Gamemaster by Unknown Read Free Book Online

disarray of her silk shirt and unfastened bra.
    "Unless, of course, I should apologize for not ignoring your protests and making love to you regardless. Would you
    rather I did that, Shelley? Take the decision out of your hands?"
    "Don't be ridiculous," she whispered tightly, sitting up and quickly straightening her clothes. "You do your own
    apologizing, and I'll make my own decisions."
    To her astonishment, he smiled, and his eyes softened as he watched her rumble with her clothing. "Fair enough.
    But I reserve the right to try to influence your decisions."
    He got to his feet, reaching down to grasp her shoulders and lift her up beside him. Ignoring the wariness in her
    eyes, Joel bent and kissed her one more time, a slow, lingering kiss that said good night and promised a dangerous
    future.
    "Take care, honey," he murmured, "and when you go to sleep tonight, remind yourself that you're involved in a
    business venture with someone who knows all the tricks and patterns of the game."
    "Is that meant to be a warning?" she demanded briskly, feeling more secure now that she knew she at last had
    control over the evening.
    He grinned, a slashing, piratical grin that somehow managed to menace and beguile at the same time. "You're a
    bright, up-and-coming type; you figure it out"
    Joel turned and walked out the door without a backward glance.

3
    Shelley gave the good news to Dean Ackerly late in the afternoon of the following day.
    "You're kidding! You actually talked him into it?" The good-looking, slightly stocky man in front of her ran a hand
    through his light-brown hair and shook his head in amazement. "I can't believe it!"
    Shelley eyed him wryly as she reached for some papers from the Ackerly file. "You don't have to look quite so
    stunned, Dean. I told you I was going to do what I could to help you save the firm, didn't I?"
    "Yes, yes, of course," he said quickly, gray eyes rueful as he realized he'd shown something less than total
    confidence in her ability. "It's just that it was such a shot in the dark. I really didn't think he'd go for it. I was well aware
    that the loan was a favor to my father, not to me or to the firm. At the time, I don't think Cassidy even cared about
    collateral. Securing the money with Ackerly land was dad's idea, not his, I think. I'm not sure of all the details because I
    was living in California at the time, but I remember being shocked when I discovered dad had borrowed that kind of
    money from a man like Joel Cassidy. I was sure it would be the equivalent of getting involved with a professional loan
    shark! When I found out the money was interest-free and a favor to my father, I couldn't rid myself of the idea that
    there had to be a catch. Men like Joel Cassidy don't do that kind of favor!"
    "The favor," Shelley pointed out coolly as she placed a financial spreadsheet on her desk, "was definitely to your
    father, not to you. From here on in, that loan is no longer interest-free. We're buying time, but time doesn't come cheap.
    Do you have any idea how much the interest amounts to on a hundred thousand dollars? He wants prime rate, by the
    way."
    Dean winced a little but nodded. "If we can get the company back on its feet, we can handle that. Damn it, I should
    have returned a year ago. But I knew dad and I could never work together. The business was his, and we would have
    clashed from day one if I'd tried to help. He was as stubborn as—as I am," he concluded ruefully.
    "We'll get things straightened out," Shelley assured him with a little more confidence than she actually felt Part of
    pulling off a successful turnaround with a faltering company was instilling confidence in management that matters
    actually could be salvaged. The psychological side of business was as crucial as the financial side. It all fit together.
    Shelley winced at the memory those last words engendered. Was she fated to go through life equating the interlocking
    pieces of a puzzle to a game of seduction?
    Dean was