Banish Misfortune Read Free Page A

firmly. Understandable stress, caused by the upcoming merger that depended so much on her initiative and her ability to charm X. Rickford Lincoln during the upcoming weekend. Not to mention the changes her expected success would wreak in her life. The vice-presidency was everything she had worked for, everything she had longed for. Peter Kinsey, charming, passive, clever, would propose marriage. It would be a good match for her, a sensible, advantageous mating of brains and blue blood and ruthless ambitions. They would both supply the brains—her determination would more than make up for her Scandinavian blood, which wasn't quite WASP-ish enough. In the past few months Peter had been devoted, charming and diffident enough to allow her to keep the relationship on a platonic level. But once the merger went through, the engagement formalized, she'd have no more excuses. None that he would believe, anyway.
    It was going to be a busy weekend, no doubt of that, and she'd have felt a lot better able to face it if she'd had more than a few hours of sleep every night during the past week, if she'd managed to eat more than a mouthful or two at her irregular meals. Rickford Lincoln was a recently divorced man in his late sixties, a big, powerful bull of a man eager to celebrate his new freedom. And Jessica had the distinctly uneasy impression that he wanted to celebrate that freedom with her. What had started out as sly glances and lubricious looks during the early part of the negotiations several months ago had quickly graduated to semiserious propositions, seemingly innocent touches that always managed to graze her flat buttocks or the gentle swell of her breasts. And Jessica had used that attraction, played with it with masterly cleverness, stringing him along to the point of agreeing to the merger with no more than a promising smile, just the right amount of reluctance in moving out of the way of his damp, clutching fingers, and the hint of wonders to come in her cool blue eyes.
    It had worked, as it had worked so often in the past during her climb up the corporate ladder. A smile here, a word there, always stopping just short of cementing it with an affair. Not that anyone had realized she did stop there—she had the reputation of being a cool customer, ready to sleep her way discreetly to the top. So far she had managed to avoid it with practiced skill, but she wasn't sure how much longer she could do so.
    Her priorities were clear, and sooner or later she'd have to pay the price. Her ambitions and talents had stood her in good stead, leading her to Jasper Kinsey's table, Peter Kinsey's side, a vice-presidency in Kinsey Enterprises, Inc., and a future as part of that wealthy, safe family. And if that future included trading her body for Peter's practiced caresses, then it could have been far worse. He was never rough, never inconsiderate in their restrained petting, and she was very skilled In simulating responses that left him convinced she would be a mass of passion when they finally made love, and that he would be capable of satisfying her as no man had ever had. And in a way, he would. She loved the holding part of sex, the gentle stroking that preceded and followed the act, the feeling of safety cradled in his arms. If her limited experience in making love had left her cold and removed, she knew well enough how to disguise that fact, could always disguise that fact with her actress's ability.
    Or at least she had been up till now. Her one experience a few years earlier had been unpleasant and undignified, but her partner, a self-satisfied lawyer named Philip Mercer, had been convinced of his prowess. She could convince Peter just as easily. But X. Rickford Lincoln might prove to be a different matter.
    "Jessica, are you in there?" Jasper Kinsey's bluff tones were unmistakable, and for a brief, mad moment Jessica considered diving under the desk. Jilly was long gone, no longer able to run interference for her, and Peter must