Red Sky At Morning - DK4 Read Free Page A

wants to deal, they have to pay for their own upgrades before we sign anything. I don’t want them bottlenecking us,” she stated, then sighed as her cell phone rang. “Yeah?”
    “Dar, it’s Mark. We’ve got a situation.”
    Figures . “Hang on.” Dar stood and tucked her napkin under her plate. “Be right back.” She edged around where Bob was sitting and headed for the door, out of the noise, where she could hear better.
    Alastair took a sip of his wine and gazed drolly at his longtime associate. “Put your tongue back in your mouth, will ya?”
    “Son of a bitch.” Bob laughed, shaking a finger at him. “You told me she was smart, tough, and stubborn. How come you never mentioned she was gorgeous?” His eyes stayed pinned on the tall, lanky figure leaning against the door outside, phone pressed to her ear. “That is a serious hunk of woman, Al.”
    Alastair rolled his eyes. “You never change,” he snorted. “Wipe your chin. You’re drooling.”
    “Hell yes, I am!” Bob asserted. “That’s one sexy item I intend to get a closer look at.”
    Alastair held a hand up. “She’s taken.”
    “Bullshit. Nobody owns her—not in this lifetime, Bucko.” Bob shook his head firmly. “Don’t get so serious, Al. I just want to have a drink with her, not get married.”
    Alastair threw his trump card. “Bob, she’s gay.”
    “And? Your point is what?” his chief salesman replied. “Who cares? I sure don’t.” He balled up the napkin he’d been playing with and straightened. “I’ll just in—hey!”
    Alastair had reached across the table and fastened one hand on his wrist. Now he bore down and pulled, a suddenly serious, intent look on Red Sky At Morning 9
    his face. “You listen to me, mister. Don’t fuck with her.”
    A tiny pocket of shocked stillness surrounded them. Bob blinked and stared at his boss, nonplussed. “Hey, c’mon, Al,” he said, softly.
    “Take it easy.”
    “I mean it,” the CEO stated flatly.
    The younger man drew in a breath and held out his other hand, palm up, in a gesture of conciliation. “Okay, okay, boss. I hear you.” He gathered his composure and sat back as Alastair released him. “Is it okay if I just talk to her? She’s very bright, and I’d really like to spend a few minutes doing that.”
    A finger pointed at him. “If you go a step further than that, I will personally fire your ass. Understand?”
    “Understood,” Bob acknowledged quietly, as Dar reentered the restaurant, moving back toward them and taking her seat. Alert blue eyes flicked first to Alastair, then to him, and he got the curious sensation of being analyzed like a faulty piece of code by the raw, potent intelligence lurking just behind Dar’s now watchful gaze.
    “Trouble, Dar?” Alastair took a gulp of his wine and swirled the remainder around his glass. “Didn’t think we had that much going on this week.”
    “Ah.” Dar twirled a forkful of spaghetti and munched on it, swallowing before she answered. “It’s that damned conversion in Chicago. They’ve been trying to tie in that big ATM pipeline up to Canada for two weeks, and every time they do it, they take down half the Midwest.” She took a sip of her own wine. “I may have to send a team out there.”
    “Lousy time to be traveling,” Bob ventured. “Holidays and all.”
    “Mm,” Dar agreed, meeting his gaze. “Comes with the territory, though. My people know that. Work comes first.” She finished off her meatballs and sat back, crossing an arm over her chest as she sipped the wine. The problem was aggravating, for sure, and she wasn’t entirely convinced she wasn’t going to have to go there in person to take care of it.
    Which truly, truly sucked.
    “Hey, Dar?”
    She looked up to find Bob leaning forward with a look of friendly interest on his face. “Mm?” Something had gone on between him and Alastair, that much she knew, but what that was... Probably didn’t involve her. “Something on your