seriously involved with someone. You know you won’t let her down, whoever you finally let count on you.”
Alex laughed, appreciated her concern. His sister and her children added a lot to his life. “The sleeping is okay and I’m fine. I’ve learned to live with it…and my ‘uninvolved’ love life. I don’t want you worrying about me.”
“No,” she said, a dry note in her voice, “you never want to worry anyone.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he disagreed, chuckling.
“Kelsey’s calling me from her room. I have to go,” she said. “Have a good time tonight and do not bring these kids a toy when you come over on Saturday!”
“I’ll try to remember that,” he said mendaciously. “Bye, Sis.”
Hanging up the phone, Alex snagged his briefcase and left his office, his mind moving ahead to the evening.
If things went in the direction he hoped between he and Eden, sleep would be the last thing he wanted to do at night.
***
Ignoring the loud thump of the phone receiver settling into the cradle, Eden leaned back in her chair, Greg’s words echoing in her head.
Alex Holt had been buying Michele Cosmetics stocks for the past three months. Three months! The bastard. So much for his pretence of caring about her and dreaming up his take-over bid in revenge for Michele’s treatment of Eden!
Feeling hot and cold all at once, Eden was glad the office had emptied out for lunch. Around her the building seemed silent, the ventilation system sighing on and off like a respirator.
Not a bad analogy, she realized grimly. If she didn’t do something fast, the company was as good as dead. With buzzards like Alex circling overhead, they’d be picked clean in no time.
In the past five years, business columnists had proffered respect at his thoroughness. He struck swiftly, encircling a weakened business with breathtaking efficiency before he administered the death blow. There had been the occasional dissenting voice on the ethics of Alex’s business, but most opinions merely acknowledged his success. Few challenged his capability to make money where others couldn’t.
Greg had uncovered the truth, along with a scattering of other financial information about Alex. Not that any of the rest mattered. The list of his donations to cancer research and hospice charities, his seats on various boards and his low-profile, big-yield fundraising for breast cancer treatment were all aspects of his financial profile.
But the fact that hit her between the eyes were those damn stock buys three months ago. Two months before he’d met her and supposedly got interested in Michele Cosmetics to help Eden.
Damn him! He’d been too good to be true! She should have known better. Usually, she could spot a player by the glint in his eye. Five years before, she’d gone out with the king of players.
She’d thought she’d learned to expect duplicity from the world around her, even as she’d decided to keep her own ethics. The fiasco with a married lover only reconfirmed that. Her brief relationship with Dave Sanders had, in fact, taught her a number of good things. Never date anyone connected with work and always be suspicious if the guy doesn’t let you know where he lived. Still, she could look back on it as a learning experience. Everyone had an agenda. She knew that and while it wasn’t her natural mode of operation, she’d learned to incorporate it into her expectation of others.
Hell, she and Dave met these days without a shadow of self-consciousness. Not that he’d stopped trying to get her back into the sack, the fool. But she’d had his number for a long time now and forewarned was forearmed.
Dave meant little to her. She even felt a kind of forbearing tolerance for the idiot despite thinking that being married to him would be a good example of hell.
Still, she usually recognized insincerity. How had she misjudged Alex so completely? He wasn’t just playing her in the dating sense, he was after her company, the
Alex laughed, appreciated her concern. His sister and her children added a lot to his life. “The sleeping is okay and I’m fine. I’ve learned to live with it…and my ‘uninvolved’ love life. I don’t want you worrying about me.”
“No,” she said, a dry note in her voice, “you never want to worry anyone.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he disagreed, chuckling.
“Kelsey’s calling me from her room. I have to go,” she said. “Have a good time tonight and do not bring these kids a toy when you come over on Saturday!”
“I’ll try to remember that,” he said mendaciously. “Bye, Sis.”
Hanging up the phone, Alex snagged his briefcase and left his office, his mind moving ahead to the evening.
If things went in the direction he hoped between he and Eden, sleep would be the last thing he wanted to do at night.
***
Ignoring the loud thump of the phone receiver settling into the cradle, Eden leaned back in her chair, Greg’s words echoing in her head.
Alex Holt had been buying Michele Cosmetics stocks for the past three months. Three months! The bastard. So much for his pretence of caring about her and dreaming up his take-over bid in revenge for Michele’s treatment of Eden!
Feeling hot and cold all at once, Eden was glad the office had emptied out for lunch. Around her the building seemed silent, the ventilation system sighing on and off like a respirator.
Not a bad analogy, she realized grimly. If she didn’t do something fast, the company was as good as dead. With buzzards like Alex circling overhead, they’d be picked clean in no time.
In the past five years, business columnists had proffered respect at his thoroughness. He struck swiftly, encircling a weakened business with breathtaking efficiency before he administered the death blow. There had been the occasional dissenting voice on the ethics of Alex’s business, but most opinions merely acknowledged his success. Few challenged his capability to make money where others couldn’t.
Greg had uncovered the truth, along with a scattering of other financial information about Alex. Not that any of the rest mattered. The list of his donations to cancer research and hospice charities, his seats on various boards and his low-profile, big-yield fundraising for breast cancer treatment were all aspects of his financial profile.
But the fact that hit her between the eyes were those damn stock buys three months ago. Two months before he’d met her and supposedly got interested in Michele Cosmetics to help Eden.
Damn him! He’d been too good to be true! She should have known better. Usually, she could spot a player by the glint in his eye. Five years before, she’d gone out with the king of players.
She’d thought she’d learned to expect duplicity from the world around her, even as she’d decided to keep her own ethics. The fiasco with a married lover only reconfirmed that. Her brief relationship with Dave Sanders had, in fact, taught her a number of good things. Never date anyone connected with work and always be suspicious if the guy doesn’t let you know where he lived. Still, she could look back on it as a learning experience. Everyone had an agenda. She knew that and while it wasn’t her natural mode of operation, she’d learned to incorporate it into her expectation of others.
Hell, she and Dave met these days without a shadow of self-consciousness. Not that he’d stopped trying to get her back into the sack, the fool. But she’d had his number for a long time now and forewarned was forearmed.
Dave meant little to her. She even felt a kind of forbearing tolerance for the idiot despite thinking that being married to him would be a good example of hell.
Still, she usually recognized insincerity. How had she misjudged Alex so completely? He wasn’t just playing her in the dating sense, he was after her company, the
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