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had succeeded because he had chosen to let her relax but she wasn’t ready to admit
it.
    Throughout dinner, Jessica noticed he did
not speak much. He reserved himself to brief comments all the while
watching her with such a transparent look that she was sure
everyone had noticed it. She was sure Adam had because his arm came
around her shoulders possessively more than once.
    That night when she slipped under the cool
sheets of her bed, Steven’s mocking face drifted before her eyes.
She had somehow never seen him before even in the social columns of
magazines and came to the conclusion that he was a very private
person. She knew nothing beyond the fact that Steven Hart, the
successful industrialist, was also a very fascinating man.
    But she had to be objective. As far as she
was concerned he was her last hope for her company. Therefore she
was pleasantly surprised when he had given her an appointment later
in the week and agreed to grant her proposal a hearing. With her
fingers crossed she drifted into a fitful sleep where Adam’s
features seemed to converge into Mark’s and then Mark’s into
Steven’s with deep blue eyes threatening to drown her in them.

    ***

    Steven Hart flicked off the lamp by his
bedside, a deep frown etching his handsome features. Jessica
Cantrell had thrown him off guard that evening. He had no idea
Jeff’s baby sister was such an attractive woman. He had seen
her photograph from Jeff’s wallet once when she was about fourteen
and had been fascinated by her dark hair and deep gray eyes. He had
been ashamed of his attraction for her then. He was twenty-two,
just two years younger than her brother and a good eight years
older than her. She was a child he had reminded himself and
forgotten about her. He had later seen her in a newspaper article
when she had won some award for her designs but the print had not
been clear and he had not given it a second look. He had never
again set his eyes on her until tonight.
    When he first saw her dancing in the arms of
her lover, he felt he had been jolted out of his senses. A
primitive streak of desire so strong that he had felt a weakness in
his loins passed over him momentarily. His reaction to her
surprised him and he dismissed it as his desire for a very
attractive woman on pure sexual basis. He wanted to feel her soft
fragile body in his arms, to feel her smooth, cool skin against his
own heated one, to feel her arch in response to his love
making…
    “Hell!” Steven cursed loudly as he headed
hastily for the shower to cool his erotic thoughts. She was
probably in her lover’s arms at this moment responding in very much
the same manner as his imagination.
    He cursed again and relished the jet of cool water
over his heated skin. You are behaving like a high school virgin,
Steven Hart, he told himself sarcastically; get her out of your
system before you burn yourself.
    Jeff was relying on him and he wasn’t about
to mess it up because of his sexual fantasies about Jessica. He had
to make her trust him and he wasn’t going to be able to do it by
ogling at her. No. He had to be objective in his approach and trap
her as neatly as a spider trapped a fly.

Chapter Four

    Four days later, Jessica presented herself
at Steven Hart’s office well in time for their ten o’clock
appointment. She wore a chic, peach colored business suit with her
wild tresses pulled back in a stern chignon. Her makeup was light
as was her jewelry giving her an air of cool confidence. Her shoes
had medium high heels that gave her a couple of much needed
inches.
    Steven’s secretary smiled at her when her
intercom buzzed and said, “You can go in now, Ms Cantrell.”
    Jessica rose to her feet from the visitor’s
couch, her heart beating the tempo of a wild African drum. For all
her outwardly calm appearance, the very thought of meeting Steven
Hart was having a strange affect on her nerves. She opened the door
that bore his nameplate on it and stepped in, closing the