LITMIR.BIZ

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about their sudden intent scrutiny.

      “Meg,” he said, as the music began again, “it wouldn’t be just another night and another body.”

      “It would be for revenge,” she argued. “And you know it, Steven. It isn’t about lovemaking, it’s about getting even. I walked out of your life and hurt you. Now you want to pay me back, and what better way than to sleep with me and walk away yourself?”

      “Do you think I could?” he asked with a bitter laugh.

      “Neither of us would really know until it happened.” She stared at his chest. “I know you’d try to protect me, but you aren’t quite in control when we make love. You certainly weren’t last night.” She raised her face. “Then what would we do if I really did get pregnant?”

      His lips parted. He studied her slowly. “You could marry me,” he said softly. “We could raise our child together.”

      The thought thrilled, uplifted, frightened. “And my career?”

      The pleasure washed out of him. His face lost its softness and his eyes grew cold. “That, of course, would be history. And you couldn’t stand that. After all, you’ve worked all your life for it, haven’t you?” He let her go. “We’d better go back to the table. We don’t want to put that ankle at risk.”

      They did go back to the table. He took Daphne’s hand and kept it in his for the rest of the evening. And every time he looked at Meg, his eyes were hostile and full of bitterness and contempt.

      5

      David and Meg, who’d taken a cab to the restaurant, rode back to their house with Ahmed in his chauffeured limousine. Steven, Meg noticed, hadn’t even offered them a ride; he probably had other plans, ones that included Daphne.

      “It’s been a great evening,” David remarked. “How much longer are you going to stay in Wichita, Ahmed?”

      “Until the last of the authorizations are signed,” the other man replied. He glanced at Meg with slow, bold appraisal in his liquid black eyes. “Alas, then duty forces me back to my own land. Are you certain that you would not consider coming with me, ma chou?” he teased. “You could wear that dress and enchant me as you dance.”

      Meg forced a smile, but she was having some misgivings about her future. Her ankle was no stronger than when it was first damaged. Her concern grew by the day.

      “I’m very flattered,” she began.

      “We are allowing our women more freedom,” he mused. “At least they are no longer required to wear veiling from head to toe and cover their faces in public.”

      “Are you married?” she asked curiously. “Aren’t Moslems allowed four wives?”

      The laughter went out of his eyes. “No, I am not married. It is true that a Moslem may have up to four wives, but while I accept many of the teachings of the Prophet, I am not Moslem, mademoiselle. I was raised a Christian, which precludes me from polygamy.”

      “That’s the road, just up ahead,” David said quickly, gesturing toward their street. “You haven’t seen our home, have you, Ahmed?” he added, smiling at the other man.

      “No.”

      “Do come in,” Meg asked. “We can offer you coffee. Your chauffeur as well.”

      “Another time, perhaps,” Ahmed said gently, glancing behind them at a dark car in the near distance. “I have an appointment this evening at my hotel.”

      “Certainly,” Meg replied.

      “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” David said as they pulled up in the driveway.

      Ahmed nodded. “Friday will see the conclusion of our business,” he remarked. “I should enjoy escorting the two of you and our friend Steven to a performance at the theater. I have obtained tickets in anticipation of your acceptance.”

      Meg was thrilled. “I’d love to! David…?”

      “Certainly,” her brother said readily. He smiled. “Thank you.”

      “I will send the car for you at six, then. We will enjoy a leisurely meal before the curtain rises.” He didn’t offer to get out of the car, but he smiled and waved at Meg as David closed the door behind her. The limousine sped off, with the dark car close behind it.

      “Is he being followed?” she asked David carefully.

      “Yes, he is,” David said, but he avoided looking at her. “He has his own security people.”

      “I like him,” she said as they walked toward the front door.

      David glanced at her. “You’ve been very quiet since you danced with Steve,” he observed. “More trouble?”

      She sighed wistfully. “Not really. Steven’s only shoving Daphne down my throat. Why should that bother me?”

      “Maybe he’s trying to make you jealous.”

      “That will be the day, when Steven Ryker stoops to that sort of tactic.”

      David started to speak and decided against it. He only smiled as he unlocked the door and let her in.

      “Ahmed is very mysterious,” she said abruptly. “It’s as if he’s not really what he seems at all. He’s a very gentle man, isn’t he?” she added thoughtfully.

      He gave her a blank stare. “Ahmed? Uh, well, yes. Certainly. I mean, of course he is.” He looked as if he had to bite his tongue. “But, despite the fact that Ahmed is Christian, he’s still very much an Arab in his customs and beliefs. And his country is a hotbed of intrigue and danger right now.” He studied her closely. “You don’t watch much television, do you, Meg? Not the national news programs, I mean.”

      “They’re much too upsetting for me,” she confessed. “No, I don’t watch the news or read newspapers unless I can’t avoid them. I know,” she said before he could taunt her about it, “I’m hiding my head in the sand. But honestly, David, what could I do to change any of that? We elect politicians and trust them to have our best interests at heart. It isn’t the best system going, but I can hardly rush overseas and tell people to do what I think they should, now can I?”

      “It doesn’t hurt to stay informed,” he said. “Although right now, maybe it’s just as well that you aren’t,” he added under his breath. “See you in the morning.”

      “Yes.” She stared after him, frowning. David could be pretty mysterious himself at times.

      David didn’t invite Steve to the house that week, because he could see how any mention of the man cut Meg. But although Wichita was a big city, it was still possible to run into people when you traveled in the same social circles.

      Meg found it out the hard way when she went to a men’s department store that her family had always frequented to buy a birthday present for David. She ran almost literally into Steve there.

      If she was shocked and displeased to meet him, the reverse was also true. He looked instantly hostile.

      Her eyes slid away from his tall, fit body in the pale tan suit he was wearing. It hurt to look at him too much.

      “Shopping for a suit?” he asked sarcastically. “You’ll have a hard time finding anything to fit you here.”

      “I’m shopping for David’s birthday next week,” she said tightly.

      “By an odd coincidence, so am I.”

      “Doesn’t your secretary,” she stressed the word, “perform that sort of menial chore for you?”

      “I pick out gifts for my friends myself,” he said with cold hauteur. “Besides,” he added, watching her face, “I have other uses for Daphne. I wouldn’t want to tire her too much in

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