Dangerous Magic Read Free

large cat. The gray eyes were enigmatic pools of cold, icy rain, and the grim line of his mouth was made no less harsh by the curious little upward quirk at one corner. One hand continued to play with the broken piece of pencil in an idle fashion.
    “You find that so difficult to understand?” he asked almost mildly. “In the short time I’ve been here I haven’t noticed you suffering from a shortage of admirers.”
    “They’re called friends, Mr. Taggert,” Elissa snapped, goaded. And it was true, she thought somewhat vaguely. She did have a lot of friends, and certainly some of them were male; but the one man who fit the description of admirer didn’t even work for CompuDesign! Wade Taggert couldn’t have been further off base then to think of her as a femme fatale !
    “And what do you call Martin Randolph?” he prodded bluntly.
    “I call him a friend who happens to be fifteen years older than I am and happily married as I told you before!”
    “Which puts him out of the risk category, doesn’t it? You can use him on the assumption that he isn’t in a position to demand anything more than you feel like giving. But what happens if he goes crazy, as other men have been known to do, and leaves his wife for you? What will you do if he comes knocking at your door some night expecting to be taken in by the woman who’s been showing him so much attention? Will you feel even a little guilty, Elissa?” Taggert was suddenly surging to his feet, but he made no move toward her. Instead he turned back to the window behind his desk, and she was once again left with his broad back as a target.
    “That’s hardly likely to happen!”
    “I agree,” he said surprisingly, glancing back at her over his shoulder.
    “Because I’ve put a stop to your little game with him by removing the prize and giving it to someone else. Randolph’s no fool. He’ll soon realize you’re pursuing more promising avenues of advancement, and if he’s smart he’ll thank his lucky stars he got out of the situation before he did something really stupid like leaving his wife!” He shifted completely back around to face her, planting his large hands flat on his desk and leaning forward with cool challenge in every line of his body. “Well, Elissa?” He waited.
    Elissa pulled her scrambling thoughts into some order, trying to come up with a way to handle the incredible situation. Only one thing seemed very clear in the chaos, and that was that if there was any way of achieving even a token revenge against this man, she was going to take it.
    “Well, what?” she taunted bravely. “You can’t expect me to leap at your offer when I still don’t know why you’ve made it.” She was stalling for time now as her earlier idea took firmer shape. “You might think I was dumb enough to sleep with the wrong man once for business purposes, but don’t make the mistake of thinking I’ll make the same error again!” There was no point arguing her own case any longer. Elissa accepted that with bitter resolve. She would devote all her energy now to finding another tactic to use against Wade Taggert. A tactic that would show him once and for all he had no right to play havoc with the careers of the women who worked for him. A tactic that would demonstrate his own fallibility…
    “I’ve told you why I’m inviting you to investigate other possibilities for career advancement,” he drawled. “I want you. I don’t know how long I’ll want you,” he added ruthlessly, “but while I do, you might be able to benefit considerably. I’m sure your imagination can supply you with all the potential inherent in the situation. You couldn’t aim any higher than the division office manager, could you, Elissa? Unless, of course, you tried for the CEO! But perhaps, if you play your cards right and keep me interested long enough, you’ll find yourself moving up right along with me.”
    Elissa whitened. Never in her life had she been subjected to such