the phone peal in those demanding summons which she had so determinedly ignored. She knew too, that he suspected, though he couldn't prove it without interrogating Charles and Mary, that she had been avoiding him. His phrasing was also deliberately designed to leave Miss Barth free to speculate just what they had covered on Sunday.
With scant regard for business protocol Keri tramped past Dain and into his office, leaving him to follow behind. As soon as he came in and closed the door behind them, she whirled on him, ready to do battle.
"Mr. Randolph, I do not appreciate the impression you have managed to give Miss Barth, that I am . . . that we are ..." she floundered, searching for the mot juste.
He watched her struggles with amusement, but declined to supply any suitable word from his no doubt extensive vocabulary. Finally Keri was able to stop sputtering and express herself in coherent English.
She said stiffly, "I am your employee, Mr. Randolph, your secretary. I would appreciate it if you would cease implying that I am anything more. Friday night you implied, none too subtly I might add, that I was more than your secretary, and now, in front of Miss Barth, you implied that we ... we ..." Here Keri ran into word trouble again. .. that you and I are on such terms that we dine with my relatives," she finished bitterly.
"Didn't I dine with your relatives?" he asked mockingly.
"Oh, yes, but only because you sneakily contrived it. You knew I didn't want to go out with you," she accused him.
He fixed her with a kindling eye. He could only keep an upper hand with this infuriating woman if he kept his temper, but it was going to be a hard thing to do. "Didn't you have a good time after I dragooned you into going?" he asked her in a silkily dangerous tone.
"That's beside the point!" Keri was determined not to give an inch.
"That's exactly the point," he flashed back. "And here's another point, Keri. I am the boss. This office will be run in the manner I dictate. If I want to call you by your first name, I will, and you'd better answer to it."
By now Dain had advanced from his position by the door to loom over Keri as she stood backed up by his desk. She could feel the edge cutting into the soft flesh of her thighs. She couldn't retreat any farther and still he came closer, until they were nearly touching and she had to strain her neck to look up and meet his eyes. Like her own, his green eyes glittered with suppressed emotion and for a moment the primitive man showed through.
He glared at her for a long moment and then stepped back, giving her a clear path to the door. "Get out of here, Keri. Run back to your nice safe office. You might have shed the exterior Miss Prim, but her soul still lurks underneath!"
"Nice safe office, huh!" Keri muttered as she closed the door behind her not quite in a slam. "I may have been delivered from the lion's den for the moment, but the lady jackal is lurking just outside."
She hoped she didn't look as distraught as she felt inside. Miss Barth would be sure to dive straight for the jugular at the slightest sign of weakness. A bland, imperturbable facade against which Miss Barth would blunt her fangs and the comforting alternative of an embassy job somewhere on the other side of the world would be her shield and buckler.
Chapter Five
By the end of the day Keri wished instead for an armored tank. Miss Earth's unsubtle spray of venom had eaten numerous holes in her "imperturbable" facade and Keri didn't believe that there was an embassy or even a legation in Antarctica, which is where she most longed to be at the moment.
As she had expected fatalistically, Miss Barth was lying in wait just outside Dam's door. When Keri emerged from the ogre's den, Miss Barth pounced, and her first bite was no mere nip at the heels.
"Well, Miss Dalton, what a transformation! Decided that there are faster ways to advancement than through merit, have you?"
Keri fought back a retort in kind—several
With scant regard for business protocol Keri tramped past Dain and into his office, leaving him to follow behind. As soon as he came in and closed the door behind them, she whirled on him, ready to do battle.
"Mr. Randolph, I do not appreciate the impression you have managed to give Miss Barth, that I am . . . that we are ..." she floundered, searching for the mot juste.
He watched her struggles with amusement, but declined to supply any suitable word from his no doubt extensive vocabulary. Finally Keri was able to stop sputtering and express herself in coherent English.
She said stiffly, "I am your employee, Mr. Randolph, your secretary. I would appreciate it if you would cease implying that I am anything more. Friday night you implied, none too subtly I might add, that I was more than your secretary, and now, in front of Miss Barth, you implied that we ... we ..." Here Keri ran into word trouble again. .. that you and I are on such terms that we dine with my relatives," she finished bitterly.
"Didn't I dine with your relatives?" he asked mockingly.
"Oh, yes, but only because you sneakily contrived it. You knew I didn't want to go out with you," she accused him.
He fixed her with a kindling eye. He could only keep an upper hand with this infuriating woman if he kept his temper, but it was going to be a hard thing to do. "Didn't you have a good time after I dragooned you into going?" he asked her in a silkily dangerous tone.
"That's beside the point!" Keri was determined not to give an inch.
"That's exactly the point," he flashed back. "And here's another point, Keri. I am the boss. This office will be run in the manner I dictate. If I want to call you by your first name, I will, and you'd better answer to it."
By now Dain had advanced from his position by the door to loom over Keri as she stood backed up by his desk. She could feel the edge cutting into the soft flesh of her thighs. She couldn't retreat any farther and still he came closer, until they were nearly touching and she had to strain her neck to look up and meet his eyes. Like her own, his green eyes glittered with suppressed emotion and for a moment the primitive man showed through.
He glared at her for a long moment and then stepped back, giving her a clear path to the door. "Get out of here, Keri. Run back to your nice safe office. You might have shed the exterior Miss Prim, but her soul still lurks underneath!"
"Nice safe office, huh!" Keri muttered as she closed the door behind her not quite in a slam. "I may have been delivered from the lion's den for the moment, but the lady jackal is lurking just outside."
She hoped she didn't look as distraught as she felt inside. Miss Barth would be sure to dive straight for the jugular at the slightest sign of weakness. A bland, imperturbable facade against which Miss Barth would blunt her fangs and the comforting alternative of an embassy job somewhere on the other side of the world would be her shield and buckler.
Chapter Five
By the end of the day Keri wished instead for an armored tank. Miss Earth's unsubtle spray of venom had eaten numerous holes in her "imperturbable" facade and Keri didn't believe that there was an embassy or even a legation in Antarctica, which is where she most longed to be at the moment.
As she had expected fatalistically, Miss Barth was lying in wait just outside Dam's door. When Keri emerged from the ogre's den, Miss Barth pounced, and her first bite was no mere nip at the heels.
"Well, Miss Dalton, what a transformation! Decided that there are faster ways to advancement than through merit, have you?"
Keri fought back a retort in kind—several
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