Dancing in the Dark Read Online Free

began to wish the floor would open up and swallow her. She’d never seen such a stony expression on a person’s face in her life.
    “Wayans has no fraternization restrictions,” he said at last. “And if it does, I’ve just rescinded them.” His smile was so warm, so beguiling, she almost believed she’d imagined that flint-hard expression. “Come on, Charity. What’s so frightening about a little dinner?”
    “Nothing,” she lied. “It’s my own personal policy and it’s a good one.”
    “I think it’s lousy.”
    She rose to her feet. “You don’t have a player on this one, Mr. Halford. While I’m flattered, I don’t socialize with coworkers. Or the boss.”
    He stood too. “It’s just dinner, Charity.”
    “And I appreciate it. But I must decline. Now, I have a test tonight and I need to study.”
    She got out of that room as fast as she could. Once she’d closed the door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Getting out of a date was too tricky for comfort. Working with him was one thing, dinner was another. It was far too intimate, which could lead to other far too intimate happenings.
    She was terrified of the other intimate happenings—especially with a man who danced naked and howled at the moon.

Two
    “He asked Bill and Helga to take early retirement!”
    “Oh, both of them were retiring next year anyway. But did you hear about his wanting to cut out the Christmas bonuses?”
    “What bonus? All we ever get is a turkey from the supermarket.”
    “Well, we’re not getting even that anymore! And he’s advertising classes for the men about some movement thing—”
    “We’re in the right room for that.”
    Inside a ladies room stall, Charity chuckled as she adjusted her skirt and listened to the gossip at the sinks. What she could contribute to the conversation would turn them all on their heads. Dances with No Clothes On was making a big impression without that, however.
    She had a feeling these changes were only the tip of the proverbial iceberg and would be nothing
after
the ice melted. Even though she knew the company was doing too poorly to blame on a national recession, she still hated the elimination of the little things. It just made people disgruntled. The goodwill value of turkeys far outweighed the cost.
    She emerged from the stall, and the room went completely silent. The four women at the sinks stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown two noses. It had been a week since Jake had assigned the government project to her, and the time she’d been spending with him had not gone unnoticed.
    “What?” a woman in a stall called out. “I can’t hear anything!”
    “That’s because I’m here,” Charity called back. “Charity Brown.”
    “Oh.” She could almost hear the woman swallowing her embarrassment.
    Charity smiled at the other women, who suddenly busied themselves with fixing their hair or getting back to work. Nobody could quite look her in the eye, and she knew it was going to get worse before it got better.
    “I know, I know,” she said, washing her hands. “I’m hanging out with the Big Guy, and you’re all thinking I’m the latest in
I Spy
.”
    If they knew the meetings she had with Jake were developing a serious undertone that had nothing to do with business, if they knew of the fierce longing growing within her to share something more intimate than computer specs with him … well, that would elevate the gossip level to explosive proportions. Every time she was with him she was all too aware of the way he smiled … the way he moved with a wholly masculine grace … the way he would look straight into her eyes, then lower his gaze to her mouth … and the way a lambent fire flared in his eyes whenever that happened. And it was happening more and more frequently.
    “Actually,” she said, forcing her brain back to thewomen, “he’s got a special project on that will be a big boost for Wayans.” It was better to give them a little bit