working!"
"So you decided to leave early," she concluded, and tipped her head to challenge him. "Can you be sure your secretary is telling that to those who call for you? Or will she make up some other excuse for your absence, the way Mike's secretary did when you called?"
"It sounds very plausible." Cole's voice was riddled with skepticism.
"The truth generally does," Lacey flashed.
His wintry steel eyes raked her from head to toe, taking in the shiny bathing suit that so attractively showed off her curves. "But I can't help wondering how many times this past week Bowman has been here when he was supposedly at a job site." On the last word, Cole pivoted sharply and walked away.
The arrogant set of his wide shoulders was like a red cape to a bull, and Lacey started to charge blindly after him. Mike laid a restraining hand on her arm.
"Let it be, Lacey," he suggested, recognizing the warning signs that her temper was ready to let fly.
She jerked her arm away from his hand and stalked into the house after Cole, catching up with him in the living room. In the act of stripping the tie from around his neck, Cole glanced at her coolly.
Lacey unleashed her anger in a flurry of acid words. "It's none of your business how many times Mike has been here this last week, if he's been here at all! Furthermore, he's my guest and—"
"Perhaps," Cole interrupted sharply, "if you'd possessed the common courtesy to let me know you were going to entertain tonight, I could have made other arrangements to be elsewhere so the two of you could be alone."
"So now you're accusing me of a lack of courtesy?" Her hands rested on her hips, fury trembling in her voice. "What about yours?"
"Mine? Because I was rude to Bowman, I suppose?" he concluded with a contemptuous twist of his mouth.
"Among other things," Lacey agreed.
He drew his head back to study her arrogantly. "What other things?" he demanded.
"Every single day this week your alarm has woken me up while you slept right through it," she retorted.
Lacey knew she was being goaded into this argument by more than just the things Cole had said against Mike. Some sort of an explosion had been building inside her all week. It had needed only a spark to ignite the fuse.
"I've apologized for that," Cole reminded her grimly.
"Apologies don't help me go back to sleep," Sarcasm licked her words.
"If you don't like our arrangement, why don't you move out?" he challenged.
"I am not moving out! You leave!" Lacey countered angrily.
"Why? So Bowman can move in? That would be cozy, wouldn't it?"
Lacey sputtered impotently for a second. "His company would certainly be preferable to yours!"
"I bet it would. No ground rules. No separate bedrooms. No separate beds." Cole snapped out the words almost savagely.
"Your mind is as dirty and vile as your words are!" Lacey flashed spitefully. "You should marry Monica. You're two of a kind!"
"I'm leaving," Mike declared from the balcony door. "I didn't come here to start a free-for-all."
Lacey turned with a start. For a few minutes she had forgotten Mike was even there. "Don't go, Mike. Cole was just leaving," she insisted tightly.
"Like hell I am!" he growled. "You can either do your entertaining while I'm in the house or go somewhere else. But I am not leaving."
"Fine." Lacey clipped out the word and glanced at Mike. "Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed and I'll go with you."
He gave her a brief nod of agreement and Lacey walked purposefully to her room. Stripping off her bathing suit, she hurriedly donned her undergarments and an apricot flowered sundress. A taut silence stretched from the living room, its oppressive stillness spreading through all the rooms.
Mike was waiting at the head of the stairs when she reappeared. Skirting the grim-visaged Cole, she walked to the staircase to join Mike. He shifted uncomfortably as Lacey paused to cast a fiery look at Cole.
"The house is yours for the evening," she told him with a cloying smile.
"So you decided to leave early," she concluded, and tipped her head to challenge him. "Can you be sure your secretary is telling that to those who call for you? Or will she make up some other excuse for your absence, the way Mike's secretary did when you called?"
"It sounds very plausible." Cole's voice was riddled with skepticism.
"The truth generally does," Lacey flashed.
His wintry steel eyes raked her from head to toe, taking in the shiny bathing suit that so attractively showed off her curves. "But I can't help wondering how many times this past week Bowman has been here when he was supposedly at a job site." On the last word, Cole pivoted sharply and walked away.
The arrogant set of his wide shoulders was like a red cape to a bull, and Lacey started to charge blindly after him. Mike laid a restraining hand on her arm.
"Let it be, Lacey," he suggested, recognizing the warning signs that her temper was ready to let fly.
She jerked her arm away from his hand and stalked into the house after Cole, catching up with him in the living room. In the act of stripping the tie from around his neck, Cole glanced at her coolly.
Lacey unleashed her anger in a flurry of acid words. "It's none of your business how many times Mike has been here this last week, if he's been here at all! Furthermore, he's my guest and—"
"Perhaps," Cole interrupted sharply, "if you'd possessed the common courtesy to let me know you were going to entertain tonight, I could have made other arrangements to be elsewhere so the two of you could be alone."
"So now you're accusing me of a lack of courtesy?" Her hands rested on her hips, fury trembling in her voice. "What about yours?"
"Mine? Because I was rude to Bowman, I suppose?" he concluded with a contemptuous twist of his mouth.
"Among other things," Lacey agreed.
He drew his head back to study her arrogantly. "What other things?" he demanded.
"Every single day this week your alarm has woken me up while you slept right through it," she retorted.
Lacey knew she was being goaded into this argument by more than just the things Cole had said against Mike. Some sort of an explosion had been building inside her all week. It had needed only a spark to ignite the fuse.
"I've apologized for that," Cole reminded her grimly.
"Apologies don't help me go back to sleep," Sarcasm licked her words.
"If you don't like our arrangement, why don't you move out?" he challenged.
"I am not moving out! You leave!" Lacey countered angrily.
"Why? So Bowman can move in? That would be cozy, wouldn't it?"
Lacey sputtered impotently for a second. "His company would certainly be preferable to yours!"
"I bet it would. No ground rules. No separate bedrooms. No separate beds." Cole snapped out the words almost savagely.
"Your mind is as dirty and vile as your words are!" Lacey flashed spitefully. "You should marry Monica. You're two of a kind!"
"I'm leaving," Mike declared from the balcony door. "I didn't come here to start a free-for-all."
Lacey turned with a start. For a few minutes she had forgotten Mike was even there. "Don't go, Mike. Cole was just leaving," she insisted tightly.
"Like hell I am!" he growled. "You can either do your entertaining while I'm in the house or go somewhere else. But I am not leaving."
"Fine." Lacey clipped out the word and glanced at Mike. "Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed and I'll go with you."
He gave her a brief nod of agreement and Lacey walked purposefully to her room. Stripping off her bathing suit, she hurriedly donned her undergarments and an apricot flowered sundress. A taut silence stretched from the living room, its oppressive stillness spreading through all the rooms.
Mike was waiting at the head of the stairs when she reappeared. Skirting the grim-visaged Cole, she walked to the staircase to join Mike. He shifted uncomfortably as Lacey paused to cast a fiery look at Cole.
"The house is yours for the evening," she told him with a cloying smile.
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