The Courtship of Dani Read Free Page B

through the ranks, until now she was the top business analyst with the firm and Frank's second in command. Yes, she owed him.. .but not that much.
    Out of sheer force of habit, yawning hugely, Dani trailed across the living room to the small alcove that served as her office. Like the rest of the condo, it reflected Dani's passion for quality antiques, holding a rosewood desk and a delicate matching chair, a mahogany plant stand that sported an enormous ruffled fern, and a stack of very old, barrister's glass-front bookcases.
    Sighing when she saw the red light blinking on her answering machine, Dani sank down into the chair and pushed the rewind button. There were three calls on the tape, all from her brother wanting her to call him the minute she returned.
    Absently, Dani ran her hand back and forth across the satiny surface of the desk as she wondered what Chad wanted this time. He always wanted something: money, help with his studies, the loan of her car to impress some girl. Oh, he was always sweet and affectionate and charming, but Dani didn't fool herself. To Chad she was merely a means to an end; he wanted a college education, and she was his only hope of getting it. Their parents could not afford to send him and, unlike Dani, his grades had not been high enough to qualify him for a scholarship. For the past three years—ever since he realized that he would need her help—Chad had been playing the role of devoted brother, and Dani knew he would as long as she continued to finance his education.
    As she stared at the answering machine, Dani felt a familiar heaviness deep in her chest. Hurting. Wistful.
    Impatient with herself, she stood and walked into her bedroom, unzipping the cream silk dress on the way. So Chad was a user. So what? Hadn't she learned long ago that most people were takers, using one for gain of one kind or another whenever they could, often under the guise of friendship or love? People like her natural mother, her adoptive parents, Frank, Chad. Almost everyone who had touched her life had wanted something from her.
    Dani slipped into a blue silk nightgown and sat down at the dressing table to remove her makeup. But that's all right, she told herself, staring determinedly at her reflection as she slathered cold cream over her face. As long as she understood and accepted that, she could deal with it.
    As a child she had been a pawn with no say over her fate, but now she was in control. Now people used her only when—and as far as—she allowed them to. It was no hardship for her to finance Chad's education, so she did. She enjoyed her job at Update, Inc., and as long as Frank dealt with her fairly he would have her loyalty, but she would not be a crutch for his son. The choices were now hers to make.
    Wiping her face with a tissue, Dani thought about that last unpleasant run-in with Lewis, and a frown marred the smooth skin of her forehead. She wished to heaven that Jason St. Clair had not witnessed that encounter.
    Darn Lewis, anyway, she thought caustically as she swiped at her face with an astringent-soaked ball of cotton. She could cheerfully strangle him for putting her in such a compromising position. Now their new client probably thought she was some frivolous bubblehead who spent all her time behind a file cabinet, locked in a passionate clench with the boss's son.
    Vivid blue eyes met their mirrored reflection and began to frost over once again. Dani picked up a brush and attacked her lustrous mane of sable hair with furious strokes. That, she vowed determinedly, was an impression she was going to correct Monday morning when they had their first business meeting.

Chapter 2
    On Monday morning when she and Frank were shown into Jason St. Clair's office, Dani was struck once again by the aura of sheer power the man radiated. It wasn't just his size, which alone was intimidating, but the way he moved, the low, gravelly resonance of his voice, the direct way he looked at a person with those