Blackmailed Into a Fake Engagement / Tempted Into the Tycoon's Trap: Blackmailed Into a Fake Engagement
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She glanced inside the box and inhaled the scent of fresh bread. Heaven. She reluctantly met Luc’s gaze. “You’re sure you don’t mind sharing?”
“Not at all,” he said, amusement tugging at his sensual mouth. “I would have never dreamed you’d be so enthusiastic about carbs.”
She shouldn’t like him. He was powerful, oozed confidence and probably always got his way. She couldn’t help smiling in commiseration. “One of the top-ten wonderful things about leaving Hollywood is being able to indulge myself with forbidden foods more often. Thank you,” she said and took a bite of the fresh bread.
He pulled some containers from the refrigerator. “I noticed your refrigerator’s bare except for frozen dinners. Where’s your staff?”
“My uncle, who owns the ranch, offered to share his housekeeper with me, but I don’t want to cause any extra expense during the transition phase,” she said and put the food on a plate, then placed it into the microwave.
“So my chef wasn’t far off the mark,” he said, resting his hands on his hips.
“My focus right now is getting up to speed on managing the rescue operations of the ranch. I eventually want to add a summer camp for disadvantaged children. Cooking for myself isn’t a big priority. If you’re concerned about food, you can always stay in town. There’s a diner and fast-food restaurant, a motel and—”
He shook his head. “You and I have to be together in order to sell the story.”
The microwave alarm dinged and Gwen removed the food. Her mouth watered in anticipation. Just as she pulled a knife and fork from a drawer, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the Caller ID, she immediately picked up. “Hello?”
“Gwen, this is Robert Williams with the fire department. We have a report of a mare stuck in an icy pond on the McAllister property. If we can get her out alive, do you want to rescue her?”
The image of the trapped horse flashed through her mind, and her heart tightened. “She doesn’t belong to any of the ranchers who live close by?”
“No. They’re pretty sure she’s wild.”
“Wow,” Gwen said, adrenaline rushing through her veins. “Yes. I’ll call Dennis and the vet and bring over the trailer. Thanks.” She pushed the off button and speed-dialed Dennis, the operations manager for the entire ranch, but it went straight to voice mail. “Darn,” she muttered, remembering that Dennis had taken his wife into town to celebrate their anniversary. He’d probably turned off his cell.
“What’s wrong?” Luc asked.
“I need to go pick up a horse for rescue. Dennis usually goes with me.”
“I can help you,” he said.
She shot him a look of disbelief. “This is a wild horse. If the fire department can get her out of the freezing pond, she still may not be cooperative.”
“A close friend of my parents owns a ranch. I spent summers there when I was a kid and teenager. I worked with the trainer when he broke a couple wild ponies.”
“Really?” she said, surprised. As one of the privileged Hudsons, Luc struck her as the kind of man who would demand and receive only the best and most cutting-edge conveniences in his life. She would have bet money that the only physical challenges he faced were conducted in a temperature-controlled gym…or perhaps the bedroom. She immediately pushed that thought aside. Where had it come from anyway?
“Yes, really. Shouldn’t we be going?” he asked. “I’ll grab my coat, hat and gloves.”
Rattled by the intensity in his expression, she nodded. Without Dennis around, she would be a fool to reject Luc’s offer of assistance. “Okay,” she said and pulled out plastic wrap to cover the food and put it in the refrigerator.
“Bring that plate with you?” he asked over his shoulder as he walked toward the room where he was staying.
“I can’t eat and drive,” she called after him, but he didn’t appear to be listening.
Less than a minute later, he appeared in the hallway dressed for the outdoors. “I’ll drive. You can navigate in between bites.”
“That truck has a stick shift and an ornery clutch.”
“I can handle it,” he said with a level gaze that let her know he could handle a lot more than she’d suspected he could. He moved his athletic body with a sensual confidence that went deeper than skin, leaving no doubt that he could take care of a woman in every possible way.
Looking at him reminded her that it had been eons since she’d been held by a man, even longer since she’d made love. She’d told herself she didn’t miss having a man in her life. She didn’t miss having someone take her breath away with just a look, someone who could make her heart stop and start just by saying her name. She sure as heck didn’t miss the pain that followed when she made herself vulnerable.
She suspected he was a master seducer and lover, the kind of man to leave a woman begging for more. Gwen resolved not to be that woman.
Two
Within minutes of when Gwen and Luc had arrived at the rescue site, Gwen knew she’d underestimated Luc Hudson. Standing at the edge of the pond with freezing water rising to the tops of his boots, he used a chainsaw to break up the ice that covered most of the pond.
Gwen’s apprehension rose with each passing second. As soon as the chill overtook the mare, the horse would lose a lot of her fight and the job of rescuing her would grow more difficult than ever. Colored chestnut-brown, with a white star on her forehead, the horse was drenched, her eyes wide with fear and distress. She wanted out, but she was afraid of the men.
The men looped a rope over the mare’s head. She fought the rope for a couple of minutes. Since she was wild, she didn’t understand that they were trying to help her. Luc helped spread a tarp over the ice he had pulverized.
When one of the men waded into the water wearing an orange suit and carrying another rope for the horse’s hindquarters, Gwen rushed to grab one of the ropes from the shore.
Luc shook his head. “You don’t need to be out here. Get the trailer ready.”
“The trailer’s ready,” she retorted.
“He has a point,” said Dan, the fireman holding the rope next to her. “This is a job for someone with more upper-body strength.”
Frustration twisted inside her, and she passed the rope to one of the other firemen. “I’ll back the trailer a few feet closer.”
“Good idea,” Dan said. “We’re going to need to get her inside as soon as possible.”
The wind sliced like a vicious whip, and sleet pelted her down jacket like tiny needles of ice. Gwen climbed into the truck and started the engine, then backed up a few feet until she heard one of the men yell. She exited the truck and checked the trailer again.
Luc waved for her to come to him. “Here,” he said, taking a digital camera from his pocket.
“What?” she asked in dismay. “You want me to take pictures?”
“No, I want you to shoot video,” he said. “Stand over there,” he said. “The light will be better.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No,” he said. “Trust me. You’ll thank me later. Shoot the video. Press this button when I tell you to start.”
“This is ridiculous. I need to be helping that horse the second she gets out of the pond.”
“We’re going to take her straight into the trailer. There’s nothing else you can do. This will be great PR for your cause.”
She tasted the bitter flavor of cynicism in the back of her throat. “PR,” she said in disgust. “I should have known. You have a one-track mind.”
His eyes turned cold as the ice surrounding them. “PR is what will bring in the donations you need if you’re going to continue to rescue these horses.” He shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Hoo,” the man in the water called. “She’s on the move. This could be it.”
Conflicted by Luc’s comments, Gwen stepped aside, watching the mare thrash toward shore.
“Now,” Luc called and Gwen pushed the button for recording video. With her heart pounding at the mare’s distress, it took everything inside her to focus on the drama unfolding before her.
The mare stumbled and the men struggled to get her back on her feet. Her mouth dipped into the freezing water, and Gwen’s heart stopped.
Luc gently tugged the rope and spoke to the mare in a deep coaxing voice. “C’mon, baby, you can do it. Just a little more. We’re gonna take care of you.”
The mare dipped her mouth into the water again, then lifted it and shook her head. With a surge of energy and a synergy that was nearly mystical, the horse moved forward, Luc pulled and the fireman in the water pushed.
The mare stumbled up the tarp onto land, and Luc and the others immediately led her into the trailer. “You can stop now,” he yelled to Gwen.
Gwen blinked, automatically following his command. She’d been so tense she could barely move. She forced her feet to move toward the trailer. Luc snapped the back of the trailer closed and looked up at her.
His gaze met hers, and she felt a click that reverberated all the way down to her feet. In that instant, she understood what Luc Hudson was about. He would go to the wall for what he considered important. As far as the press was concerned, he would play them like a concert pianist to produce exactly the music he wanted. Power and passion emanated from him.
She fought a breathtaking combination of attraction and terror. Gwen realized she’d never met a man quite like him before.
“Ready?” he said.
Gwen nodded, hoping her strange feelings were like lightning, here for one second and gone the next.
Luc pulled the truck to a stop outside a large barn. Two men rushed outside to greet them.
“Good,” Gwen murmured and glanced at him. “The vet and ranch manager.”
Nodding, Luc got out of the car. Gwen exited from her side at the same time. “Carl, Dennis, this is Luc Hudson. He’s visiting and he helped with the rescue.”
Luc extended his hand to the two men. “I hope you have access to some warmers,” he said.
“Already set up,” Carl said. “I talked to the fire department while you two were in transit. They said you were a big help.”
“Glad to pitch in,” he said.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your anniversary,” Gwen said to Dennis.
The ruddy-faced man smiled and nodded. “Hey, at least we got a meal out.” He winked. “More if I get back early enough.”A thump sounded from the trailer. “This one sounds impatient. We’d better get her inside.”
It required quite a bit of coaxing and maneuvering, but the four of them managed to get the mare into a large stall. She didn’t appear happy with her confinement, but she readily drank the water available for her.
The more Luc studied the horse, the more suspicious he became. He glanced at Gwen, and she looked up at him at the same moment.
“She’s pregnant,” they both said at the same time.
Gwen gave a breathless laugh and blinked, meeting his gaze as if she was curious about him but didn’t want to be.
Her expression made something in his gut tie into a knot. She reminded him a bit of the mare—strong, with a wild streak, but skittish as the day was long.
She looked away. “Carl, do you think the baby will be okay?”
“Give me time to examine her,” the vet said, nudging his shoulder against the horse and talking softly to her.
Luc watched Gwen cross her arms over her chest and bite her lush lip. She was a complex woman, different from any he’d met lately, if ever. When she’d been in the Hollywood scene, her hair color had been a brighter blonde and she’d always looked cool and polished.
Luc liked her current look better. With honey-colored hair, a face scrubbed free of cosmetics and fingernails without polish, she looked warmer, more real. More touchable.
In another circumstance, he would wonder if her curly dark eyelashes were false and if the bright color of her green eyes came courtesy of tinted contact lenses, but he knew better. She was one of the rare actresses whose beauty easily conquered the unforgiving scrutiny of Hi-Def.
Watching her fidget, he moved closer. “What are you going to name her?”
She glanced up at him with a blank expression. “I have no idea.”
“She’s strong. I’d bet on her survival.”
“You would?” she asked, her gaze straying to the mare.
“Sure. Wouldn’t you?”
She looked at him and slowly nodded. “Thank you for helping. I didn’t expect—”
He lifted his hand to cut her off. “My pleasure. Really.”
She narrowed her eyes and studied him for a moment. “I can’t quite figure you out. One minute, I’m sure your defining character quality is operating the PR machine. The next minute…”
He raised his eyebrows. “The next minute?” he prompted.
“The next minute you’re insisting I eat your food or helping to rescue a horse.”
“Trust your first instinct,” he couldn’t resist saying in a dry tone. “I’m completely one-dimensional. A cynical, heartless prick.”
She blinked, surprise widening her eyes for a full moment before she did a double take. Then she shook her head and laughed. “Okay, thanks for the warning.”
“I think she’s gonna be okay,” the vet called from inside the stall. “You’re going to have a tougher time with her when she gets the rest of her strength back, which will be soon, so be prepared.”
Gwen walked closer to the stall. “What about those scrapes from the ice?”
“She didn’t like my cleaning them, but I did it anyway. I was able to give her an antibiotic without her killing me. Her temperature’s close to normal, so that’s good.”
“What about the baby?”
The vet nodded. “So far, so good. Keep the monitor on tonight, and I’ll drop by tomorrow.”
“Thanks for coming out,” Dennis said. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to head back to my wife. Call my cell if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll be here first thing in the morning.”
“You go on home. I’ll stay here for a while,” Gwen said.
“Okay, g’night,” Dennis said, tipping his head. “Thanks for your help, Luc.”
“You’re welcome,” Luc said.
The two men left and Gwen turned to Luc. “You can go back to the house now. I’ll be okay.”
Luc shrugged. “I’ll stay.”
“It’s really not necessary,” she said. “I don’t need—”
“You never know,” he said. “I came in handy before.”
She gave a reluctant nod. “Okay,” she said and went to the tack room. Luc wandered around the barn, looking at the horses in their stalls and taking in the layout. Inhaling the scents of hay and horseflesh, he was taken back to the summers he’d spent at his father’s friend’s ranch. Not many people knew it, but there’d been a time when Luc had secretly considered becoming a rancher. Before he’d graduated from high school, though, it had become clear that Hudson Pictures would need him.
He moved back to the stall belonging to the pregnant mare and watched Gwen hang a bridle just inside the mare’s stall.
“Good move,” he said. “You want her to get used to the idea of the bridle, so you put it where she can see it and smell it.”
“One of the many things my uncle and Dennis have taught me. Look at how tired she is,” Gwen said in a soft voice. “Her head’s drooping.”
“She’s fighting sleep. It could be days before she really rests. Horses won’t truly rest unless they feel safe, but it’s probably best for her lungs for her to wait awhile anyway.”
She glanced at him in surprise. “That’s more than passing knowledge about horses.”
“I told you I spent several summers on the ranch of a family friend.”
She studied him for a moment. Her curiosity emanated from her like air from a fan. “You’re a Hudson. You’ve got the connections and the background. Why didn’t you go into acting?”
He laughed. “Not my forte and never my secret desire. I’m great in front of the media for fifteen minutes, thirty minutes max.”
“Then what?”
“The real me comes out,” he said.
Her lips curved upward in humor. “How scary is that?”
“Pretty damn scary,” he said.
“Then why did you choose PR?”
“More of a case of it choosing me. Hudson Pictures is bigger than me. I may have played with the idea of doing something else, but I always knew I would be a part of it. Family, heritage, destiny,” he added in a mock melodramatic tone.
“That’s the way I feel about this ranch. About rescuing horses. It’s bigger than me.”
“Making movies wasn’t?” he asked.
“This is real,” she said. “Movies are make-believe.”
He stepped closer to her. “But you have to admit that pictures serve a purpose. They make people laugh when they’re depressed. They entertain and educate.”
“True, but I’m more at peace now than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
“Some would call it hiding.”
She tossed her head. “Some can call it whatever they want. It’s most important what I call it.” She shot him a sideways glance. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the house?”
He laughed at her obvious effort to get rid of him. “I would have thought you were a woman who likes a challenge.”
“Depends whether the challenge is worth my time,” she said in a cool voice as she met his gaze again. Her voice might be cool, but her eyes were hot.
The combination was seductive for Luc. A forbidden image of Gwen, naked and hot in his bed, sliced through his brain. The woman made him curious. He took another tack and nodded toward the mare. “How’s the mom-to-be looking?”
She turned her attention to the horse and sighed. “Resting as well as she can,” she said, weariness creeping into her tone.
“You sound tired. You’ve had a rough day. Why don’t you go back to the house?”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “I’ll fall asleep as soon as I get there and I should stay awake.”
“Don’t you have cameras you can watch from the house?”
“Yes, but—”
“I could watch while you rest,” he said.
“Why would you do that?”
“I’m not as tired as you are. Besides,” he said, shooting her a wicked grin, “what kind of man would I be if I didn’t look after my fiancée?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t remind me. I’d almost forgotten about that.”
“You’ll get reminders soon enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if the paparazzi didn’t show up on your doorstep.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” she said. “I just usually try to bore them with politeness before I tell them I don’t give interviews anymore.”
“That’s a mistake,” he said. “At some point, you’re going to need financial support in order to maintain your rescue operation. You could get a lot of mileage out of your film background.”
“I’m not interested in that kind of mileage,” she said as she took a seat in the chair opposite the mare’s stall. “You can still leave…”
“No. Someone needs to catch you when you fall off that chair,” he said, leaning against the wall.
She raised her chin in mute protest but didn’t engage him further.
Surprisingly enough, the silence was peaceful instead of hostile. The moments passed and Luc drank in the quiet, wondering how long it had been since he’d experienced such a lack of sound. Either his cell was ringing or he was creating the next spin or taking care of the latest crisis.
He drew in a deep breath of the cool air. Hmm. Maybe Gwen had a point. As busy as he’d been today, the atmosphere at the ranch made him feel less cluttered, more calm. Glancing at her to make a comment, he stopped before he swallowed a chuckle at the sight of her with her head rolled back against the wall and her eyes closed, her breath slow and even.
Watching her for the next few moments, he didn’t make a move until her head began to slide downward. He caught her shoulders just as her eyes fluttered open, but he held her right where she was.
She blinked. “What are you doing?”
His gut tightened like a vise. He inhaled her sexy, spicy scent, so at odds with the earthy smell of the barn. Her skin bare of makeup looked as smooth as satin with the slightest bloom of pink in her cheeks. And her mouth, Lord help him. Lush puffy lips the color of roses would haunt his dreams for nights.
“What are you doing?” she repeated, her voice husky.
“Catching you,” he said, flexing his hands. “Catching you before you fall.”
Three
Gwen’s breath stopped in her chest. Excitement whipped through her, shocking her with its intensity. She shook her head and deliberately pushed Luc away. “I’m not falling,” she said and stood, irritated that she felt a little wobbly. “I’m fine,” she said, determined to be exactly that.
Watching her, he slowly rose and nodded. “Good.”
Hating that he seemed to be able to see beneath her skin, she walked to the stall and watched the mare for a few moments. Feeling Luc’s presence just behind her, Gwen glanced at her watch. She would need to rise early in the morning. “I’m going back to the house. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”
“I’ll go with you,” he said and walked beside her as she closed up the barn.
During the last two years, Gwen had spent a lot of time by herself, and that time had been good for her. She’d had the chance to mourn her losses in private. Every once in a while, she’d wished for human companionship but not enough to do anything about it. As for romantic relationships, by the time her divorce from Peter had been final, she’d felt as cold as a frozen lake, and there’d been no thawing.
Snow and sleet pelted her head and shoulders.
“Wicked weather,” Luc said. “How does a California girl stand the cold?”
“I’m not a California girl anymore. I love the snow. There’s nothing like that peaceful quiet after a freshly fallen snow. It’s almost as if the acoustics of the earth change for that bit of time.”
He nodded. “I never thought of it that way, but I guess they do,” he said. “The same way they change during a thunderstorm, or an earthquake. Do you feel the same way about sleet and ice?”
“It’s more dangerous,” she admitted. “But I’m lucky. My uncle installed backup generators for my cabin and the rescue barns.”
“And you don’t ever miss the ocean or warm weather,” he said, his voice full of disbelief. “Especially during winter.”
She pursed her lips together, wanting to refute him, but knowing it was a lie. “Every now and then, I miss the warmth. It’s a trade-off.” She chuckled to herself. “Plus it keeps the paparazzi away. Only a desperate fool is going to show up in this kind of weather to get a photograph of a has-been actress.”
“Has-been,” he echoed, stopping in front of her so that she also was forced to stop. His expression was incredulous. “Is that the way you see yourself? Because you could damn well name your price and part if—”
She shook her head and smiled. “I’m a happy has-been.” His intense gaze seemed to delve inside her as if he could glimpse her secrets. Uneasy, she stepped to the side to move around him, but her foot hit an icy patch and she began to slide. “Damn—”
He caught her and pulled her against his hard chest, making her instantly aware of his strength, stealing her breath away again. She bit her lip. “I’m okay. I don’t need—”
“Maybe not, but I was raised to try to prevent women from falling on the ground. That’s three times today.”
His eyes were full of curiosity and a too-appealing blend of humor and irony. She felt a pop of her own curiosity. A reluctant knight. Who would have thought it? What other secrets lay beneath the Hudson PR exterior?
She pushed away from him. “I’ll tell you a secret. No one’s looking. You could have let me fall on my—self, and no one would have noticed.”
He shrugged. “I would have. Besides, you’ve had a rough day. Your sister, your engagement to me, the horse.”
“You can fix one of those,” she said, growing increasingly uncomfortable with his invasion of her little universe.
“Which one?”
“The engagement. You could make it go away. You could go away.”
He chuckled. “No chance. We’re both stuck for the duration. If you don’t like it, just think of it the same way you do the weather. It’s a trade-off.” He rested his hands on his hips. “So go on to the cabin before I’m struck with a sudden obligation to carry you.”