Local Hero

off with a new briskness in his step.
    “What a fusty old snob,” Mitch decided. “How do you stand it?”
    “Would you come into my office a moment?” Hester’s voice was as stiff as her shoulders. Recognizing the tone, Radley rolled his eyes at Mitch. “Kay, if Mr. Greenburg comes in, please have him wait.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    Hester led the way into her office, then closed the door and leaned against it. There was a part of her that wanted to laugh, to throw her arms around Mitch and howl with delight over the way he’d handled Rosen. There was another part—the part that needed a job, a regular salary and employee benefits—that cringed.
    “How could you do that?”
    “Do what?” Mitch took a look around the office. “The brown carpet has to go. And this paint. What do you call this?”
    “Yuck,” Radley ventured as he settled in a chair with Taz’s head in his lap.
    “Yeah, that’s it. You know, your work area has a lot to do with your work production. Try that on Rosen.”
    “I won’t be trying anything with Rosen once he finds out what you did. I’ll be fired.”
    “Don’t be silly. I never promised my family would move their interests to National Trust. Besides, if he puts together an intriguing enough package, they just might.” He shrugged, indicating it made little difference to him. “If it’ll make you happier, I can move my personal accounts here. A bank’s a bank as far as I’m concerned.”
    “Damn it.” It was very rare for her to swear out loud and with heat. Radley found the fur on Taz’s neck of primary interest. “Rosen’s got corporate dynasty on his mind, thanks to you. He’s going to be furious with me when he finds out you made all that up.”
    Mitch tapped a hand on a tidy stack of papers. “You’re obsessively neat, did you know that? And I didn’t make anything up. I could have,” he said thoughtfully. “I’m good at it, but there didn’t seem to be any reason to.”
    “Would you stop?” Frustrated, she moved to him to slap his hands away from her work. “All that business about Trioptic, and D and H Chemicals.” Letting out a long sigh, she dropped down on the edge of the desk. “I know you did it to try to help me, and I appreciate the thought, but—”
    “You do?” With a smile, he fingered the lapel of her suit jacket.
    “You mean well, I suppose,” Hester murmured.
    “Sometimes.” He leaned a little closer. “You smell much too good for this office.”
    “Mitch.” She put a hand on his chest and glanced nervously at Radley. The boy had an arm hooked around Taz and was already deeply involved in one of his new comic books.
    “Do you really think it would be a traumatic experience if the kid saw me kiss you?”
    “No.” At his slight movement, she pressed harder. “But that’s beside the point.”
    “What
is
the point?” He took his hand from her jacket to fiddle with the gold triangle at her ear.
    “The point is I’m going to have to see Rosen and explain to him that you were just . . .” What was the word she wanted? “Fantasizing.”
    “I’ve done a lot of that,” he admitted as he moved his thumb down her jawline. “But I’m damned if I think it’s any of his business. Want me to tell you the one about you and me in the life raft on the Indian Ocean?”
    “No.” This time she had to laugh, though the reaction in her stomach had more to do with heat than humor. Curiosity pricked at her so that she met his eyes, then looked quickly away again. “Why don’t you and Rad go home? I have another appointment, then I’ll go and explain things to Mr. Rosen.”
    “You’re not mad anymore?”
    She shook her head and gave in to the urge to touch his face. “You were just trying to help. It was sweet of you.”
    He imagined she’d have taken the same attitude with Radley if he’d tried to wash the dishes and had smashed her violet-edged china on the floor. Telling himself it was a kind of test, he pressed his lips firmly to hers. He felt each layer of reaction—the shock, the tension, the need. When he drew back, he saw more than indulgence in her eyes. The fire flickered briefly, but with intensity.
    “Come on, Rad, your mom has to get back to work. If we’re not in the apartment when you get home, we’re in the park.”
    “Fine.” Unconsciously she pressed her lips together to seal in the warmth. “Thanks.”
    “Anytime.”
    “Bye, Rad, I’ll be home soon.”
    “Okay.” He lifted his arms to