The Pirate & The Adventurer & The Cowboy

she surfaced she promptly splashed him, laughing exuberantly as he tried to dodge.

    Rafe grinned back at her and then dove into the pool thinking that this was probably one of the best nights of his entire life.

9

    « ^ »

    R afe waited until Margaret's back was turned in the large mall bookstore before he strolled casually over to the romance section. He stood there for a moment, lost in a sea of lushly illustrated paperbacks. Then he spotted a familiar-looking name. Fuchsia foil spelled out Margaret Lark. The title of the book was
Ruthless
.

    After another quick glance to make certain that Margaret was still busy browsing through mysteries, Rafe examined the cover of her latest book. It showed a man and a woman locked in a passionate embrace. The man had removed the charcoal gray jacket of his suit and his tie hung rakishly around his neck. His formal white shirt was open to the waist and his hand was behind the lady's back, deftly lowering the zipper of her elegant designer gown.

    The couple was obviously standing in the living room of a sophisticated penthouse. In the backdrop high-rise buildings rose into a dark sky and the sparkling lights of a big city glittered.

    Rafe opened
Ruthless
to the first page and started to read.

    "It's no secret, Anne. The man's a shark. Just ask anyone who worked for any of the companies Roarke Cody is supposed to have salvaged in the past five years. He may have saved the firms but he did it by firing most of the management and supervisory level people. We're all going to be on the street in a week, you mark my words."

    Anne Jamison picked up the stack of files on her desk and glanced at her worried assistant. "Calm down, Brad. Cody's been hired to straighten out this company, not decimate the staff. He must be good to have acquired the reputation he's got. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get going. I've got a meeting in his office in five minutes."

    "Anne, you're not listening. The guy's ruthless. Don't you understand?" Brad trailed after her to the door. "He's probably called you into his office to fire you. And after he lets you go, I'm next. You'll see."

    Anne pretended to ignore her frantic assistant as she made her way down the hall, but the truth was, she was not nearly as confident as she looked. She was as aware of Cody's reputation as Brad was—more so, in fact, because she'd done some checking.

    "Ruthless" was, indeed, the right word to describe the turnaround specialist who had been installed here at the corporate headquarters of Seaco Industries. Roarke Cody had left a trail of fired personnel in his wake wherever he had gone to work. He was nothing less than a professional hit man whose gun was for hire by any company that could afford him.

    Three minutes later Anne was shown into the new gunslinger's office. She held her breath as the tall, lean, dark-haired man standing at the window turned slowly to face her. One look and her heart sank. She had been putting up a brave, professional front but the fact was, she had known the full truth about this man the first day she'd met him. There was no mercy in those tawny gold eyes—no compassion in that hard, grim face.

    "Good morning, Mr. Cody," she said with the sort of gallant good cheer one adopted in front of a firing squad. "I understand you're on the hunt and you'll be having most of management for dinner."

    "Not most of management." Roarke's deep voice was tinged with a hint of a Western drawl. "Just you, Miss Jamison. Seven o'clock tonight." He smiled without any humor. "I thought we might discuss your immediate future."

    Anne's mouth fell open in shock. "Mr. Cody, I couldn't possibly…"

    "Perhaps I should clarify that. It's not just your future we will discuss," he said smoothly. "But that of your staff, as well."

    And suddenly Anne knew exactly how it felt to be singled out as prey.

    "For heaven's sake, what are you doing?" Margaret hissed in Rafe's ear.

    "Reading one of your books." Rafe closed
Ruthless
and smiled blandly. "Something sort of familiar about this Roarke guy."

    To his surprise, Margaret blushed a vivid pink. "You're imagining things. Put that back and let's go get that coffee you promised me."

    "Hang on a second, I want to buy this." Rafe reached for his wallet as he started toward the counter.

    Margaret hurried after him. "You're going to buy
Ruthless
? But, Rafe, it's not exactly your kind of book."

    "I'm not so sure about that."

    She stifled a groan and