The Hostage Bride Read Online Free

a questioning look.
    “Maybe. I’m just doubtful if Stein knows a good employee from a bad one. The company has been stagnant the last year and a half. It hasn’t shown any growth since his brother died. With those patents he owns, the business shouldhave exploded. I don’t think Stein knows what he has.”
    “Had,” Adam corrected. “You own them now. And you didn’t tell him what they were worth.”
    “Stein got what he wanted. So did we.” Bick shrugged without a trace of guilt at the bargain he’d obtained.
    “Are you really going to keep his business going?” Adam studied the man behind the wheel.
    “For the time being. It will serve to handle our overflow while we weed out their employees.”
    “You promised Stein you’d keep everyone for a year,” Adam reminded him.
    “I’ll keep the good ones for a year, or longer. The bad ones will probably find the working conditions not to their liking and voluntarily quit.” His amused glance was knowingly shrewd.
    “How long have we known each other? Seventeen years, is it?” Adam answered his own question. “We roomed together at college, so I guess that must be right. Who would ever have thought back then that I’d be working for you someday?”
    “I wouldn’t have hired you if you weren’t the best,” Bick stated, and slowed the car to turn into the parking lot of the Signet Company.
    “I know that,” Adam declared with a half-laugh. “I don’t mind working for you, but I’d sure as hell hate to do business with you.”
    “You make me sound like a villain.” His mouth quirked.
    “Not that. I just could never be as detached as you are in dealing with people … on a business level, that is,” he qualified the statement.
    Bick knew what Adam meant. Usually he kept the people he employed at a distance, rarely socializing with them. Because of their previous friendship, he permitted his guard to relax sometimes in Adam’s company, but never completely. Bick had learned quickly that employees tended to take advantage of friendships. So while he maintained a loose comradeship, part of him stayed aloof and wary.
    He’d been born at the top, inheriting the majority block of company shares from his mother. Even if he hadn’t, Bick knew he would have sought the position. The challenge of it was ample compensation for the loneliness of command that accompanied it. Bick didn’t consider himself to be an autocratic ruler. He was equally capable of joking and drinking with his men as he was giving them orders.
    “Where are we going to start our tour?” Adam asked when Bick parked the car in a stall reserved for visitors.
    “Might as well look over the sales department first. Hank’s already seen it, but I’ll be expected to put in my appearance there,” he murmured dryly.
    As he stepped out of the car, a transit bus pulled away from the corner. His attention was automatically transferred to the slim blond, who had obviously just gotten off the bus and was walking toward the main entrance. By the timeAdam joined him, the girl was ahead of them. A whipping wind was plastering her blue cotton skirt to the back of her legs, suggestively outlining the slender curve of her hips. Bick would have been less than honest if he didn’t admit to liking what he saw.
    Her steps slowed as she appeared to be looking through her purse for something. They had nearly overtaken her when she dropped a set of keys onto the sidewalk and stooped to pick them up. As she straightened, the silk shawl that had been draped around her shoulders slipped to the ground. Bick reached for it before the summer wind could sweep it away.
    When she turned around, he felt his senses stir. She was a stunning creature—such blue eyes—and he’d bet his wallet the pale blond of her hair wasn’t the result of a bleach bottle. Her lips started to part in a smile of gratitude, then stopped. As she took the shawl from his outstretched hand, Bick let it trail through his fingers when he