A Woman's Touch

utterly uncalled for. How could you drag that scene with Rick down to the personal level? How in the world am I supposed to work here if you act like this every time you find a man in my office? Of all the stupid, idiotic, dumb things to do… I knew this situation wasn’t going to work.“ A pencil she had picked up snapped in two between her fingers. She tossed the pieces aside. „I just knew it wouldn’t work. I should never have moved in with you. This whole thing is just impossible.“
    Kyle was startled by the force of her reaction. His own anger rekindled, but he kept a lid on it as he always did around Rebecca. He paced forward aggressively, tossed the Jamison file on her desk and planted both palms on the wood surface. „This wouldn’t have gotten personal if I hadn’t found Harrison sharing a cozy cup of coffee with you.
    What the hell is going on around here? Theresa tells me this is the order of the day on Monday mornings. Who are you seeing Tuesday mornings?“
    „Sandra Billings from word processing,“ Rebecca shot back. „Are you going to label that unprofessional behavior, too? You think maybe Sandy and I sit in here and play cards or gossip about our love lives on Tuesday mornings?“
    „Don’t try to wriggle out of this by making it all sound perfectly normal.“
    „It is perfectly normal. This was the way I worked at Exton and Fordyce. The way my boss, Mr. Carstairs, liked me to work. It’s effective and efficient. You liked the way I handled things there, remember? You said you were very impressed by what Carstairs told you about my performance. You said he raved about me. That’s the reason you hired me when the firm got bought out, if you’ll recall.“
    Kyle stomped down an irritating sense of guilt. Carstairs’s recommendation, as enthusiastic as it was, had not been the deciding factor in Kyle’s decision to hire Rebecca but he could hardly explain that now. He sought for another approach.
    „I have no objection to your working methods,“ he bit out, „but I won’t have the rest of the staff using you to hide from me. And that’s exactly what Rick Harrison was trying to do this morning.“
    „That’s not true!“
    „It is true. Damn it, I know Rick and I know how everyone on my staff has started using you when they want to avoid having to face me.“
    „Rick and I were discussing your schedule this week, not the Jamison deal,“ Rebecca flared. „You’re trying to make something very innocent appear underhanded and unprofessional.“
    „I don’t like the idea of you having coffee every Monday morning with Rick Harrison.“
    „Your objections are ridiculous. You sound jealous, Kyle.“
    Her words cut deep. Kyle swore and swung away from the desk. He paced to the far end of the room and turned around to confront her. „Maybe I am,“ he admitted quietly.
    Rebecca’s expression softened instantly, just as he had known it would. Rebecca couldn’t stand to see people in pain. She would be the last woman on earth who would try to make her lover jealous.
    „You have no reason,“ she told him gently.
    He looked at the second coffee cup on her desk. „Don’t I?“
    „Oh, Kyle, how can you say that?“ Rebecca jumped to her feet and hurried around the edge of the desk, her eyes full of anguished concern. „You know I would never get involved with anyone else.“ She touched his arm as she looked up at him. „You do know that, don’t you? I love you, Kyle. You do trust me, don’t you?“
    He gazed down into her anxious face for a long moment and magnanimously decided to let himself be placated.
    Kyle’s mouth curved in a faint smile as he lifted his hand and stroked the curve of her throat with one knuckle. „I trust you, baby,“ he growled softly. He bent his head and brushed her mouth with his own. „But I’m not sure I trust Rick Harrison or the rest of the males around here. It makes me nervous to find out you’re spending your mornings in here feeding them tea and sympathy.“
    „Coffee and a review of weekly plans are all that get served in here,“ she said firmly. „And I have to know you believe that, Kyle, or I won’t be able to go on working here.“
    The small threat annoyed him. Kyle frowned, about to tell her he didn’t want to hear anything more on the subject of her not being able to work for him, when the door opened with the barest of peremptory knocks.
    „Excuse me, Miss Wade,“ Theresa Aldridge said brusquely as she sailed into