t work. I just realised I couldn’t trust any of your fair sex.’

He didn’t trust women at all. But then who could blame him? His mother had left—okay, she’d died, but it was being left in a sense. His first lover had used him, his first serious girlfriend had tried to manipulate him into something he didn’t want … and he’d got ever so slightly bitter.

Well, he didn’t need to trust her. He just wanted some fun. In theory he was perfect. Because in theory he posed no threat—he wouldn’t ask for anything she didn’t want to give.

Except he already had. When he kissed her, his body demanded hers to surrender. Still that step too far for her, but she was so tempted by him she knew she was going to have to figure out a way of working it in a way she could handle.

He was looking at her slyly. ‘So what’s the deal with your family?’

‘What do you mean?’ She pulled her legs up tighter and wrapped her arms around her knees. The temperature was really dropping now.

‘You haven’t been home in years and you take me, a near stranger, to ride shotgun on a dinner with your brother. There’s some kind of deal going on.’

‘There’s no deal,’ she said innocently. ‘I have a nice family.’

‘So what, you’re a runaway without a cause?’ He looked sceptical. ‘There has to be something. Some reason why you don’t want to marry or have kids. Not many women don’t want that. Most spend half their lives trying to manipulate their way into that situation.’

‘You have such a nice impression of women.’

‘I call it as I see it. And I like women a lot.’

‘You mean you like a lot of women.’

His grin didn’t deny it. ‘Why limit yourself? And you’re the same in that you don’t want to settle. Why not? Your parents have an ugly divorce or something?’

‘No, they’ve been married almost thirty years and they’re still happy.’ Her heart thudded.

‘Oh.’ Carter looked surprised. ‘That’s nice.’

‘Yeah, they’re good together. They’re not like you, they fully believe in forever happy.’

‘So why don’t you?’

She fell back on her stock avoidance answer. ‘I like my freedom. I like to travel. That’s what I do.’

‘And you really don’t want kids?’

Oh. He’d gone back to that. ‘No. I don’t want children. Most men who want to marry do. I don’t want to disappoint someone. It’s easier to be with men who don’t want either of those things.’