Circle of Shadows (4 page)

Surprised at his tact in giving
her time to regain control, she blinked away her tears and replied evenly,
“It’s
Three Horses in a Storm
by Rosa Bonheur.”

“A French artist, wasn’t she
?
”

“Yes. One who was well before her
time.
She dared to wear pants in public in the
mid-1800’s
.”

He grinned. “Ah, I see why you
like her. A feminist fighter like yourself.”

Lili glanced at him sharply,
wondering if he was laughing at her. But she didn’t have the energy to start a
battle. Too much had happened to tax her emotions already this week. Besides,
her father had given her no choice. She had to work with this man, so she had
better be polite to him. “Yes,” she said, forcing an answering smile.

“I have some phone calls to make,
if I may borrow your office a few minutes,” he said, pulling out his credit
card.

“Of course.”

“I’ll put them on my phone card.
Why don’t you tell your staff about the meeting at nine, and then we’ll go eat something.
I’ll explain the reports I want while we have dinner, and we’ll go over them
next week instead.”

She nodded and went to obey.
There was, of course, no way
Lili could
refuse to have
a business dinner with her new boss, even though she was sure she would gag on
every bite.

Ken helped her into his silver
Mercedes and walked around to get behind the wheel.

Lili scolded herself for being
surprised at the car. Why shouldn’t the owner of a chain of supermarkets be
able to afford a fancy car? Just because her family had always had to struggle
to make ends meet didn’t mean everyone did.

“Would you like to stop at your
house to change before dinner
?
”

She glanced at him, raising an
eyebrow. When he’d said, ‘we’ll go eat something,’ she hadn’t thought he meant,
‘go out for dinner.’ “Yes, thank you,” she said, giving him directions to her
parents’ house. Perhaps he intended to go someplace nice, and was hinting that
she should wear something other than the simple white blouse and blue suit she
wore to work.

“I’m told there’s a nice
restaurant out on Long Lake,” he commented, evidently guessing her line of
thought. “I thought we might eat there.”

“Yes, there is. The food and service
are both good, and it shouldn’t be too busy on a weeknight.”

“I made reservations for
six-thirty, just in case.”

Surprised, she wondered if he was
always this efficient and organized. She had never before known a man who was.
All the men she knew seemed to think that handling the details of meetings or
functions was the women’s job. He had, after all, simply told her to call the
staff meeting for tonight. Of course, that was her place, since they were her
employees, or rather, she corrected herself, had been her employees.

She dreaded the staff meeting
ahead, knowing everyone would be angry with her father for selling out. Most of
them would be worried about keeping their jobs.

She couldn’t blame any of them if
they held her responsible. Certainly she shared some of the blame for the
situation. She should’ve known her father well enough to see this coming.
Somehow, she should have been able to prevent it.

“A penny for your thoughts,” he
said, reaching over to touch her arm, sending a warm shiver down her spine. His
hazel eyes sought hers, making her suddenly acutely aware of him.

“They’re not worth a penny,” she
protested, sitting up straighter and realizing they had almost reached her
street. “Turn right at the next corner, then it’s that white house built into
the side of the hill with all the evergreens behind it,” she said, digging in
her purse for her key.

He noticed and asked, “Isn’t your
mother home?”

“No, she and Aunt Agnes left for
Arizona today to spend a month down there.”

“How nice for her.”

“She deserves a vacation,” she
said sharply. “She’s been waiting on my father hand and foot for years, and
especially since his last heart attack. She never can say no to a charity, so
she’s been run ragged with volunteer work.”

“I’m sure she does deserve a
vacation,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”

Taking the key from her, he
opened the door, then stepped back to allow her to precede him and switch on
the lights.

“There’s a bathroom down here off
the den if you’d like to freshen up,” she offered, opening the door to a
book-lined room with a fireplace and upholstered chairs.

“What an unusual fireplace,” Ken
remarked, walking across to stand before the massive fieldstone structure.

“Thank you. Dad built it himself,
using mostly our own rock collection. On every vacation, we brought back pretty
rocks. Mom used to have a fit about it, so we would sneak unusual rocks into
the trunk of the car when she wasn’t looking. Dad used to say it took twice as
much gasoline on the return trip because of the extra weight.”

Lili blinked back tears at the
recollection, and quickly turned away to hide them. “I’d better get changed.
Just make yourself at home. There’s ice and makings in that small refrigerator
and glasses in the cabinet above it if you’d like a drink. I’ll just be a few
minutes.”

“No hurry. We have plenty of
time.”

His soft voice sent a ripple of
heat through Lili, making her more than a little bit nervous. Whatever was the
matter with her, reacting to this man, when he’d just fatally chopped up her
dreams as surely as Arthur chopped up a sirloin with a meat cleaver? Was she
going to let him hurt her personally as well?

Remembering the later staff
meeting, Lili chose a simple mint green tailored dress. With her usual
efficiency, she showered, changed, replaced her make-up and ran a brush through
her long hair, sending the glossy waves cascading down her back.

Ken was reading today’s
Minneapolis Tribune when Lili came back down the stairs.

He laid the paper aside and stood
as she came down the stairs. “Well, that was quick! Super results, though.” He
let his gaze slide over her slowly, with an appreciative smile.

“I’m used to getting ready
quickly. I’m afraid I like to sleep until the last possible moment in the
morning, then make a mad dash to get ready for work on time,” she said,
appalled to realize she was babbling.

“Then if you’re a night person,
we won’t have to rush to get home early tonight, will we
?
”

She could think of no reply, so
merely laughed.

“What would you like to drink
?
”

“Nothing, really, thanks.” She
picked up her coat from the chair she had dropped it on earlier. “Ready to go
?
”

“You’d better sit down for a
minute.”

She turned to him, raising an
eyebrow. “Why?”

“Your mother phoned. I told her to
call back in a few minutes because you were in the shower.”

“You told her
what
?
”

“You heard me.” He smiled at her
chagrin. “And you’re right, she was shocked. I’m sure she would have liked to
have told me to leave immediately, but politeness won out.”

“Thanks a lot
!
”

“Would you like that drink now
?
”

“May as well. A cola
.
” She sat down while he poured it
into a glass for her, his grin showing he was enjoying her discomfort. “It’s
not funny.” She glared at him. “My mother is very old-fashioned and religious.”

“I told her not to worry. If
there had been any funny business going on, I would have been upstairs in the
shower with you, not down here reading her newspaper.”

Lili gasped in shock, blushing
furiously. “Honestly, you’re impossible.” The phone rang and she grabbed it
before he could, although he hadn’t moved a muscle.

“Yes, Mom,” she answered her
mother’s quick and expected questions. “Mr. Mills is the man from Northern
Lights Corporation that Dad sold the store to.” She took the drink Ken handed
her and sipped it while she listened to her mother’s comments and gentle
admonitions.

“He was just waiting for me to
change out of my uniform. We’re going out to dinner and then to a staff meeting
at the store to tell them about the sale.”

She met Ken’s gaze, then looked
away. Continuing her conversation, she asked her mother how far they’d traveled
that day and about their next day’s itinerary.

Hanging up the phone she accused,
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you
?
”
She frowned at him over her glass, sipping her drink.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I just
couldn’t resist. I’m not often thought of as dangerous to girls anymore, and
it’s a very flattering idea. Did she believe your explanation
?
”

“Yes, of course. Shall we go
?
” Doing her best to keep her
voice businesslike, she slipped on her coat and turned towards the door,
leaving him no choice but to follow her. She snapped off the light, then locked
the door behind them.

Ken’s teasing her mother had
altered her view of him, and she didn’t like it. Now he seemed like the playful
hunk she had first met in the swimming pool last night. The cold businessman
she had seen all day had disappeared and she wasn’t sure she could handle the
change. She didn’t want to like him. If she could keep him at a distance, it
would be easier to fight him.

“Careful of your step, Lili,” he
said, sliding his hand down her back a couple of inches. He rested it on her
waist as he led her down the steps to his car.

She wondered if he could sense
her heated reaction to that movement. He handed her in, and she settled down
into the soft plush seat. Whatever would he think if he knew? But then, he
wasn’t behaving in a very businesslike manner, either. The glances he kept
sending her way were anything but impersonal.

When they reached the restaurant,
he helped her take off her coat, and the electricity sparked again as he
touched her. It definitely wasn’t just static from the carpet. His lips quirked
as he glanced down at her, as if to say that he felt it, too. Taking her coat,
he turned to hang it up.

Trying to hide her confused
feelings, she followed the hostess to their table by the window.

He nodded at the sunset on the
lake below. “Beautiful view, isn’t it
?
”
The perfectly landscaped shore was artfully scattered with bushes and flowering
plants, some beginning to bloom. Streaks of red and gold in various shades lit
the sky and were reflected on the water a few yards away.

“Gorgeous.”

***

The Lakeview Lounge served
excellent food, and tonight was no exception. Lili tried to keep her mind on
business, but it kept straying to questions about his personal life. Was he
married? Or seriously interested in anyone? Surely he was too good looking and
eligible to be single and unattached. Why did she care? He was her enemy, and
as soon as she could convince him to sell back those shares, she’d never have
to see him again.

She took a bite of the flaky
broiled walleye and looked up to catch him watching her. She stopped breathing,
looked quickly away, and suddenly became absorbed in buttering her hot popover.

He didn’t seem too interested in
business either. Throughout dinner, he asked questions about her life, drawing
out details about where she had worked, and what her duties had been. She told
herself he was only checking out her credentials for her present job as store
manager, yet couldn’t help wondering if he was really interested in her,
personally.

As he helped her with her coat,
their eyes met and held for a long moment. She caught her breath, then pulled
her gaze away and they walked out to his car.

She was sorry to see the evening
end, and especially sorry that they had to go back to the store for the
unpleasant task of telling the employees the news.

By the time everyone had gathered
in the coffee-break room for their staff meeting, Lili’s throat felt stiff with
nerves. It took all of her willpower to put on a business-like front and
conduct the meeting in a calm voice. Fifteen anxious faces watching her and
staring with curiosity at Ken were not helping.

Lili told them about the sale as
simply as possible. She could see from their facial expressions that her news
was just what they had been expecting. Pain stabbed through her. Why, oh, why,
had her father done this to them?

She pushed her feelings aside and
introduced Ken as they’d agreed. Then she sat back and listened as he explained
that nothing would change as far as the employees were concerned. They would
report to Lili as before.

Somehow she had expected Ken to
announce that from now on, he would have the last word on everything; instead
he was telling them to carry on as before. That sent a surge of surprised
pleasure through her.

When Arthur asked if that
included hiring and firing, Ken simply replied, “Of course. But I promised
Robert we would not fire anyone without very good reason for at least a year.”

That brought some relieved
smiles.

After fielding their questions,
Ken said, “I’ve found that security is a problem in some of the stores. I’d
like to show you an excellent video our wholesaler has developed on it to give
you tips on spotting shoplifters and watching for vendor theft.” They agreed to
watch the video on the following Wednesday evening at seven o’clock.

Then Ken asked, “Are there any
other concerns
?
”

“What about medical insurance and
workmen’s compensation insurance
?
”
Anna asked cautiously. There was a murmur of assent from the others.

“What do you have now
?
” Ken questioned, looking at
Lili.

She briefly described the
business package her father had carried. “I don’t know much about it, except
that I’m sure it meets the state minimum requirements.”

“Lili and I will go over it
together and see whether it needs updating,” Ken promised, with a glance at
Lili for her agreement.

She nodded, since she couldn’t do
otherwise. Her blood was already tingling at the realization of how many things
they would be consulting on, and of how many hours that would require they
spend together.