stunned silence on the other end of the line and then David’s voice came soothingly.
"This is hardly the time to get cold feet, Kali. We’ve got everything planned. Don’t panic, darling. Just sit tight for a few more hours until I get there. We’ll talk everything out. You’ll see!"
Mentally Kalinda pictured him sitting behind his desk in the downtown highrise where his company had its headquarters. It was a handsome image in many respects. David Hutton was a good-looking man with dark brown hair and eyes. He would be thirty-six now and, unless he’d changed a lot in the past couple of years, still lean and dynamic. He dressed well, lived well, and admired those who did likewise. Two years ago Kalinda thought they would have made a good couple. It was with a small start that she realized this morning they would have made a disastrous couple. It would probably have been her David was planning to cheat today instead of the unknown woman who was his wife.
"I’m not getting cold feet, David. I’ve simply changed my mind." She’d decided earlier on the approach she would use. If she told David she’d only been plotting to make a fool of him, he would be infuriated and she didn’t feel like putting up with that sort of scene. She would leave him with a sop for his ego, annoying as that course of action might be for her.
"Why, Kalinda?" he demanded with the first touch of a chill in his voice.
"It's wrong, David, and we both know it. There’s your wife to consider, for one thing and there’s the little matter of both our reputations. What if someone were to discover what’s going on?"
"That’s hardly likely," he growled forcefully. "And you don’t have to concern yourself with my wife.
I’ve never really talked to you about my marriage, darling. It’s one of the things I wanted to discuss with you this weekend. It’s… it’s been something of a business arrangement," he hinted delicately as if casting out a lure.
Kalinda lifted one brow sardonically but said calmly into the phone, "I’m afraid that’s your problem, David. All I know is I don’t want to be involved in a triangle…."
"Kali, honey, stop talking like that," he coaxed, sounding a little desperate and very determined. "This is just between you and I. Now you stay put. I’ll be up there in a few hours. I can get away earlier than planned. We’ll talk this out in person."
"Go ahead and drive up here, David, if you like. But I won’t be here. I mean it, I’m not seeing you again." Kalinda felt her patience and reasonableness slipping away. The firmness in her words was unmistakable. "Let’s just agree we were on the verge of doing something we both would have regretted and let it go at that."
"No! Kali, listen to me You would never have agreed to see me again if you weren’t still interested. You know that. We can recapture what we once had if we only give it a chance…"
"Oh, go to hell, David!" she finally snapped, disgusted with him and with herself for having gotten into the mess. "Do you want to know the real reason I agreed to meet you up here? I was going to let you drive all the way up with notions of starting an affair and then I was going to encourage you to think I was equally interested. I was going to let you wine and dine me, make you think you were on the point of seducing me and then I was going to laugh in your face! I never had any intention of rekindling our old romance, you idiot! How could I after what you did two years ago? You destroyed whatever we might have had together and I have no interest in raking through the ashes. Good-bye, David. Don’t call me again!"
She set the receiver firmly back into the cradle and surged irritably to her feet. Dammit! She hadn’t meant to wind up the phone call that way, but he’d asked for it. She wanted out of the awkward situation and she’d offered him a reasonable way of calling it quits. He had only himself to blame for having annoyed her to the point where she’d
"This is hardly the time to get cold feet, Kali. We’ve got everything planned. Don’t panic, darling. Just sit tight for a few more hours until I get there. We’ll talk everything out. You’ll see!"
Mentally Kalinda pictured him sitting behind his desk in the downtown highrise where his company had its headquarters. It was a handsome image in many respects. David Hutton was a good-looking man with dark brown hair and eyes. He would be thirty-six now and, unless he’d changed a lot in the past couple of years, still lean and dynamic. He dressed well, lived well, and admired those who did likewise. Two years ago Kalinda thought they would have made a good couple. It was with a small start that she realized this morning they would have made a disastrous couple. It would probably have been her David was planning to cheat today instead of the unknown woman who was his wife.
"I’m not getting cold feet, David. I’ve simply changed my mind." She’d decided earlier on the approach she would use. If she told David she’d only been plotting to make a fool of him, he would be infuriated and she didn’t feel like putting up with that sort of scene. She would leave him with a sop for his ego, annoying as that course of action might be for her.
"Why, Kalinda?" he demanded with the first touch of a chill in his voice.
"It's wrong, David, and we both know it. There’s your wife to consider, for one thing and there’s the little matter of both our reputations. What if someone were to discover what’s going on?"
"That’s hardly likely," he growled forcefully. "And you don’t have to concern yourself with my wife.
I’ve never really talked to you about my marriage, darling. It’s one of the things I wanted to discuss with you this weekend. It’s… it’s been something of a business arrangement," he hinted delicately as if casting out a lure.
Kalinda lifted one brow sardonically but said calmly into the phone, "I’m afraid that’s your problem, David. All I know is I don’t want to be involved in a triangle…."
"Kali, honey, stop talking like that," he coaxed, sounding a little desperate and very determined. "This is just between you and I. Now you stay put. I’ll be up there in a few hours. I can get away earlier than planned. We’ll talk this out in person."
"Go ahead and drive up here, David, if you like. But I won’t be here. I mean it, I’m not seeing you again." Kalinda felt her patience and reasonableness slipping away. The firmness in her words was unmistakable. "Let’s just agree we were on the verge of doing something we both would have regretted and let it go at that."
"No! Kali, listen to me You would never have agreed to see me again if you weren’t still interested. You know that. We can recapture what we once had if we only give it a chance…"
"Oh, go to hell, David!" she finally snapped, disgusted with him and with herself for having gotten into the mess. "Do you want to know the real reason I agreed to meet you up here? I was going to let you drive all the way up with notions of starting an affair and then I was going to encourage you to think I was equally interested. I was going to let you wine and dine me, make you think you were on the point of seducing me and then I was going to laugh in your face! I never had any intention of rekindling our old romance, you idiot! How could I after what you did two years ago? You destroyed whatever we might have had together and I have no interest in raking through the ashes. Good-bye, David. Don’t call me again!"
She set the receiver firmly back into the cradle and surged irritably to her feet. Dammit! She hadn’t meant to wind up the phone call that way, but he’d asked for it. She wanted out of the awkward situation and she’d offered him a reasonable way of calling it quits. He had only himself to blame for having annoyed her to the point where she’d
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