His Girl Friday by Diana Palmer Page B

angrily, jamming his big, lean hands into the pockets of his gray slacks. Life had been so simple and rewarding until he'd started to kis Danet a at Christmas. His body had given him hel ever since, and Eugene had escalated things with his running commentary on Danet a. Now he was torn between desire and nobility, and Ben was running off with the girl. Ben, who was a shady character at best where women were concerned. He felt guilty because he knew Danet a would never have gone out with Ben if he hadn't pushed her into it. But his motives had been honorable, damn it. He didn't seduce virgins, which Danet a certainly was. The thing was, Ben wouldn't be as concerned about Danet a's chastity. Like most modern men, his sales manager felt that al women were fair game and to him casual sex was part of his life-style. He'd think nothing of seducing Danet a if he could, and he wouldn't understand her guilt or shame, because that wasn't part of the game. Cabe's eyes darkened angrily as he saw the whole horrible mes develop in his mind. Wel , Ben wasn't leaving Danet a pregnant and alone, not if Cabe had to load his .30-.30
    and point him toward a minister. Then he thought about Danet a, living miserably with a man who had no sense of morality, and mental y put the rifle back in the closet. No, that wouldn't do. He'd take care of her himself, and the baby. He pursed his lips, thinking about a pret y lit le girl in a fril y dres . He could buy her things. Or if it were a boy, he could roughhouse with him in the yard and teach him about the oil busines . A lit le boy would be very nice____
    ". . I said, do you want me to have Mr. Samples cal you back, Mr. Rit er, or do you want to speak with him?' Ben's secretary was asking him politely from the doorway. The vacant smile fel from his lips and he scowled, wondering how Ben's secretary had gotten into the fantasy he'd been having of the house with his adoptive child. He cleared his throat as he realized he'd been daydreaming.
    "Sorry. I'l take the cal ," he said absently and went back into his office. Just as wel that Danet a's lit le boy was only a fantasy, he thought as he reached for the telephone. He didn't real y have time right now to play with kids.
    Four
    Danet a had never been inside such a fancy restaurant except once with Jenny's mother and father years ago. The decor was exquisite, and the menu was liberal y sprinkled with French words that Danet a barely remembered from her high-school French clas . She chose a chicken dish that wouldn't be too hard on Ben's pocket and watched, amused, while he opted for steak and lobster and a bottle of imported white wine.
    "Only one glas for me," Danet a insisted with a smile when they were through with their meal. Ben had refil ed his glas and started to pour more into her glas as she covered it with her hand. "I don't have the head for even mild forms of alcohol."
    "Oh?" Ben grinned. "I'l have to remember that."
    "You devil," she teased. She sipped the dry wine, liking its delicate flavor. "It was nice of you to invite me out."
    "I'd like to make a habit of it," he replied, searching her face with purely appreciative eyes. "I thought you'd never say yes."
    "I don't date very much," she confes ed. "You see, I'm not a liberated girl."
    He lifted both eyebrows. "Real y?" he teased, obviously taking her remark with a grain of salt.
    "Real y."
    He studied her for a long moment and actual y laughed. "If that's true, then you're unique, and I salute you," he said, lifting his glas in a toast. "But you're the first of Cabe's secretaries who could make that claim. Not that he's a bad man. He isn't. He just likes women."
    She sighed. "So I've heard," she replied. "But he doesn't like me; not in the way you mean, anyway."
    "He's blind," he said, smiling gently. "You're a dish."
    She flushed. "Thank you."
    He pursed his lips and studied his glas . "Any more like you at home?" he asked with an odd inflection.
    "I'm an only child." She grinned. "I've