A Woman's Touch

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