For some reason his championing of Denver Clarkson twisted a knife inside her. Part of her told her she was being unreasonable but another part of her only saw it as a further distancing of himself from her.
‘Denver gave me to believe this article would upset some close friends of yours. Some rich and influential friends,’ she finished emphatically.
‘You must have misunderstood.’ Eden frowned. ‘I find it hard to believe Denver would depart so radically from what he knows to be rigid company policy.’
‘Well, he did. And apart from that, how can you make a ruling on something when you admit you haven’t taken the time to read it?’ she asked, waving the paper in the air, knowing she was behaving even more irrationally but unable to restrain her reckless tongue. ‘And the article has been checked through the legal department, in case you may want to enquire about whether or not I’ve followed the proper procedures.’
‘Keira-’ he interrupted irritably, but she rushed on, anger dissipating her discretion.
‘You’ve apparently made up your mind on a word-of-mouth account and it seems to me that makes you more dangerous than I thought. A media magnate who misconstrues situations, who takes a glance at something and reports it incorrectly.’
In two strides he was mere millimetres from her and she had to lift her chin to hold his now angry gaze.
‘What situations are we talking about?’ he asked portentously, and Keira swallowed, her resolve faltering under his challenging scrutiny.
‘You know what I’m talking about.’ She was playing for time and they both knew it. How she wished she could rewind this scene like a video movie and edit her dialogue. But it was too late.
‘Oh, no, Keira. You can’t expect it to be that easy.’ His cool smile went nowhere near his eyes. ‘You’ve opened this can of worms. Don’t expect me to let you replace the lid without explaining your blatantly provocative accusation.’
Keira knew she’d painted herself into the proverbial corner so she valiantly gathered her composure and prepared to brazen her way out of it. She knew he had no intention of allowing her to back off. And a secret part of her didn’t want him to.
‘I simply meant you seem to make a habit of misinterpreting certain incidents and I feel you’re running true to form with this one.’
‘Which particular incidents are we discussing and just how have I misinterpreted them?’
‘Well, the first time you met me you had me in bed with your nephew. You made that assumption without a shred of evidence,’ Keira threw at him and the cool smile returned.
‘Only the fact that as I drove up to the house I saw you locked in Daniel’s arms on the bedroom balcony. Anyone might have been excused for thinking you and Daniel were more than nodding acquaintances,’ he said mockingly.
‘Daniel had given me a teasing brotherly peck. We were scarcely locked in each other’s arms.’
Eden sighed. ‘Perhaps we should agree that at the time we saw that particular incident from different perspectives.’
‘Let’s wave it aside by all means,’ Keira said indignantly. ‘However, I simply don’t care to be branded as some scarlet matron who devours toy-boys.’
‘Now that scenario you’ve definitely miscast. By no stretch of the imagination would I describe you as a matron, scarlet or otherwise.’ His lips twitched and, with a glimmer of suspicion, Keira thought she saw an amused sparkle in his eyes before his lids fell to shield his expression.
The tone of his voice had changed too, had become evocatively low, and for tantalising seconds Keira felt her conviction teetering on very shaky ground. If she let herself take that so small step forward…
Her heart trembled, parading a dizzyingly vivid picture of the two of them together in her bedroom, while her head reminded her that he was convinced he could use his infamous charm to distract, to appease her.
She tensed, each nerve-ending so aware of the charged atmosphere that surrounded them. Just that one small step, she tortured herself, and she’d be in his arms again. And wasn’t that where she wanted to be?
She saw his lips move and her brain began slowly to decipher the words, unravel the message.
‘I missed you.’
Had he voiced those inciting words? Yes! Yes! He’d said he missed her. As she’d missed him.
Oh, yes? a part of her gibed brutally. He missed you so much he left without a word. And if his telephone conversation was any indication, he was leaving again. To rejoin Megan Donnelly.
Keira’s entire body went numb. She wasn’t going to allow him to pick her up and put her down at his whim. She might have to deal with him on a business level, but on a personal level, well, she’d close and lock that door with a final decisiveness.
Her lips tightened and she stepped around him, placing Gail’s article on his desk. ‘I think you should read that and then perhaps you’ll see your way clear to overriding Denver’s decision. And perhaps in future Denver might be encouraged to discuss any problems he has with our decisions with the editorial panel.’
Eden’s dark eyes roved over her to settle on the bitter twist of her lips, and she made herself start walking towards the door.
‘Is this another maidenly retreat?’ he asked evenly and Keira turned, her hand on the door-knob.
She raised her eyebrows coolly. ‘This was a business appointment, Mr Cassidy. I’d prefer to keep it as such.’
‘Ah! And you never mix business with pleasure, do you?’ he commented mockingly.
Pleasure. The sensuous way the word flowed over her almost took her breath away but she managed to hold on to her composure, be it extremely precariously.
‘I don’t care what you choose to call it. However, perhaps I should clarify an awkward situation. I consider I made a huge mistake last weekend. And I’m not inclined to repeat that particular mistake.’ Her voice fluctuated and almost died as her throat dried. ‘I think it would be prudent if we put it down to a brief lapse on both our parts.’
‘Again?’ he put in scornfully. ‘I think you’ve said all this before.’
‘I’ve already forgotten that what happened between us last weekend ever happened.’ She ignored his sarcasm and finished in a determined rush.
The air between them thickened again as the silence stretched for long seconds. ‘You have?’ he asked at last, and Keira knew a surge of panic as her neatly coiled composure frayed and began to unravel.
‘Of course,’ she replied with only volume to add credence to her assertion.
Of course you have, Mrs Strong,’ he echoed with caustic formality. ‘And I’d forgotten you make a habit of forgetting-’ he paused ‘-brief lapses.’ He held her gaze for heavy seconds before turning on his heel. ‘I have a lot of work to get through so I’ll say goodnight,’ he said as he walked back through the same door off to the left.
Keira stood staring at the empty space where he’d been and told herself she should be duly satisfied. She’d called the shots and he’d taken her at her word. It was all over. Just as she’d wanted.
In a daze Keira walked out of the office, along the hallway and past the secretively curious receptionist. The lift seemed to take a year to reach the floor this time but she finally stepped into its sanctuary. And she had to grab at the handrail for support as her knees threatened to give way beneath her.
Keira’s whole body felt almost unbearably heavy as she crossed to her office, thankful that everyone seemed to have left. Sinking down on to her chair, she covered her eyes with her hands. But she was too numb for the relief of tears.
What seemed like minutes later her telephone jangled and she jumped, instinctively reaching for the receiver.
‘Keira?’ The curt voice had her fingers tightening until her knuckles showed white.
‘Yes,’ she got out.
‘The article stands as is,’ he continued without any conversational preliminaries. ‘I’ll talk to Denver.’
‘Thank you,’ Keira began before she realised that he had broken the connection. Slowly she replaced the receiver. So, that appeared to be that. She’d won that point. However, the victory had a disturbing hollowness to it.
It was probably all for the best, she tried to tell herself. Without a shred of conviction.
A sharp knock on the panelling outside her open door made her start as Roxie swept in.
‘Did I give you a fright? Sorry. Didn’t expect you’d still be on the job.’ Roxie sat on the corner of Keira’s desk. ‘Am I exhausted? You know, I’d forgotten how tiring these assignments are. A week away from the office seemed
