Reckless Seduction

“And, Maxine, I’m transferring you to HR as of this morning. Tell Catherine to send the senior pool secretary to see me in about an hour.”

“But, Jon—”

“That will be all, Maxine.” He didn’t have time for Maxine’s brand of male mind bending. She could pout and raise her skirt for the next decade, but he didn’t want to put up with it any longer.

“Morning, Jason. I hope I didn’t drag you away from something urgent. This is the situation. I’m going to Oslo tomorrow night, possibly for as long as six months, and you’ll be in charge here. If there’s anything that you need, you know where to call. Any questions?”

Jason DuPree had been with EIS for five years and knew every aspect of its operations. He was also a widely respected journalist and had earned his credentials on the battlefields of Vietnam, as well as AU’s School of Journalism. He was a big man physically and wasn’t known for tolerating nonsense or disloyalty on the job. He was also a compassionate man who knew how to be a friend.

“Morning, Jon. Yes, you interrupted something. And yes, I have a question.”

Jon narrowed his eyes and leaned forward.

“What have you decided to do about Hyfelt?” Dupree asked.

“I’m going to postpone his retirement by sending him over to broadcasting. His scripts will be written for him, as they are for everyone else. He’ll have no need to feel as if he’s being discriminated against because of his age.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more. What about Maxine?”

“She’s being transferred to human resources after lunch today.”

“Excellent idea. I don’t like working with her. What about you? Is everything alright with you? I don’t mean to pry.”

“I’m okay. I’ll be working out of the head office during this period. It’s just that I need to straighten out a few things back there. I’m glad you’re on my team, Jason.”

“Me, too. All the best. And keep in touch.”

“Will do.” Feeling better about his life and his future than he had in years, he cleaned out his desk, left the office and walked out of the building and into the morning sun.

Haley arrived at her Riverside Drive apartment at half past five and wasted no time getting ready for her last evening with Jon. Six months. She wouldn’t see him for six months. She knew that she would miss him, and she also knew that the time was not yet right for their joining as man and woman. He had intimated as much, and she had her own demons to lay to rest. But she refused to allow such thoughts to spoil her time with him that night.

She filled the tub with warm water, dropped in half a cup of French perfumed liquid soap, got her worn copy of Barrett Browning’s poems and stepped in for an hour of luxurious self-indulgence.

After her bath, she toweled dry and sprayed her body with perfume. Then she put a pair of red silk bikini panties beneath a red silk chiffon strapless evening gown that hugged her tightly from her bosom to her hip line and then fell straight to her ankles. A slit from the hem to her right thigh completed the daring image. She wore sapphire earrings and placed her maternal grandmother’s sapphire brooch just at her cleavage. Then she donned black satin elbow-length gloves and black satin sandals, picked up a matching evening bag, threw her sable capelet on her arm and headed for her living room. She reached it just as the bell rang.

The man who stood at her door nearly took her breath away. He looked good enough to eat in his black tuxedo and tucked white silk shirt. They smiled at each other. She opened the door, and he entered slowly, as if at war with himself. He looked at her for a minute, smiled, took her in his arms and hugged her but didn’t kiss her.

“Stunning hardly describes what I…what I see right now.”

It amazed her that this man who always seemed in command now groped for words. Then she realized that the evening was as overwhelming for him as it was for her.

“Perhaps I’d better bring my Colt .45 along,” she said to lighten the mood.

“Whatever on earth for?”

“I want to be sure that you bring me home tonight and not some other woman. And I’m serving notice that, like my forebears before me, I’m fully capable of protecting my interests.”

He was perplexed for a second and then gave that rare full-throated laugh that she enjoyed so much.

As the car pulled away from the curb, Jon pressed the lever that revealed the bar, opened a bottle of champagne and filled two crystal champagne glasses. He handed one to Haley.

“To a really lovely woman,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said and sipped her drink.

“Nels wouldn’t tell me what your background is,” he said, looking intently at her. “He just said that it is very intriguing. I’ve done some guessing, but I want you to tell me.”

“I’m twenty-eight. My father was African American from North Carolina, and my mother is Native American. Our tribe is Comanche, and most of our people are out in Oklahoma, though they are not on reservations. My parents lived and worked in Washington, DC, where my mother still lives. We lost my father twelve years ago.”

“How’d your parents get to Washington, DC?”

“They both went to college there, so that’s where they settled.”

He nodded very slowly. “I see. Were you happy growing up?”

“Yes. We had love to spare. I have one brother who’s a few years my senior. I’ve known two of my grandparents. My paternal grandfather used to visit us often when I was little, and he always spoke about our heritage. He was such a wonderful man, and he loved my brother and me so much that we used to say he just wrapped us up in love as if it were a blanket. I’ll miss him as long as I live.” He refilled their glasses.

“Are you like your mother?”

“Well, I look a bit like her, but I have my father’s disposition, more or less. Why?”

“Oh, I just want to know as much as possible about you.” He took her hand, stroking it gently. Without realizing it, she moved closer to him, feeling a comfort, a peace that she didn’t think their relationship warranted. She sighed.