Wildest Hearts

is.”

    “Why?” she demanded, obviously seeking reassurance.

    Oliver shrugged. “For one thing, corporate espionage is a white-collar crime. It rarely involves murder. And that's what frightens you now, isn't it? The possibility that Daniel might have been murdered?”

    Annie shuddered visibly. “It's a possibility I hadn't even considered until I saw what was on that diskette.”

    “The Barry Corks of this world are usually not murderers.”

    “What makes you so sure of that?”

    Oliver got to his feet and went to stand behind her. “Trust me on this, Annie. Cork is a liar and a thief, but he's probably not a killer.”

    “Oh, God, I hope you're right.” She turned around to meet his eyes. Tears glittered on her lashes. “But Daniel was uneasy enough about him to leave that diskette for us.”

    “Yes.”

    “He must have thought there was some danger. He specifically asked you to take care of me and Joanna if something happened to him.”

    “Yes.”

    Annie dashed the back of her hand across her eyes. “And that's precisely what you're doing, isn't it?”

    “I'm doing my best, Annie.”

    “You're a good friend, Oliver,” Annie whispered. “Daniel said you would be. He said you were dangerous, but that he trusted you.”

    Oliver caught her chin gently on the edge of his hand. “You and I are more than friends now, Annie. We're lovers, who happen to be married.”

    “I guess so,” she said forlornly.

    “I know so.” Oliver bent his head and brushed his mouth lightly, persuasively across hers, searching for the response he knew now that he could draw so beautifully from her.

    “What are we going to do?” Annie threw her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely.

    Oliver could feel her tears dampening his shirt. Tears for Daniel, he thought. He wondered if Annie would ever cry for the man she had married. The man who happened to be her lover.

    “It's going to be all right,” Oliver said into her tousled hair. “I'll take care of everything.”

    “Just as you always do?” She gave a choked little laugh and burrowed her face against his chest. “Try not to make me too nervous in the process, will you?”

    He smiled. “The last thing I want to do is make you nervous, Annie.” He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the door.

    Annie snuggled against him, her eyes closed as he strode into the darkened bedroom. She did not protest until he put her down on the bed.

    She opened her eyes then, blinked owlishly, and abruptly sat up. She held up a hand as if to ward him off. “Oh, no you don't, Oliver. Stop right there.”

    Oliver felt a chill go through him. This was the first time in the short history of their marriage that she had not melted instantly at his touch. “Is something wrong, Annie?”

    “Yes, I think there is.” She studied him with a speculative gaze. “Sort of.”

    He smiled. “That time of the month? Annie, that's not a problem.”

    “No. It's not that. It's something else.”

    “Tell me,” he ordered gently. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

    She promptly scuttled off the far side and stood, facing him. “Have you ever noticed, Oliver, that you're always the one in charge in the bedroom as well as everywhere else?”

    “I wasn't aware that you had any complaints.” He rose to his feet again, watching her carefully.

    “I think it's time we tried what international diplomats like to call a ‘shift in the balance of power.’”

    He stared at her in blank incomprehension. “Annie, are you trying to tell me something?”

    Annie gave him a daring little smile that held a hint of uncertainty. “Tell me something. Would you be afraid to let me run things around here for a while?”

    Oliver felt something tight inside him begin to untwist in silent relief. She wasn't trying to push him away. “I'm not afraid of you, Annie.”

    “Prove it.”

    “How?” He had never particularly cared for the element of unpredictability, but in Annie it was occasionally amusing.

    “To begin with, stay right where you are.” She circled the bed to stand directly in front of him. “Don't move.”

    “If that's what you want.” Curiosity consumed him as he looked down at her. “What are you going to do?”

    “We're going to play a game. First, I'm going to undress you.” Annie went to work on the buttons of his shirt. Her fingers were unsteady, but it was clear that she was determined.

    “All right.” Oliver reached for the hem of