Winds of Heaven (9 page)

Kylie thought of a dozen snappy replies, but Stephanie stayed painfully quiet, although her chin lifted a fraction.

“Hello, Alex,” Nick said pointedly. “So nice to see you.”

“Cousin.” Alex bent his head in slight acknowledgment before he moved purposely past Nick to Kylie’s side. He took her hand and raised it to his lips for a suave kiss. “Hello, Kylie.”

“Hello, Alex.” She firmly pulled her hand from his grasp. “Did you come looking for Stephanie or just to impress me with your manners?”

The sarcasm was lost on his overblown ego. “I came to request the pleasure of your company at a prestigious party tomorrow night. Are you free for the evening?”

 “She’s not free, as a matter of fact,” Nick said. “Sorry, Cousin, but you’re too late. Kylie’s attending the party with me.”

“She is?” Alex frowned at Nick in exasperation. “Well, what am I supposed to do? Everyone knows you can’t go stag to one of Glynnis Claybrook’s parties.”

Kylie decided to accept Nick’s interference as a momentary godsend and to argue with him later, after she’d enjoyed Alex’s rare discomfort. “What happened to Miss November, your roommate?”

“She moved to Las Vegas.” Alex provided the information with a shrug. “We didn’t have much in common anyway. I like women with a little more spirit, like you, Kylie. Why don’t we find Nick another date, and then you’ll be free to go with me? I’m younger and much more fun.” Alex glanced around the room as if searching for someone to serve as Nick’s date. He passed over Stephanie’s still form as if she didn’t exist. “I’m sure we can find someone for him.”

Nick’s smile became more determined. “I have a date, Alex. Find someone for yourself.”

“Oh, be a sport, Nick,” Alex cajoled. “Who could I ask at the last minute? You can’t expect me to go with just anyone, you know.” He paused, as if mentally reviewing potential candidates. “Well, I’ll think of someone.”

With a dismissing sigh he turned to his secretary. “Bunny, that reminds me. I meant to ask you. Would you mind—?”

“Why, thank you, Alex,” Stephanie said with a level stare that by rights should have frozen him in his tracks. “I’d love to go with you to the party tomorrow night.”

In the stunned silence that followed, Stephanie squared her shoulders and tilted her chin defiantly. The notes in her hand made a faintly ominous rustle. “As for tonight, I’ll get as much of the correspondence done as I can before five o’clock, Alex, but I’m not working any later.” She pivoted and walked from the room.

Kylie controlled the impish quiver of her lips and watched as one emotion after another altered Alex’s features. He couldn’t have looked more astounded.

“Did I just ask
Bunny
to the party?”

“Congratulations,” Nick offered. “You not only asked but were accepted.”

“I can’t believe it.” Alex whispered the words in disbelief. “And she called me Alex. I can’t imagine what’s gotten into her.”

Kylie had a pretty good idea. Nick obviously had the same thought, for the arch of his brows emphasized his conclusion. “Yes,” he said dryly, “it’s hard to imagine.”

Kylie tried to look suitably mystified. With a bemused shake of his head Alex lifted a hand in farewell and walked from the room.

As Nick shifted his position on the desk Kylie tensed, anticipating the brush of his leg against hers. It didn’t come, but she felt that same intangible current of sensation, as if he had touched her. She moved slightly, placing her legs out of touching range, real or imagined.

“How long do you think it will take Alex to break that date?” she asked.

“I don’t think he’s going to get the opportunity. Stephanie appears to be in control of the situation, and with some extra coaching from you there’ll be no end to the upheaval she’ll create in Alex’s life.”

“Extra coaching?” Kylie echoed. Irritation welled up in her, its source as much what Nick had said as the perpetual amusement in his eyes. “Stephanie has had the same training as every other employee, no more and no less. She just has the good sense to listen. Unlike you, Nick.”

“I listen to every word that passes your lips, Kylie.”

“And you don’t take any of them seriously.”

His smile was slow and disarming. “I take you very seriously. Would you like me to show you?” He stood, then fluidly bent beside her chair until his gaze was level with hers. His thumb began to etch feathery circles on the back of her hand.

Kylie melted a little deeper into her chair before she rallied. “If you’re thinking of kissing my hand, I’ll warn you that I’m not impressed by that sort of thing.”

“You’re not?” He slipped his fingers beneath hers, cradling the smallness of her hand in his. For a breathless second he focused all his attention on lifting her hand to his lips. But just as her skin tingled with expectation he stopped.

Then slowly, ever so slowly he turned her hand until his breath warmed and tantalized her palm. Like an autumn leaf Kylie hung suspended, waiting for his touch. When at last he pressed his mouth against her sensitive flesh, a tremulous sigh spread throughout her body.

The sensuous flick of his tongue robbed her of coherent thought before he raised his eyes and caught her in his gaze.

Kylie knew she looked impressed, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. With exaggerated care Nick placed her hand in her lap. “Alex never was very good at that sort of thing.”

She faltered over the catch in her throat and finally found her voice. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe the two of you are related.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Nick feigned a suspicious frown. “You’re not trying to get out of fixing dinner tonight, are you?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. What would you like to have?”

It was the pause—the merest breath of a hesitation—as much as the tilt of his smile that gave her the answer. He wanted her. The knowledge closed around her with bewitching surety and firmed her fluctuating resolve to resist. “I’ll settle for steak and salad,” he said.

“You bet you will.”

Surprise played across his face just seconds before a laugh flowed deep and rich from his throat. “Always a step ahead of me, aren’t you?”

“Always,” she lied. “You should keep that in mind.”

With a noncommittal twitch of his mouth he straightened and moved around the desk to the doorway. “I’ll see you this evening, Kylie.” It was a husky promise, and with it he was gone.

To keep from staring at the doorway, Kylie glanced around her office and wondered why it no longer seemed devoid of character. But there was no denying that it felt different. No denying that it held the essence of Nick’s laughter, the lingering warmth of his presence.

And there was no doubt that she was getting involved with Nick Braden. She had all the symptoms. The fluttery pulse, the sudden inexplicable smiles, the daydreams. It was all too familiar. She’d fallen in and out of love before, and she knew it was a quicksilver emotion that came and went without explanation.

Only with Colin it had been different. He’d been the handsome older man who’d waited on the sidelines of her life for her to grow into love for him. He had taken control of her young plans and dreams and then left her devastatingly empty when he’d turned to someone with “more spirit.”

More spirit. That still haunted her. Even after all this time. Even after she’d pulled herself together and discovered her own brand of spirit.

And now she was trembling on the brink of another relationship. One that intrigued her and yet threatened the independence she’d fought so hard to acquire. Of course Nick was different from Colin. More mature, more understanding. But she’d be a fool to ignore the similarities: the determination, the strength of purpose.

Kylie loosened the combs that held her chestnut hair and let its weight fall to her shoulders. It was all laid out like a chessboard, ready for one of them to make a move. And she knew she would have to make a decision soon before the option to decide was taken from her control. Already Nick was making decisions that involved her on one level or another.

Oh, he was skilled at this game, she admitted, staring wryly at her still-tingling palm. Without crossing the bounds of propriety he was seducing her.

Correction, she thought. Nick had merely planted the idea. She had done the rest.

Mentally snapping her fingers, Kylie forced her attention to the work at hand. She’d worked hard for this seminar, too hard to spend any more time daydreaming about Nick. As she began to prepare the next day’s lecture her heart, undaunted by logic, lightened with anticipation of the evening ahead.

It was the absence of workaday sounds that finally broke her concentration. A glance at her watch prompted a groan and a hurried attempt to put her desk in order. After six o’clock. Nick would think she’d forgotten him.

Her mad rush came to a screeching halt. What Nick would think was immaterial. There was nothing in her contract about cooking, but there was plenty about the quality of the seminar she would give.

Leisurely Kylie completed her work. She drove to the house at the same unhurried pace. Just let him say one word, she thought, her defenses primed and ready, as she pushed open the front door and stepped inside.

The first word was hers, though, as she noticed the shimmer of candlelight on china and the appetizing aroma. The table was set for two, and a feeling of intimacy pervaded the room as Nick came through the kitchen doorway. He was dressed in jeans and a knit shirt, and his smile was just as casual. His appearance and manner were the same as on any other night, but something was different. She could feel it.

In an instant Kylie assessed the situation and knew there would be no discussion of seminars tonight. She had the fleeting impression of a chess piece moving irrevocably, inevitably toward decision.

Chapter Five

Kylie camouflaged her uncertainty with a challenging lift of her chin. “I’m late.”

Nick’s thumb stroked the line of his jaw. “It’s hard to argue with that, but I get the feeling I’m supposed to.”

“Don’t be silly. I make it a practice never to argue before dinner.”

“Good, because I’m hungry.” He moved to the table and drew back her chair with an elaborate gesture. “But don’t think I’ve forgotten that it was really your turn to cook. You owe me, Kylie, and I intend to collect.”

Halfway into the chair she jerked around to bring him into her line of vision and almost missed the seat. He braced her with a hand at her waist that brushed seductively against her breast as he settled her. Obviously she hadn’t imagined the innuendo in his voice, but she could ignore it. She made a production of placing her napkin in her lap. “You’re obsessed with food, Nick.”

His breath fanned the curls at her temple before reaching her ear. “It keeps me from dwelling on more delectable delights.”

“Oh, does that mean you made dessert too?” It was a weak comeback, but she excused it as being made under duress and pretended a starving interest in the food before her. “Ummm. Steak and salad. This looks good, Nick. You must have spent hours—”

Nick seated himself at the table and silenced her with a look. “Just eat, Kylie.”

She obeyed, feeling oddly more relaxed. There was no reason to overreact, to assume this night would be different from any other. She could handle Nick. After all, he couldn’t seduce her without her cooperation, could he?

She made a considerable dent in her dinner before the silence became uncomfortable. “Were you in Alex’s office tonight?” she asked. “Did Stephanie leave at five?”

“On the dot. You should have seen Alex’s face.”

“Good for her. Alex has had it coming for a long time. Stephanie just needed to gain a little confidence and self-respect.”

“She may have to gain new employment.”

Kylie’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t dare fire her!” Nick didn’t offer a response as he sipped his coffee, and another thought occurred to Kylie.
“You
wouldn’t fire her, would you?”

“I might.” He stopped her protest with a gesture. “Southwest can’t afford a defiance of authority. Not in the executive office.”

“Defiance? Stephanie is only asserting her rights.”

“There’s a fine line between assertiveness and rebellion, Kylie. And I didn’t say I was going to fire her, I just said—”

“Haven’t you listened to anything I’ve said during the training? Stephanie has discovered that she isn’t an automaton to be plugged in and turned off at the company, or Alex’s, convenience. Employees deserve to be treated as an important and necessary part of the business they work for.”

“I agree in principle, Kylie.”

“You’re so entrenched in your master and slave theories of management that—”

“Master and slave?” His eyes flickered a disgruntled warning. “You’re exaggerating. But let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to argue.”

“We’re not arguing. I’m just telling you that you don’t know what it’s like not to have a voice in the everyday decisions that concern you. You’ve never had someone make all the decisions for you.”

“And you have, I suppose?”

“Yes. Colin….” Realizing that somehow the conversation had become personal, Kylie sought a way to change it. “I understand how Stephanie feels, Nick. There was a time when I did what I was told because I didn’t believe in my ability to think for myself. Certainly office rules must be followed. But assertiveness training doesn’t advocate breaking rules. It simply teaches you to respect the rights of others and to expect the same consideration for your own rights.”

“You’re very convincing, Kylie.” He leaned forward to cover her hand with
his.

She heard the skepticism in his voice. “But you’re not convinced, are you, Nick?”

“No,” he conceded with a heavy sigh. “But couldn’t we just agree to disagree? After all, what’s a little disagreement between friends?”

“Nothing at all.” She snatched her hand from his touch and pushed back from the table. “I’ll take care of the dishes. You can practice cracking your whip.”

His silence was expressive as she stood and began stacking the plates and silverware. “Kylie.” He paused and seemed to come to a decision. “How about an exciting game of Scrabble?”