Calculated Risk Read Online Free PDF Page A

Bobby Ward had every intention of bringing his fantasy
to life.
    “I’ve read all the books. I’m not
stupid. I can read the signs. I understand body language. I know
the signals a woman sends.”
    “You do?” Her tongue washed dry lips.
“What signals have I been sending you?”
    His expression was once again dreamy.
“The way your face lights up with that special smile every time I
come into your office.”
    I smile at everybody. I
spent three years wearing braces just so I could smile at
everybody.
    “You’re just so eager to see me. I’m
trying to arrange my after-school schedule so I can be with you
every day.”
    Oh, Bobby, of course I’m
eager to see you – you bring me the mail!
    “All the gifts you’ve given me.” His
hand fluttered around the room. “The posters, the CD’s, the concert
tickets.”
    They are purely promotional
– all the staff gets them.
    “Last week you told me to call you
Stevie.” Bobby’s hands tightened around her shoulders. “And then
there was that kiss you gave me at the Christmas party.” A long
sigh escaped him.
    “Bobby.” Stevie finally became vocal.
Conscious of his fragile ego, she tempered her words with a smile.
“Everyone calls me Stevie. I’m in a business that invites fast
familiarity, and it’s easier than Miss or Ms, and I hate ma’am.”
She patted his arm. “And about that office kiss. Wasn’t it under
the mistletoe in the employees’ lounge?” came her gentle reminder.
“I kissed all the male employees!”
    “That’s what I love about you –“ he
sighed again “—you’re so …so easy to talk to, so
relaxed.”
    “For sure,” Stevie muttered. She took a
deep breath and became more diligent. “Bobby, I’m afraid you have
…ohhh!” Her hands pushed against him, trying to fend off his
advancing arms. “Bobby! Bobby!” Stevie managed to turn her head
just in time to let his lips bounce off her jaw instead of her
mouth.
    “Robert!” Quintin Ward’s deep voice
intoned from the open doorway. “Your godparents are downstairs;
they’d like to see you. Now.”
    With a hastily whispered. “We’ll get
together later, “ Bobby scrambled off the bed and out of the
bedroom.
    Quintin’s contemptuous appraisal made
Stevie feel unclean. For a brief moment, her composure wavered, but
then she regained her poise. “Mr. Ward, I know how this must look,
but –“
    “Shut up, Miss Brandt.” His voice was
an animal’s snarl. His rugged physique towered like a monolith over
Stevie’s seated form. “I’ve witnessed the truth,” he raged, the
veins in his neck bulging over the collar of his white dress shirt.
“You lured that boy up here. God only knows what would have
happened if I hadn’t come upstairs. And in my own
house!”
    “Mr….Mr. Ward!” Stevie struggled to
stand, but found herself roughly pushed backward onto the
bedspread.
    “I don’t want to hear your lies.” His
face was nearly purple, his hands clenching and unclenching just
inches from her slender throat. “I want you to get the hell out of
my home. Now.” Quintin turned and stalked out the door.
    Still on her back, Stevie regained
control over her erratic breathing. She stared at the bedroom
ceiling, her eyes attempting to make order from the intricate maze
of patterns on the acoustical tiles. It seemed an easier task than
the one she was now faced with.
    “What we have here is the proverbial
molehill built into a mountain. Actually, the Himalayas.” Her voice
was surprisingly calm. “Bobby needs to be told that he’s created
something out of nothing.” Stevie decided to make that correction
Monday afternoon in her office. Seated behind her massive desk,
clad in gray flannel and using her brusque, no-nonsense voice she
could be quite intimidating. If Bobby failed to understand that
what he perceived as sexual interest was merely her friendly,
informal attitude toward her employees, then Stevie would simply
fire him! Sometimes you had to be cruel to be