Affair Of Risk Read Free Page A

This
    was an unforseen contingency. Donna had felt certain there would be no problem. . . .
    "No," he said after a second's hesitation. "I shall be willing to accept the partial payment, under certain conditions."
    "What conditions?" Kendra asked, meeting his challenging look with determined unconcern. She refused to give way to the irrational impulse to twist her hands together in her lap. Instead she concentrated her inner energy on sitting serenely in the gray chair as if she were content to humor him for the moment.
    "You needn't be so wary, Miss Loring," he soothed, a lazy smile revealing the whiteness of shark's teeth. "I'm merely asking you to join me for dinner."
    She flinched at the unexpected demand, regrouping her forces at once. "Asking me or telling me you won't accept that check unless I do?" she tossed back bluntly, anger beginning to simmer under the surface of her calm.
    "That's putting it a little crudely—"
    "A simple yes or no will do," she interrupted icily, telling herself that if she remained resolute enough, there was still a chance she could face him down. He was playing with her. He had every intention of accepting that check; she was certain of it. But what if he did refuse? The last thing Donna needed now was another dangerous male making threats!
    "Are you always so straightforward, Miss Loring?" Case inquired interestedly.
    "When I'm conducting business, yes."
    He winced. "You consider a dinner invitation business?"
    "In this instance, it would be more akin to blackmail."
    "Another line of work in which you would expect to find me adept?"
    "I'd rather not discuss your methods of making a living, Mr. Garrett."
    "I can see that," he murmured, sitting forward and twisting a key in the desk drawer.
    Kendra watched worriedly as he dropped Donna's check inside but-made no move to write out any sort of receipt.
    "Mr. Garrett," she began firmly, fighting for control in her words.
    "Call me Case," he admonished, getting easily to his feet. "All my friends do!" He grinned at her, a purely male, purely bantering smile, which dared her to tell him they weren't friends.
    "The response to that is obvious," she gritted.
    Out of a vague feeling of self-defense, she also rose to her feet, the white mink muff dangling on a silken cord from one wrist. She saw him glance at the refined elegance of gold at her throat and ears, and then his smile broadened knowingly.
    "Oh, you'll like being my friend," he told her softly, coming close but not touching her. "I'm very generous to my friends. And you look like a woman who appreciates a man's generosity."
    The open insult was almost more than even Kendra's hard-won willpower could tolerate. Red washed up into her cheeks and then receded, leaving her pale in the chandelier's light. She wanted to scream at him that every expensive item of her clothing had been purchased by her, not a man, but instinct warned that he would only take pleasure in having provoked a response.
    "The casino restaurant has an excellent chef, Kendra," Case went on urbanely, using her first name quite naturally. "I'm sure you'll enjoy the roast duckling, and the house pate is exceptional."
    "Why are you doing this, Mr. Garrett?" Kendra whispered with barely repressed anger.
    He took her arm and led her toward the door. "Mostly,
    I think, because you so clearly dislike me and my business," he told her with blatant honesty.
    Kendra hesitated, thinking of the check in his drawer. She needed that receipt for Donna's peace of mind. For Donna's sake, she could tolerate dinner with this one-eyed shark. Belatedly, she told herself she shouldn't have challenged him so openly.
    "You enjoy dining with women who dislike you." She sighed in the tone of one resigning oneself to a particularly unpleasant business chore.
    "I enjoy dining with women who interest me," he corrected, opening the door with grave politeness. "And you, Miss Kendra Loring, interest me. Greatly."
    "I can only regret that," she told him