The Courtship of Dani Page 2

  Dani gagged. She strained with all her might against his hold, but he backed her up against the car and pressed his length against her to hold her still. She didn't even have room to use her knee. She was trying to find his instep with the heel of her shoe, when a snicker of female laughter made Lewis stiffen and pull away.

  "Oh, please, Manders, don't let us interrupt your fun." Jason St. Clair's deep, sneering voice floated to them out of the darkness. "By all means, you and your girlfriend carry on. We were just leaving."

  Pale and shaken, Dani leaned against the car and gasped for breath, unable to say a word, as Linda and Jason strolled by. Briefly Jason's eyes flicked over Dani, scorn and revulsion glittering in their dark depths. Then the couple was swallowed up by the darkness, and there was only the gritting sound of their receding footsteps and the labored rasp of Dani's breathing.

  For several seconds she stared after them in horror, her hand clamped over her mouth, but the sound of a car door slamming farther down the drive brought her out of her stupor. She rounded on Lewis, her blue eyes blazing.

  "You bastard!"

  Her first volley caught him by such surprise that he backed up a step. Dani advanced and jabbed him in the gut with the narrow end of her gold clutch. "You sorry, worthless sleaze-ball!" she ground out in a furious cutting voice that made Lewis blink. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Dani looked him up and down, a grimace of pure disgust twisting her face. "You're nothing but a weak, spineless parasite. What on earth ever gave you the idea that I would be interested in you? You make me sick." "Now, see here—"

  Dani jabbed him again and continued as though he hadn't spoken. "Don't you ever dare to touch me again. You got that? You keep your slimy hands to yourself, or I swear I'll make you regret the day you laid eyes on me." She shoved him hard, sending him staggering backward, then turned and jerked open the door to her car.

  "You... you'd better be careful," Lewis blustered. "I doubt that my father would like it if he heard you talking to me that way." He was breathing hard and there was a look of acute dislike in his eyes, but there was fear, too, and it was on that Dani focused, savoring the grim satisfaction it brought. "You seem to forget that you're just the hired help," he sneered, whipping up his anger and growing steadily bolder at her continued silence. "You can be replaced at any time."

  Standing in the wedge of space between the door and the car, Dani paused and looked at him. Inside she was shaking, but it was from fury, not fear. "You can tell Frank that he can have my resignation anytime he wants it."

  Lewis began to backtrack immediately, his aggressive anger turning to apprehension. "Now...now wait a minute, Dani. You know I didn't mean it that way," he insisted in a panicked voice when she slid in behind the wheel and started the car. "Anyway, I would never mention this to Dad." Grasping the door, Lewis leaned down and treated her to his most charming, persuasive smile. "I mean, what's a little quarrel between friends?"

  Dani gave him a scornful look, put the car in gear and shot down the drive, sending Lewis stumbling backward with a startled cry.

  In the rearview mirror she saw Lewis silhouetted against the brightly lit house, standing in the drive with his hands on his hips, looking after her worriedly, and she gave a short, humorless laugh. She had no doubt that Lewis would keep quiet, not out of friendship but fear. It was very unlikely that Frank would fire her, and they both knew it. Frank himself would not even dare to use dismissal as a threat, since he knew that she could have her pick of any one of a dozen different jobs the minute the word got out that she had left Update, Inc.

  Dani mulled over the ridiculous incident all the way home, her icy fury slowly subsiding. If she had thought for a moment that Lewis had any real feelings for her, she wouldn't have reacted so strongly or been so blunt. But she knew he didn't. If anything, Lewis resented her. Her intelligence, her position in the company and the high regard his father had for her were all sore points with Lewis, which, until recently, he had not bothered to hide. This sudden about-face was not due to a change of heart. Oh, no, Dani thought as she parked her car in her condominium's underground garage. Only at Frank's urging would Lewis pursue her so determinedly.

  And it was not difficult to figure out Frank's reason for wanting to bring about a match. Frank was looking to the future. He was a hard working, ambitious man who had built his business-consulting firm into a thriving concern. He loved his son but he wasn't blind to what he was. Frank knew that Lewis didn't have the brains, the ability or the backbone to run Update, Inc. And he knew that Dani did.

  When she entered her apartment Dani was shaking her head and chuckling, a soft, cynical sound that held little mirth. She owed Frank a lot. Eight years ago, at twenty, she had graduated from college with top honors, yet no one had been willing to give her a position of responsibility because of her youth. No one, that is, but Frank Manders. Once he had hired her, he had been quick to recognize and reward her ability, allowing her to rise rapidly 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 frivol
ous 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 strange dark eyes.

  They lit on Dani the moment she stepped inside the door, and just for an instant she thought she saw a flicker of surprise in their tobacco-brown depths, but it was gone before she could be sure.

  As they crossed the slate blue carpet Jason rose politely and came around the massive walnut desk to greet them, his hand outstretched. "Good morning," he said in that gravelly voice.

  Dani felt a tiny frisson race up her arm as her small hand was engulfed in his large, surprisingly callused one, and as soon as good manners would allow she broke the disturbing contact.

  "Have a seat," Jason said when the amenities had been dealt with, motioning them to the leather chairs in front of his desk as he returned to his own. Leaning back in his chair, he looked at Dani in puzzlement for a moment, then, as though dismissing her, his dark gaze switched to Frank.

  "I thought we were going to get started today," he said, the flat statement holding a touch Of annoyance he made no effort to hide.

  Startled, Frank blinked rapidly and stared at Jason, his expression blank. "Why... why we are."

  "Then where is Edwards?"

  "Edwards?" Frank's eyes sought Dani in confusion, as though checking to be sure she had not disappeared, then he turned back to Jason. "Why.. .right here. Danielle—"

  "Danielle?" Jason snapped the name out, his gaze swinging sharply to Dani. His eyes narrowed and grew hard and cold as steel, stabbing into her.

  Dani felt her stomach clench sickeningly as an awful suspicion began to take shape in her mind.

  "Are you trying to tell me," Jason continued in a slow, deadly voice, "that the Danny Edwards who is supposed to be in charge of revamping my factory is actually Danielle?"

  "Yes. Yes, of course," Frank confirmed, his expression growing more and more confused. "I told you that, I'm sure."

  "If you had, we wouldn't be sitting here now, I guarantee you. You told me Danny Edwards would be heading up the team of consultants. Danny," he said lightly, stressing the name. "I was expecting a man."

  "Oh, well." Frank chuckled as he finally pieced the problem together. "If that's all that's bothering you, don't worry. Dani will do a good job for you."

  "She damned well will not!" Jason all but shouted, bringing his flat palm down hard on the desk, lifting the papers on its surface and making the phone dance and jingle.

  "But—"

  "Dammit, Manders! I told you I wanted the best consultant you had. You've got one helluva nerve, trying to palm off this woman on me. Did you really think I'd sit still for it?"

  "But Dani is the best consultant on my staff. She's the best in the business, for that matter. Just check with—"

  "Can it, Frank!" Jason cut in ruthlessly, his face stiff with annoyance and disgust. "You honestly expect me to believe that Danielle is an expert in the field of business consulting?" His dark, cold eyes flicked to Dani. "She's what? Twenty-two? Twenty-three? What do you take me for, a complete fool?"

  "I'm twenty-eight, Mr. St. Clair." Dani's voice was quiet, coolly controlled. She was tired of them discussing her as though she weren't there.

  Jason's head swung back in her direction, and his snapping brown eyes collided with her icy blue ones. He subjected her to a raking, head-to-toe survey, then silently dismissed her, turning back to Frank as though she didn't exist. "Put someone else on this job, or the deal is off," he ordered curtly.

  "But—"

  "Look, Frank. If you want to carry your son's girlfriend on your payroll, that's your business. But I will not have her in charge of this project. And that's final."

  Frank shifted in his chair and glanced cautiously at Dani. If she had not been so angry Dani would have laughed at his predicament. The last thing Frank wanted was to admit that she wasn't romantically involved with his son. "Now, Jason, if you'll just be reasonable about this, I'm sure you'll realize that Dani is highly qualified," he said in a placating voice.

  Jason opened his mouth to reply, but Dani cut him off.

  "Never mind, Frank," she said quietly, placing a restraining hand on Frank's arm. "Mr. St. Clair has my references. All he has to do is check them out if he wants to know what sort of consultant I am. Obviously he doesn't want to know." Dani could have been sculpted from a glacier, so coldly polite was her expression. She was furiously angry, but there was not one hint of emotion in her voice or her frigid blue eyes.

  Dani pulled a sheet of paper from her briefcase and laid it on Jason's desk. Staring straight into his stony face, she said, "This is a copy of my resume. I carry it with me for times when I run into people like you. If you will take the time to read it, you'll see that I've been in the business for eight years. Also that I graduated from college at twenty with a master's degree in business, and have since earned a master's in computer science and a B.A. in electrical engineering."

  Without waiting for a reply Dani snapped her briefcase shut and rose to her feet with great dignity. At the door she paused with her hand on the knob and looked back at her boss. "Either Bill or Roger can probably handle this job without too much trouble.

  Being male, I'm sure they'll suit Mr. St. Clair much better." Her glittering eyes flicked disinterestedly to the man behind the desk then returned to Frank. "I'll wait for you in the car." Keeping a tight rein on her anger, Dani closed the door behind her with a soft click.

  In the silence that followed, both men stared at the closed door. Frank's face wore a look of concern. Jason's was a harsh, inscrutable mask.

  At last Frank heaved a sigh and turned regretful eyes on the younger man. "You're wrong, you know," he said quietly. "I know that Dani looks like she ought to be a model or a movie star, but believe me, it's a mistake to think that you can't have brains and beauty in the same package. Hell, the woman's iq is on the genius level. That's how she was able to zip through school so fast." He paused, but when Jason made no comment he sighed again and added in a voice that held little hope, "You really ought to reconsider."

  Jason stared hard at Frank. "Is she involved with your son?"

  "Well now, I uh.. .1 won't deny that I do have hopes in that direction," Frank hedged, shifting uneasily in his seat.

  Derision glinted in the tobacco-brown eyes. Jason picked up Dani's resume, glanced at it and with a scornful smile dropped it into the trash can beside his desk. "Put someone else on the job, Frank," he commanded in a soft, inflexible voice, "or I hire another consulting firm."

  Frank's shoulders slumped. "Very well, Jason. If you insist. But it will mean a delay. I'll pull Roger Thurston off the job he's working on and reassign him to you, but first he'll need a few days to brief Dani so that she can take over for him."

  "Whatever it takes," Jason replied flatly.

  For a few moments after Frank left, Jason sat in his chair, staring broodingly out the window at nothing, his face stony. Then he slowly reached down and retrieved the resume from the trash can.

  A frown of concentration pulled his pale bushy brows together as he scanned the page. Then gradually they began to climb, and he emitted a soft, hissing whistle between his teeth. Reluctantly Jason had to admit he was impressed: Dani Edwards's credentials were top-notch.

  Grim-faced, Jason tossed the sheet of paper onto his desk and leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the padded leather arms.
He didn't doubt for a minute that a few phone calls would bear out all the facts listed, or that her former clients would sing her praises.

  Conflicting emotions roiled Jason's conscience, prodding him into restlessness, and he lunged out of his chair. Like a caged tiger he paced the mammoth office, finally coming to a halt before the window that looked over the industrial complex.

  Below, an eighteen-wheeler was backed up to the warehouse dock, and a crew of men was unloading its cargo of strip aluminum. Farther down, another truck was being loaded with windows and doors for shipment to a housing project. From inside the long factory came the high-pitched whine of saws and metal drills, the clatter of conveyer belts and the hum of precision machinery.

  Thrusting back his suit coat, Jason splayed his large hands across his hips and stared blindly at the bustling scene. All right! All right, you were wrong! he thought harshly, his lips twisting as though the admission left a bitter taste in his mouth. She is capable. And qualified. But dammit! That doesn't change things. No matter how smart she is, if the woman doesn't have any better judgment or taste than to get involved with Lewis Manders, I sure as hell don't intend to turn my company over to her.

  Jason was honest enough to admit that part of the problem was that he was attracted to Dani, and Saturday night it had infuriated him to realize that she was involved with Lewis. That he had been unable to dismiss her from his mind all weekend irritated him further. But that wasn't all of it. He had gotten where he was by a lot of hard work, careful planning, a little luck and a knack for hiring the right people—people whose judgment he trusted absolutely.

  Jason raked spread fingers through his thick shock of blond hair, then his hand slid down the back of his head to cup his neck. How could an otherwise intelligent woman be so blind?

  His fingertips dug painfully into the taut muscles as he recalled the way Lewis had hovered over Dani Saturday night. The way he had kissed her. Touched her. Then an even more disturbing picture began to form, one that blocked out everything else, even the factory and the bustle of activity on the docks. In his mind's eye, Jason could see Danielle naked on a bed, her shining sable hair spread out on a pillow. Her vivid blue eyes heavy lidded and glazed with passion, her lovely long legs entwined with Lewis's, while she clutched frantically at his bare back.