Kalinda awoke hours later to find dawn pearling the sky outside the massive windows. She blinked, stirred warmly and finally opened her eyes to find herself wedged between the back of the sofa and Rand’s lean frame.
They were still wearing their business suits, she realized, minus the jackets. Her camel skirt and white, bow-tie blouse would never be the same. Sometime during the night Rand had located a blanket and pulled it over both of them before going to sleep himself. Kalinda shifted position carefully and found herself snugly cradled, Rand’s arm firmly wrapped around her.
She managed to prop herself on one elbow, desperate to stretch cramped muscles. Her hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders and she felt terribly mussed and sleep-tousled.
In the pale morning light Rand’s firmly etched features appeared more relaxed. There was an unmistakable contentment in the eased lines around his mouth and eyes. His shirt had been undone at the collar, tie removed.
For a long moment Kalinda stared down at him, absorbing each detail along with the fact that she loved him. That look of contentment, she now realized, wasn’t because he’d spent the night by her side. It was because Rand Alastair was finally back where he wanted to be. He had emerged from his year and a half of retirement to resume the fast-paced, perilous life he had known before opting out of the business world.
For how long would he see Kalinda as his means of getting back into the high-powered atmosphere he’d once dominated? Helping Brady Data Processing fight off a hostile merger attempt could only be a stepping-stone for such a man. Kalinda might have been the one to galvanize him into realizing he was bored with retirement, but how long would she hold his interest once the transition back to the business world had been made?
If her time with Rand was fated to be short-lived, why was she telling herself that she must control the passion in the relationship? Why shouldn’t she be taking advantage of the precious, stolen moments? With luck she might have weeks, perhaps even a few months before he got swept up completely in the world he’d left behind. But it was already going to be incredibly difficult to say good-bye. How much worse would it be if the affair went on for months? The thought of watching Rand grow bored with her was frightening.
She was staring at him, wondering unhappily how she would explain her feelings to Rand when the chestnut lashes flickered against his cheekbones and lifted. The hazel gaze gleamed at her with sleepy contentment.
„Good morning, Miss Brady,“ he growled lazily, moving the hand that cradled her up to snag luxuriously in her hair. „You have an interesting way of conducting late-night business conferences. Do you always go to sleep in the middle of them?“
„I don’t appear to be the only one who dozed off at this particular conference,“ she replied, warming under the possessiveness in his gaze. „Perhaps you should serve coffee instead of cognac when you conduct your late meetings.“
„My only regret,“ he murmured, his mouth quirking with an intimate, teasing expression, „is the unfinished business we failed to get through.“
Kalinda knew her cheeks were reddening under the complacent, very male look in his eyes. But before she could frame a properly light retort, the hand in her hair was moving to urge her head down to his.
With a muffled sigh Kalinda let herself be pulled across Rand’s chest, her hair tumbling over his shoulders as he kissed her with slow satisfaction.
„I think we’ve got time to tie up a few loose ends,“ he whispered against her mouth.
Kalinda tried to take a firm grip on her new resolutions. „I agree,“ she said lightly and saw the pleased look on his face. „And I think an early-morning walk would be just the way to do it“
„A walk!“
„Ummm. A little exercise to get us revitalized for the new day.“
„If it’s exercise you’re after, I have a better suggestion,“ he began determinedly, sliding his fingers up her throat and encircling the nape of her neck.
Kalinda resisted the temptation and the want in him with every atom of restraint she possessed. She had to start drawing the line. She had to ease out of this relationship before it became impossible to do so.
„Consider this little suggestion of mine as an order from your boss,“ she said, easing herself to a sitting position beside him.
He regarded her with a measure of fascination. „I’m not accustomed to taking orders,“ he finally pointed out.
„As you said yesterday, things have changed a bit in the business world since you opted out a year and a half ago!“
„Some things are basic. They never change.“ He reached for her.
„I’m serious, Rand,“ she said quietly, evading his arm. „I want to go for a walk. We… we need to talk.“
He hesitated, as if testing the determination in her and then he shrugged eloquently. „Okay, boss, if that’s really what you want“
They must have made a rather strange sight, Kalinda decided later as they walked briskly along the path of a nearby park. It was one of many such islands strung throughout the city. There were more than one hundred and fifty parks in Denver and Kalinda would have been willing to bet that few of them were being used at this hour of the morning by a couple dressed in business suits that had recently been slept in.
But it was invigorating. The beginning of a Colorado summer day shone down on them and to the west the mountains seemed to hold out the same promise they had for generations.
„Do you do this a lot?“ Rand grinned wryly, clasping her hand as they walked.
„Of course not. I’d be afraid of getting mugged!“
„You think I can protect you?“ he asked, slanting her an interested glance.
„If anyone dares menace us we’ll just tell him who you are and use your reputation to scare him off!“
He winced. „That took you by surprise yesterday, didn’t it?“
„Your reputation? Frankly, yes,“ Kalinda said simply, inhaling the morning air. „I’m told you really were the shark you joked about being that night at the party.“
„Does that worry you?“ he asked with surprising hesitation, not looking at her.
„Should it?“
„No. It’s supposed to convince you I’m the sort of man you admire,“ he said softly.
„Which brings us to the subject I wanted to discuss,“ Kalinda said, amazed at the calm in her voice.
„I had a feeling it might,“ he sighed. „What’s wrong, Kalinda?“ His fingers tightened around hers, as if he were preparing for physical struggle.
„There’s nothing wrong, Rand. I just want to make it clear that I meant what I said yesterday morning about maintaining a… a businesslike relationship for a while. There’s a lot we have to learn about each other…“
„You were upset about finding out about my past, weren’t you?“ he interrupted harshly. „But, honey, it’s that past which is going to help your company. Don’t you see?“
„I see. And I’m grateful. But that’s not the point.“ She tried to speak rationally, keeping her emotions under control. But it was difficult with him looking at her like that, as if she really were more important to him than business.
He drew her to a halt on the path, turning her so that she had to face him. „Then what is the point, Kalinda? What are you trying to say?“
She faced him bravely. „Rand, I’m grateful for your help in this crisis. But, please, don’t confuse your feelings about coming back to the business world with… with any feelings you might have for me!“
„What the hell are you talking about?“ he rasped, his hands tightening forcefully around her upper arms, his face darkening.
„Please,“ she begged earnestly, gray eyes wide with concern for him, „don’t be angry. I’m just pointing out the obvious. You’re finding it exciting to get your feet wet again in the world in which you were once so successful. It was very clear yesterday that you were enjoying yourself. And if it’s what you want, then I don’t mind having been the catalyst that drew you out of the mountains, really I don’t…“
„Catalyst!“
„Yes! Remember how I asked you a couple of times if you were bored with your trout fishing and the little gallery? You denied it, but I think the truth is that you were getting restless. After a year and a half, you felt the urge to compete and win getting the better of you. When I came along representing a portion of the world you’d
