Betrayed By Desire

By Anne Ivory

Excerpt:

It was almost an hour and a half before Adrian was able to drag Lesley away to the Conservatory for a cup of coffee. After placing their order he turned to see she was still glued to her sketch pad.
“I guess I don’t have to ask if you had a good time.”
Her eyes flew up guiltily but when she saw the amusement on his face, she smiled. It was so unguarded and open that his pulse quickened.
“You should smile more often,” he said when found his voice.
“It was amazing wasn’t it?” Lesley exclaimed at the same time. “Thanks so much for bringing me. It was just spectacular!”
“Hang on! We haven’t even seen Roundhay yet. Did you know the park is spread over seven hundred acres. All those winding pathways through the wooded land, countless themed gardens and what not. A good place to get lost together,” he teased.
“Okay, okay, you can stop now," she said laughing. "I can tell you’ve done your research.”
“Yes, I’m very good at that.”
Lesley silently processed the information. What exactly did he mean by that? “Obviously we can’t see everything today. I’ll have to come back another day by myself,” she said and flipped the sketch pad around to show him what she'd been working on.
Adrian was astonished to see his own face staring back at him. Disconcerted, he reached for the drawing and studied it at length. He appeared happy and relaxed except for a hint of vulnerability around his eyes. Was that how she saw him? He was at a loss for words. “Wow! He exclaimed. "That’s...er...very good!”
Leslie, who'd been nervously awaiting his opinion, relaxed. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes, I do! You know damn well it is! I suppose the subject matter helped too.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “You know...easy on the eye and all that.”
In spite of the flippant response she could tell immediately that he was pleased and even a bit self-conscious.
“You’re a sneaky little thing aren’t you?”
“Why sneaky?”
“I had no clue you were sketching me. Are you going to frame it and place it by your bedside?”
She laughed. “Yes, of course, right beside the one of my boyfriend.”
His smile disappeared. That odd twisting feeling in his gut was not jealously, he told himself. “Boyfriend? You said you were single.”
She raised her brow at his abrupt tone. “I am! But that doesn’t mean I won’t have one in the future.”
“Oh! So you’re just trying me to make me jealous? Is that it?”
She flushed. “No, of course not, I was joking but...er...just out of curiosity, did it work?”
“Yes!” Adrian replied.
She was so taken aback to hear him admit it that she was at a loss for words. “Er...we should be getting back. It’s quite late.”
“Do I make you uncomfortable Lesley?”
She nodded. “A bit. However, I did have a lot of fun today. How about you?”
“I did! And I’m especially glad you got rid of that Miss Burke persona.”
“Miss Burke?”
“My terrifying primary school teacher.”
“I don’t get it?”
“The last two times we met you made me feel like a severely chastened school boy.”
Lesley tried to feel insulted but her eyes twinkled as she imagined Adrian as a little boy being reprimanded by his teacher.
“By the way, you never did tell me how old you were.”
“Old enough to be a terrifying primary school teacher.”
“And just how old is that?” he insisted.
“Er...Twenty-three.”
Adrian’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me?”
She crossed two fingers under the table and shook her head, wondering what he would say if she admitted she was actually only twenty.
“For heaven’s sake! You’re just a kid!” He suddenly burst out laughing. “I guess Tropical World was the perfect place for this outing. God! I feel positively ancient,” he groaned.
“How old is ancient?”
“Thirty-two.”
Lesley rolled her eyes. “Yup! A regular old codger, aren’t you?”
He gave her a hard stare. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I suppose I do. Bu

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anne Ivory
• Release date: Aug 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311523709

Anne Ivory

Anne Ivory lives in New York with her husband who supports her in all her endeavors including buying her a daily dose of dark chocolate.

Book preview

BETRAYED BY DESIRE

By

Anne Ivory

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Published by:

K. S. Frain on SMASHWORDS

Copyright 2015 K. S. Frain

ISBN: 9781311523709

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business, establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords License Statement

All rights reserved. Without limiting the right under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. This book is a copyrighted property of the author and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Published by:

K. S. Frain on SMASHWORDS

Copyright 2015 K. S. Frain

*****

Table Of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Prologue

Daniel Tranmer was in love!

Yes, at the ripe old age of twenty-six, he was finally and irrevocably in love with Lesley Wainwright.

He was going to marry her and they were going to live happily ever after, or some such thing. He had driven to Leeds the day before and bought the largest diamond ring he could find. But first he would kneel at her feet, of course. Women apparently went for that sort of thing. In his mind he could already see the astonished wonder on her face when he placed that ring on her finger.

It was strange this love business. The bug bit you when you least expected it.

It was only a few days ago, he recalled…

Three months ago

He’d picked up the brand new convertible earlier that afternoon. The sun was shining. What a shocker. And summer was just around the corner. He ought to have been elated instead his mood was dark. All because of Barbara. He dated her off and on for about two months and she’d just informed him she was pregnant. She was most certainly lying, he thought angrily, and unwittingly stepped on the gas.

He ought to slow down, he told himself, he was driving down a narrow country lane, but the engine was powerful and speed his aphrodisiac. The car jumped at his every command making him feel in control for the very first time that day.

Suddenly a bicyclist appeared before him. He slowed down to avoid mowing down the woman as he whooshed by. When he glanced in the rearview mirror it was in time to see her go down.

Damn!

He slammed the brakes and reversed. By the time he drew near she was already up and vigorously brushing the damp dirt off her skirt. Her bike though was not in a good shape and the front wheel looked a little askew.

She was also wildly furious and shrieked the moment she saw him. You idiot! You could have killed me. Just look at my bike! This is not a race track. You city people…

Daniel stood rooted to the ground in disbelief. He wasn’t used to being scolded or yelled at. Granted he was in the wrong, but still. Look, I’m sorry and you’re absolutely right, I shouldn’t have been driving so fast. He reached out to touch her shoulder. Are you hurt? I’ll run you to the hospital."

The sincerity of his apology seemed to calm her down a bit. There’s no need. I’m fine, she replied stiffly.

Are you absolutely sure?

Yes, yes, I’m sure, she said waving him away irritably. She set her bicycle to upright and turned to him. Her gaze suddenly sharpened. Why, you’re Daniel Tranmer, aren’t you?"

Daniel was so relieved that she was unhurt that her question took him unawares. In that moment he took his first good look at her—and caught his breath. She was absolutely stunning, almost otherworldly. Where had she been all his life? was his first thought. Later, he could have sworn he’d heard the sound of harps carrying over the wind.

She appeared almost ethereal in a wispy white summery dress. And the shining waist length blonde hair was tied behind with a red scarf. He skimmed her face taking note of the purity of her features. A lovely oval, high cheekbones and the most perfect lips he’d ever seen, soft and so innocent that it sent a pang through his heart. And her emerald green eyes, tilting delightfully at the corners, were just spectacular. He was so discombobulated for a moment that he was incapable of speech. When he met her puzzled eyes, he realised she had spoken and expected an answer of some sort.

You are Daniel Tranmer, right? she repeated, a bit hesitantly, this time.

His eyes widened in surprise. Er…yes, I’m Daniel. Have we met before? He was sure he’d never seen her before. He was not one to forget a pretty face.

She smiled, then, and Daniel forgot to breathe.

Her whole face lit up. Oh, no! But I do remember the girls sighing every time you passed through the village on that noisy motorbike of yours. She nodded towards his car. I see you’ve upgraded now.

He followed her gaze to his convertible and looked chagrined. Er…yes. What was wrong with him? He was never tongue tied. And she was only a teen if he were to take a guess. About eighteen or so. He regained his composure and his gaze turned inquisitive. And you? You were not amongst that sighing bunch of girls?

Lesley laughed. Me? Most certainly not! I was only ten. You were like a gazillion years older than us. We thought those other girls silly, my friends and I. And I have to admit that the collective sighing was hilarious.

I see, Daniel sounding a little putout.

His reaction was bewildering to Lesley and a bit of a let down. She thought it quite amusing but he’d sounded almost disappointed. She studied him curiously. Tall and lithe, he was dressed in a pair of snug jeans, a motorcycle jacket over a white tee and loafers with no socks. Quite gorgeous he was, she noted absently, with thick caramel brown hair and baby blues. That sexy crooked smile didn’t hurt either. She could well understand why he’d earned his reputation as a lady killer.

And, what’s your name, if you don’t mind my asking?

Lesley…er…Wainwright.

You were ten, you say?

Leslie nodded.

How about that? A slow lopsided grin split his face and he shook his head in pretend awe looking her up and down. She was tall, maybe a few inches shorter than his own six foot plus frame. You’re all gorgeous and grown up, now, Miss Wainwright. And it seems to me that you’re well on your way to becoming quite a heartbreaker yourself.

Lesley flushed. Her gaze skittered away from the warm admiration in his eyes. Wow! He was smooth! Real smooth! She recognized the flattery for what it was and snorted, but couldn’t help feeling thrilled. She wasn’t used to older men, especially, charming devils like Daniel Tranmer flirting with her.

Let me drive you home. It’s the least I can do. Before she could protest he hoisted her bike over his shoulder and opened the boot of his car.

From that moment on, Daniel was hooked. By the time he dropped her off in front of her home he’d already manipulated and wheedled her into have dinner with him.

Lesley had just turned eighteen. Lily, her older sister, and she had grown up rather isolated in the quiet village of Rawdon not having ventured further than nearby Leeds to shop or catch a movie. She had been the typical shy and awkward teen. As if the ghastly plaits, her mother insisted upon, weren’t bad enough, the corrective braces and eye glasses did nothing to help boost her confidence. Matters only worsened as time went by. At fourteen, to her dismay, she shot up quickly and was soon towering over most boys in her class.

Then two years later, a metamorphosis took place. The childish plaits were replaced by a thick braid of golden hair. The braces came off and spectacles swapped for contact lenses revealing eyes the color of flawless emeralds. Overnight, she became irresistible to the opposite sex. But instead of reveling in all the attention, she was acutely self-conscious. The sudden male interest was uncomfortable, to say the least. The young teen couldn’t understand what she’d done to encourage ‘those boys’. But the years passed and now at eighteen she considered the stream of broken hearts trailing in her wake quite the norm. It certainly wasn’t her fault if they fell in love with her.

Daniel was different…a worldly sophisticate. Maybe it was the novelty of going out with an older man but she was weirdly pleased when he asked her out and eagerly accepted the invitation. For goodness sake, who, in their right mind refused a date with a Tranmer? They were rich and the ultimate ‘kings on the hill’ or so to speak.

Her parents were understandably alarmed. In their opinion she was too young to be going out with the twenty-six year old man. But she assured them it was just dinner, an apology for almost running her down. Lily looked like she wanted to say something but then bit her tongue and let her borrow her red high-heels that perfectly matched Lesley’s new dress picked up on her recent birthday trip to Leeds.

Daniel took her to a fine Italian restaurant two towns over. It had all been so exciting and the evening had been going fine until she heard him order his fourth double Scotch. She was vaguely alarmed for she’d never seen anyone consume such a large quantity of alcohol. He was quite a drinker wasn’t he?

That he drove like a demon, she was already aware, but on their way home she experienced first-hand what it was like to be a passenger in a race car. Too frightened to speak up in case he took his attention off the road, she clutched the armrest so hard that her knuckles turned white. She was shaking with anger by the time he braked in front of her house. Mumbling her thanks she was out the door like a shot and hurried indoors without waiting for his reply.

It was rude but at that moment she didn’t give a damn. So it was surprising when he phoned the following day to invite her to a party. She immediately refused and discovered another thing about him. He was a stubborn, stubborn man. He pestered her endlessly for a reason until she was forced to tell him.

Why won’t I go out with you? Well, you gave me quite a fright last night, Daniel Tranmer.

Me? Surely, you’re not serious?

Oh, yes, I am! You drink too much and drive too fast!

He was silent. I don’t understand. How is that a problem?

Look, Daniel, it’s your business, of course, but I will not go out with someone who’s sloshed even before dessert is served.

Daniel was taken aback and embarrassed. Drinking to excess was quite the norm within his circle of friends. In fact they indulged in daring drinking games all the time. It had never occurred to him to think about it twice.

Er…I guess I can take a break from it for one evening.

He sounds like I took all his candy away. A pang went through Lesley’s heart. She relented and went to the party. Surprisingly, he kept his word but swung to the other extreme and didn’t touch a drop of alcohol. He treated her like she was the most important woman in the world not leaving her side even for a minute. At one point she found herself rolling her eyes in frustration when he even insisted on escorting her to the Ladies.

Over time and aside from the drinking, Lesley discovered that Daniel was loads of fun. Though the initial romance and excitement of meeting him had petered away, she found herself hanging out with him quite often. He took her out and about, giving her a taste of the different and the exciting. They went to expensive restaurants and parties where he showed her off to his affluent circle of friends. He was also very likeable, made her laugh and was easy to talk with. She decided he was more ‘good friend’ than boyfriend material.

Lesley wasn’t unaware of her own faults. She was willful and a bit flighty, but what girl her age wasn’t? She justified to herself. However, she wasn’t promiscuous. She allowed Daniel a friendly kiss or two, to his intense disappointment, but not much more.

In spite of it all, Daniel found himself unable to stay away from Lesley. She was so young, so pure and so untouched. In her presence all that unpleasantness with Barbara Halliday was forgotten. But when he was alone it always came back to haunt him. So, he’d slept with her a few times. Most of the guys in their little clique had probably done the same. Now she announced that she was pregnant and was trying to pin it down on him, a sure ploy to force him to marry her. He’d always been careful to use protection so it just wasn’t possible. He wanted nothing to do with her. However, it would have to be sorted out, somehow. If nothing else, a paternity test would clear things up. God! What a mess!

Lesley gave him hope and made him feel as if he could wipe the slate clean of all his transgressions and begin anew. He would do anything for her, even keep his drinking to a minimum and so he reduced his alcohol intake. For a while. Then it began again. He was smart enough not to do so while in her company. At first. But those intentions too fell by the wayside and he drank on the sly. While at a restaurant sometimes and on the pretext of going to the men’s room, he went to the bar instead for a shot or two.

Since they were often together it wasn’t hard for Lesley to figure out what he was up to. She was no fool. Besides, there was really no hiding the smell of liquor behind a breath mint. She did her share of social drinking but this man was out of control. His addiction was a source of a great deal of exasperation and sadness to her. The Tranmers were old money, and materially speaking, he had everything one could possibly want. Most importantly he had opportunities and connections galore. Doors that others could only dream of opened easily for him. He could do anything if he set his mind to it but instead he was wasting his life away.

Daniel would have been mortified if he’d been privy to Lesley’s opinion of him. It was true that he’d once considered himself to be the epitome of ennui itself. But meeting Lesley had jerked him out of his predictable and complacent existence. He came alive and felt invigorated with renewed sense of enthusiasm. All of a sudden everything appeared new and fresh because he was viewing it through her young eyes. It was astounding how even the smallest things gave her pleasure and it thrilled him that he was the one responsible for that smile on her face. The more he saw of her, the more he was unwittingly exposed to her world. Lesley’s parents were down to earth people leading a simple life in quiet Rawdon. Daniel had met them a time or two, and her sister, Lily. It was a loving family and the girls absorbed their good values and learned all about respect from watching their parents interact.

Not that he didn’t respect his own. But he had no access to his father who was busy running the company. And his mother. Daniel sighed. She was the other extreme. Even though he was an adult, she coddled him to the point of suffocation. Her older son Alex lived in the United States so she funneled all of her affection Daniel’s way. It exasperated him that Alex wasn't around to take some of the pressure off and most times he couldn’t wait to get out of the house.

Meeting Lesley also led to self-examination and his thinking underwent a transformation. He asked himself where he was heading. In a few months he would turn twenty-seven. He couldn’t party on forever, he realised. His current lifestyle had become tedious and boring and he was ashamed to admit he was part of that shallow group of people in pursuit of empty pleasure. It was time to grow up. He wanted a meaningful and responsible existence.

But first he needed a career. He could follow in his father’s footsteps, he supposed, go to work for him but he had zero interest in a desk job. His father loved him, he knew, but he was so busy controlling every aspect of running the company that he seemed to have forgotten he had a family. Daniel doubted the great John Tranmer wanted him messing about in the back office where he would only be an irritant. Alex had taken off for the States at the very first opportunity to pursue further studies and was now working for an environmental company in Texas. Daniel greatly envied him. Alex knew what he wanted and went after it, while he, himself was floundering.

Lesley was his delicate butterfly, exotic and elusive, never resting in one place for long. Daniel had never been refused anything. His every need and demand was met without question. Now he wanted Lesley. In fact, what he really wanted was her heart and to hold on to it forever. He was in love with her. For the first time in his life he understood the true meaning of helpless and powerless. It would be foolish to push his luck. He needed to take it slow and steady because short of locking her up, there was nothing he could do but wait for her. For now, he was happy knowing that at least she cared for him and considered him a good friend. He smiled wryly. Good enough to even nag him about his drinking.

It was all working fine until the day Lesley revealed the grand plans for her future.

They were seated side by side, feet dangling in the swimming pool at Headley Manor, his family home. She’d never seen a private indoor pool before and Daniel remembered her astonishment the first time he’d invited her over for a swim. It had quickly become her favorite hang-out spot.

Acutely tuned in to her moods, he sensed an odd purposeful energy about her today. He soon learned the reason for it. The moment she opened her mouth to speak, he knew, instinctively, that he wasn’t going to like what he was going to hear.

Daniel! she began and his stomach tensed. Where do you see yourself in…say, five years from now?

He breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid she was about to tell him she’d met someone. Funny you should ask because I…er…I’ve been thinking of going to work for my father. How about you?

Her eyes gleamed with excitement and her smile was conspiratorial. I want to join the fashion industry…you know…become a model.

Model? he asked with a blank look.

Yes, silly! A fashion model. She straightened, elongated her neck and struck a pose with nose pointed up in the ar. Can you imagine it? Me! A hoity toity model?

The animated cadence of her voice was like music to his ears and at first an indulgent smile brightened his face, that is, until the moment it hit him that her plans did not include him—at all. A mountain of disappointment washed over him. Had she really no idea how much she meant to him? Then she delivered the final blow.

She was leaving Rawdon.

Oblivious of the turmoil she’d caused, Lesley continued enthusiastically. My portfolio’s almost complete and then I’m off to London. She took a deep shaky breath. I will make it, won’t I, Daniel? I must! I cannot live in Rawdon for the rest of my life. She groaned staring off