Deception. Donna Hill

man, Clint.”

      He laughed a deep soul-stirring rumble. “I’ve been called worse. Coming from you, however, I take it as a compliment.”

      She took a nibble at her pizza and returned it to the paper plate.

      “So have you changed your mind about me? My offer still stands.” Hope filled his dark eyes.

      Instead of a direct answer, she toyed with him. “I very rarely change my mind once it’s made up. But I’m always open for discussion. If I have reason to listen.”

      His voice lowered to a deep whisper, his response rattling her feigned poise. “Then we have a lot more than business to talk about.”

      For several breathtaking seconds, their eyes held. “I’ve got to be getting back to the office,” she said, smoothly disguising her shredded composure. “I’ll see you later.”

      Without another word, he rose from his seat, rounded the table and helped her on with her coat. The nearness of him set her heart racing and she knew she had to get away—fast.

      “Thank you.” She looked up at him one last time. “I’ve got to go,” she breathed.

      With that she made a hasty exit, darting in and out of the flow of traffic, the sensation of Clint nipping at her heels as eagerly as the fall breeze.

      Terri massaged her temples. The figures just didn’t seem to make sense. She shook her head. Maybe she was just tired. It was past six-thirty and she had been going over the books and comparing dates for hours. Clint would be downstairs waiting. Her pulse quickened at the thought.

      Closing the huge ledger, she reached into her desk drawer for her purse just as Andrea, her secretary, tapped on the door and entered.

      “Present for the boss,” Andrea said, her face hidden behind long-stemmed flowers.

      Terri eyed her secretary with skepticism. Andrea’s arm was laden with what looked to be more than two dozen Casablanca lilies. Quickly she got up from her desk to help with the burden.

      “Where on earth did these come from?” Terri asked.

      “They just arrived.”

      Terri gently searched through the huge bouquet.

      “There’s no card, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

      Terri frowned. “Are you sure? How did they get here?” She placed the flowers on the desk and selected a vase from the credenza large enough to accommodate them.

      “A messenger just brought them up. All I did was sign for them. They were addressed to you.”

      Terri was puzzled. “I don’t understand. These are my favorite flowers,” she said in a wispy voice. She pressed her face against the bouquet and inhaled the heady aroma. “But who knows that?”

      “Obviously someone does.” Andrea smiled. “I’ll put these in water and bring them right back.” She picked up the lilies and the vase and left the office.

      “Thanks,” Terri answered absently.

      For several moments she paced the room, trying to figure out who could have sent the flowers. The only people who knew of her passion for lilies were her adoptive parents, and she was sure that they hadn’t sent them. They were hundreds of miles away and weren’t the type of people who sent gifts just to be thoughtful. If it wasn’t an act that would get them a blurb in the society column, they didn’t bother. She’d probably mentioned it to several people, but to no one who would have gone to this extravagance. Clint?

      She shook her head and smiled. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” she whispered, remembering her nana’s favorite line. Then she chuckled to herself, wondering for the zillionth time what in the world was a gift horse anyway?

      Moments later, Andrea returned with the lilies safely deposited in the crystal vase.

      “Where should I put these, Ms. Powers?”

      “On the small table by the window. That should give them just enough light.”

      “I’m all finished out front. If you don’t need anything else, I’m going to go home.”

      “Of course, Andrea. I didn’t mean to keep you here so late. I’ll see you on Monday.”

      “Good night, Ms. Powers.”

      “Good night.”

      Left alone in the room Terri took one last look at her beautiful bouquet. It had been a long time since someone had sent her flowers. And she was going to enjoy every minute of it. She closed the door gently behind her.

      Terri exited the building and was greeted by a cold burst of wind. October was a mysterious month. There was no telling what Mother Nature would send. The temperature had already dropped considerably since the afternoon, and she was thankful that she had decided to wear her trench coat. Her only wish was that she’d put in the lining.

      Pulling the trench tightly around her trim body, she took a quick look up at the cloud-filled sky and wondered how far off was the first snowfall.

      She checked her watch, noting that it was seven on the dot, and approached the curb to wait for Clint. Just as she neared the curb, a black Mercedes-Benz pulled up in front of her. Annoyed that the car had stopped and blocked her view of traffic, she started to walk to the corner just as the driver got out.

      Leaning over the hood of the car, a look of pure mischief on his face, Clint held out one Casablanca lily between his fingers. “Can I take a few dozen lilies off your hands in exchange for dinner?”

      Chapter 3

      Terri tried to keep the conversation light and impersonal throughout dinner, but the mellow atmosphere and soft music at B. Smith’s Restaurant lent itself to intimacy. Within a short space of time she found herself laughing at Clint’s wry sense of humor and actually forgetting all of the things she’d heard and read about him.

      He was animatedly recounting an incident that had occurred in the health club. “My friend Steve really had me just where he wanted me,” he laughed. “There I was, spread-eagled on the bench with a hundred-pound weight hanging over my head.”

      “What did you do?”

      “Cried uncle, what else?”

      Terri shook her head in laughter, visualizing Clint’s precarious plight.

      “What do you do in your spare time?” he asked, loving the way her crimson dress hugged her curves.

      “Read mostly. I play tennis in the summer, dance all year long and I love riding through the park. But it’s gotten so dangerous lately, I’ve cut back.”

      His voice lowered and raked over her. “I’d be more than happy to be your protector.”

      She looked at him coyly. “Maybe.” Now why did I say that?

      “That’s the best answer you’ve given me to date. My faith in humanity is restored.”

      She lowered her thick lashes, her heart beating wildly. Then she looked up. “How did you know about the lilies?” she asked softly.

      “I always make it my business to find out all I can about anything or anyone that interests me. In other words, I ask questions. I had my secretary dig up an article that was written about you in Black Enterprise. You mentioned your passion for the lilies in the article.”

      Her stomach lurched at the pointed look that he threw her way, but she kept her expression unreadable, which enticed Clint all the more.

      “I believe I’ll have to follow that philosophy,” she replied.

      “So, you’ve found something that has piqued your curiosity,” he tossed back, enjoying the game.

      “Perhaps. If there’s anything of interest, I’ll be sure to let you