Season of Strangers Read Free

cleavage.
    She beamed up at him. “I got tickets for Saturday night—The Jersey Boys. Front row seats. I didn’t really think you’d be interested, but if you’re not already busy—”
    â€œI meant what’s going on around here. What calls I’ve had and whether or not anyone is desperately looking for me.”
    â€œOh.” She looked crestfallen. Shirley Bingham had never been long on brains but she was dynamite in the sack. Too bad getting her in bed meant he’d had to employ her. Shirl loved the job and now he didn’t have the heart to fire her. He was, however, smart enough to ignore the lure of temptation again.
    She straightened in her chair, jiggling her magnificent breasts, and the front of his pants went snug. He might have one helluva hangover, but obviously he wasn’t dead yet.
    â€œYou’ve had a lot of calls, sir. I put them in on your desk. Oh, and Ms. Ferris has been waiting for you to come in. She’s in her office now.”
    Julie Ferris. Patrick sighed as he straightened away from Shirl, turned, and made his way past the twin rows of desks, nodding to a salesman here and there as he walked by. If he had one regret in life it was Julie. He’d been attracted to Julie Ferris since the day she’d walked through the office front door eight years ago. She’d been only twenty then, not even old enough to drink. But she’d had a beautiful body and skin like cream, big green eyes, and the clearest, sweetest laugh he’d ever heard.
    At the time, she was a junior at UCLA, looking for part-time work. He had convinced his father to hire her on the spot and begun to put the moves on her right away. Eventually he’d convinced her to go out with him, but he was seven years older than Julie, and she was wary of a worldly man like him. When he’d driven her to his apartment after dinner to try his hand at seduction, Julie had come unglued.
    â€œYou’re drunk,” she had said, unwinding herself from his sticky embrace and leaving him sprawled on the couch. “I feel like I’ve been out with an octopus, and the whole time we were having dinner, your eyes were on every other woman who walked through the door. That might work with the bimbos you’ve been dating, but it won’t work with me.”
    â€œWait a minute, Julie—” He struggled to get to his feet and finally dragged himself upright. “So what if I am a little drunk? We’re out to party, aren’t we? I only wanted to have a little fun.”
    â€œFun for you, maybe.” She snatched her coat off the chair. “Certainly not fun for me.” She started for the door. “You don’t have to drive me home. If you tried, you’d probably get us both thrown in jail. I’ll take a cab.”
    Julie had gotten home on her own and she hadn’t gone out with him since.
    He thought of that night as he knocked on the door to her office, then turned the knob and walked in. Things had changed a lot between them since then. He was her boss now. Over the years, she had won his respect and they had come to a sort of understanding. He glanced to where she sat on the sofa, gently massaging her temple. She was usually behind her desk with the phone shoved into an ear.
    â€œYou don’t look good,” he said, noticing the lines of fatigue beneath her eyes.
    â€œNeither do you.” She glanced up at his drug-ravaged face. It was hard to fool Julie. She always saw through to the truth. “Another rough night, I gather.”
    He grinned boyishly, wishing he could charm her as easily as he could the rest of the women he knew. “Kind of. What about you? Not feeling well?”
    Julie sighed and came to her feet. As always, she looked at him with a combination of regret mixed with disapproval. It always pissed him off.
    â€œI had a headache,” she said. “It’s pretty much gone now.”
    He knew she was