War Of Love

‘Don’t be more ridiculous than you normally are, Henry,’ Lyon Buchanan cut in impatiently.

‘Exactly,’ Silke snapped, equally unimpressed with the idea of this man’s making any overt moves where she was concerned; she thought he was the most insufferable man she had ever met! ‘I realise—now—that there has been some sort of mix-up concerning the sort of bunny costume you wanted—’

‘Oh, you realise it too, do you?’ Lyon Buchanan turned to her harshly. ‘Well, I’m—for God’s sake take that ridiculous head off; I refuse to carry on a conversation with a girl wearing a bunny girl costume and a rabbit’s head with buck teeth!’

He didn’t have to point out how stupid the white fluffy rabbit head looked, with its long floppy ears, a nose that twitched when she talked, and the unrealistically long front teeth. He didn’t have to, but it was just like this man—she had quickly come to realise!—to do so!

Her face flushed with embarrassment as much as with anger, Silke reached up to release the Velcro at the back of the mask, bending her head down to peel the fluffy mask away, shaking her hair back over her shoulders as she finally looked at the three men completely as herself, Silke Jordan, her silver-blonde hair long and straight to her shoulderblades, green eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes, her nose small and straight, her mouth full and pink, her chin pointed.

The admiration she had seen on Doug Moore’s face this morning returned to his eyes, and even Lyon Buchanan was looking at her with a certain amount of male assessment now. But it was the reaction of Uncle Henry—Silke didn’t know what else to call him; there certainly hadn’t been any opportunity for introductions!—that took them all by surprise. He took one look at Silke—and instantly collapsed back in his chair, clutching the left side of his chest, dropping the stub of his cigar on the carpeted floor as he did so!

CHAPTER TWO

SILKE had had some reactions in the past to the way she looked, the largeness of emerald-green eyes and her full pouting mouth having caused emotions from mild interest to outright lechery, depending on the man’s taste in women. But she had never before known a man collapse just at the sight of her face!

The three people in the room still standing took several seconds to realise exactly what had happened, and then—predictably—Lyon Buchanan was the first to move.

‘What the hell—?’ He quickly reached his uncle’s side, his earlier disparagement of the older man completely belied by the concern now etched into his face, grim lines beside his nose and mouth as he moved to loosen his uncle’s tie and release the top button of his shirt. ‘Henry!’ he prompted determinedly. ‘Uncle Henry!’ he urged again when he received no response, reaching for his uncle’s jacket now.

‘I don’t think you should move him.’ Silke put out the cigar before going down on her haunches beside the two men.

Grey eyes were turned on her like rapiers. ‘I wasn’t going to!’ Lyon Buchanan rasped harshly. ‘I was looking for these.’ He held up a bottle of pills he had taken from the inside pocket of his uncle’s jacket. ‘Put one of these under your tongue, Henry,’ he instructed the elderly man firmly, and his uncle roused himself enough to take the pill into his mouth, the room becoming deathly still as they waited for the pill to take effect.

Pained grey eyes finally blinked open, the older man focusing on Lyon with effort. ‘I—what happened?’ his uncle said groggily as he began to straighten in the chair, his recovery rapid now.

Lyon Buchanan moved back slightly, the concern that had etched his face minutes before replaced by his usual cynicism. ‘One bunny girl too many, I believe,’ he drawled derisively, giving Silke a scathing look, his worry about his uncle’s health—and Silke wasn’t sure now whether or not she had imagined it!—completely gone.

And, in fact, his uncle did look completely recovered, the colour back in his cheeks, only the merriment in his eyes slightly dulled. His expression was apologetic as he once again looked at Silke. ‘Sorry about that, my dear. I—I was just—surprised, when I saw you.’ He gave a rueful grimace at what he now seemed to feel was an embarrassing incident.

‘You don’t usually react that way to a beautiful woman,’ Lyon Buchanan drawled mockingly, moving to sit back behind his imposing desk. ‘Perhaps age is finally catching up with you after all!’

‘Don’t you believe it, boy,’ his uncle rallied with some of his earlier spirit. ‘And don’t be too hard on this young lady either.’ He turned to give Silke a conspiratorial smile. ‘There has obviously been a genuine mistake made. And if I had realised my coming up here to congratulate you on finally moving out of the stuffy Buchanan mould by introducing a lovely bunny girl into the store would result in this young lady’s being hauled over the coals in the way that she has been, I would have kept my mouth shut.’ He reached out and clasped Silke’s hand. ‘I’m sorry, my dear, but I don’t know your name...?’

Silke ignored Lyon Buchanan’s scathing snort at his uncle’s familiarity in holding her hand in this way, although she was ridiculous standing here in her bunny girl costume, big holes in her tights, holding the hand of a man she had considered a lecherous old devil until a short time ago.

In fact he probably still was, she decided, removing her hand to place it behind her back together with the other one. ‘Silke,’ she supplied huskily. ‘Silke Jordan.’

‘Is that for real, or a stage name?’

Her eyes flashed as she looked across at Lyon Buchanan, her pointed chin raised defensively. ‘It’s for real,’ she snapped, stung by his derisive tone. ‘I don’t have a “stage name”.’

He shrugged unconcernedly. ‘I thought most of the people who worked for agencies like yours were out-of-work actors or actresses?’

And it was obvious what opinion he held of people in that profession! Really, ‘stuffy’ didn’t even begin to describe this man. He looked conservative through and through, from his short-styled hair and tailored dark suit to his plain black leather shoes. The only thing that saved him from being a complete pompous ass, in Silke’s eyes, was that he was so damned good-looking—arrogantly so, of course, but even that would hold a certain attraction for some women. Not Silke; she wasn’t interested in any man at the moment, and hadn’t been for some time. And it was obvious that Lyon Buchanan was completely unimpressed with her too, still looking at her as if she were some sort of oddity that had wandered into his ordered—stuffy!—existence. As no doubt she was. Not that she had ever thought of herself as an oddity; but to Lyon Buchanan she probably was!

And he was right about the people who worked for her mother’s agency; most of them were actors and actresses momentarily ‘resting’. Nadine had managed to get an audition this morning, which was the reason she had cried off this assignment at the last minute. The very last minute, calling in at the agency on her way to the audition to tell Silke’s mother she couldn’t be at Buchanan’s today.

And as Silke had been there talking to her mother... And as Buchanan’s was an important new account... Besides, the bunny girl outfit was Silke’s size! As far as her mother had been concerned, no further argument was necessary!

‘Most of them are,’ she confirmed Lyon Buchanan’s statement distantly.

Grey eyes narrowed on her in cold assessment. ‘But not you?’ Lyon Buchanan finally said softly.

‘No, not me,’ she told him dismissively—unwilling to tell him exactly what sort of an ‘out-of-work’ she actually was.

Besides, she wasn’t out of work, she was a self-employed jewellery designer, who just hadn’t managed to sell any of her designs lately!

His mouth twisted derisively. ‘You do this sort of thing because you like it?’

Her cheeks became flushed at his insulting tone. ‘As your uncle has so rightly pointed out, there has been a genuine mistake concerning the sort of bunny costume you wanted.’ She deliberately didn’t answer his challenging remark. ‘If you will give me an hour to get back to the agency, I will make sure you are supplied with the cuddly fluffy kind.’ And she had no intention of being inside the costume herself; had no intention of coming anywhere near Buchanan’s—or Lyon Buchanan himself!—ever again! She couldn’t afford the prices in a store like this anyway, had only ever window-shopped in the past when she had come in. She could easily forgo that particular pleasure for the certainty of never having to see Lyon Buchanan again!

‘I don’t believe we have yet ascertained just exactly whose “genuine mistake” it was,’ Lyon Buchanan said hardly, shooting his personnel manager a hard, questioning look.

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Lyon.’ His uncle stood up impatiently, a short, dapper man who bore little resemblance to his nephew in build—or manner. ‘That really isn’t important now. Allow me to drive you wherever you need to go, my dear,’ he offered Silke smoothly.

She deliberately avoided looking at Lyon Buchanan as she sensed the scorn emanating from him across the room at her. ‘It’s very kind of you—’

‘My uncle is rarely kind—unless he has an ulterior motive,’ Lyon Buchanan cut in derisively now.

‘Thank you, I would appreciate that,’ Silke firmly accepted the offer she had had every intention of refusing until Lyon Buchanan’s scathing intervention.

Did the man never stop? Of course, he probably knew his uncle better than she did, but even so she was quite capable of deciding for herself whether or not she was prepared to accept a lift from him; she didn’t need the younger man’s derisive interference. The fact that she now agreed to Uncle Henry’s offer of a lift—she really must find out his full name!—didn’t really matter; she could easily get out of that once they had left this office.

Lyon Buchanan was now looking at her speculatively, as if he now suspected her motives in accepting the older man’s offer. He would! He was a suspicious individual. Arrogant in the extreme. But he was also the owner of Buchanan’s. And when she got back to the agency she would have to explain exactly how they had upset this powerful man. Silke didn’t doubt for one moment that her mother’s agency would never be used again by this man. Unless...

Swallowing her pride, she turned to the owner of Buchanan’s with a bright, meaningless smile. ‘Someone will return from the agency this afternoon when an—appropriate costume has been acquired.’ Her pride wasn’t dampened enough for her not to resist reminding him of the description he had given earlier for her present costume!

But considering she had actually been hired to hand out free chocolate Easter bunnies to bright-eyed, expectant children, it was probably the only description that fitted!

God, she was going to start giggling over the ridiculousness of the situation in a minute, the humour of the whole thing finally getting to her. And Lyon Buchanan didn’t look as if he would be impressed by that at all!

He was looking down at her with those cold grey eyes again now. ‘I’ll have your agency called and let them know my decision. When I’ve made one,’ he added pointedly.

And for the moment she would have to be satisfied with that, his tone clearly stated. Oh, well, she had tried; she certainly wasn’t going to grovel to this man—not even for the sake of her mother’s agency.

‘And you ought to go and see your doctor.’ Lyon Buchanan was talking to his uncle now as the older man turned to leave.

Henry looked irritated by the instruction. ‘Don’t fuss, Lyon,’ he dismissed impatiently. ‘As you so rightly said, it was just a question of “one bunny girl too many”!’ his humour returned, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he looked at Silke.

‘Nevertheless, I intend calling Peter Carruthers and making an appointment for you,’ his nephew told him determinedly.

Silke could see that Henry didn’t like the younger man’s arrogance one little bit—did any of them?—but he didn’t attempt to argue with him any further. She couldn’t help wondering if many people ever had during this man’s thirty-five or thirty-six years, or if that could be the reason he seemed to be a law unto himself?

‘Not you, Doug,’ Lyon Buchanan rasped now as his personnel manager would have followed them from the room. ‘I don’t believe we have finished our conversation.’

Silke felt sorry for Doug Moore—but that didn’t stop her hurrying from the room as Henry held the door open for her; she didn’t want again to become the focus of Lyon Buchanan’s displeasure.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t quick enough!