The Ties That Bind

plowed to a halt, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Uh, are you working?"
    "I was."
    "On your vacation?"
    Garth shrugged. "Why not?"
    "Why not? Well, because you're supposed to be on vacation. What's the point of taking time off if you keep on working?"
    "This is something that has to be done, Shannon. It's a crucial bid proposal my company will be submitting in a few weeks."
    "Is that right?" She wandered over to the table and glanced down at the array of papers. "Good grief! They're all stamped Confidential." She backed away from the table and threw him an uncertain glance. "I guess I shouldn't be looking at them."
    "They're company confidential, not government confidential." He came forward and shuffled the papers into a neat stack. "I don't think it much matters if you look at them. You've said yourself you flunked your cash register training course and business, in general, doesn't seem to be your forte. I doubt you'd find much of interest in these." He gave her a look of indulgent amusement.
    "Let's not be patronizing," Shannon murmured sardonically. "Maybe I'm a corporate spy in disguise, sent her to arrange a so-called accidental meeting with you and then steal your bid proposal."
    To her surprise he didn't seem to find the comment amusing. "No," Garth said evenly, "I don't think you're the company spy type."
    "Have you known many?" she demanded, mildly resentful of his certainty. She was pretty sure it stemmed from his condescending attitude toward her lack of business acumen. Besides, no woman enjoys being told she lacks some aura of mystery, Shannon decided.

    "I've known a few. The high-tech firms in Silicon Valley are always fighting a constant battle against corporate as well as international espionage. In my line of work spies of all kinds are a constant hazard. Almost as common as back-stabbing co-workers and hustling corporate-ladder climbers."
    Shannon was appalled, not so much by the words but by his grim acceptance of his own world. "It sounds a little rough."
    "You get used to it."
    "Used to back-stabbing co-workers, hustling ladder climbers and spies? How could anyone get used to that?"
    Garth smiled abruptly, startling her. Then, with lazy gentleness, he put out his hand and touched the curving sweep of her dark hair. "A man can become accustomed to a lot more than that, Shannon. He can also get used to the idea of not being able to trust anyone, especially a woman."
    She went very still. "Are you like that? Unable to trust anyone at all?"
    He let that pass. "What time is the play?"
    "What? Oh, eight o'clock. Are you interested?"
    "Definitely." His expression said he meant it. "I'll come over and pick you up around seven-thirty. Will that give us enough time?"
    Shannon nodded, glad that he seemed to want to be with her but uneasy over the way he had switched the subject just as they were getting to a very important issue. If Garth didn't trust anyone, especially women, how did he really feel about her? She needed to know, Shannon thought as she said goodbye and left him to his bid work. She needed to know he trusted her, that she was the exception in his life.
    It was only when she reached her own cottage that she asked herself just why it was so important that she be the exception. The answer wasn't one she wanted to deal with just then. Everything was too new, too uncertain between herself and Garth Sheridan.
    But sooner or later she had to have all the answers about this man. The compulsion to know him completely was stronger than ever.

* * *
    WHEN THE DOOR CLOSED behind Shannon, Garth moved to the window to watch her walk back to her cottage. For a long time after she had disappeared inside the other house, he stood lost in thought.
    Something about Shannon reminded him of how it had all been back at the beginning of his career. Back before the reality of his world had set in and he had forced himself to face that reality. She was honest, enthusiastic, happy with the life she had created for herself. There was a gentle freshness about her that he found himself wanting to shield and protect. He hoped she never woke up to the same reality he had awakened to find. Any man with whom she got involved would have an obligation to keep her safe and untainted by the hard side of life. But how many men could be trusted to fulfill that obligation, he wondered. Certainly none that he knew.
    Then he grinned ruefully at his own false altruism. He wanted to do more than protect Shannon from the