A Woman's Touch

at the last minute. „Harrison was wrong, you know.“
    Rebecca was too shaken to comprehend. „Wrong about what?“
    „If you came to live with me, I wouldn’t scream about every entry on the charge-card bills. I would be generous with you, Becky.“
    Rebecca was suddenly incensed. Pure, clean anger burned away the confusion and near hysteria she had been experiencing. „I have my own charge cards,“ she said through her teeth. „I don’t need to use yours or anyone else’s.“
    But she couldn’t be sure he had heard her. Kyle had already turned away to slice back into the crowd. Rebecca stared after his departing figure. She felt light-headed. In her wildest fantasies she’d never imagined the kind of conversation she’d just had with Kyle Stockbridge.
    The fact that they had just skated along the surface of her most secret dreams was unnerving enough. Having Kyle practically tell her he wouldn’t mind becoming romantically involved with her was shattering. Reality that came too close to fantasy had to be dangerous.
    Harrison was wrong. If you came to live with me…
    Rick Harrison had said something about marriage, not about living together, Rebecca reminded herself stoutly.
    Kyle had conveniently dropped the word „marriage“ when he had referred to Rick’s teasing comment.
    But, then, Kyle was feeling his way, Rebecca realized suddenly. He was being cautious. After all, he had just opened up the subject they’d both been assiduously avoiding for the past two months. Tonight was the first time either of them had actually confronted, even obliquely, the matter of their mutual attraction.
    Thank goodness it was mutual, Rebecca found herself thinking with a curious relief. Apparently Kyle had been as aware of the energy between them as she had. It hadn’t been just a figment of her imagination after all. Until now she hadn’t been certain that he’d wanted her as much as she wanted him.
    The dangerous part was that she was not just attracted to Kyle. Rebecca was very much afraid she was in love with the man. She had a hunch she was asking for trouble with a capital T.
    In spite of the well-cut suits and crisp white shirts he favored, Kyle Stockbridge frequently reminded her of some legendary male straight out of the Old West. Self-contained, arrogant, aggressive and frequently unreadable. He should have been born a hundred years ago when cowboys, desperadoes, gamblers and gunmen roamed this part of Colorado. He would have been right at home.
    Not that he didn’t fit in well with the modern Denver, Rebecca admitted to herself. He moved very successfully in its business circles. During the two months she’d worked for him, she’d seen just how skillfully he played the high-stakes games corporations play.
    Flaming Luck Enterprises was a thriving firm involved in commercial real-estate development. The company had a reputation for being in the right place at the right time – a reputation for luck.
    But no matter how many modern business coups he pulled off, Rebecca knew she would always see Kyle as something of an anomaly. He had a tough, old-fashioned machismo about him that didn’t quite jibe with contemporary sensitivities. He should have owned a black stallion, not a black Porsche. He ought to be wearing leather and denim, not a business suit. And he would have looked as comfortable carrying a Colt Single Action revolver as he did carrying a briefcase.
    Kyle Stockbridge was tough-looking, not good-looking. He was iron and granite in an era of glass and chrome. His roughly carved face had the implacable quality of a Rocky Mountain peak in winter. His eyes were green, flecked with gold and he studied his environment with sharp intelligence. He was a notch or two under six feet, but there was an aura of power in his lean, taut frame.
    He would make an awesome enemy, Rebecca acknowledged. But she’d known him only as a friend, a reasonably indulgent employer and as a fantasy lover. He’d been kind to her from the first, offering her a job just when the one she’d had had been about to disappear.
    She’d heard about his temper but Rebecca never understood what all the fuss was about. Kyle could be irritable, demanding and difficult at times, but she’d never known him to be unfair or genuinely dangerous.
    „Hi, Becky. How’s it going? Looks like the fifth annual anniversary celebration of Haming Luck Enterprises is off to a flying start. Thank heaven you convinced Stockbridge to change