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hovering pink heart icon. As he watched, it beat even faster.
    Fuck.
    Had Bonds been serious? The thing could tell when he was attracted to a woman? The damn thing had lines on it when he was working out. How was it possible the watch knew the difference between exercising and lust?
    No mistake, though. Lust was a powerful, precise word. And he felt it for this woman. He couldn’t help but picture her on her knees, looking up at him, hazel eyes full of anticipation and trust, and maybe highlighted by a dizzying brush of trepidation.
    Determinedly, he shoved aside the thought and pulled his shirtsleeve over the watch’s surface. He continued to remain silent while she sorted through her response, though he guessed what it would be.
    She’d brought two coffees with her this morning, which meant she’d thought of Newman on her way in. Nathan was betting that her genuine concern for others would trump her antagonism toward him.
    He merely had to wait for her to reach the same, inevitable conclusion.
    “Let me be as clear in return,” she said finally, looking across at him. “I can’t and won’t blindly offer you my loyalty. That’s not something I give away. It has to be earned.” She brought up her chin a fraction of an inch. “It’s an extension of respect.”
    “Well said,” he acknowledged.
    “Until I know more about you and your ethics, I won’t give it to you.” Her voice had dropped and he could hear the emotion—nervousness as well as conviction—mixed in. She was testing him as surely as he was testing her. “If you can’t accept that, Mr. Donovan, then I’m afraid I’ll have to offer my resignation.”
    “Do you always speak your mind, Ms. Lane?”
    “I figured you were a man who appreciated knowing what I’m really thinking. And the truth is, I’m still sitting here because the Newmans asked me to. Not because of you. Because of them and our employees. I think it’s highly inappropriate that I came in to find a new name plaque on the wall and everything removed from his office. Samuel Newman is beloved here. By everyone, not just me,” she returned.
    “So I’ve heard.” And that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Newman Inland Marine often appeared on yearly lists of the best companies to work for in Houston. He knew the man was regarded as a saint, benevolent in ways CEOs weren’t renowned for. But it had come at a cost. Newman accepted excuses when he shouldn’t, forgave mistakes that should have cost a person their job, allowed employees to be paid for working fewer hours than they reported. And finally, he’d sheltered the tugboat skipper who had been involved in a costly accident.
    Truth was, Newman had approached Donovan Worldwide. It had been a desperate move to protect his company’s future. The man had already paid out tens of thousands because of the accident. Findings from an investigation were scheduled to be released within a month, and Newman was smart enough to surmise the results might damage the company’s reputation.
    “The fact that they are now working for one of the Donovan companies will not be received well by most,” she said.
    He clenched his jaw, but then, realizing it, forced himself to relax.
    “And for Mr. Newman’s sake, I will help you today. He said he planned to meet with senior staff to introduce you. I understand you were also going to visit the docks.”
    Setting aside everything she’d said in order to concentrate on business, he filled her in on the details. “Newman was supposed to have arrived by seven. He would have introduced you to me. Then we would have asked the most senior management team to join us in the boardroom at eight.”
    “Tight timeline.” She glanced at a wall clock. “But doable. Did he give you a list of names?”
    “It should have been in my email by Saturday noon.”
    “But it wasn’t?”
    “That’s why I was going through HR files.”
    She reached beneath her desk to power up her computer.
    “He had