Private Scandals

were over. She meant to keep it that way. “And Angela. In her office.”
    Muttering an oath, he glanced up to the windows on the sixteenth floor. “I don’t suppose you could have mistaken the situation.”
    Her laugh was as dry as dust. “I’m a trained observer. When I see two people, one half naked, pawing each other, I know what they’re up to. I don’t need corroboration to make the report.”
    “I guess not.” He was silent a moment. The breeze whispered through the plot of grass behind them and waved through the bank of tulips that spelled out CBC in sunny yellow. “I could round up a crew,” Finn considered, “go up to sixteen with a camera, lights and a mike, and make his life a living hell.”
    This time her laugh was less strained. “Interview him at the scene of the crime? It’s a nice offer.”
    “No, really, I’d enjoy it.” The more he thought about it, the more he believed it was the perfect solution. “Dr. Pike, as a respected family counselor, how do you explain being caught with your pants down in a place of business before noon? Was this a professional call? A new form of therapy you’d like to share with the public?”
    “They weren’t down—yet,” she said with a sigh. “I interrupted them. And while your offer’s tempting, I’d just as soon handle the situation myself.” She pushed the used handkerchief back in his hand. “Goddamn it, they made a fool out of me.” Springing off the wall, Deanna wrapped her arms tightly around her body. “She planned it. I don’t knowwhy, I don’t even know how, but she planned it. I saw it in her eyes.”
    This news didn’t surprise him. Nothing about Angela did. “Have you pissed her off lately?”
    “No.” She lifted her hand to push back her hair and then stopped. New York, she thought, and nearly laughed again. “Maybe I did,” she said softly. “And this is some twisted form of payback for what she sees as ingratitude.” Furious now, Deanna turned back toward him. “She knew how I felt about him, and she used it. And what timing. Less than an hour before I have to go on.” She looked at her watch, then covered her face with her hands. “Oh God. I’ve only got twenty minutes.”
    “Take it easy. I’ll go down and tell Benny you’re sick. They’ll get a sub.”
    For one indulgent moment, she considered his offer. Then she remembered Angela’s crafty, satisfied smile. “No. She’d enjoy that too much. I can do my job.”
    Finn studied her. Her face was tracked with tears and her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed, but she was determined. “They grow them tough in Kansas,” he said with approval.
    Her chin rose another notch. “Damn right they do.”
    “Let’s get you into makeup.”
    She said nothing until they’d crossed the lot, walked through the door. “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome. Got any Visine?”
    She grimaced as they started up the steps. “That bad?”
    “Oh, it’s worse.”
    He kept their conversation light as he steered her into makeup. He brought her ice for her eyes, water for her throat, then stayed to chat while she concealed the worst of the damage with cosmetics. But he was thinking, and his thoughts were anything but light. Anything but kind.
    “That’s not half bad,” he commented. “Try a little more blusher.”
    He was right. Deanna stroked the brush over her cheek. And saw Marshall’s reflection in the mirror. Her hand trembled once before she set the brush aside.
    “Deanna, I’ve been looking for you.”
    “Oh?” She felt Finn coil beside her, like a big, mean cat about to spring, and laid a hand on his arm. With a jolt she realized the slightest signal from her would have him tearing in. It wasn’t as unattractive an image as she wanted to think. “I’ve been right here,” she said coolly. “I have a show to do.”
    “I know. I . . .” His eyes clung to hers, soft and brown and pleading. “I’ll wait.”
    “There’s no need for that.” Odd, she thought. She felt powerful. Invincible. There seemed to be no relation between the woman she was at this moment and the one who had run sobbing from Angela’s office. “I have a couple minutes to spare.” Calmly, she leaned back against the counter and smiled at Finn. There was blood in her eye that had nothing to do with tears. “Would you mind leaving us alone?”
    “Sure.” He reached over and tipped her chin up another inch with his fingertip. “That’s a good look for you, Kansas.” With a last,