Leigh Michaels – Maybe Married (страница 8)

Dana bit her tongue. When was she going to learn to watch every word she said? He’d always been deadly in an argument. “Let’s leave Barclay out of it, all right?”

Zeke shrugged. “Fine, just remember that you’re the one who brought him in. But let me put your mind at rest on the jealousy question. I disliked Barclay the moment I heard his unctuous, oily voice on the telephone.”

“Then—if you were so unimpressed with him—why did you accept his invitation to the cocktail party?”

“Because I was looking for you, sweetheart, and I thought if he called the alumni office to vouch for me, I’d have an easier time of getting your current address.”

“Why didn’t you just ask all your private investigators where to find me?” Dana asked sweetly.

Zeke had gone straight on. “I didn’t expect to run into you right at Barclay’s elbow.” He raised his eyebrows. “Come to think of it, why were you at Barclay’s elbow? And don’t give me the obvious answer, because I’m not asking what you see in him. I want to know why you’re even at the university. You were as anxious to shake the dust of this town off your feet as I was.”

“No—I was anxious to get out of the marriage. I’m here because I was offered a very good job, with a lot of potential for advancement.”

Zeke shrugged. “I guess, if marrying Barclay is your idea of advancing…”

“That isn’t what I was talking about. I was hired to promote the idea of a conference center, to develop the plans and create demand for the facility. In another year or two, when it’s completed, I’ll be in charge of a brand-new, state-of-the-art building and all the business that goes with it. The university will be the place to go for conventions, parties, product launches, weddings—”

“And in the meantime?”

She admitted, reluctantly, “We’re located in Dressler Hall.”

“Refresh my memory. Is that the building on the corner of the quadrangle, the one that’s all falling plaster and bats?”

“Not anymore. Stop changing the subject, Zeke. You still haven’t told me why you want to be unavailable for the next three months, much less why you want to look as if you’re going to be unavailable forever. You’ll notice I didn’t assume that you actually want to be married to me.”

“Smart girl,” Zeke said. “To put it in a nutshell, the corporation that wants to buy my business has indicated that they want me to be part of the package.”

“Work for them, you mean? It’s not exactly unusual.”

“The CEO is quite insistent.”

“So tell him you’ve done all the work you intend to in this lifetime and you’re going to lie on a beach for the next forty years. I don’t see why you think being married will solve that problem.”

“The female CEO.”

Dana shredded a bit of steak while she thought about it. “And the package she wants to buy includes you personally? Isn’t that called sexual harassment?”

“Try to prove it. Besides, she’s far too subtle to say it directly. That’s part of the problem—if she’d come out in the open, I could deflect her, but she’s playing me like a trout on a line. She won’t agree to the purchase unless I sign an employment contract, and the minute the sale is final she’ll start with the personal stuff. ‘Let’s talk about that over dinner, Zeke.’ ‘There’s a client’s party we must be seen at, so let’s go together.’ Things like that.”

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.