He chuckled softly again, and she heard the sound like a hot whisper that swept through the blood, caressing her heart.
"Miss Keller, presume all you like. I chose you for Lorena because you're talented, and you fit my image of the woman perfectly. As to the other...I'm afraid you're right. I would like to see more of you--and I would definitely like to seduce you into bed. But don'tworry, I won't let it interfere with work. Here, or when we do the promo shots."
She should have slapped him. She should have done something. But she was too stunned. She just stared at him as he set his cup on the fold-up table and sauntered out of the room.Silently.
With a panther-light tread that was dangerously deceptive, totally contrary to all that the man was Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
proving himself to be.
He was professional, and competent--but he was there.
And no matter how she fought the ridiculousness of it, he frightened the hell out of her.
Chapter 3
Bryn knew soon after she sat down at the large booth that the Chinese restaurant had been a mistake.
Noodles were sliding across the slick veneer tabletop in seconds as the hungry kids grabbed at them; a water glass was tipped over almost immediately, and Adam slid off the plastic seat cover, bumped his head and broke into tears.
Why couldn't I have picked McDonald's, she asked herself as she alternately soothed Adam and tried to sound like the wrath of God to Brian and Keith in a quiet tone so that they would settle down.
Yes, it had definitely been a mistake. When Friday night had at last rolled around after the gruelling and nerve-racking week, she had been ecstatic. She had promised herself that she was going to forget it all, go home cool and calm, and be entirely decent and loving to the kids.
And for the first half hour everything had gone fine, just fine. But she had carried her Mother Goose act a little too far. And while she had been helping Brian to readBurrough's "Tarzan," Adam had looked up from his coloring book to inform her, "Something stinks!"
"Yeah," Keith had volunteered helpfully. "And it's burning, too!"
"Oh--" Don't say it! Don't say it! "Oh--sugar!" she groaned, flying up from the bottom bunk, bashing her head, and racing down to the kitchen. The meatloaf was irretrievably burned; her spinach was green glue inside the saucepan.
The kids loved Chinese food, and they even ate Chinese vegetables. Wong's was a great restaurant where they had a high tolerance for children. And she had already copped out with burgers and fries, and with pizza. They needed something healthy to eat.
So here she was at Wong's, wishing that she wasn't.
"I want the sweet and sour chicken..." Keith began.
"Can I have the cashew chicken? We always have to order what Keith wants."
"Uggh!I don't like cashew chicken. I don't like cashews."
"Stop!"Bryn hissed as quietly as it was possible to do while still putting menace in her voice. She kissed Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Adam on the top of his blond head, sopped up the spilled water and did her best to collect the straying noodles. Then she gave the two older boys her most threatening scowl, until Keith lowered his red head, and Brian bowed his darker one in silent submission.
"You three will act decent in a restaurant!" she warned, but then she leaned back more comfortably in the booth, resting her head against its back for a minute. It wasn't their fault that it was so late and that they were half starving. Nor was it their fault that her week had been so miserable.
It wasn't anyone's faultbut her own .And Lee Condor's.
He had barely spoken to her since they had talked in the drawing room. He had been professional and competent to a fault, polite--and strictly proper. It was almost as if he had actually asked her for a date and she had said a clear "No," leaving him to agree with a simple "Fine."
And then again, it was if he was waiting...watching her. As if he knew that she had come to a point where she could sense his presence even when he silently appeared several feet away, sense the subtle, woodsy, masculine aroma of his aftershave.
It was as if he knew that currents, alternately ice and fire, plagued her, rippling along her spine, playing havoc with her blood, each time he touched her.
And he always looked at her as he walked up that stairway with her in his arms. The gold flame seemed to ignite something within her, and as soon as she could, she would close her eyes and hear his husky laughter....