Winds of Heaven Read Online Free Page B

her chair. “Sit,” he commanded gruffly. “We may as well get this thing straightened out now.” When she tilted her chin defiantly, his grip tightened. “I’m not going to let you walk out of here alone. The town is bulging at the seams with tourists and participants in the arts festival. It’s no place to be on your own. Now sit down, and let’s discuss this like two rational business people.”
    “Which one of us is not,” Kylie said grimly. “Are you, Mr. Braden?”
    “Sit,” he repeated with the barest hint of a threat.
    She sank to the edge of the chair and glared at him, wishing she could freeze the overconfident expression on his face. And to think she’d really liked him. She’d almost fallen all over herself liking him! “Let go of my arm,” she snapped.
    “And if I do?”
    She leaned forward, her lips feigning a smile. “Now, what do you think?”
    “I think you take this assertiveness training too seriously.” His fingers loosened their hold, but his hand remained over hers.
    “And you don’t take it seriously enough. Offering your employees the opportunity to feel better about themselves and the job they do can be extremely beneficial to your company. The concept is new, but it works. Within two months you’ll see a significant increase in production.”
    “Oh, really?” His gray eyes proclaimed a cynical disbelief. “Would you sign that in blood?”
    Kylie held back a useless retort and suppressed the flood of disappointment she felt at his words. “Still afraid of a mutiny?”
    His hand moved to the stem of his glass, and he watched her appraisingly before answering. “At the moment it seems a distinct possibility.”
    “You know,” she said, her voice deliberately provocative, “if you’re that insecure in your job, perhaps you should take the assertiveness course.” She rose and faced him squarely. “Excuse me. I think I should phone Alex and let him know there’s a slight problem.”
    “Why don’t you do that.” Nick stood, too, an impatient challenge mirrored in his eyes. “And while you’re at it, ask him if there’s a ‘slight problem’ with your accommodations.”
    Kylie’s knees threatened to melt beneath her, but she kept her expression under strict control. “That’s already been taken care of,” she announced, quelling a rising uneasiness, “I’m staying in company housing.” Her words ended in a horrified silence. “You mean you’re staying there, too?”
    “Exactly.”
    Kylie drew a deep breath. “Well, then, all the more reason to call Alex now. He’ll be able to straighten everything out.”
    Before Nick could command her to stay, she turned and walked toward the restaurant lobby. Alex had better be able to straighten out the tangle, she thought, her anger finding a new target. Although it didn’t seem likely, he might not be aware of Nick’s presence in town and the problem with the housing. But Alex must have known when he signed the contract that Cousin Nick wouldn’t approve. Well, innocent or not, Alex was about to find out just how assertive she could be.
    Kylie felt Nick’s gaze follow her across the room, and inadvertently she remembered the gentle laughter in his eyes when he’d first touched her arm in the airport. She muttered an oath under her breath. A low, heartfelt “Damn.”
    Damn, Nick thought as he watched Kylie walk from the dining area. As he settled back in his chair and sipped at his now-watery margarita, he wished Alex were close enough to bear the brunt of his frustration. It was apparent that another test of executive power was in the offing. One of those battles that cast Alex in the innocent, just-trying-to-do-my-best-for-the-company role and Nick as the villain. If only Aunt Rosemary wasn’t so insistent that her “little Alex” be president of Southwest Textiles. And if only his grandfather hadn’t laid the responsibility for seeing that nothing went wrong squarely on Nick’s shoulders.
    Frowning into