A Woman's Touch (6 page)

They drove home where Rebecca had dinner and a bottle of wine waiting. Kyle felt as if he’d been dropped into a magic world where reality was temporarily suspended while he learned the heady little glories of domesticity.

Later that night Rebecca put on a frilly apron, just as she’d promised. She wore nothing underneath. Kyle thought he was going to go out of his mind.

When she shuddered delicately in his arms and cried out his name, he decided to wait just a little while longer before he told her the full truth. Normally a blunt, realistic man who met problems head-on, he discovered he couldn’t bear to shatter the fragile illusion he’d created for himself.

The Stockbridge luck ran out the following Monday morning. When the dust had finally settled, Kyle reminded himself morosely that he should have known better than to trust the family luck when it came to women. It had traditionally worked well in matters involving cattle, mining and business but it had never been very reliable when it came to handling the female of the species.

The Stockbridge men had never been notably successful with women and Kyle’s track record was the worst in three generations.

The fateful day had started out pleasantly enough. Kyle had awakened to find Rebecca’s pretty little derriere nestled against his thighs. A jolt of early-morning arousal had whipped through him instantly.

No doubt about it – he had gotten spoiled in the past few days. With the familiarity generated by several other mornings of waking up in this position, Kyle had kissed Rebecca’s shoulder and eased his hand down over her breast to the pleasant warmth between her legs. She had responded with sleepy sensuality, turning toward him instinctively without even opening her eyes.

It was the unhesitating way she turned to him whenever he touched her, regardless of the time of day or night, that Kyle had decided was one of the most pleasurable aspects of living with Rebecca Wade. In the past ten days he had hungrily explored the full range of her responses. It seemed to him that she was a creature of light and magic – a creature of soft, feminine heat and passion. Whenever he wanted her, she was there. When she made love to him, he felt as if he were the luckiest man in the world. She was his and Kyle had never had anything like Rebecca Wade before in his life.

She was unique. He was convinced she had been made especially for him, and he was determined to imprint himself on her so thoroughly that she would never look at another man. When he held her tightly in his arms and drank the soft cries of sexual release from her lips he was thrilled to the core of his being. He would do anything to keep her.

The new morning routine had established itself quickly. On the morning his luck finally failed, Kyle drove both Rebecca and himself to the office and parked the Porsche in the president’s slot in the company lot. He left Rebecca at her office door, unperturbed that a junior clerk witnessed his goodbye kiss. Rebecca blushed and hurried into the office, scolding him gently for that sort of behavior on the job. She had to scold him every morning for the same reason.

But Kyle didn’t care if the entire staff saw him kissing Rebecca. He walked on down the hall to his own office, whistling half under his breath as he rounded the corner and nodded to his secretary, Theresa Aldridge.

„Good morning, Theresa. How was your weekend?“ He glanced at the mail she had been opening.

„Just fine, Mr. Stockbridge. And yours?“ Theresa gave him a serenely polite smile that didn’t quite succeed in hiding her laughing amusement. Theresa was fifty-three years old and she had been working for Kyle for nearly five years. Long enough to know that his behavior during the past ten days had revealed a whole new side to his character. She was very pleased, as if his relationship with Rebecca constituted some sort of personal victory for her.

„I had a great weekend, Theresa.“

„I gather you didn’t spend your weekend in the office, as usual Mr. Stockbridge. I didn’t find any memos or instructions waiting for me this morning as I have on just about every other Monday morning for the past five years.“

„You are correct, Theresa. I didn’t spend my weekend in the office. I have discovered better things to do with my weekends.“

„I’m happy to hear it.“

„Did Harrison get the report on the Jamison deal finished?“

„Yes, sir. I have it here. He dropped it by a few minutes ago.“ She handed him the file.

„Thanks,“ he responded, flipping open the file as he walked toward the inner office. „Oh, by the way, Theresa, you don’t have to bother bringing me a cup of coffee this morning. Becky fixed me a cup at breakfast,“ he added smugly.

„I see,“ Theresa replied aloofly.

Kyle grinned. Ever since Rebecca had declared that company secretaries should not be required to fix coffee for their bosses, Kyle and all his managers had found themselves engaged in a daily battle for the traditional perk. The secretaries were winning. They could afford to stand firm. They had Rebecca on their side.

Theresa had been as intransigent as all the other secretaries. It gave Kyle a certain satisfaction to be able to point out to her that the amazon who had led the resistance movement at the office had surrendered privately on the home front „Becky makes terrific coffee,“ Kyle added just to make sure he had made his point. He scanned the first page of the report, his mind switching gears as he started another working day.

„I’m sure she does,“ Theresa murmured behind him. „Miss Wade does everything well.“

Something in her tone stopped Kyle for a moment. He swung around, eyes narrowing in a ferocious frown. „Just what is that supposed to mean, Theresa?“ He was more than ready to jump down the throat of the first person who dared say anything critical about his relationship with Rebecca. So far he’d had no occasion to do so.

Theresa continued to smile at him, unalarmed by the frown. Theresa had, after all, worked very closely with Kyle for nearly five years. She knew him better than anyone else in the company. „Only that you seem quite happy these days, Mr. Stockbridge, and we all know it’s because of Rebecca.“ She hesitated and then added in a soft rush, „I’m glad for you. It’s about time you found other things to do with your weekends and evenings besides spend them here in the office building your empire.“

Kyle nodded, satisfied that her congratulations were genuine. „Thank you, Theresa.“ He turned and continued on into his office. Rebecca had been wrong, he thought as he returned to Harrison’s report. There had been no need for her to worry about what people at the office would say when it became common knowledge that she was living with him.

The truth was, nearly everyone who worked for him was damned grateful to her. She was in a better position than ever to soothe the savage beast.

Ten minutes later, however, Kyle’s pleasant Monday-morning mood had vanished in the flames of outrage. He stared at the figures and conclusions buried in Harrison’s report, certain at first that there had been a mistake or that he was reading them wrong. But a moment later he knew there had been no errors. He reached out and stabbed the intercom switch.

„Yes, Mr. Stockbridge?“

„Get Rick Harrison in here. Now.“

„Yes, Mr. Stockbridge.“ Theresa’s voice slipped into the smooth tone of the professional secretary who knows that disaster has just struck.

Kyle released the intercom switch and went back to the report. Then another thought struck him. He slammed the switch once more. „Theresa?“

„Yes, Mr. Stockbridge?“ Theresa said warily.

„Tell Harrison that if he stops by Becky’s office on the way to mine, I’ll have his termination papers cut in personnel before lunch. Understood?“

There was a pregnant pause from Theresa’s end before she said carefully, „I believe Mr. Harrison is already in Miss Wade’s office, Mr. Stockbridge.“

„The hell he is.“

„Sir, it’s normal Monday morning procedure,“ Theresa explained hurriedly. „Mr. Harrison always consults with her first thing on Monday. They go over your schedule for the week and prepare recommendations for you.“

„Every Monday?“ Kyle’s outrage went up another notch. „Every damned Monday? How long has this been going on?“

„For about three weeks, sir,“ Theresa admitted and then tried frantically to do a little damage control. „Miss Wade has started a new program. She meets with the various department heads at different times during the week, Mr.

Stockbridge. It’s one of the ways she keeps things running smoothly for you. Monday morning just happens to be Mr. Harrison’s scheduled time. I’ll call her office right now and have her tell Mr. Harrison that you want to see him.“

„You will not do any such thing, Theresa,“ Kyle told her with grim menace. „It’ll be worth your job if you dial her office. I’ll go down the hall and get Harrison myself.“

„Yes, Mr. Stockbridge.“ Theresa’s voice had moved from coolly professional to those special, frozen ranges only a good secretary can manage.

Kyle wasn’t fooled for a minute. It would be a close race. He grabbed the report off his desk and headed for the door. Theresa was bent industriously over her electronic typewriter as he slammed through the outer office. He knew she would be reaching for the phone as soon as he cleared the doorway. He had about ten seconds.

He made it to the closed door of Rebecca’s office just in time to hear the phone ring inside. Kyle shoved open the door without bothering to knock and surprised Rebecca just as she reached for her phone.

„Tell Theresa she’s too late. I’m already here.“ He lounged in the doorway and shot Rick Harrison a disdainful glance. „Tell her nice try.“ Harrison sighed and leaned back in his chair with the air of a man who has just seen the jury return to the courtroom.

„How on earth do you know it’s Theresa?“ Rebecca asked mildly as she picked up the phone. As usual, she appeared totally unalarmed by Kyle’s volatile mood.

„Lucky guess,“ Kyle said dryly. He slapped the file against his thigh and waited.

„Hello? Theresa? Oh, it is you. Mr. Stockbridge just walked in.“

Rebecca’s eyes stayed on Kyle’s face as she talked. He saw her wince as realization dawned. She was obviously putting two and two together in a hurry. Kyle grinned threateningly and glanced around the room.

Rebecca had done wonders with her small office, turning it from utilitarian to cozy. She had achieved the effect with a number of plants and a small Oriental carpet. There was a coffee machine in one corner. The leader of the coffee resistance movement set an example by brewing and serving her own.

Kyle glared at the two half-empty cups that sat on the desk. Rebecca had obviously made coffee not only for herself, but for Harrison.

This had been going on every Monday for three weeks?
Kyle reflected. He’d been prepared to chew Harrison up one side and down the other for the mess he’d made of the Jamison deal. Now he felt more like tearing the man apart and tossing the pieces out onto the freeway.

Harrison started to reach for his coffee cup. A glance at Kyle’s face made him stop. He looked more unhappy and resigned to his fate than ever. Kyle didn’t move from the doorway as he waited for Rebecca to get off the phone.

„Thank you, Theresa,“ Rebecca said soothingly. „I’m sure Mr. Stockbridge will calm down once everything’s been explained to him.“

„Don’t count on it,“ Kyle said bluntly as Rebecca replaced the receiver. He held up the file and looked at Rick Harrison. „What kind of garbage is this? How the hell did you screw up this badly? You and I went over every last penny of that offer. Jamison had agreed to everything. The deal was in the bag, Harrison.“

„Jamison changed his mind,“ Rick said evenly as he got to his feet. „It’s a little complicated, but I can explain.“

„You damned well will explain,“ Kyle said through gritted teeth. „You should have been camped in my office waiting to do exactly that this morning. But that's not where I find you, is it, Harrison? Instead you’re down here in Rebecca’s office trying to put together a strategy for dealing with me. Haven’t you got enough guts to face me on your own?“

Rick’s face turned a dull red. His mouth tightened angrily. „I always meet with Becky at this time on Monday mornings. I was heading for your office next. I wanted to give you an opportunity to go over my report before we spoke.“

„Bull. You were trying to hide behind a woman’s skirts.“

„Kyle,“ Rebecca cut in firmly, her voice soft but her eyes snapping with annoyance, „that’s enough. You’re jumping the gun here. Rick was on his way down to your office. He just stopped off here first because we have a scheduled Monday-morning meeting.“

Kyle’s eyebrows rose as he turned his attention back to her. He knew he was probably overreacting, but that was just too bad for everyone concerned. The flash of primitive male jealousy had taken him by surprise. The fact that there was probably no real basis for it couldn't seem important at the moment. He felt an overpowering need to make his irritation clear.

„Don’t leap to his defense, Becky, or I’ll know for sure he was in here trying to get you to run interference for him.

Harrison, go on down to my office and wait for me.“

„Yes, sir.“ Rick got up and headed for the door.

„And the next time you decide to try hiding behind a woman’s skirts,“ Kyle said very softly, „don’t pick my woman.“

Rebecca went still behind her desk. But Rick met Kyle’s eyes in a man-to-man exchange. He nodded grimly as the full weight of his misfortune hit him. He disappeared out into the hall, closing the door behind him.

Somewhat mollified at having successfully intimidated his subordinate, Kyle turned back to Rebecca. He wasn’t prepared for the anger glittering in her amber eyes.