Part 4 (1/2)

He moved closer and suddenly bent to pick up a page. His eyebrows rose as he read, and a slow smile touched his mouth.

”You do put your heart into it, don't you?” he murmured.

She reached up and took the page out of his hands, glancing at it. She blushed and tucked it under what she was reading. Why did he have to pick up that page? she groaned inwardly.

”Is that what you like with a man?” he continued maddeningly, his hands in his pockets, his eyes intent. ”I've never done it in a bathtub, but I suppose-”

”Will you please go away?” she groaned, letting her hair fall over her eyes. ”I don't care where you've done it, or with whom, just please go eat your lunch and leave me to my sordid occupation.”

”I suppose I'd better. Stockbrokers sure as h.e.l.l don't have time to waste.”

She looked up as he turned to leave. ”Stockbroker?” she murmured incredulously.

He glanced down at her from his formidable height with an expression she couldn't decipher. ”I'm a businessman,” he reminded her. ”I do have the odd investment to look after.”

”Yes, I know,” she said quickly. ”I just thought-”

”That because I was out all night, it was with a woman-and that I was meeting her for a leisurely lunch?” he suggested in a menacing tone.

She turned back to her work, trying to ignore him. It wasn't easy when he loomed over her that way.

”The reasons I stayed away might shock you, city girl,” he said after a minute.

”I don't doubt it for a minute,” she muttered.

”And that wasn't what I meant. It might have something to do with you.”

The careless remark brought her eyes up, and he held them relentlessly for so long that she felt currents singing through her body.

”I didn't expect you to start trembling the minute I put my hands on you,” he said in a harsh undertone. ”Not after all these years. We've been enemies.”

”We still are,” she said in what she hoped was a convincing tone, while humiliation stuck like bile in her throat.

”Dead right,” he said coldly. ”And it's going to stay that way. I don't want complications during this holiday.”

”Ditto,” she said curtly. ”And don't go around flattering your ego too much, Egan,” she added. ”I was half asleep at the time!”

His darkened eyes searched hers in the stillness that followed, and she was aware of him in a way she'd never been aware of a man before. Of his height and strength, of the devastating effect he had on her senses.

”Saving your pride, Kati?” he asked quietly.

She studied her long fingernails. ”I like my life as it is,” she said. ”I'm on the go too much for relations.h.i.+ps of any kind. And what you'd have in mind...!” she began.

”Now who's flattering their ego?” he asked shortly, glaring down at her. ”My G.o.d, I don't mind experience in my women, but I draw the line at promiscuity!”

She scrambled to her feet and was ready to swing when the dark look on his face worked some kind of witchcraft and left her standing helplessly with her fists clenched.

”You slapped me once and got away with it,” he said quietly. ”If you do it again now, we'll wind up in bed together.”

She felt her body tremble at the words. ”No,” she bit off.

”Yes.” His chest rose and fell heavily, and his eyes cut into hers. ”Don't you realize that the way we react to each other is like flint and steel? All it would take is a kiss. Just that. And we'd burn each other alive. I've known that from the very beginning.”

She hadn't, and the thought of Egan as a lover made her face burn. She had to smother a gasp as she turned away with her arms folded protectively around her slender body.

”Don't worry. You're safe, city girl,” he said in a mocking tone. ”I'm not that desperate. Just don't push me too far.”

She couldn't even face what he was insinuating. Egan was the enemy. He was going to stay that way too, if she had to bite her tongue in two. She stared blankly out the window.

”And it's Ada that's auditioning for acting jobs,” he commented sarcastically. ”Playing innocent?”

She didn't have to play, but he'd never believe it. He'd just shocked her to her nylon-clad feet, and she was lost for words. It was a little frightening to be threatened with a man's bed, just for provoking him. She hadn't been aware that she was provoking him until now. Which automatically led to her asking why she did it, and that was frightening as well.

”Kati,” he called softly.

She stiffened. ”Will your stockbroker wait?” she asked quietly.

He frowned at her stiff back. ”What the h.e.l.l's the matter with you?”

”You threaten me with s.e.x and then ask me what's wrong?” she burst out, staring at him nervously over one shoulder.

He blinked, as if she'd shocked him. ”It wasn't a threat.”

She flushed and walked away.

”Will you stop doing your Lady Innocent act and look at me?” he growled.

She walked into her bedroom and slammed the door. On an afterthought, she locked it, too. There was a string of unprintable curses from the vicinity of the living room before the front door slammed violently and the room became quiet.

It wasn't going to be possible to stay in the same apartment with Egan after this, she thought miserably. She'd just have to check into a hotel until he left. Having to put up with his incessant verbal aggression was bad enough; but when he started threatening to make it physical, that was the end. The very end.

The conceited beast-to accuse her of being so vulnerable that she'd jump into his bed at the first opportunity. She groaned as she recalled the touch of his hands on her hips, the wild tremors that had run through her untried body. She gritted her teeth. She'd have to get away from him. Because what if he did that again? The real problem was telling Ada she was leaving without spoiling the poor girl's Christmas.

Chapter Four.

Kati had half her clothes in her suitcase by the time Ada came home from her tryout. She still hadn't decided what she was going to do, beyond checking into a hotel down the street. She knew for certain that she couldn't take one more night of Egan.

”What are you doing?” Ada asked hesitantly, pausing in the doorway of Kati's room.

”Cleaning out my drawers,” came the terse reply.

Ada cleared her throat. ”Where are you taking what was in them?”

”To a hotel.”

Ada leaned back against the doorjamb wearily. ”Egan came home.”