High-Powered, Hot-Blooded by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online Page A

tonight,” Annie said as she sat next to Duncan in the cab of the truck he’d driven to her house. “The girls all have something they have to get to. A class or work. Besides, you’re supposed to let the tree sit out in the garage for a couple of days before bringing it in.”
    “Why? It’s not a puppy. It doesn’t need to get used to being away from its mother.”
    She laughed. “I think it’s about the branches settling. I have the tree stand set up in the garage, so we can put it in water as soon as we get it home.”
    Duncan had arrived right on time. Based on the suit he wore, he’d come from work.
    “Did I take you away from something important?” she asked.
    “Nothing that can’t wait.” He smiled. “My assistant was surprised when I said I was leaving.”
    “Imagine what she’d think if she knew where you were actually going.”
    He chuckled.
    She studied his profile. She liked the strength of his face, the chiseled jawline, the shape of his mouth. Her gaze lingered on the latter as she thought about him kissing her. Would he do it again? If he kissed her in a nonbusiness setting, then she would know for sure that he’d liked it as much as she had. Craziness, she told herself. She couldn’t think about Duncan as anything but her boss. The hard part was that she wanted a husband and a family to love, but all she had was a bruised heart and a fear that no man was going to think of her as more than a friend.
    They pulled into the Christmas-tree lot. Jenny, Julie and Kami were already there. Duncan parked next to Jenny’s car.
    “Brace yourself,” Annie told him. “You’re about to meet your match.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “I can handle it.”
    She grinned. “That’s what every man thinks, right before he runs into trouble. You’ve been warned.”
    Annie watched Duncan get out of the truck and introduce himself to her cousins and Kami. By the time she reached them, the easy stuff was done.
    “That article about you in last March’s issue of Time was interesting,” Julie said. “The press really hates you, huh?”
    “A hazard of my occupation,” Duncan said calmly.
    “Except there are a lot of CEOs out there,” Jenny pointed out. “They’re not all hated. Although I’ll give you the coverage of the purchase of the mobile home park wasn’t fair. You offered the residents a fair deal and made sure they were taken care of.”
    “The thing is,” Julie added, “If one person thinks you aren’t nice, it’s probably them. But if all the press people feel that way…”
    “I’m misunderstood,” Duncan said.
    “Uh-huh.” Jenny and Julie moved between him and Annie. Kami seemed more comfortable keeping out of the conversation.
    “What is this, the Inquisition?” Annie joked, warmed by her cousins’ protective questions but trying to lighten the mood. She might not have a husband and a baby, but she still had a family. She had to remember that.
    “They have bright futures in the law.”
    “I’m not going to be a lawyer,” Jenny said. “But I am watching out for Annie. We all are.”
    Duncan did his best to look attentive rather than incredulous. Were these two college girls going to threaten him? They had neither the money nor the resources, and if it came to a battle of wills, he would leave them coughing in the dust.
    None of which he said to them.
    “I don’t need that much defending,” Annie said, looking uncomfortable. “Duncan, I’m sorry. I didn’t know the twins were going to gang up on you this much.”
    “But a little would have been okay?”
    “Sure.”
    He turned to the cousins. “Annie and I have a business arrangement. She’ll be fine.”
    “You have to promise,” one of the twins said. Duncan couldn’t tell them apart.
    “You have my word on it.” Even if he and Annie didn’t have an agreement, she wouldn’t be at much risk. He didn’t get involved enough for anyone to get their feelings hurt. Life was easier that way.
    They went into the