Read Online Wild and Wanton by Dorothy Vernon - Free Book Online Page B

that have to be swallowed to get to it,’ she said with quiet determination.
    â€˜You make it hard on a guy,’ he grunted. ‘The fact is, I don’t have the muscle to take on Farraday.’
    â€˜That doesn’t sound like you, Jim.’
    â€˜No, it doesn’t.’ His forehead furrowed in thought as he considered that truth. If she knew the man at all, he was searching for a way out that wouldn’t bruise his ego. ‘I enjoy a contest and normally, no matter what, I’d be in there fighting if I thought I’d have a ghost of a chance. But this time, even if the odds were more even, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference; I’d still take a back seat. I couldn’t live with my conscience if I thought I was in any way responsible for making you miss a golden opportunity. Anyway, what inedible bits?’
    Irrespective of whether or not she wanted to tell him, she knew she had to. On top of that, she wanted to spill out all the invective and bitterness bottled up in her. Then, perhaps, Jim Bourne would be able to get her out of this predicament.
    As she opened her mouth to begin speaking, it occurred to her that while Jim had been talking his left hand had lowered beneath the level of his desk. But she didn’t think anything of it. Before she managed to utter more than two or three words, however, Denise, another girl in his employ, burst in carrying a bulging file.
    â€˜I hope you realize you’ve got an appointment with . . .’ With impeccable timing Denise’s eyes widened at the sight of Lindsay. ‘Oh, I thought you were alone. I’m sorry to intrude. Perhaps I should . . .’
    â€˜No, it’s all right, Denise,’ Jim Bourne assured smoothly. ‘You were perfectly in order to come in. I’d completely forgotten, and I’ve a lot of boning up to do.’ Switching his attention to Lindsay, he said ruefully, ‘You see how it is? Perhaps we’ll get a chance to talk later. How about when you report back to tell me how the tests went?’
    â€˜Sure,’ Lindsay agreed, her unwavering glance giving away none of her feelings of inner collapse.
    Jim had, of course, pressed the tiny button beneath the desk, bringing Denise in on the double. It was a summons which Lindsay herself had answered on countless occasions to cut short a sticky interview that Jim Bourne wanted to end.
    She knew that if she asked Denise for confirmation, it wouldn’t be forthcoming. Denise was several years older than Lindsay. She’d had a rough time in her past two relationships, and she was looking for a man who would offer her something long-term. Toward this end, she had been sending Jim Bourne some pretty soft looks, leaning over his desk in a provocative way and swaying her hips as she walked away on her long and beautifully shaped legs. If Lindsay were to leave the agency there was little doubt that Denise would fill the vacancy and, with a major obstacle out of the way, double her endeavors to promote herself all the way to Jim’s heart.
    Lindsay had to laugh. That soft spot had the substance of a marshmallow. And Lindsay was convinced that Jim Bourne had had a soft spot for
her.
Since clashing with Nick Farraday and seeing the way she reacted to him, it had been brought home more forcibly to her that all she’d felt was a deep liking for Jim Bourne as a man, and admiration for him as an employer. But disillusionment never came without a price, and Lindsay experienced a dull ache under her breastbone. She would have staked her life on Jim’s constancy, would have been prepared to swear on a stack of Bibles that he feared no one and would fight to the end if the cause was just. Perhaps she just wasn’t as good a judge of character as she’d thought. She couldn’t decide whether it made her feel better or worse to know that despite everything Jim still had a conscience. He hadn’t dared to let Lindsay tell him