Queen of Diamonds Read Online Free PDF

as long as she comes back to work.” He threw her a quick, thoughtful glance. “We’ll discuss the traipsing later.”
    “Great. Great.” Bill Theron rubbed his hands together. Would you like some sweet tea?”
    “Sure. Thanks.”
    “Don’t just leave your guest standing in the doorway, Kendall. Take him into the living room.” The ten thousand had miraculously improved Logan Hunter’s standing with Bill Theron.
    Kendall turned to her daughter. “Caroline, go with your grandpa. Mr. Hunter and I need to talk.” She turned to Logan who stood staring at the coffee table where cards and chips were scattered, a dazed expression back on his face, no doubt from the trouncing he’d taken from her father.
    “Your dad’s a formidable negotiator. Could you imagine if he and Joyce teamed up? Is he an agent? I’ve never heard of him.”
    “He was a janitor. He’s retired now. What are you doing here?”
    “Since you’ve been ignoring my calls, I came to find out why you haven’t been to work.” He leaned forward. “And apologize…if I was the instigator.”
    She stared at him in disbelief. “If you were the instigator?”
    “You rammed that fine body into me.” At her dangerous expression he held his palms up. “Okay. I came to promise it will never happen again unless you initiate it. I need you, Ms. Theron. The phone rings all the time. I have constant interruptions. I can’t get anything done. Please come back.”
    She shook her head. “I don’t think we can work together anymore.”
    “Not even with your raise,” he responded in a dry tone. “Seriously, I’m at my wits end. Come back.”
    She wavered. Softened by his speech more than she wanted to be. “I don’t know.”
    “Your dad already accepted for you.”
    “He did. I didn’t.”
    “I’ll make it eleven thousand.” She jerked. “What? Mr. Hunter, I can’t be bought.”
    “Make it twelve.”
    She caved. “Done.”
    He breathed a sigh of relief. “Now that’s out of the way, what’s this about you traveling on my behalf?”
    She threw out the first thing that came to mind. “I’m having an affair that I don’t want my father to know about.”
    His eyebrows shot up. “You’re cheating on Mr. Theron?”
    She gritted her teeth. “I thought my dad made it perfectly clear. The only Mr. Theron in the house is my father.”
    For one minute she could have sworn she saw a relieved expression on his face before it was quickly masked by confusion. “All this time you’ve let me believe you’re married and you’re not?”
    “Yes.” She rubbed at the tension building in the back of her neck then dropped her hand and forced herself to hold her ground and not go on the defensive.
    “Your dad’s statement makes a little more sense then.”
    She felt her face flush.
    “Why did you say you were married?”
    To keep you at bay . “Because I have a four-year- old daughter,” she said primly.
    He closed his eyes for a moment and pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Let me see if I understand this. You tell me that you’re married because you have a four-year-old daughter you’ve never told me about. And you tell your father you’re traveling for me because you’re having an affair he doesn’t know about.”
    Sir Walter Scott’s words about tangled webs and deceit floated briefly through her mind. “That’s pretty much it.” In spite of the scalding embarrassment ripping through her, she straightened her spine, trying her best not to feel as foolish as he made it sound.
    “And why were you traveling for me again?”
    “I was doing your research.”
    “Doing research, while you’re actually having an affair you don’t want your father to know about.” 
    “Dad was right. You repeat yourself.  I told you, he wouldn’t approve.”
    “Why not?”
    Good question. Her dad would be thrilled to see her date about anyone on the planet at this stage. “The man I’m seeing is married.”
    “Then I can’t say