(1996) Affair by Amanda Quick

Author:Amanda Quick [Quick, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Love stories, Historical, Large Type Books, Mystery, Mystery fiction, Fiction, London (England), Detective and mystery stories, Suspense, Contemporary, Romance, General
ISBN: 9780553574074
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1997-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

170

Amanda Quick

He stopped a few paces away from her. “That leaves us wid,

small problem, does it not?”

She put her bonnet down on the workbench with a very delibrate movement. “There will be no great difficulty so long as you pj,,@7 your assigned role in this business.” “You mean so long as I remember my place, do you not?” “I would not put it in quite those terms.” “You had bloody well better not put it in such terms. I’m not your servant, Miss Arkendale.” “I did not say that you were. However, I did hire you in t1i, beginning, if you will recall. If it will clarify the situation, I am st I I I prepared to pay you a fee for your services.” “You dare to talk to me of a salary? After what occurred between us last night?”

She flushed and glanced uneasily toward the closed door. “There is no need to speak quite so loudly, sir. I can hear you very well.” “I never raise my voice. Speaking in a loud voice is an indication

that one cannot control one’s temper.”

She searched his face. “Yes, I suppose it is.”

“Dammit, Charlotte, I will not be treated as though I were YOUr employee.” He took two swift strides forward, trapping her against a workbench. “Last night I asked you a question. You have kept tile

dangling long enough. I deserve the courtesy of a reply.”

She frowned. “But we are discussing Miss Post.” “Devil take Miss Post. I told you, I will deal with her later. Just give me my answer. Will you have an affair with me?”

She stared at him, her unblinking gaze as brilliant as the fabled glow of the Philosopher’s Stone. A dreadful silence descended on the

laboratory. Baxter could almost see his own words hanging in tile air, glittering with a dangerous light.

His timing could not have been worse, he thought with bleall despair. It did not take the exquisite sensibilities of a romantic poet to comprehend that one did not ask a woman to become one’s lover when one was in the middle of a blazing row with her.

-!hD

171

Charlotte shattered the crystalline silence by delicately clearing her tbroat. “We are discussing our business association here, Mr. St. Ives. What do personal matters have to do with this situation? “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

if he had any sense at all he would step back from the blazing crucible before the explosion occurred. But he could not turn aside. The only thing that mattered now was obtaining a conclusive result to this reckless experiment. “Nothing?” she repeated very softly. “No, that is a damned lie. Our personal situation has everything to do with this. I need an answer, Charlotte. I shall likely go mad if you do not give me one.”

Her eyes were suddenly swimming with mystery, full of unfathomable promise. But her voice was remarkably cool. “I vow, St. Ives, you are the most annoying man it has ever been my misfortune to employ. I can see nothing but complications ahead, but, yes, I shall have an affair with you.

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