Corporate Affair by Unknown Page A

first day in his gallery sat in a prominent position at the far end of the table. It held long loaves of sliced French bread which guests had used to build small sandwiches.
    He glanced down at her, looking enormously pleased. "I’m glad you didn’t try to forget me completely.
    I’ve still got a token of your short visit, too."
    "What token?" she asked warily.
    "The earrings I took off you that first night."
    "Oh." She’d forgotten about those.
    "You shouldn’t have run away that morning after we made love, sweetheart," he went on, dark voice turning slightly husky as he regarded her a little hungrily. "Although I understand why you did."
    Kalinda flicked an uneasy glance up through her lashes. "You do?"
    "Of course. You thought there was no future for us, didn’t you? You thought I wasn’t the kind of man you should be giving yourself to so completely. And it was completely, honey. You came to my bed without any reservations, didn’t you? For a little while you stopped thinking about the fact that I was an unmotivated, unambitious, undynamic wastrel who had no further goal in life except to fish and seduce bored tourists!"
    Kalinda felt her blush deepening and she could no longer meet his eyes, even through the partial veil of her lashes. She remembered her unwise surrender only too well. What really worried her now was the flash of pure happiness she’d experienced when she’d opened her door a few minutes ago and found him standing there.
    "You have to admit we do come from two different worlds, Rand," she managed a little grimly.
    "Which is a polite way of saying you don’t admire my lifestyle," he retorted dryly. "I’m here to change all that. I’m going to prove myself to you, sweetheart. And your ex-fiancé has put the tool I need right into my hands. You admire successful, dynamic, aggressive businessmen? Okay, I’ll show you I can wheel and deal in your world with the best of them. Don’t worry, Kalinda, you won’t have to be ashamed of our affair. You’ll be giving yourself to a man who can out-shark anyone on the business street!"
    "Rand! This is crazy. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I certainly have no intention of… of continuing what should never have been started up there in the mountains. I do not routinely indulge in affairs, for heaven’s sake! I haven’t been even remotely serious about any man since my engagement with David ended."
    "Except me," he pointed out, smiling. "Or are you going to stand there and tell me you weren’t perfectly serious that morning in the mountains?"
    Kalinda glared at him, aware that he was deliberately goading her and still too confused and upset by the combination of the day’s events to think clearly enough to flatten him verbally.
    She was desperately trying to concoct a suitable response when Harold Sebastian and his wife emerged from the crowd with pleasantly expectant expressions.
    "Kalinda, my dear, you must introduce us to your new guest" Tall, stately, and silver-haired, Harold beamed complacently down at her. While she was his superior at Brady Data Processing, his long association with her father had given him a decidedly paternalistic air toward the new president of the firm. It was an attitude Kalinda encountered from many of the longtime employees of the firm. They gave her their loyalty and even admired her ability, but they never quite let her forget they all considered themselves honorary uncles and aunts.
    "I’m afraid my arrival was something of a surprise for Kalinda," Rand said smoothly, thrusting out a polite hand. "I’m Rand Alastair."
    "Harold Sebastian. This is my wife, Edna," Harold said genially. "Alastair," he repeated with a thoughtful look. "That name sounds familiar. Have we met?"
    "No, I don’t believe so. But I can assure you the name is going to sound a lot more familiar in the future. I’m going to be working for Kalinda."
    Kalinda froze as Harold’s inquiring, interested gaze switched to her. "I see.