The Hostage Bride by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page B

and opened it. Once Tamara was inside the house, a tiny pain began hammering at her temples. There were so many things to think about. Not the least among them was the audit that would begin tomorrow.
    When Tamara arrived at the office the next morning, Adam Slater was already there along with another older man named Fred Hastings. Somehow she had expected Bick Rutledge to put in an appearance, but he didn’t. It was just as well, because it took all her skill and ingenuity to steer the audit in the direction she wanted it to go and gain all the time she could.
    At half past eleven, Bick walked into her office. Outside of a “Good morning” directed to the two men, he didn’t waste time with preliminaries. “Are you ready?”
    “You’re early.” A shaft of fear went through her as Tamara mentally calculated how far theauditors would progress before she returned. Her heart thumped a little louder at the look in his vividly green eyes. It was at once possessive and persuasive, and utterly irresistible.
    “A little,” Bick admitted indifferently. “You two can manage without Miss James for an hour or so, can’t you?” It was a statement that wouldn’t tolerate a negative reply. “I’m taking her to lunch,” he said, as if he’d done it every day of his life.
    “Sure, we can manage,” Adam replied and arched his back to relieve muscles that were cramping from sitting in one position for so long. “We’ll be breaking for a sandwich in twenty minutes or so ourselves.”
    Bick nodded and looked expectantly at Tamara. After fetching her purse, she walked to the door he held open for her. The warm weight of his hand was on the small of her back to guide her out of the building. Tamara was conscious of the curious looks she was receiving from her staff and wondered if they were envious or whether they thought she was buttering up the new boss.
    When they were outside, Bick said, “I made reservations for noon.”
    “Fine.” It didn’t occur to Tamara to ask where as he helped her into the car, since it didn’t matter to her. When she was settled in the passenger seat, he closed the door. She found herself missing the firm touch of his hand and envied the steering wheel that was taking her place.
    With typical feminine vanity, she lowered thesun visor to glance at her reflection in its mirror and check her makeup. The blue of her eyes looked overly bright, the result of the excited confusion churning inside her. The summer dress of flowered silk was one of the most flattering ones she owned that was suitable to wear to the office. She was glad she had surrendered to the impulse to wear it, liking the way the style was designed to subtly accent her curves. Her lipstick had faded. Tamara would have freshened the mocha rose color, but Bick leaned over to flip the visor up.
    “You couldn’t look lovelier,” he stated and started the car.
    The husky pitch of his voice warmed her blood. It didn’t matter whether he meant it or not. Just for a little while, Tamara succumbed to the temptation to be a woman and forget the problems and responsibilities that had denied her the chance these last three years. Circumstances had made her suppress her own sexuality, but Bick was so definitely male that he made her recognize it. She reveled in the sensations it aroused.
    Hugging the feelings inside her, Tamara let her sparkling gaze wander out the moving car window to the rawboned skyline of Kansas City shining under a high, prairie sun. They were entering the country club district, where trees abounded and the streets were adorned with fountains and statuary.
    The fountains were a harmony of sight, sound, and movement. Bubbling water rushed to sprayits song over a rearing horse, caught motionless in a symphony of powerful lines and perfect symmetry. Its conquering rider clung to its bare back under the deluge of the fountain’s shower. The sight of it and its circle of statues were all reflected in the rippling pool of