‘You were willing to have me living with you,’ she pointed out.
‘But I wasn’t going to marry you,’ he said scathingly. ‘You’ve been very clever to trap him into marriage.’
‘I didn’t trap him into anything!’ God, he could be so hurtful when thwarted.
Damien smiled slightly. ‘You didn’t need to, you just denied him the one thing he wanted. Even I might have been prepared to marry you to get that.’
‘You might?’ she asked breathlessly.
‘I might. Unfortunately James got there first, and I’ve never fought for any woman. Poor James, he had to be the one you said no to.’ He shook his head.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Just how many lovers have you had?’ he demanded.
‘Why, none.’
‘None!’ he scoffed. ‘You don’t respond like an innocent, in fact I’m sure you’re not. You have a good body and you know it, using it to your advantage. James must be going insane living with you like this—I would have taken you by force by now.’
‘I’m sure you would!’
‘You can bet on it.’
Kate was about to answer him when James came back into the room, making it impossible for them to carry on with their conversation. James couldn’t know quite the scene he had just interrupted and he apparently didn’t notice the tense atmosphere that existed between them, smiling broadly as he turned to face them.
‘Jennings is just bringing the champagne,’ he said brightly.
Kate was too choked to say anything. Damien must think her really devious to imagine she could do all the things he was accusing her of—to imagine she would deliberately use him and Matt Strange to get James to propose to her, to get any man to propose to her. The fact that James was her brother was irrelevant, Damien believed her to be capable of such deceit, that was all that seemed to matter to her at the moment.
Damien shook his head. ‘Not for me, thanks. I have to be going now.’
‘But we haven’t discussed the film yet,’ James protested.
‘Kate must have told you all that seems important at the moment. All the rest can wait, we have quite a few months to shooting time. I’ll be in touch.’
‘Let me get Jennings to show you out.’
‘I can find my own way, thanks, I found my way in. I think you should ask Kate about that, James. Ask her what she was doing in Matt Strange’s arms when I arrived.’ Damien paused at the door. ‘And while you’re at it I should ask her whose bed she slept in last night, and the circumstances behind us taking a bath together at your apartment this morning. Oh, and I must say I liked your choice of bath colour, I’ve always liked bottle-green.’
James’ eyes had widened with shock and disbelief. ‘Kate!’ His look demanded that she explain.
‘God, you’re a swine, Damien!’ she choked at him.
‘Sure I am,’ he agreed tauntingly. ‘But I just don’t see why you should have things all your own way.’
‘Kate, is all this true?’ Her brother looked at her sharply.
There was no mistaking the bewilderment in his voice, and Kate blushed a furious red. She could try denying everything, but the basic outline of what Damien had said was true. She had spent the night in his bed, in his arms in fact, and they had been in the bath together this morning. It all sounded very damning, and Damien knew that.
‘Doesn’t her silence tell you it is?’ Damien put in dryly. ‘I’ll be in touch, James. Goodbye, Kate. And thanks for last night, I enjoyed every moment of it.’
‘Why, you—’
‘Cool it, James,’ he said abruptly. ‘I agree with Matt Strange, she isn’t worth it.’ He didn’t give Kate another glance, but slammed out of the room.
‘Explain, Kate!’ James’ look was grim.
She shrugged helplessly. ‘What is there to explain? Damien’s already said it all.’
‘You mean it’s true?’
She shook her head. ‘Not the way he put it, no.’
Her brother looked stern. ‘Then tell me just how it was, starting with last night.’
Kate took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts together. ‘Last night Damien took me back to his apartment—’
‘But you were supposed to go to mine!’
‘Damien had other plans,’ she sighed. ‘Just let me explain, James. Right—well, he decided that it was a waste of time going to your apartment, and as I was only going to shower and change I had to admit it was too. Everything was fine until it came to going home. He went straight back to his apartment and I wasn’t really in any fit state to protest too much when he started to kiss me. He is very attractive, James, overpoweringly sensual, and I wasn’t a match for that. Besides, I’d had a couple of drinks at Matt Strange’s and—’
‘He got you drunk!’ James exclaimed angrily. ‘Of all the—’
‘No, no, he didn’t do that,’ she interrupted hurriedly. ‘He wasn’t even with me when I drank them, he and Matt had gone off somewhere to talk. Anyway, by the time we got back to his place the drinks were starting to take effect.’
His hands clenched into fists. ‘And he took advantage of you in that state? I didn’t think even he would stoop that low!’
‘He didn’t. Will you let me finish, James, and stop jumping to conclusions!’
‘All right,’ he agreed grudgingly.
‘Thank you. Now I’m not saying he wouldn’t have made love to me—he made it very clear that that was his intention. James!’ she admonished as she could see him about to interrupt yet again. ‘As I was saying, he made no secret of the fact that he wanted me. And he would probably have got me too if I hadn’t passed out.’
‘My God! Just how much had you had to drink?’
‘That’s just it, as far as I was aware I’d had a couple of Martini and lemonades. Well, you know what a long drink they are, and I always like lots of lemonade. Well,
