Affair Of Risk Read online

  "Do you think it's safe?"

  "I think so. The important thing is that you probably shouldn't risk coming here. It will take Austin a while to find someone else to keep an eye on me, if he decides to

  pursue that route. I'll be careful going out to the park. If I don't show up by, say, two o'clock, assume I decided there was somebody following and turned back, okay?"

  "I'd really like to get out," Donna admitted. "As I said, Jason is driving me up the walls."

  "Just a normal five-year-old. He needs some outdoor exercise."

  "Why is it that the nonmothers of this world are always such experts on children!" Donna managed a small laugh.

  "It's easy. When you know you can walk away from a kid at any time and leave the problems to someone else, there's no trick to being objective!"

  By the time Kendra reached the lovely formal tea garden, Jason, a lively picture with his cap of shining black hair and his mother's green eyes, had already fed his entire lunch to the squirrels. He'd gone on to nearly throttle a duck, climb over every miniature bridge in the magnificent five acres, and barely avoid drowning in the numerous reflective pools.

  Donna looked up in heartfelt relief when Kendra appeared, walking down one of the tiny paths toward the bench beside the pagoda where the younger woman sat.

  "You made it! I was beginning to worry."

  "Hi, Kendra!" Jason paused momentarily to call out before racing back over another miniature bridge. The serene beauty of the garden was lost on him, Kendra decided affectionately, but he took his own brand of pleasure out of the experience.

  "Hi, Jason!" she smiled warmly. Once there had been a time when she had thought having a family would be one of her goals in life. She had missed badly the loving interaction she had experienced with her own parents, and a part of her wanted to recreate it with a new generation. Those thoughts had gone underground two years ago, only to resurface recently when little Jason had come back

  into her life. She wondered idly if Case Garrett had ever thought of having a family. But families didn't exactly go with his current life-style, she decided wryly.

  "There was no problem," she remarked to Donna. "I just took a few precautions, like wandering around through the park for a while before coming here to the garden. I'm sure no one followed me. I don't even think it would have been possible, considering the traffic today!"

  Donna smiled in shaky relief. "I know I'm nervous. I wish it were over!"

  "It will be soon," Kendra told her forcefully. "What do you say we get Jason before he attempts to climb the Buddha and take him to the aquarium?"

  "Good idea!"

  They spent the afternoon awing Jason with the strange and magnificent creatures of the deep housed in the large Steinhart Aquarium, exhausting themselves in a futile attempt to tire Jason. At the end of the day Kendra saw them off in a cab and located her own sleek little sports car in the parking lot. When she found herself glancing continually in the mirror she lectured herself on trying not to be paranoid. No one could have followed her through Sunday traffic. But she also knew something of Austin Radburn. ...

  On Monday afternoon she was deep into a folder of resumes from marketing managers, searching for the perfect candidate to present to an important client, when her partner in the agency, Norris Webb, knocked on her door.

  She glanced up and smiled at the man who stood in her office doorway. Norris was thirty-nine years old, a tawny-haired man whose smiling brown eyes, polished appearance, and easygoing charm had made him an instant success in the employment business. He was an attractive man, presently divorced, and Kendra knew he didn't lack

  for feminine companionship. He was also making the same healthy profit out of the business as was she.

  "Just wanted to remind you we have that dinner meeting with the Richardson clients." He grinned. His hand rested lightly on one hip, thrusting back the gray pinstriped jacket of his three-piece suit. Like Kendra, he was every inch the well-dressed San Francisco executive.

  "I haven't forgotten. It's your turn to pick me up, though."

  "I'll be there with bells on. Seven o'clock all right?"

  "That will be fine. Did you want to take them to that little Italian place in North Beach?"

  "Nothing but the best for these folks! If we get their account, we'll be sitting very pretty for the next year and a half!"

  "We'll get it," she assured him and watched him smile and walk off. Thoughtfully she leaned back in the huge swivel chair, idly smoothing the black wool skirt of her suit.

  She and Norris had been in business together for over five years. For the first two and a half years of that partnership, he had been married. Norris had been very much in love with his beautiful young wife, and the divorce had shaken him. By the time he had begun looking around for new female acquaintances, however, his relationship with Kendra had become so firmly established as a business association that he hadn't even attempted to transform it into something else. Kendra had been happy enough to keep her business life separated from her social one.

  Then there had been the awful night two years ago. After that Kendra had kept her social life nearly as cool as her professional one. She had stopped seeing men who pressured her for more than casual relationships, restricting her dating to those who were content with a sophisticated evening out and who demanded nothing more than a kiss at the door or over after-theater brandy. The busi-

  ness evenings with Norris Webb fit nicely into that lifestyle.

  The evening entertaining the Richardson Electronics people went well. The food was superb at the tiny, extravagant Italian restaurant in the Bohemian quarter of the city, and the tab picked up by the Loring-Webb agency reflected it. But the results were worth it, as Kendra told Norris on the way back to her flat.

  "They'll be signing the papers in the morning." She smiled in satisfaction. "We'll have to get busy collecting the kind of resumes they'll need during the next few months."

  "We've already got a lot of good ones on file. I think we'd better concentrate on filling that comptroller position first, though. They seem most concerned about that."

  Kendra nodded as Norris slid his white Mercedes into a parking slot in front of her home, turning his wheels into the curb of the steep hill as every San Franciscan did by second nature.

  He assisted her out of the car with automatic gallantry, smiling as she turned up the collar of her coat and dug the key out of her silver purse.

  "Want to come in for a nightcap?" she invited, smiling up at him pleasantly. It was nothing unusual. He often did after a business evening such as this.

  "Sounds good. I see your neighbor is still up. A bit late for her, isn't it?" Norris nodded toward the lights in the downstairs flat.

  "Mrs. Colter is probably watching another old Bogart movie. She loves them!"

  "It's a good night for it." Norris grinned. "All this cold, damp fog. San Francisco could have been used to film that sort of movie."

  As if to punctuate his statement, a distant foghorn sounded forlornly, warning ships on the bay. Kendra shivered uneasily and wondered at her own imagination. Fog

  shrouded the streetlamps, lending a sense of impending doom to the quiet street scene. It made her think of dark subjects like old Bogart films and men who made their livings in a night world of danger and sophisticated menace. Men, for example, who ran gambling casinos.

  Deliberately Kendra forced herself to find something matter-of-fact to discuss as she opened the front security door, led the way past Mrs. Colter's entrance, and started up the stairs to her own flat.

  "You know, I've been thinking about the comptroller position. Have you seen the Caldwell resume? I talked to her last week, and I think she might be an excellent possibility. She's—"

  Kendra broke off her words as the door to Mrs. Colter's flat opened and the spry, gray-haired lady stuck her head around the corner to greet her upstairs neighbor.

  "There you are, Kendra. About time you got back. Hello, Mr. Webb," sh
e added cheerfully, nodding to the familiar man on the step below Kendra. "Have a good evening?"

  "Excellent," Norris confirmed, one tawny brow lifting in polite inquiry. It was not like Mrs. Colter to question him when he brought Kendra home. "And yourself?"

  "A very interesting evening, young man," the elderly lady declared in tones of deepest satisfaction. "One you'll be amused to hear about, Kendra," she added.

  "A good film, Mrs. Colter?" Kendra smiled indulgently, pausing with one hand on the railing to glance back.

  "Better than a film, my dear. Real life sometimes is, although not often. I've been entertaining a visitor for you while you were out."

  Kendra took one look at Mrs. Colter's snapping blue eyes and her fingers clutched the railing. Radburn. Had Austin Radburn himself come after her?

  For a split second the panic welled up inside—the panic she hadn't expected to feel if she ever met him again but

  which had been unleashed by the events of her evening in Lake Tahoe. She would never again feel the cool, confident sense of safety she had cultivated for the past two years. It had been wiped out by Case Garrett.

  But she war not alone tonight. She had Norris with her. Surely another man . . .

  "Good evening, Kendra."

  Kendra's eyes flew to meet the shockingly familiar dark gaze of the black-haired man standing behind a smiling Mrs. Colter. The black velvet patch was in place as usual, and Case was wearing an obviously hand-tailored suit of near-black wool. He looked coolly, darkly powerful, and she was struck with an awful feeling of inevitability.

  Summoning her startled senses, Kendra nodded toward him.."Hello, Case. What are you doing here?"

  "I came to see you, of course. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

  Norris looked blankly from one to the other, a trace of awkwardness in his smile.

  "A friend of yours?" he asked his partner.

  "Norris, this is Case Garrett. Norris Webb."

  The two men regarded each other, Case inclining his head almost regally in acknowledgment of the introduction but not extending a hand. It was left for Norris to initiate that small action,

  "Look, Kendra, we can talk another time. I'll be seeing you in the office tomorrow ..." Norris began a. bit hastily as Mrs. Colter stepped back to allow Case to walk past her and out into the hall.

  "There's no need to rush off, Norris," she began, knowing it was a losing battle.

  "I'm sure Mr. Webb has no wish to be in the way," Case was saying smoothly, coming up the stairs to put a proprietary arm around her waist and effectively shouldering Norris aside.

  "No, of course not," Norris agreed quickly. "I'll be on

  my way. See you tomorrow, Kendra. Good night, Mrs. Colter."

  "Good night," Mrs. Colter called brightly as the three of them watched Norris Webb let himself out the door. The older woman turned back to eye Kendra interestedly. "Good thing I was home, isn't it? Otherwise Case might have had to wait out in the cold!"

  "Thank you, Mrs. Colter." Kendra sighed feebly, turning to climb the rest of the stairs with a quick, brittle stride.

  Case echoed her thanks to Mrs. Colter, and then he was walking into the flat behind Kendra, his eye roving appreciatively around the opulently romantic room.

  "So this is where you fled with such haste yesterday morning! Very nice. It looks like you: very tasteful but very first-class!"

  Kendra didn't reply to that. She discovered her fingers were shaking as she undid the buttons of her coat. Instantly he was behind her, removing it with well-timed courtesy. She felt his touch on her shoulders and stepped quickly away, turning to face him as he stood holding her red wool coat. She was wearing a winter white knit dress that hugged her slenderness, the long sleeves and high neck an enchanting contrast to the sensuous fit of the knee-length dress.

  "All right, Case. What's this all about? Why have you come here?"

  "Who is he, Kendra?" he demanded softly, ignoring her question. His gaze bored into her, seeking answers to a query he had no right to make.

  "Norris Webb is my partner. We own an employment agency. And besides, it's none of your business, Case. Why are you here?" She faced him, her chin held high, her neatly knotted hair sleek in the soft hall light. She knew she must have appeared defiant, but she couldn't help it. It was how she felt: defiant and resentful and angry.

  "Are you thinking of making him your lover?" Case bit out softly, walking toward her and tossing the red coat down on one of the yellow-gold upholstered French chairs. He moved past her into the living room, not touching her. She turned and watched helplessly as he prowled through the room, examining the elaborate gilt frame of the mirror, the crystal vase sitting on the lacquered secretary, and the Japanese flower arrangement on the tea table. Then he glanced up broodingly.

  "I didn't unwrap my mystery present only to hand it over to another man, Kendra."

  Kendra felt the blood drain from her cheeks. "Why, you incredible egotist!" she breathed.

  "Why did you leave yesterday without saying goodbye?" he asked almost conversationally as he settled down onto one of the white-and-gold banquettes in front of the bay window. He leaned lazily into the corner, one arm resting along the back of the banquette, and looked at her with a directness that scared Kendra.

  "I should think the answer is obvious," she said in a low voice, walking slowly over to the opposite banquette and sinking down into it without meeting his gaze. Her knees felt weak with the unexpected shock of his appearance. How could he do this to her? What did he want? "What happened between us was a mistake I would very much like to forget!"

  "No!" he denied in a deep growl.

  She stared at him, her resentment plain in the narrowed hazel eyes. "Tell yourself anything you want to hear, Case. I don't much care. If you want to take the credit for discovering my secret, then go ahead. If your ego likes the idea of having 'reawakened' me, then tell yourself that. But I would very much appreciate it if you would leave me alone."

  "Kendra, what the hell is wrong?" he rasped, sitting up to eye her intently, his elbows resting on his knees. "Why

  are you acting like this? When you went to sleep in my arms the other night, you were all soft and trusting, and now you look at me as if I were some kind of monster!"

  Her mouth twisted wryly but she said nothing.

  "Why did you leave like that?" he asked again, the honesty of his question gravelling his voice. "I'd told you that you could go in the morning. I wasn't going to force you to stay!"

  "I just wanted to get away, can't you understand? How did I know what you were going to do next?" she retorted wretchedly.

  "You didn't trust me? I don't believe that!"

  "Then believe what you damn well want to believe!"

  "Kendra!"

  "Please leave me alone, Case!"

  "No, dammit! You left behind as many questions as you answered that night. I want to know everything, honey. Everything!"

  "You don't have that right," she whispered flatly.

  "The hell I don't! You gave me that right when you gave yourself to me. What is it, Kendra? Were you frightened of the commitment, after all? Were you afraid to face the fact that you're still a woman? Were you shocked to find out your passions run so deep after all this time? Tell me what drove you away without even saying good-bye!"

  She glared at him in seething silence, wondering how he could be so insensitive. Didn't he even have an inkling as to what he'd done to her? No, like any man, the only thing he could relate to was the lovemaking. She gritted her teeth.

  "I'd rather not discuss this, Case. Can't you understand that? After what you did to me—"

  "What I did to you!" he repeated, looking suddenly appalled. "After what I did to you! Kendra! Are you going to sit there and accuse me of rape? My God, woman, it was no such thing!"

  She surged to her feet, fists clenched at her sides "No, I don't imagine you'd see it that way!"

  "Because it wasn't that way!" He was on
his feet now too, frustrated anger evident in every line of his lean, hard body.

  Unwillingly Kendra remembered the feel of that body against hers and turned away from him, focusing blindly on the mirror across from her.

  He put out a hand, grasping her shoulder and spinning her around to face him. "Tell me the truth! Do you really think that what happened between us was rape? Tell me, Kendra!"

  "All you can think about is the sex, isn't it, Case? That's all your male ego wants to remember. But something else happened to me that night. Something for which I might not be reasonably able to blame you but which I can never forget. Don't you understand?" she concluded on a desperate plea. "Don't you understand what you did to me when you threw me to the floor and held me there until I realized there was nothing I could do to defend myself?"

  He stared at her, the first glimmer of comprehension evident in the narrowed gaze and tightened mouth.

  "Oh, my God, Kendra!" he muttered hoarsely. "Don't hold that against me! You can't!"

  "I agree," she shot back tightly. "Logically I can't. I attacked and you countered. You had every right. But when you did you tore apart something I've been building for two solid years. You destroyed the self-confidence I've worked so hard to give myself in place of the fear I'd been living with. You showed me how weak I really am. Don't expect me to thank you for that, Case Garrett!"

  "Dammit, Kendra! What else could I have done? Sooner or later you would have gotten yourself into serious trouble! You were overly confident, inviting disaster. You were lucky with Phelps, but it could so easily have gone against you! Kendra, even with me, you almost went too

  far. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was hurt you, but I very nearly did. God, but you were arrogant! You could have been challenging a man who wouldn't have cared how badly he treated you in retaliation, and then where would you have been? Beaten and raped!"

  Kendra took a grip on herself, wondering at the desperation in him. Why did it matter so much to him? His ego, she supposed sadly.