The Hostage Bride Read Online Free Page B

any good. She could still see that tall, broad-shouldered man in the sand-colored suit who had returned her shawl—the one whose heady scent clung to it now.
    His features had been toughly masculine—browned by the sun and creased with experience. The morning sunlight had glinted on his dark brown hair to give it a coppery sheen. The strong breeze had whipped a few strands forward onto his forehead to give him an arrogantly rakish look. His mouth had been thin and firmly cut and his hand had been large with bluntly trimmed nails.
    Everything about the man, from the expensive suit tailored to fit his muscled frame to the casually tamed style of his haircut, remindedTamara of the chiseled and polished facets of a diamond. Although he showed the unmistakable stamp of refinement, it didn’t change the inherent hardness of the stone.
    All male, his interest in her had been obvious, and her ego had reveled in it. When he’d asked her name, the look he gave her had practically turned her bones to water. She had very nearly told him. But what was the use? If he had contacted her and asked her out, she couldn’t have gone with him, for a half dozen reasons. So there hadn’t been any point in encouraging him. Tamara sighed heavily.
    She walked to her desk and put her purse in the bottom drawer. The swivel chair creaked as she sat down in it. Resting her elbows on the desktop, she linked her fingers together and pressed them against her mouth. No solution had presented itself to clear up the discrepancy in the company’s books and the time for an audit was fast approaching. Tamara had considered altering the entry, but if that was uncovered, she would be in deeper trouble. Her empty stomach was twisted into knots of tension and had been for days, refusing food and eating her up with anxiety.
    Three times she had approached Harold Stein to explain what she had done, but he had abandoned any pretense of interest in the operation of the company, from sales to accounting. He was experimenting with a new duplicating process, and he kept interrupting her to explain the significance of it if his new developmentworked. Unable to obtain his undivided attention, Tamara had given up without accomplishing her purpose.
    What had the man wanted? The question startled her into sitting up straight. Why had her thoughts returned to that stranger? He’d asked for the sales department. Maybe he’d ordered some equipment or was planning to order some. What did it matter? Tamara took a firm grip on herself. Even if she saw him again or found out his name, what good would it do? She wasn’t free. She had too many personal problems and responsibilities.
    Pushing him out of her mind for the last time, Tamara reached for yesterday’s account sheets in her incoming file basket. There was a great deal of work that demanded her attention. It was time she stopped daydreaming and started doing her job.
    An hour later, she discovered a multiplication error on an invoice that had been mailed. Leaving her office, Tamara entered the large room that housed her office staff and walked to the desk of the billing clerk, Susan Dunn. The room was abuzz with whispered conversations being exchanged back and forth between desks, an undercurrent of excitement in the air.
    There was a vague frown tracing her forehead when Tamara stopped at the woman’s desk. The subdued voices around her didn’t indicate the normal exchange of gossip. It was as if some secret was racing through the room.
    “Susan—” she began, requesting the plump woman’s attention as she interrupted the whisperinggoing on between the clerk and the woman at the desk behind her.
    “Oh!” The woman turned to face her, pressing a hand to her heart as she laughed selfconsciously. “You startled me! Have you heard?” Susan Dunn didn’t waste any time.
    “Heard what?” Tamara asked, somewhat warily, feeling uneasy and not knowing why.
    “Two executives from Taylor are here, making a tour of