Rebecca Hagan Lee - [Borrowed Brides 01] by Golden Chances

disdainfully down at the thin, insistent finger jabbing him in the chest, then looked the loathsome little ferret behind it in the eye.
    “I suggest you remove your finger from my chest before I take the liberty of removing it for you.” Reese spoke quietly, smoothly, as if he had casually suggested opening a window or hanging up a hat, but that deliberately soft voice carried a definite warning.
    “Are you threatening me, sir?” Howard Clegg’s face reddened and his voice rose in pitch, but he was wise enough or wary enough, to remove his finger from the middle of Reese’s broad chest.
    “I assure you, Mr. Clegg, that I would never threaten you,” Reese said as he made a show of polishing the onyx stud in the center of his shirt.
    Clegg smiled and straightened his shoulders to make himself appear taller.
    “I will, however, warn you against making further accusations or maligning the lady’s character,” Reese continued softly, watching as the expression on the hotel manager’s face changed from exultation to fury.
    “Why, you—” Clegg stepped forward, but was brought up short by David Alexander’s firm grasp on his arm. “You can’t waltz in here under the guise of business and proceed to hire these…these…soiled doves…these…whores!” He flung out his arm to indicate the crowd of women.
    “Who’re you callin’ whores, mister?” came a shout from the angry women.
    “Gentlemen! Ladies!” David stepped in to soothe the tempers of the antagonists and prevent a full-blown brawl. “Calm yourselves.”
    “Calm ourselves?” another woman shouted. “How can we be calm when that little weasel stands there bold as brass and calls us whores?”
    Yeah,” agreed the woman standing closest to Reese and Faith, “we ain’t the whores around here. She is. He’s the one tryin’ out the candidates and she’s the one that let him. Look at her standing there in nothing more than a dressing gown. A man’s dressing gown.” She eyed Faith jealously as she spat her vile insults in Reese’s direction.
    “Ladies.” Reese spoke through clenched teeth. “You misunderstand the situation. Mrs. Collins is the woman I selected yesterday for the job. She has graciously accepted the position.”
    “I’ll bet,” sneered someone in the group.
    “You didn’t select her yesterday,” someone else accused. “I was in line way ahead of her and I didn’t even get to talk to Mr. Alexander. You might’ve done some selecting, but you didn’t do it yesterday afternoon.”
    The woman standing closest to Reese stepped around him and grabbed Faith by the lapels of the velvet robe. “You might say she slept her way into this job ahead of time.”
    “Well, since sleepin’ with the boss is the job, who can blame the tart for usin’ her talent to get it?” The accusation hung in the air before a series of malicious chuckles filled the room.
    Faith gazed with contempt and pity at the woman holding onto her, then grasped the woman’s wrists and pushed them away.
    The women turned their attention to Faith, waiting for the explosion, but Faith Collins surprised them. She turned with great dignity and walked away from the crowd and into the bedroom. They tensed, waiting for the slam of the door, but again she surprised by quietly closing it behind her.
    “Out!” Reese’s shout echoed through the stillness. “All of you—out! Except you.” Suspending the hotel manager’s retreat with a dark, angry stare, Reese uttered a soft promise. “I’ll deal with on a personal level later. David, will you show Mr. Clegg to his office and keep him there?” Reese issued his orders, then followed Faith’s path to the bedroom door, his long legs rapidly closing the distance.
     
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    Reese tapped at the door. Silence answered him. Turning the doorknob, he opened the door and stepped inside. The sight of Faith Collins standing beside the bed stopped him in his tracks.
    She was wearing only a threadbare,