Kate Takes Care Of Business Read Free Page B

wasn’t a prude in private but sometimes she wanted to be literally swept off her feet by a man as in picked up and carried to a big, clean, comfortable bed for some intense, mutual ravishing and cuddly canoodling after that.
    Maybe it was just an overly excitable teenage girl’s fantasy or if it actually happened it wouldn’t be the most amazing sex she’d ever had in her life but there it was—an unfulfilled desire that woke her from her dreams with a sweet, aching need that had yet to be satisfied.
    Still, back in the real world, she caught herself thinking that things weren’t so bad in this one small corner. “Thanks. I needed to hear that.”
    “So . . . do I get a second chance?”
    Kate laughed. “No so fast, mister.” She withdrew her hand. “I don’t think I should let you off that easily.”
    Reid picked up his imported Dutch beer and looked out on the water as he sipped. He was slim but hard-muscled in his light red cotton shirt. She liked that he had left an extra button unfastened. He definitely looked as if he’d been working out since the last time she saw him.
    Kate smiled. Nothing wrong with a man showing off a little . . . when he’s got something to show. Every admiring glance she stole told her that his arms looked more than capable of picking a girl up and delivering her safely to any waiting bed she might desire.
    “Nice,” Kate said.
    “What’s that?” Reid turned his gaze from the water.
    Kate blushed in embarrassment. Had she been staring at him a little bit longer than she should have without being obvious? She looked away from him and out at the water. “The lake, I mean, it’s nice to be here if you can’t get away and swim in a real—” She realized that she was babbling and stopped.
    Reid sipped his beer. Another tense minute passed before he spoke in an offhand voice. “Sterling Hallman’s family has a big vacation home on Chesapeake Bay, don’t they?”
    Sterling? Why was he asking about him of all people? Kate began to wonder just exactly what it was that Reid wanted of her. Studying him with pensive curiosity, she cleared her throat. “They’re wealthy now but it wasn’t always that way and I can tell you that Mr. Hallman worked almost as hard as my father for every dollar he’s made and lost along the way.”
    “Then . . . you could have more than a lake.” He made a sweeping gesture toward the water. “You could have an ocean with a castle on the beach if you married Sterling Hallman.” His lips twisted into a cynical smile
    I don’t believe this. He says he wants a second chance but he keeps asking me about Sterling? Puzzled and more than a little agitated by Reid’s interest in the Hallman family, Kate pushed her plate of chicken salad away. “I don’t need to marry a man for his money. In fact, unless I was destitute and starving that’s the last reason I would marry at all.”
    Reid shrugged. “It would make sense though, wouldn’t it? Maybe your father and Sterling’s would find some compromise then for the sake of the company . . . and the marriage of their only children.”
    “Is this really what you wanted to talk to me about?” A cynical inner voice cut through her thoughts. Dad was right. She pressed both hands over her eyes as if they had been burned with too much brightness from the sun.
    Kate pushed her chair back from the table. “If Sterling and I do get married, it won’t be a mercenary, corporate takeover for the sake of each family’s profit. We grew up together and our mothers were best friends, before—” Kate turned away and shivered as she remembered the last time she saw her mother alive.
    “I’m sorry.” Reid held his head high with pride. “But I’m just trying to understand where I fit into the big picture. I can’t hope to compete with a spoiled rich kid like Sterling Hallman and I don’t want to end being the fool if I try.”
    The finality in his voice only made her feel colder inside. Yes, she was angry