Roarke's Kingdom

A tight smile curved across the man’s mouth. “No,” he said softly, “she did not. And she did not write down her preferences on the application form, either.”

Jennifer swallowed. “I—I wasn’t sure what was available.”

“Ah. I see. So you’d have taken anything.”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Again, that quick smile that was not a smile flashed across his face.

“Typist.”

“Yes.”

“Or clerk.”

“Yes. I—”

His mouth curled. “Or cleaning woman.”

Jennifer flushed. “Look, I don’t know what this is all about, but—”

“Don’t you?”

She shook her head. “No. Just because your employer is paranoid when it comes to privacy…”

It was the wrong thing to say. She knew it as soon as the words left her mouth. The man’s eyes flashed with fire. He stepped forward and she fell back into the elevator. The door slid shut behind him.

“And just what, exactly, do you know about my employer?”

Jennifer looked past him, to the closed doors. “Nothing.”

He reached out and clasped her shoulders. “Ty again,” he said. His hands were hard on her flesh.

“Just—just what everyone knows. That—that he likes his privacy.”

His jaw thrust forward. “He prefers it, yes. That doesn’t make it paranoid.”

“Please. I don’t—I can’t…” Her voice faded. The air seemed to be draining from the elevator. And he was standing too close to her. She could smell the scent of his musky cologne, see the dangerous glitter in the depths of his eyes.

Craig had been this close to her, he had been filled with anger, he had—

Don’t hurt me, she thought, and the elevator walls began to shimmer.

“Lady! Hey! Come on, don’t pass out on me. Hey! Damn it to hell!”

She heard the muttered curse, and then she was being drawn forward into strong arms.

I’m all right, she wanted to say. But the effort seemed too great. She was having a hard enough time not falling into the gray whirlpool that was trying to suck her under…

And then, it did.

* * *

When she came to, she was lying on a small sofa in the lobby. There was a damp cloth on her forehead and the man from the elevator was squatting beside her, his eyes locked on her face.

“Are you okay?”

Jennifer nodded. “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m fine.”