Dangerous Alliance

by Jane Corrie

  Strolling casually into the office, Matt stood beside her so that they both faced Jack. 'Guess I stole a march on you,' he drawled half apologetically. 'But you know how it is.'

  To her astonishment, Kent found herself propelled nearer to him as his strong arm encircled her waist. She only hoped Jack hadn't seen her surprised start at the action.

  Gazing at them tight-lipped, Jack muttered, No, I don't know how it is. All I can say is my fiancée must have had a brainstorm! The girl I knew wouldn't have acted this way—not unless she was forced to,' he added meaningly.

  Disappointment must have clouded his judgment, Kent thought worriedly as Matt's arm tightened around her, and she wondered whether he knew how much his grip hurt, although she sensed his anger was directed against Jack, not her.

  'Guess I'll give you the benefit of the doubt,' Matt said in a dangerously soft voice, 'and make a few allowances for the fact that I pinched your girl —but that's as far as I'm going. One more snide remark and I'll knock that self-satisfied smirk off your face.'

  Kent blinked. He would too, she thought a little anxiously. Jack needed those good looks of his to get by.

  Jack apparently came to the same conclusion, as with a nonchalance his pale face denied, he picked up his panama hat and strolled to the door. Once

  there, and safely out of range of Matt's clenched fists, he looked back at Kent. 'You know where to find me,' he said haughtily, as if reminding her that she had made a great mistake, and when she had recovered her senses, he was quite willing to take her back again.

  'Don't worry, she won't be looking,' growled Matt ominously.

  Kent watched Jack's departure with untold relief, which lasted until the door was firmly shut behind him and Matt's arm dropped from her waist, and his hand painfully gripped her wrist.

  'I'd appreciate a bit more warning next time,' he ground out. 'I don't like being used as an excuse to fob off your boy-friends. What were you trying to do—prove that he's a man after all? You can thank your lucky stars I didn't take him up on that backhander of his. Mind you,' he added, tight-lipped, 'I can see his point. If that's the type you go for, he must have thought you'd flipped in getting shackled to me.'

  There was nothing Kent could say; looking at it from that point of view Matt was right. Jack's immaculate appearance in spite of the fact that he had been travelling for some time, and his smooth persuasive manner, not quite so smooth this time, she reminded herself quickly, was a direct contrast to the angry man facing her.

  Without meaning to show her thoughts, her eyes followed the streak of red dust that ran across his forehead, and from there to the indented line higher up, made by the protective helmet he had discarded as he entered the office. His shirt, another check, though clean, had seen better days. Her eyes continued their appraisal; his jeans fitted snugly to the curve of his muscled thighs. They too were well worn, and there were more streaks of dust. Finally his shoes came under her scrutiny—or rather boots, and these were plastered with the reddish clay soil the site was built on.

  Kent could well imagine Jack's reaction on being confronted by what would look to him as a road-digger, and to add insult to injury, have to accept the fact that she had chosen such a man as her husband. Her musings were interrupted by a smooth question from Matt that wiped all else from her mind.

  'Well, wife?'

  She flushed and made an attempt to remove his restraining grip on her wrist, conscious as she did so of the door opening again to admit the foreman, who must have heard Matt's taunt.

  'Get out!' Matt shouted at the man, who didn't even look hurt at the brusque order, but complied willingly.

  A little hysterically, Kent thought what the scene must have represented to the foreman. An enraged husband accusing his wife of infidelity. The lover having just left! A low chuckle had escaped her

  before she had time to check it, and it made matters worse.

  She was pulled forward with a savage jerk against Matt's hard body, and kept there by an arm enforced with steel. 'Think it's amusing, do you?' he said between clenched teeth. 'I can think of a few things that would wipe that smile off your face, ma'am, so watch your step. I might not be as pretty as your intended, but one thing I can promise you, I belong to the same species, and you're going the right way about it to make me want to prove it.'

  Kent's flush deepened, and she tried not to meet those blazing eyes of his. Somehow she had to bring the situation to a saner level; she hadn't been laughing at him, but he'd never believe her, she thought bitterly. 'I'm sorry, Matt,' she said in a low voice, 'I wasn't laughing at you—it was the situation ...'

  Her hands tried to express her meaning, but they were too tightly held against his chest. She could scarcely move in that restricting hold of his, but her head was free, and for that she was grateful. Her embarrassment would have been total had she been made to look up into that face so close to hers.

  Concentrating fervently on one of the blue squares on his shirt, she went on, 'I wasn't trying to prove anything. I wrote and told him I was married. I certainly didn't expect him to come all this way to find out whether I was telling the truth or not. I made it quite clear I was through with him, and I

  would have told him so again today, only you arrived, and ... and ...'

  'It was too good a chance to miss,' Matt finished caustically for her, releasing her swiftly. 'It saved telling him the truth, didn't it? This way you can call him back any time you want—and what's more, he'll come, won't he? There's nothing like good hard cash to work a few miracles. Paying him out, were you, for letting you come all this way without him?' he sneered.

  Kent's nails dug into the palm of her hand; she dearly wanted to lash out at him physically, but knew there was no point in making such a gesture. It didn't really mater what he thought, she told herself dully; at least he hadn't let her down when she'd needed his help.

  Her chin lifted defiantly as she met his cynical gaze. 'Of course,' she returned airily. 'How astute of you to guess what I was up to ! As you said, money

  can work wonders.' Her voice shook as she felt herself dangerously close to tears. Her dislike of the man that had brought her to this state shone through her clear eyes as she said waspishly, `So don't go broke on me, Matt King, will you?'

  His reply was short and loaded. 'It might be worth it, at that ! ' and he slammed out of the office.

  For a moment or so, Kent stood staring at the closed door. Had she got to put up with that kind of treatment for a whole year? Her head 'shook decisively; she hadn't—and she wouldn't!

  She frowned. If only she had obeyed her instincts when he told her they must marry. What a fool she had been in allowing him to talk her round! She recalled his words, 'A year isn't long.'

  In certain circumstances it can seem a lifetime, she thought caustically, and this was one of them!

  Even if she had simply joined the company as a partner with no odious strings attached, it wouldn't have worked. She couldn't put her finger on the direct reason, but had a feeling it stemmed from the relationship her father had had with Matt. She knew from experience how hard her father had been, and how uncompromising he had been in certain circumstances.

  Her frown deepened. Wasn't there something—a long time ago? A disagreement between them? Vaguely she recalled her father shouting down the phone at someone. The incident had stuck in her mind for the simple reason that it was out of character for him to make any emotional show whatsoever, be it temper, as it was on this occasion, or compassion.

  Intuitively, she knew she was somewhere near the truth. Whatever Matt had against her father he was also holding against her. She hadn't been given a chance to prove herself, in spite of his assertion that there was plenty of work for her.

  Kent was well aware that her work was double-checked by Tony, acting, she was sure, from Matt's orders. She could understand her first estimates

  coming under strict scrutiny, but the scrutiny never eased up, and she had not missed Matt's sharp, 'Yours
or hers?' query to Tony when he collected the finished statement.

  He had never called her by her Christian name, or come to that, by her married name. It was as if he utterly ignored the fact that she had a name.

  Having solved the reason for Matt's obvious distrust and dislike of her, Kent felt strangely better. It was one thing not knowing, but an entirely different thing knowing. She had begun to wonder if she had won that piece of paper that stated so categorically that she was a qualified accountant in a raffle!

  There was nothing like constant supervision for undermining one's confidence, and if she had any sense she would get out from under before irreparable damage was done.

  Her mind was full of plans for her swift removal from Stainer Construction Ltd, as she made her way back to Tony's office, and she did not see Matt until she almost ran into him.

  Thrusting a sheaf of papers at her, he said curtly, 'Try your hand at these, and no short cuts, mind you. I want it by four this afternoon,' and was gone, leaving Kent looking at the wad of notes he had given her.

  Resentfully staring after him, she muttered fiercely, 'I'm nothing but a glorified costing clerk!' She was still simmering when she entered the office and she thrust the papers at Tony. 'His lord-

  ship wants this by four,' she said scathingly. 'Apparently I'm to have the honour of doing it all by my little self, but no doubt you'll have a duplicate to follow me step by step, so you might as well work on it with me, it'll save you the effort of checking afterwards.

  Tony's brows rose at her vehemence, and his glance left the papers and rested on her.

  There was such reproach in that glance that Kent was immediately contrite. It wasn't Tony's fault that she was being put through the hoop. She picked up the papers and gave him a rueful smile. 'Sorry, Tony, that was rotten of me. I've no call to take my bad temper out on you. I'll be a good girl and do what I'm told,' she added wearily, and walked over to her desk.

  'Let's have a look at it, anyway,' Tony said, grinning, and got up to study the job Matt wanted estimating.

  After a few minutes, he gave a low whistle. 'It's the biggest thing that's come in since we took this one on,' he said quietly, and gave Kent a comical half hurt look. 'I can see I shall have to look to my laurels! You've been highly honoured, young lady, if you did but know it! I'm the one who should be throwing tantrums! '

  Kent stared at him, not really sure that he wasn't teasing her.

  `Take a good look at it,' advised Tony.

  Kent did so, and after a moment or so had to

  admit Tony was right. The work compiled the building of a dam in north-west Canada.

  She swallowed. Could she do it? If she got her figures wrong, he'd really go to town on her, and wasn't that what he wanted? This was no kindly gesture of showing her he thought her capable of handling the job. In fact, it was the reverse!

  She could hardly be expected to have enough experience to tackle a job of this magnitude.

  Sensing her thoughts, Tony queried innocently, 'Think it's beyond you?'

  Kent's lips straightened as she took up the challenge. 'Of course not! ' she said with more courage than she felt. 'Besides,' she added with twinkling eyes, 'you'll double-check the figures.'

  'Oh, no, I won't,' he replied nonchalantly. `If Matt wants you to tackle that job on your own, that's precisely what you'll do.'

  Straightening her slim shoulders, Kent replied just as nonchalantly, 'Very well, if you say so.'

  Her pulse rate increased as she began to sort out priorities. In different circumstances she would have welcomed the challenge, but this wasn't just work, it was personal, too. She had to get it right. She'd never forgive herself if she made a hash of it. This would be her last job for the company, and she'd prefer to go out in a blaze of glory, rather than fly out of reach of Matt's scathing tongue.

  I've got to hand it to you,' Tony said quietly. Kent looked up, startled at the sudden compliment.

  'I wouldn't blame you for throwing a fit of hysterics, yet there you are ploughing right into the maze.'

  Leaning back against his desk, he studied her flushed cheeks with kindly concern. `It's hardly the work you thought you'd be doing, is it? Not exactly high finance at boardroom level—or company assets, come to that. Your grasp of the work surprised me from the start, and you've gone on surprising me. This type of field work isn't easy. You have to be a bit of an architect, plus surveyor, not to mention an understanding of the complexities of engineering. What are you? a child prodigy?'

  Kent grinned back at him. `I'm my father's son, remember? By the time I was three I was building Meccano sets that a ten-year-old would find puzzling. Oh, I'm not boasting, I guess anyone in the same position with a normal ratio of intelligence would have come up to the same standards. My father was a fanatic,' she shot him a considering look, 'but I suppose you knew that. In his way he was a sort of genius, like Matt is, I suppose.'

  She carefully studied the desk top for a second, then said musingly, `If he hadn't had to take a back seat so early in his career, I don't suppose he'd have bothered about me. He couldn't have the son he so badly wanted, so he made do with me.' She looked back at Tony. 'That's why I know so much about field work, you see. I'll admit,' she added ruefully, 'that I didn't expect to be doing estimates from

  ground level as it were, but I can see why they're necessary.'

  Tony nodded understandingly. 'It's part and parcel of the job. That's why Matt drags me with him on location—not that I'm complaining, I'd sooner be where the action is than stuck away in some office juggling with figures.'

  For the rest of the day Kent worked on the tender for the dam. Closer perusal of the paper work Matt had thrust at her showed most of the costing already done, and a figure arrived at. There were only two items that needed pricing, and on looking back at similar work done by the firm a year ago, Kent was able to derive a figure, carefully taking into account the additional costs the time element would have produced. It came as no surprise to her that costs had doubled from the previous statement.

  She was finished by three, and giving a satisfied sigh, she leaned back in her chair and gazed proudly at the neat statement she had produced. Each item was listed separately, and the cost carried over to form an impressive line of figures that added up to a grand total at the bottom of the page. Extremely pleased with herself, she wondered whether she ought to sign it, or at least put her initials to it. It was, after all, common practice to do so in the world of finance.

  On second thoughts, however, she decided against this tempting idea. Although it was her first 'solo' it was still only an estimate, not a statement.

  'Finished?' queried Tony, in a half-surprised voice.

  `Yes,' sighed Kent happily, 'it wasn't such a beast when I really got down to it.' She turned to Tony. 'I haven't to hand it in till four, is there something you'd like a hand with?' she asked.

  At four sharp she was knocking on Matt's office door, hoping he wasn't available, and she could leave the list on his desk. She hadn't forgotten their earlier clash, and she wanted to go on feeling pleased with herself. Just one look from him would probably blight the rest of the day.

  It was more than a look that brought Kent crashing down to earth. The first disagreeable thing that happened was that he was in his office. And the second was the fact that although he was on the phone, reminding someone in no gentle tones that they either delivered the material on time or they could cancel the contract, he spotted Kent gradually making her way to the door after leaving the list on his desk.

  His, 'Just a minute,' stopped her in the act of disappearing out of the door.

  With a resigned feeling, she retraced her steps back into the office, and watched him slam the phone down before picking up the result of her labours.

  His eyes ran critically down the figure column, and his jaw seemed to take on an even grimmer expression as he studied them.

  'These look remarkably like my figures,' he drawled softly.

  Ken
t started and flushed, her fingers caught the hem of the sleeveless blouse she wore over her trews and clenched the material hard. 'They are your figures,' she answered indignantly. 'They were on the papers you gave me.'

  Matt's blue eyes pierced her with an intent stare. 'Did you check them?' he shot out at her.

  Her flush deepened as she replied hesitantly, `No —I presumed they were correct.'

  He drew a deep breath and said curtly, 'You don't presume in this work. You find out! If I'd wanted those figures just added up, I could have given the job to my foreman, or done it myself.' Handing the list back to her as if the very sight of it offended him, he said wearily, 'Now take it back and do the job properly. Check each item thoroughly. I want the exact cost, do you understand? Not the round figures I pencilled in.'

  Kent's fingers trembled slightly as she took the list from him, and with as much dignity as she could muster she walked to the door. The drawling voice reached her just before she left the room.

  'Don't bother to hurry. I've already sent the quote off.'

  Stopping dead in her tracks, Kent turned slowly to face him. Of all the despicable ... he hadn't relied on her at all! She thought of what Tony had said about her being honoured. Honoured indeed! He

  was just exercising her mind. She said nothing, but her eyes were very eloquent as they met Matt's mocking ones. She only just managed not to slam

  the door as she left.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  RETURNING to her office, Kent met Tony's interested, 'Well?' with a scowl, and flung the list in the direction of her desk, missing it by several inches.

  Tony's eyes left her and rested on the list now on the office floor. 'Er—I take it all is not well. What was wrong with it?'