He flipped on. the light, revealing a clean, uncluttered room furnished in an utterly masculine style. It was similar to the decor in his house by the lake, Kalinda thought, walking inside curiously. Browns and caramels were the predominant colors of the low-slung, modern furniture. Wide, sweeping vistas of the Denver night were provided by an expanse of windows.
Automatically Kalinda walked toward the view, knowing he was watching her. „It’s lovely,“ she smiled, looking out into the darkness and picking out familiar buildings. They were on the twentieth floor.
„I prefer your place,“ he said dryly.
She swung around to see him going over to a liquor cabinet and begin hunting through the collection of bottles.
She accepted the snifter he held out to her a moment later, meeting his eyes silently over the rim as they each lifted their glasses. For an instant as she met the glittering promise in the hazel eyes, Kalinda forgot all about her promise to herself. And when he took her wrist and led her silently across the tan carpet to the sofa, she couldn’t find the words of protest He sank down onto the leather cushions, tugging her gently down beside him. Then, wrapping the arm holding his drink around her shoulders so that she was forced to curl into his side, Rand reached for the leather case he brought with him.
He put his feet up on a hassock and fumbled briefly in the case. „Now, I’ve got a couple more questions about your relationship with the banks,“ he said calmly.
Kalinda turned her head quickly to stare at him and saw that he was quite serious. He didn’t appear to have any intention of trying to seduce her tonight She honestly didn’t know whether to be glad or feel insulted.
The amusement lit her eyes and quirked her mouth as she dutifully answered his precise questions.
Half an hour later she was still answering the occasional question as Rand continued reading beside her. With a strange feeling of contentment she settled more closely against him, finding his obvious interest in the work at hand somehow endearing. He was enjoying this, she thought sleepily.
Her eyes were closing when the impact of that statement finally made itself felt.
He was enjoying himself! He was thriving on the opportunity to get back into the dangerous game he knew so well. Belatedly Kalinda remembered the occasional feeling she’d had in the mountains that he’d latched onto her because he had been as bored as she was up there.
She was almost asleep when the plausible answer to all her questions popped into her head.
Had Rand followed her back out of the mountains because she had made him realize he was bored with the easy life? Was he using her to find his way back to the high-powered business world he’d once dominated?
The thought of serving as an accidental catalyst for a man who once again was seeking a change of lifestyle was not a pleasant one. What happened to the catalyst after it had served its purpose?
8
Kalinda awoke hours later to find dawn pearling the sky outside the massive windows. She blinked, stirred warmly and finally opened her eyes to find herself wedged between the back of the sofa and Rand’s lean frame.
They were still wearing their business suits, she realized, minus the jackets. Her camel skirt and white, bow-tie blouse would never be the same. Sometime during the night Rand had located a blanket and pulled it over both of them before going to sleep himself. Kalinda shifted position carefully and found herself snugly cradled, Rand’s arm firmly wrapped around her.
She managed to prop herself on one elbow, desperate to stretch cramped muscles. Her hair was hanging loosely around her shoulders and she felt terribly mussed and sleep-tousled.
In the pale morning light Rand’s firmly etched features appeared more relaxed. There was an unmistakable contentment in the eased lines around his mouth and eyes. His shirt had been undone at the collar, tie removed.
For a long moment Kalinda stared down at him, absorbing each detail along with the fact that she loved him. That look of contentment, she now realized, wasn’t because he’d spent the night by her side. It was because Rand Alastair was finally back where he wanted to be. He had emerged from his year and a half of retirement to resume the fast-paced, perilous life he had known before opting out of the business world.
For how long would he see Kalinda as his means of getting back into the high-powered atmosphere he’d once dominated? Helping Brady Data Processing fight off a hostile merger attempt could only be a stepping-stone for such a man. Kalinda might have been the one to galvanize him into realizing he was bored with retirement, but how long would she hold his interest once the transition back to the business world had been made?
If her time with Rand was fated to be short-lived, why was she telling herself that she must control the passion in the relationship? Why shouldn’t she be taking advantage of the precious, stolen moments? With luck she might have weeks, perhaps even a few months before he got swept up completely in the world he’d left behind. But it was already going to be incredibly difficult to say good-bye. How much worse would it be if the affair went on for months? The thought of watching Rand grow bored with her was frightening.
She was staring at him, wondering unhappily how she would explain her feelings to Rand when the chestnut lashes flickered against his cheekbones and lifted. The hazel gaze gleamed at her with sleepy contentment.
„Good morning, Miss Brady,“ he growled lazily, moving the hand that cradled her up to snag luxuriously in her hair. „You have an interesting way of conducting late-night business conferences. Do you always go to sleep in the middle of them?“
„I don’t appear to be the only one who dozed off at this particular conference,“ she replied, warming under the possessiveness in his gaze. „Perhaps you should serve coffee instead of cognac when you conduct your late meetings.“
„My only regret,“ he murmured, his mouth quirking with an intimate, teasing expression, „is the unfinished business we failed to get through.“
Kalinda knew her cheeks were reddening under the complacent, very male look in his eyes. But before she could frame a properly light retort, the hand in her hair was moving to urge her head down to his.
With a muffled sigh Kalinda let herself be pulled across Rand’s chest, her hair tumbling over his shoulders as he kissed her with slow satisfaction.
„I think we’ve got time to tie up a few loose ends,“ he whispered against her mouth.
Kalinda tried to take a firm grip on her new resolutions. „I agree,“ she said lightly and saw the pleased look on his face. „And I think an early-morning walk would be just the way to do it“
„A walk!“
„Ummm. A little exercise to get us revitalized for the new day.“
„If it’s exercise you’re after, I have a better suggestion,“ he began determinedly, sliding his fingers up her throat and encircling the nape of her neck.
Kalinda resisted the temptation and the want in him with every atom of restraint she possessed. She had to start drawing the line. She had to ease out of this relationship before it became impossible to do so.
„Consider this little suggestion of mine as an order from your boss,“ she said, easing herself to a sitting position beside him.
He regarded her with a measure of fascination. „I’m not accustomed to taking orders,“ he finally pointed out.
„As you said yesterday, things have changed a bit in the business world since you opted out a year and a half ago!“
„Some things are basic. They never change.“ He reached for her.
„I’m serious, Rand,“ she said quietly, evading his arm. „I want to go for a walk. We… we need to talk.“