left behind, something clicked, didn’t it? I became an excuse, a reason, for coming back to Denver and picking up the reins of business.“
He stared at her. „You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?“
„Is my conclusion so very far from the truth?“ she whispered sadly. „Are you going to deny that you’re enjoying yourself as you begin to wheel and deal again?“
„That’s a very neat trap you’ve worked out, Kalinda Brady,“ he muttered icily, hazel eyes hardening as he surveyed her face. „I can’t very well deny the fact that there is something in the business world which challenges and interests me. You saw me at work yesterday. I never stayed up half the night working on a piece of pottery!“
She nodded in mute understanding, trying to hide her unhappiness.
„And I’m not going to deny that I might have been growing bored with my lifestyle in the mountains. A year and a half of fishing and part-time employment can be a bit more than relaxing. It can make a man restless…“
„I knew it,“ she murmured, lowering her eyes as she listened to the confirmation of her fears.
„But you’re caught in the trap with me,“ he went on relentlessly, lifting her chin with thumb and forefinger. „You made it very clear in a lot of little ways that you weren’t interested in an affair with a lazy trout fisherman and pottery-maker! You wanted a man from your own world. Okay, you’ve got him. I not only understand and function very well in your world, Kalinda, I can dominate it if I wish. I’m giving you what you asked for in a man. Don’t you dare try to back out of our deal now!“
Kalinda froze at the cold, hard edge in his voice. „We didn’t have any sort of ‘deal,’ Rand!“
„We do now,“ he countered and crushed her lips beneath his own as if to seal it.
It was a harsh, ruthless, dominating kiss, with none of the warm, seductive persuasiveness she’d known in the past It was as if he was intent on letting her know that he could dominate not only the world in which she made her living, but Kalinda, herself.
His mouth moved aggressively on her lips, forcing them apart and giving her no option but to accept the invasion of his tongue. Desperately Kalinda tried to pull away, break the ruthlessness of the kiss, but he only wrapped his arms around her and forced her closer. In the chill morning air he molded her body to his own, letting his inner heat trap her.
When she tried to free her lips, he used his teeth to nip warningly and she crumpled against him at the first threat. He accepted the surrender as if it were his due, not taking his mouth from hers until she had stopped fighting him completely.
When at last he lifted his head to gaze forbiddingly down at her helpless face, Kalinda sagged in his arms.
He let her bury her face against his shoulder, holding her with bonds of steel.
For a long moment they stood silently. Kalinda knew she was trembling with reaction. Not just to the kiss, itself, but to all the male implacability that lay behind it. He did want her. Regardless of his other reasons for following her out of the mountains, he wanted her. Would that ever be enough?
„Don’t fight me, Kalinda,“ he finally got out on a hoarse thread of sound. „Please don’t fight me!“ He turned his lips into her hair, kissing her gently now, almost apologetically. She felt a tremor go through him and knew he was shaken by the moment.
„Is that a warning, Rand?“ she managed, her words muffled by the fabric of his jacket „Are you saying I’ll get hurt if I don’t go along with what you want?“
His grasp on her tautened. „I would never hurt you, honey. But I can’t let you go, either. I need you too much!“
„Rand…“
She wasn’t sure just what she was going to say under the tension of the moment, but whatever it might have been died in her throat as he gently set her a little ways from him and forced a quirking smile.
„Don’t say anything more this morning, sweetheart For both our sakes, I think we’d better get back to business. Come on, let’s go find ourselves some breakfast“
Without waiting for a response, he tugged her gently down the path.
The rest of the day passed much as the preceding one. Rand was constantly on the phone to banks, old acquaintances who owed him favors, and people who knew an astonishing amount about the inside workings of David Hutton’s fledgling empire. When he wasn’t using her telephone, he was going through the endless paperwork generated by a thriving enterprise such as Brady Data Processing.
„You know, this whole thing is turning out to be quite an education,“ Kalinda observed truthfully at one point as they munched sandwiches and prepared once more to stay late at the office. „I’m going to be a much more aware businesswoman when this is all over!“
He smiled, a genuine flash of humor. „That’s one thing that can be said about a company that gets caught up in a merger battle. Management is never quite the same thereafter.“
„A matter of facing reality, I suppose,“ she nodded seriously.
He took her home that night around ten o’clock and he didn’t try to invite himself inside. Kalinda thought he looked rather preoccupied, in fact, and wondered at his almost casual good-night kiss. But she didn’t argue with it She knew she needed the time to herself.
But she came to no revealing conclusions as she lay alone in her bed. Instead, she found herself dreaming that Rand was beside her. When she went into work the next morning, she didn’t try to deny her own eagerness to see him again.
He was there ahead of her, already on his second cup of coffee apparently and he looked up inquiringly as she sto6d in her doorway.
„I give up,“ he smiled. „Why the frown?“
„You’re drinking too much coffee,“ she said with automatic concern as she walked into the room and seated herself behind the mahogany desk.
He glanced down at his cup in surprise. „An old habit, 1 guess.“
„A little caffeine goes a long way. I think you should switch to tea.“
He studied her determined expression for a long moment and then pushed aside his half-finished cup. „Whatever you say, boss.“
That made her grin. „There’s nothing quite like a truly deferential, obedient employee!“
„I’ll make a bargain with you. I’ll be deferential and obedient on the job if you’ll be deferential and obedient after hours!“
„Facetiousness and flippancy in employees, however, is not condoned in the offices of Brady Data Processing!“
„I’ll try to remember that. Now, suppose you pour me a cup of tea?“ he suggested smoothly, eyes gleaming.
She thought about that. „If I do you’re liable to get the notion you can manipulate the boss.“
„The only time I intend to manipulate the boss is in bed,“ he growled, leaning forward with just enough menace to make her sit back in her chair.
„You
„I’ll rely on you to keep me in line,“ he chuckled as she returned with a mug of tea. He accepted it with a smile but there was something in his eyes that told her he’d meant what he just said. He’d rely on her to keep him in line? That didn’t make any sense.
„What's the battle plan for today?“ she questioned in a decidedly businesslike voice, eyeing him pointedly.
„Today we plan dinner,“ he announced, sipping the hot tea and watching her interestedly over the rim.
„Dinner!“
„Dinner at the restaurant where David Hutton will be dining tonight,“ he amended casually.
She stared at him. „But why?“
„Financial maneuvering is only half this battle,“ he explained calmly. „Psychology is a critical aspect, too.“
