Hard Deal. Stefanie London

       CHAPTER FIVE

      “JUST FREAKING GREAT.” Imogen planted a hand on the ground and tried to stand. She could already tell there’d be a grapefruit-size bruise on her butt.

      But bruises were the least of her problems. Her dress was stuck on a bush and her shaking hands couldn’t free it.

      Everything had been going along smoothly, too. She’d found a window to peer through that was clear enough for her phone camera to get a decent shot of what was going on inside the stables. It was a trade-off—she couldn’t hear what either person was saying, but she had more places to hide than if she’d approached the entrance.

      When Daniel had put his arm around the woman and she’d kissed him, Imogen had taken a perfect shot. But in trying to get the best angle, her sandal had slipped on a loose rock and she’d gone down like a sack of potatoes.

      “Graceful as a baby freaking elephant,” she muttered.

      All she had to do was get her dress free, then she could slip back into the ball with her phone in hand. Hopefully Daniel and the mystery woman hadn’t heard her. She strained to listen, but the only thing her ears picked up were the distant notes of the string quartet.

      She located the offending pieces of shrubbery holding her captive and carefully extracted the lace. There was a hole but it was tiny. The dress was a loaner, and Imogen couldn’t afford to drain her bank account because of a stupid bush. Breathing a sigh of relief, Imogen got to her feet and tried to see where her phone had landed.

      “Fudge nuggets,” she muttered, glancing up at the window. Thankfully there wasn’t a face peering down at her, but she needed to find her phone. Now.

      Hoisting her dress up, so it wouldn’t catch on the bush again, she searched the ground. The phone had bounced close to where she landed, so the blasted thing couldn’t have gone too far. Maybe it was on the grass behind her. The second Imogen turned her stomach plummeted.

      Daniel stood in front of her, lips pressed into a hard line as he held her phone in one hand. Even though his face was mostly covered, he still managed to effectively radiate a “peeved as hell” vibe.

      “I can explain,” she said, her mind kicking into overdrive. Which wasn’t a good thing—she tended to word-vomit when she got nervous.

      “Go on,” he said, folding his arms across his chest and keeping her phone out of reach.

      Out of the corner of her eye Imogen saw the mystery woman approaching, but Daniel waved her away. Once they were alone, Imogen sucked in a deep breath and pressed her hands to her stomach to quell the butterflies flapping up a storm.

      “I don’t know how to say this, but I was following you.” Her mouth was drier than desert dust, but she forged on. “I know it was wrong, but I thought you’d lie if I confronted you. You have to understand, I’m looking out for Penny. I can’t have her marrying someone who’s cheating on her.”

      Her words were met with a wall of silence, which only served to irritate her further. She balled her hands into fists as fury filtered through her veins. How could he stand there and not say a freaking thing? He wasn’t even defending himself.

      “Seriously, did you think you could cheat and no one would ever find out? She loves you and you’re treating her like...like...” She shook her head. “Shite.”

      “Shite?” The amusement in his voice made her see red.

      “Yes, shite. And I’m not going to allow it.” She stuck her hand out. “Give me back my phone. Now.”

      Silence.

      She could rush him and hope that their size differential would be negated by the element of surprise. That might get her kicked out of the ball. Not that it mattered, now she had the evidence. But she needed to get her phone back...by any means necessary.

      “If you don’t say something, this is going to end badly for you.” Her voice had taken on a shaky quality now. Adrenaline pumped through her body, preparing her fight response. Because she sure as hell wasn’t going to pick flight now. “Hand over the phone.”

      “Who do you think I am?” he asked.

      “Oh come on, Daniel,” she scoffed. “You’re really going to play that card? I heard you talking about Penny before. Ball and chain, huh? That’s real charming.”

      * * *

      Caleb wasn’t sure what kind of twilight zone fantasy land he’d ended up in, but this was a hell of a lot more interesting than what was going on inside the ballroom. After hearing the thud outside the stables, he’d gone to investigate only to find a woman in the sexiest black dress he’d ever seen on hands and knees, trying to disentangle herself from a bush. It wasn’t until he’d spotted the shiny silver case of a phone that he figured out what she’d been up to.

      The mystery woman was an amateur paparazzo. He’d fully intended on handing the phone over. After all, it was clearly a case of mistaken identity. There wasn’t a person in the world who would care that he was having a “secret” meeting with Karolina Petrov-Wells. And the fact that she’d now called him “Daniel” was proof of that.

      But the mistaken identity wasn’t the bit that interested him most about this situation. Oh no. What had his whole body buzzing was the glimpse of the diamond tattoo on this woman’s rib cage. It was clear she’d used that weird tape girls loved to keep her dress in place, but it must have come unstuck when she’d fallen and now the dress gaped enough to reveal the edge of some sexy, minimalist ink.

      Prim Miss Imogen Hargrove.

      If the tattoo hadn’t given her away, the self-righteous tone and use of shite would have done it. What the hell was she doing here?

      And damn, her body was like a fucking midnight fantasy in that dress. The glossy black panels of silk and lace hugged her curvy figure, the plunging neckline giving him a good look at her gorgeous, full breasts.

      The only problem was, if he said too much he’d give his identity away. And he wasn’t done with this bizarre exchange yet. So he bit his tongue, stifling a laugh as she got angrier and angrier at him.

      “Seriously, what man refers to his future wife as a ball and chain?” She planted her hands on her hips and huffed when she didn’t get a response. “You have nothing to say for yourself?”

      Ball and chain? Suddenly the penny dropped. No pun intended. She thought he was Jase’s friend Daniel. That would explain the identity mix-up. She must have seen the mask and overheard their conversation. He wanted to rub his hands together in glee. Anything that gave him leverage to stir up trouble with Imogen was a treat and today he’d hit the goddamn jackpot.

      Never mind the fact that all he could think about was that moment in the archive room. With each move, her breasts shifted beneath the silky dress, stirring his memories and sending his blood south.

      Caleb shrugged and steam practically rose out of Imogen’s ears. He pocketed her phone and stood there, curious as to what she’d do next.

       You’re a horrible person, Caleb Allbrook. A despicable, no-good, dirty rotten scoundrel.

      And fuck yeah did he love it.

      “You...” Her lips were so pursed Caleb genuinely feared she’d cut off blood supply. “Smurfing smurf-face!”

      Caleb couldn’t hold it in a second longer, a huge belly-deep laugh burst out of his lips. The woman was ridiculous in the best, most appealing way possible. Even now, she wouldn’t swear because people might hear. Not that