“Wow!” Liz said.
“I’ll have the car ready whenever Mr. Cameron needs it, sir,” Reynolds said.
“Fine,” King said, mentally dismissing Reynolds even before he had left the room.
“Thank you, sir,” Reynolds said, and he backed into the dining room and then turned and walked into the shadows toward the kitchen.
Diane waited until she was sure he was gone. Then she said, “You shouldn’t have told him that, Doug.”
“Huh? Told who what?”
“To… to climb a tree and then pounce. Make your own rules! Win at any cost! What are you trying to raise? A jungle tiger?”
“Mmmm, yes,” King said, “like his mother. Flashing eyes and sharp teeth and—”
“Doug, I’m serious!”
“Darling, so is he,” Liz said shrewdly. “He’s making love to you, can’t you tell? I’d better go.”
“What kind of nonsense is that to tell a boy?” Diane said angrily. “Pounce! For the love of—Do you want… do you want him to grow up to be a… a… ?”
“A rapist?” Liz supplied.
“Yes, thank you, Liz.”
“Why not?” King said. “Like father, like…”
“I’m terribly sorry you think this is a joke. I don’t happen to see anything so funny about it.”
Liz Bellew sighed. “Methinks I see a storm warning for Hurricane Diane,” she said.
“Don’t be silly,” Diane said in utter composure. “You’ve known me long enough to tell when I’m angry or not.” She allowed her fury to smolder silently for a moment longer and then exploded. “Pounce, pounce, pounce! The way you’re doing with this Boston thing, the way you did with poor Robinson!”
“Poor Robinson?” King said.
“Yes, you know very well what I mean.”
“I fired a man. What’s so criminal about that?”
“Harold fires men every day,” Liz said.
“Of course,” King said. “Honey, when you’re in business, you can’t worry about…”
“Yes, but why did you fire him? And how? The Robinsons were our friends.”
“Friends? Because we had them in for bridge a few times?”
“It wasn’t a few times, and they were our friends!”
“All right, they were our friends. They’re not any more.” King paused. “He was making me look bad.”
“And is that a reason for…”
“Look, I told you he was charging sales trips to the cost of a shoe. Some idiot, goes to Italy to buy silk, and Robinson charges that up to Cost. He was making me and the factory end look sick. He was being unfair, and I asked him repeatedly to re-evaluate his system. You know he refused.”
“So you fired him. You didn’t even give him the chance to resign.”
Liz Bellew, apparently bored by the kind of talk she heard endlessly in her own house, stretched out on the couch and glanced at the staircase.
“Resign?” King said. “The hell with resignation! When a man isn’t doing his job right…”
“What happens when he looks for another job, when he has to tell a prospective employer he was fired?”
“Only a damn fool would say he was fired. If Robinson has any sense at—”
“You know they’ll check with Granger, no matter what he says.”
“Well, he should have thought of that before he began holding hands with the Sales Division. Diane, he was knocking Cost way the hell out of line!”
“You didn’t have to be so ruthless!”
“Ruthless? Me?” He laughed. “Liz, am I ruthless?”
“You’re a darling,” Liz said.
“What makes you think I’m ruthless? Because I get things done while other people sit around on their fannies? Honey, there are sitters and there are doers. Just because a man takes action doesn’t necessarily mean…”
“No, but if you make a habit of stepping on people, of not caring…”
“Honey, if I’d sat on my duff all these years, you wouldn’t be living in this house right now, you wouldn’t be wearing that bracelet, you…”
“He’s right, darling,” Liz said, and she extended the hand with the diamond on it.
“Of course I am. You either do or you sit, right, Liz?”
“Absolutely,” Liz said. She swung upright. “I’ve always enjoyed a little action myself.” She looked at her watch. “Well, back to the little shack on the hill for me. You two coming to the club tonight?”
“Maybe,” Diane said angrily.
“Mmmm.” Liz stared at Diane. “I know what she needs,” she said to King.
“So do I.”
“I figured you did. By the way, if Pete asks—” She cut herself off. “Never mind, he’s a big boy now.” She waved her hand, called, “Have fun,” and walked out of the house.
There was a dead silence after her departure. Diane stood stock-still in the center of the room. King studied her for a moment and then began circling her slowly.
“Diane?” he said gently.
“What is it?”
“Diane, I’m sitting in a tree, and I’m looking down at you…”
“What?” she said, puzzled.
Circling closer, King said, “And I’m warning you now… in all fairness… that I am getting ready to… pounce!”
He seized her suddenly, holding her close to him, his mouth an inch from hers.
“Let me go!” she said. “If you think you can—” and King kissed her. She struggled for a moment longer, and then submitted to his kiss, and then returned it, clinging to him, and then pulled her mouth from his.
“You…you oaf,” she said gently.
“Yes,” he said, and he kissed her again.
“You are,” she said weakly. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“I am. Deeply.” He kissed her again. “You’re beautiful. Especially with that new sexy streak in your hair.”
“I’m too good for you, that’s for sure, you ape.”
“I know, I know. Listen, what time’s dinner?”
“Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“I thought we might…” He shrugged.
“And I didn’t appreciate your discussing me with Liz as if I were a head of cattle or something.”
“Mmmm, you’re a gorgeous head of cattle,” he said, and again he kissed her. “You didn’t answer me.”
“What did you ask?” Diane said dizzily.
King kissed her neck. “Dinner,” he whispered. “The time before dinner.”