Duplicity by H. D. Thomson

Author:H. D. Thomson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romantic suspense with paranormal and science fiction elements
Publisher: Bella Media Management
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Straightening, Katherine met the concern in Clark’s eyes. “I really don’t have much choice, now do I?”

She then affixed a smile on her face and stepped inside and into a role she’d grown familiar with. Music, laughter, a multitude of varying voices immediately surrounded her, but it was nothing she hadn’t experienced. For so long, she’d played the game of a Senator’s daughter, always mindful of each and every word that slipped from her mouth. Katherine was tired of it—as far back as her early teens—probably even longer. So she acted.

She’d always felt as if she never belonged, never sparkled, never held her own in an intelligent conversation with the people at these gatherings. They always consisted of a wide range of individuals—politicians, actors, entrepreneurs, scientists—and a Nobel Prize winner thrown in for diversity.

In the cloakroom, she shrugged out of her coat. Clark stood directly behind and helped her slip both arms from their sleeves before he handed their coats to an attendant. His aftershave, a woodsy, clean and distinct male scent teased her senses.

“You smell nice,” Katherine whispered and turned around.

Clark cut a dashing figure in a black tuxedo tailored to his large frame. His thick-framed glasses softened the hard lines of his face and added a keen intelligence to his gray eyes.

“And you look beautiful.”

Katherine had curled her hair and left it unbound to fall in waves around her bare shoulders. She knew the formal black, velvet dress, a perfect and unplanned compliment to Clark’s tuxedo, accented her curves, and the low heart-shaped neckline exposed more cleavage and skin than she was accustomed to—skin that tingled at Clark’s lingering glance.

She saw admiration, then something hot in Clark’s eyes. Her breath stilled, and then continued in a rapid and unsteady rhythm. When he looked at her like that, it made her feel unique, feminine, and desirable. It made her yearn for the taste and touch of him again.

Everything about him, his large hands and frame, his latent strength and rugged face, made her feel delicate and fragile when she knew she wasn’t.

This was crazy. One look from Clark and she turned into a melted marshmallow.

Suddenly feeling awkward and shy, Katherine clasped her hands in front of her. “I guess we better get this over with.”

After they left the cloakroom, Clark grabbed two fluted glasses from a passing waiter and handed her one. She took a sip of champagne, but didn’t give into the temptation to down the contents. Tonight, she needed a clear head.

“Do you see him anywhere?” Clark whispered by her ear.

Katherine glanced over the crowd. “Not yet.”

“Hmm.”

Catching Clark’s arm, she felt the corded muscles bunch beneath her fingers. She hadn’t realized he’d been masking his tension beneath a smooth and relaxed façade. “He’ll show. It’s not like my uncle’s going to miss his own party in his own house.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to the yummy man beside you?” a voice asked from behind Katherine.

Katherine turned and found Rachel in front of her. “Clark, this is my cousin’s wife, Rachel Spalding.

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