The Cutting Edge by Linda Howard Read Free Book Online Page A

Sammy. Her slim figure was encased in jeans and a jersey, and her long blond hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail. Glasses perched on her small nose as she peered at the monitor.
    â€œHillary, this is Tessa Conway. I’ve told you about her; she works with me. Tessa, Hillary Basham.”
    Hillary looked up, vague surprise in her brown eyes. “Oh, yes, I remember. How are you?”
    â€œFine, thank you,” Tessa said gently.
    Sammy launched into a spirited explanation of hisnew computer, and Hillary was as carried away by it as he was. Tessa listened and nodded, trying to make sense of what they were telling her. They both seemed very excited, and because of that she asked questions, letting them enjoy the moment. Intuitively, she realized that Hillary was so much in love with Sammy that the girl was almost sick with it, but was too shy to let him know. Of course, with Sammy, a woman would have to put up a billboard and point it out to him to get him to notice it, and even then it might be a week before he realized he was the man involved. He was so deeply involved with his computer that everything else passed him by.
    She didn’t get her chess lesson that night; Sammy was so high from whatever great strides he’d made in the computer industry that there was no question of settling him down. He and Hillary played with the computer as if it were human, and they devoted over an hour to the naming of it before they finally settled on Nelda. Tessa groaned when she heard the name, and Sammy looked hurt, since it had been his idea. Hillary jumped in immediately in favor of Sammy’s choice, and Nelda it was. Shaking her head, Tessa looked around at all of the equipment that Sammy had in his apartment. He must sink most of his salary into his hobby, she thought. In fact, she wondered how he even had money left to eat on.
    Sammy wasn’t a complete social wasteland; he eventually realized that he was hungry, and evidently recalled the manners his mother had tried for years to drill into him. Blushing, he jumped to his feet and offered to fix sandwiches and cold drinks, and refusedHillary’s quick offer to help. He rushed out of the room and left a pool of silence behind him.
    Tessa looked at Hillary’s downcast eyes and saw the way the girl had suddenly withdrawn. “Where do you work?” she asked, since it was evident that Hillary wasn’t going to begin the conversation.
    â€œAt a bank.” Hillary gave her a shy look, then quickly looked down again. “Sammy talks about you a lot. You’re…you’re as beautiful as he says.”
    Tessa wondered if she’d gone too far in her friendship with Sammy, trying to make him more comfortable in female company. “That’s sweet of him, but I’m not beautiful at all,” she said honestly, and that brought up the bent blond head. “It’s just that he’s shy with women, and I talk to him and make him laugh. He talks about you a lot, too.”
    â€œYeah, but that’s different. I’m a buddy, someone to talk computers with.” For a brief moment, hostility was plain in her brown eyes.
    â€œThen talk about something else when you’re with him.” The last thing she wanted was to get involved in some sort of triangle, especially when the man in question couldn’t see the forest for the trees.
    â€œThat’s easy for you, but not everyone’s a…a flirt like you!” As soon as she flared up, hot color rushed into Hillary’s rather pale face and made it rosy. She looked down again, as if appalled at her rudeness, and Tessa sighed.
    â€œHillary, I’m not a threat to you. Please believe me. Sammy’s just a friend to me, nothing else.”
    â€œBut what about the way he feels about you?”
    â€œHe’s definitely not in love with me; I promise!”Before she could say anything else to reassure the girl, Sammy came back into the room with a