“Did Diana go home with Keith?”
“No. He wanted her to stay in Seattle. He thinks she'll panic if she finds out what's going on with her father.”
“Oh, my God,” Letty whispered again. She halted in the middle of the sidewalk a second time. “We'd better go check on her, Joel. She'll be very upset. I told you she's been scared all along that something awful will happen.”
Joel looked disgusted. “Letty, the last thing I want to do right now is talk to Diana.”
“Well, I'm going to go see her. Her hotel is only a few blocks from here. I'll see you back at the office.” Letty turned and started to cross the street.
“Damn it, hold on.” Joel stepped into the crosswalk with her. “If that's the way you're going to be about it, I'll go with you.”
Ten minutes later Letty knocked on Diana's hotel room door. She opened it at once. Her eyes looked bloodshot from a recent crying jag, and her lovely face was pinched and drawn. She glanced from Joel to Letty and back.
“What do you want? Haven't you interfered enough with my life?”
“It's all right,” Letty said quietly as she stepped into the room. “I know you're scared. But Keith is going to be all right. He and Joel have everything under control, don't you, Joel?”
“Right. Sure. Things are under control.” Joel sounded bored. He followed Letty reluctantly into the hotel room and remained standing near the door after Letty closed it. It was obvious he was more than ready to leave as soon as possible.
“Keith says Daddy has been told he's no longer running Copeland Marine.” Diana looked at Joel. “Are you the one who told him?”
“Yeah.”
“Dear God.” Diana sat down in the chair near the window. She folded her hands tightly in her lap and gazed silently out over the Seattle skyline. “You don't know what you've done, Joel. But I will tell you this: when it's all over, I will never, ever forgive you. I realize that probably doesn't seem like much of a threat, but I promise you I will hate you to my dying day.”
Letty's sympathy dissolved. A wave of anger took its place. “Stop it, Diana. This is not Joel's doing, and you know it. Keith came to us with his proposal to run Copeland Marine. Your husband is the one who instigated this whole thing, and don't you ever forget it.”
Joel shrugged. “Escott's doing it for you, Diana. He's willing to fight for Copeland Marine. Why don't you give him a chance?”
Diana swung her head around. Her eyes were brilliant with fury and pain. “Have you forgotten the past so soon, Joel Blackstone? The last time a man tried to do something for me that went against Daddy's wishes, somebody died.”
A sudden stillness descended. Letty glanced at Joel's face and saw that it was set in stark lines.
“What are you saying, Diana?” Joel came away from the door, took two steps across the room, and grabbed her by the shoulders. He yanked her to her feet. “What are you trying to tell me?”
“Nothing,” she gasped, looking terrified of his cold fury. “I just wanted you to remember what happened the last time, damn you.”
“I have never forgotten what happened,” Joel said with deadly softness. “My father was killed when he drove his car off a cliff. Or so they said. Do you know something about that so-called accident, Diana? Because if you do, you'd better tell me right now.”
“I don't know anything about it.” Diana's mouth was trembling uncontrollably. “All I know is that your father died at least partly because of what happened between us.”
Letty stepped between them. “Stop it, both of you. I don't want to hear another word on the subject. Joel, I have told you before that you are not responsible for your father's death. He died in a terrible accident, but you were not driving and that's the bottom line.”
Joel's eyes locked with hers for a moment. She watched him regain his self-control. Then he turned away without a word and went back to stand by the door.
Letty faced Diana. “As for you, Diana, you've got a choice to make. The same one you had to make fifteen years ago. You're a lucky woman. Few of us get a second chance to make the right choice.”
Diana's eyes flew to hers. “What are you talking about?”
“It's very simple. For the second time in your life you've found a man who is willing to rescue you from your father. Are you going to let Keith do it or are you going to cave in to your own fears the way you did when Joel tried to save you? Think about it.”
Without waiting for a response, Letty went to the door. She pushed her glasses higher up on her nose as she looked at Joel. “Are you ready to go?”
“I was ready ten minutes ago.” Joel jerked open the door. He glanced back at Diana before he followed Letty out of the room. “You might try having a little faith in Escott. He could use the support. I think Letty's right. He can handle your daddy for you.”
Letty heard Diana's sobs start as soon as Joel had closed the door. She said nothing as they walked to the elevators.
“Letty?”
“Yes?” She stabbed the call button and studied the signal lights on the panel.
“I want you to know I'm glad Diana didn't let me rescue her fifteen years ago.”
Letty felt her mood lighten slightly. She nodded brusquely, saying nothing.
Joel held the elevator doors for her when they slid open. “You know what I like about you?”
“What?”
“You wouldn't have sat around hoping to be rescued all your life and then chucked your big chance because of cold feet. You've got more guts than that. I guess they build 'em real sturdy back in Indiana, don't they?”
Letty blinked. “Did you say Indiana?”
“Yeah.”
“That's what I thought you said.” Some of the coldness in the pit of Letty's stomach started to thaw. “Yes. They build 'em sturdy back there.”
Two hours later Letty ducked into the ladies' room on the third floor. She was on her way back from a meeting with Cal Manford in the marketing department, and she had been delighted to learn that her suggestions for the new ad campaign were being carried out swiftly.
She was ensconced in a stall, thinking about the recent scene in the hotel room with Diana, when she heard the outer door of the rest room swing open. Two young women entered.
One of them giggled. “Are you sure?”
“Beth says she's seen them coming into work together every morning for the past few days,” said the other woman. Letty could see that she was wearing red heels. “She says they walk down First Avenue from the same direction, which probably means they're coming from her place. Beth says she heard someone mention that Ms. Thornquist has an apartment on First.”
“I'll bet it's true, then. They are sleeping together. Who would have believed it? She doesn't exactly look like his type, you know? I mean, she was a librarian, for heaven's sake.”
“Oh, I don't know. Roger in Accounting said he thinks she's kind of cute,” Red Shoes said. “And Arthur Bigley thinks she walks on water.”
“Still, Blackstone has never messed around with any of his employees. And I can tell you there are a few women in this building who wouldn't mind helping him pitch a tent somewhere.”
“Ms. Thornquist is hardly an employee,” Red Shoes murmured.
“You're right. Just think, the CEO is sleeping with the president of the company. That's got to be a first.”
“Maybe that's how Blackstone is planning to maintain control of Thornquist,” Red Shoes mused.
Letty did not dare emerge from the stall until the two women had left. Then, still reeling with shock and embarrassment, she darted out, washed her hands with amazing speed, and opened the outer door. A quick glance both ways revealed that the hall was deserted.
Fearful of getting on one of the elevators, where someone might notice her flaming face and inquire about it, she dashed into the stairwell and raced up the steps to the fourth floor.
She was panting for breath by the time she stepped out into the hall. She nearly died when a clerk hover
ing near the elevators glanced her way and nodded respectfully.
She knows, Letty thought. They all know.
She waited until the elevator had arrived and taken away the all-seeing clerk. Then Letty hurried down the hall to Joel's office. She saw with relief that his secretary was away from her desk.
Joel's door was closed. Letty knocked once and went straight in without waiting for a reply.
Joel looked up with a frown as she closed the door and sagged back against it.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you all right?” he asked.
“No,” Letty gasped. “Something terrible has happened.”
Joel finally began to look genuinely concerned. “What?”
“Joel, they know. The whole staff knows. I just heard it in the rest room, for God's sake.”
“That's probably the best place to get up-to-date information about this place,” Joel observed. “What exactly did you hear?”
“They've all guessed about us.” Letty gave a high-pitched little shriek of dismay. “They know we're having an affair. Secretaries are talking about it in the rest room, for crying out loud.”
“Oh, that.” Joel relaxed and went back to studying a report that lay in front of him. “I told you that you wouldn't be able to keep it secret for long.”
Letty was incensed. She stared at his bent head. “Joel, for heaven's sake, this is not a joke.” She hurried over to his desk, went around behind it, and grabbed his shoulder. “Listen to me. This is a moment of enormous humiliation and embarrassment for me.”
Joel raised his head, his eyes thoughtful. “It is?”
“Well, of course it is. We don't do things like this back where I come from. And if we do, we do them discreetly.”
“We've been discreet, Ms. Thornquist.” Joel smiled faintly. He pushed his chair back from his desk. His fingers closed around Letty's wrist, and he drew her down onto his lap. “Look on the bright side. We don't have to be so damn discreet anymore.”
Letty's eyes widened as she sat down abruptly on his knee. “Joel, I don't think you realize the gravity of the situation. There's a question of office morale here.”
“Morale, huh?” Joel started to nuzzle her throat.
“Absolutely. This sort of romantic liaison is frowned upon.”
“Who frowns on it?” His hand closed around her hip. His fingers squeezed gently. “I sure don't have any problem with it.”
“Joel, stop that.” She batted ineffectually at his hands. “I'm trying to have a serious conversation here.”
“Keep talking.” He slid his hand down her thigh and started to move his fingers up under the hem of her skirt. His mouth was warm and persuasive on the curve of her neck.
Letty tried to keep herself focused on the main issue, but a sense of excitement was already unfurling within her. It was always like this when Joel touched her. She felt his fingers high up on her inner thigh and she shivered. “This is another management crisis. We need to decide how we're going to handle this, Joel.”
“You don't like the way I'm handling it?” His fingers had reached her panties. They began moving in lazy patterns. “I'm sorry to hear that, Ms. Thornquist. As your chief executive officer, I know it's my duty to handle these upper management problems for you, and I certainly want you to be satisfied with my performance.”
“Joel, you are impossible.” Letty could feel herself growing damp at his touch. She stirred against him, parting her legs a little in spite of her ambivalent emotions.
“I ask you to have faith in me, Madam President.”
She wriggled on his knee, and somehow his fingers slipped under the leg band of her panties. “Oh, my God.”
“My sentiments, exactly. You feel so good, honey.” He nuzzled her ear. “I'm so hot for you right now that I'm seriously contemplating taking you here on my desk.”
“Joel.”
“In fact, I think that as your CEO it is my duty to recommend that course of action.” His arms curved around her, and he started to rise up out of the chair.
A scene flickered into Letty's mind, a scene she would never forget. It had haunted her for weeks. All of a sudden she knew how to exorcise the ghost.
“Wait,” Letty said urgently.
Joel slowly lowered himself back into the chair. His eyes were filled with a lively combination of laughter and passion. “Losing your nerve, Ms. Thornquist? Pity. But later tonight I suppose we can always carry on where we just left off.”
“No, I'm not losing my nerve.” She licked her lips as she glanced toward the closed door. “It's just that I think I've got a more interesting idea.”
His eyes narrowed speculatively. “And what would that be?”
“Well, I was just thinking. There's something I've been wanting to try lately.”
“You've been reading articles again, I take it?”
“No, not exactly. This is something else.” Letty blushed. Her eyes met his and then slid quickly away. Her pulse was pounding with the excitement of the outrageous and the forbidden. She eased herself down off Joel's knee and knelt between his legs.
“Well, damn,” Joel murmured when she fumbled with his belt buckle. He looked down at the top of her head. “Ms. Thornquist, you amaze me.”
“I'm amazing myself.” She touched the heavy bulge in his jeans with light, tentative fingers. “Do you like it like this?”
“I'll be honest with you, Ms. Thornquist.” Joel's voice was suddenly very husky. “I have never before done anything quite this exotic in my office. Professional decorum and the company image, you know.”
Letty was afraid she might burst into nervous giggles as she slowly and cautiously lowered his zipper. There was a rasping, metallic sound and then she was cradling him in her palm. Her fingers were full of the fierce, hard length of him, and she was no longer poised on the brink of laughter.
“You really are beautiful,” Letty whispered as she leaned forward to touch him with the tip of her tongue.
Joel sucked in his breath. His fingers tightened in her hair. “God, Letty, that feels so good. Yes, baby. Just like that. Yes.”
Growing bolder by the second, Letty leaned closer, tasting the essence of him. She could feel Joel's intense reaction and the knowledge thrilled her.
Joel made her feel like the most sensual woman on the face of the earth.
Joel made her feel beautiful.
With Joel she had learned the extent of her power as a woman, and the feeling was glorious.
She leaned closer to him, determined to give him the kind of pleasure he had so often given her.
At that moment the office door swung open without warning. Letty froze. She knew with sudden icy clarity that she was fully visible from the doorway.
“Oh, there you are, Blackstone,” Philip said. “Your secretary isn't at her desk, but I thought I'd pop in anyway. I've got a couple of things to discuss.” There was a brief, shocked pause. When Philip spoke again he sounded as if he was strangling. “My God. Letty.”
Joel's fingers stayed clenched in Letty's hair. “Good news, Dixon,” he said thickly. “She doesn't need therapy.”
18
You know something?” Letty asked as she methodically worked her way through a pile of spicy rice noodles with peanuts and chili peppers, “I have decided that if I can survive what happened today in your office, I can survive anything.”
It was the first time she had mentioned the incident.
Joel grinned. He could not help it. Every time he thought of the expression on Philip Dixon's face that afternoon, he wanted to laugh. He knew he would still be chuckling about it forty years from now.
Basic male instinct assured Joel that there probably would not be a whole lot of trouble from Dixon in the future. In fact, Joel fully expected the man to be on the next plane back to Indiana.
Good riddance.
Dixon had fled the scene in ignominious retreat the moment he had fully grasped just what was going on before his very eyes. Joel had felt a
satisfying surge of triumph as he had watched his thoroughly vanquished rival make a chaotic withdrawal from the scene.
The rush he had gotten from knowing he no longer had to worry about Philip Dixon had been almost as good as the feel of Letty's mouth on him.
Unfortunately, he had not been able to continue savoring either the victory or Letty's gentle tongue. Letty had promptly succumbed to shock.
Regretfully Joel had zipped his jeans and assisted his boss back to her own office. There he had explained in grave tones to an extremely concerned Arthur Bigley that the president of Thornquist Gear was not feeling well that afternoon.
Arthur had immediately started fixing a pot of tea. Joel left him to the task of reviving Letty and sauntered back down the hall feeling more cheerful than he had in some time.
At five-thirty when Joel went back down the hall a second time to see if Letty had recovered, he found her hard at work on the new ad campaign. She had refused to meet his eye, studiously not mentioned the incident, and appeared oblivious of the fact that it was time to go home.
Joel had guided her out of the building and into the din of a nearby after-work bar where he had ordered a glass of white wine for her. He had specified the inexpensive bar wine because there was obviously no sense wasting money on a respectable label. Letty was in no condition to appreciate it.
After the drink he had shepherded her into the Thai restaurant next door for dinner. She seemed unaware that he had ordered her Phud Thai four-star hot.
“Next time remember to lock the door before you seduce me in my office,” Joel advised.
“There definitely will not be a next time in your office.” Letty adjusted her glasses and gave him a disapproving look. “However, I am beginning to believe that, having gotten through the experience of being discovered in a compromising position, I can now cope a little better with the idea of having an affair.”
Joel scowled at her, not liking the expression of thoughtful speculation in her eyes. “Is that right? I got the impression earlier today that you were starting to have problems with the idea of a long-term affair. You were starting to use the M-word.”
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