The Cowboy and the Lady by Diana Palmer Page B

could, and he was forever out of reach. He enjoyed the feel of her in his arms. But he still doubted her innocence, and he’d made it very clear he didn’t have marriage in mind anymore. He simply wanted to sleep with her. Because now he had money, and she didn’t. And he’d never be sure if she wanted him or the wealth she’d lost; he wouldn’t take a chance by asking her to marry him again. She knew that.
    She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the phone ring until the maid came and said it was for her.
    She lifted the receiver on the phone by the sofa, wondering if Terry could be calling so soon after he’d left.
    “Hello?” she murmured hesitantly.
    “Hello, yourself,” came Jace’s reply in a voice like brown velvet. “What are you doing?”
    “W-working on the ad presentation,” she faltered.
    “You don’t sound very confident,” he remarked. “If you don’t believe in your own abilities, honey, how do you expect me to?”
    “I do have confidence in the agency,” she returned, her fingers trembling on the cord. “It’s just that…I didn’t expect you to call.”
    “Even after this morning?” he asked softly, and laughter rippled into the receiver. “I’ve got some nasty scratches on my back because of you.”
    She felt the heat rush into her cheeks as she remembered the way she’d dug her nails into him so hungrily. “It’s your own fault,” she whispered, smiling. “Don’t make me take all the blame.”
    “Witch,” he chuckled. “Come down to the office about eleven-thirty. I’ll take you to lunch.”
    “I’d like that,” she said softly.
    “I know something I’d like better,” he said bluntly.
    “You lecherous man,” she teased, feeling somewhat disoriented to hear him talking to her like this.
    “Only with you, Miss Carson. You have such a delicious Body…”
    “Jace!”
    “Don’t worry, it’s not a party line.” He laughed. “And my office is soundproof.”
    “Why?” she asked without thinking.
    “So the rest of the staff won’t hear the screams when I beat my secretary,” he said matter-of-factly.
    She burst out laughing. “Do you treat all your employees like that?”
    “Only when they don’t do as they’re told,” he returned. “Don’t be late. I’m sandwiching you in between a board meeting and a civic club luncheon.”
    “A luncheon?” she asked. “But you shouldn’t be having lunch with me…”
    “I’ll have coffee at the luncheon and tell them I’m on a diet.”
    “Nobody will believe that,” she murmured. “Not as streamlined as you are.”
    “So you do notice me?”
    “You’re very attractive,” she breathed, feeling her face flush again as she murmured the words.
    There was a satisfied sound from the other end of the line. “Eleven-thirty. Don’t forget,” he said.
    “I won’t,” she promised, and the line went dead.
    * * *
    She’d never been in the building before. It was a skyscraper in downtown Victoria, huge and imposing, with a fountain and greenery outside and huge trees in pots inside. Jace’s office was on the fifth floor. She took the elevator up and walked across the large expanse of soft cream-colored carpet to his secretary’s massive, littered desk.
    “Is Jace…Mr. Whitehall in?” she asked nervously.
    The secretary, a tall brunette with soft blue eyes, smiled at her. “Can’t you hear the muffled roar?” she whispered conspiratorially, nodding toward the office, from which the rumble of Jace’s deep angry voice was just audible. “A big real estate deal just fell through at the last minute and now Jace is trying to straighten out the mess. It’s been something or other all morning long. Sorry, I didn’t mean to cry all over you. Do you really want to see him?” she finished with wildly arched eyebrows.
    “Oh, yes, I’m very brave,” Amanda promised with a tiny grin.
    “Angela, get me the file on the Bronson Corporation,” Jace snapped over the intercom. “And let