“You look beautiful, Lindy,” he said in a growl, blue eyes intense. “I’ve missed you.”
I shook my head. No way was this guy softening me up. After everything that had happened? No way, this was all a trap, suddenly I was sure there had been no meeting scheduled at nine thirty, there was no business in Albany, everything had been made up. But for what? I didn’t get it.
“Listen,” I said huffily, my hands on my hips. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but you better come clean with me. What are you thinking, dragging my parents into this? Giving my dad a promotion? A raise? You were set on firing him, remember?”
And the big man leaned back in his chair, coolly confident as always, playing with his pen.
“I had second thoughts,” he said casually. “I reconsidered my personnel issues and decided Jim was critical to my staff.”
I stared at him, disbelieving.
“Don’t give me that,” I snorted. “Jim stole from you, don’t you remember? Embezzled money from United Electric, did all this hocus pocus mumbo jumbo accounting stuff hoping you weren’t going to catch on, it was just his bad luck that you’re good with numbers. So what happened? Why didn’t you fire him? Stealing is grounds for immediate termination, no one would blame you if you did.”
The big man quirked an eyebrow then.
“So little sympathy for your own father, Lindy?” he murmured, his voice smooth. “That’s so un-daughter like of you.”
I shook my head, exasperated.
“It’s un-daughter like, I know, but this whole thing is un-employer like,” I retorted. “Jim stole from you, so what’s going on? None of this makes sense!”
The alpha male leaned back even further in his chair.
“Well since we’re on the topic of men and their daughters, maybe I wanted something from the daughter,” he drawled.
That got to me.
“Oh no you don’t,” I warned, shaking my head. “Don’t even start, don’t even go there. I’ve paid my debt to you, we had an agreement and I held up my end. You can’t just go and change the rules.”
But the big man shook his head again, amused.
“Says who?” he asked.
I was stunned, completely nonplussed.
“What do you mean, ‘says who’?” I asked, dumbfounded. “That’s just how the world works! You strike a deal and you stick to it, you don’t change the rules halfway through.”
But the big man laughed then, a growl deep in his throat.
“Oh baby girl, you have so much to learn,” he chuckled. “You did so well in the game that I want more now,” he added suggestively. “What do you say to that?”
I shook my head furiously.
“No way, there’s no more,” I said vehemently. “There’s no more where that came from.”
And a spark lit in Chris’s eyes then. A challenge had come his way and the big man never passed up challenges.
“Is that so?” his deep voice rumbled. “Do you really think so?” he added softly, silkily.
Suddenly I had the distinct feeling of real danger. Although Mr. Jones was lounging in his chair, his big body relaxed, he reminded me of a predator lying in wait, still among the bushes, eyes sharp. It was like he was waiting for me to get lazy, step into the middle of the crosshairs before pouncing.
So I backtracked then.
“Listen,” I said quickly. “I can’t get caught up in all that again, okay? I can’t, I have a lot on the line, school, family, you know,” I added helplessly.
But Mr. Jones wouldn’t give me any quarter.
“You don’t like school, Lindy, you told me that already. The other kids, your classes, your professors, it’s not what you’re looking for.”
I squirmed then. It was true, I’d said that and I still believed it but I was grasping at straws here, throwing anything in the path to get him off my scent.
“Well, I’ve changed, I like it more,” I improvised. “Things are a lot better now, I’m taking some good classes, I’ve met a few great girls and some really interesting guys …”
And here Chris cut me off.
“Men?” he ground out. “Who?”
And I was sorely tempted to make something up, to pretend I had a boyfriend, that suddenly I’d been swept off my feet. But I couldn’t do it. These games had my head spinning and I couldn’t do it anymore, didn’t want to anymore.
“Mr. Jones,” I said slowly, “I’m gonna start again, and I’m not going to bullshit you. I’m not going to pretend that I’m Miss Popular with the football player boyfriend, a hundred men trying to date me. Because I’m just plain old Lindy, and I always have been. Why are you here?” I implored. “Why are you playing with my family, toying with us, with me?”