The Cutting Edge Read online

  “Tessa Conway,” she said as a self-introduction. “I work in the bookkeeping department.”

  He didn’t release her hand. “Well, Tessa Conway, now you know who I am and I know who you are. Dinner?”

  She eyed him warily for a moment; then her natural sense of humor began to surface. Was this man the ogre everyone had been telling horror tales about? He was no one’s tame pussycat, that was for certain, but he didn’t look as if he ate raw meat for breakfast, either. Teasing lights began to dance in her green eyes. “I’m not certain I’d be safe with someone known as the Ax-Man,” she pointed out cheekily.

  He threw back his head and laughed, a good, deep sound, and a warmth began to grow inside her. “Ax-Man? That’s better than what I’d thought! But you won’t have anything to worry about, Tessa Conway. I won’t chop you up into little pieces.”

  No, but he was a man who could put a woman’s emotions through the meat grinder. Just standing there in the office with him, Tessa could feel her heart beating a little faster, and the way her blood was humming through her veins made her feel warm all over. Temptation was weakening her because she really wanted to go with him, but she knew that the smartest thing to do would be to run, not walk, to the nearest cover.

  “If we went out together, the grapevine would short-out from the overload of gossip. I really don’t—”

  “I don’t give a damn about gossip, and neither do you.” His fingers tightened over hers. “Seven-thirty?”

  She looked up at him again, and that was a tactical error. With a low, musical laugh, she cast caution to the winds. “Make it six-thirty. I’m the original sleepyhead; if I don’t get my eight hours, I’m incapable of functioning. During the week, I don’t even stay out as late as Cinderella did, and we all know she was a party-pooper.”

  Brett veiled his eyes with his lashes, not letting her see the predatory gleam in them. He’d be glad to make certain she was home in bed at an early hour; letting her sleep was something else entirely. “I’ll be there. Write down your address for me.” He planned to read her file, and he could get her address from there, but she didn’t need to know that.

  Tessa held the cold compress in place with her left hand while she scribbled her address on a scrap of paper, along with her telephone number. Then she looked at him again, and shook her head a little. “I must be out of my mind,” she murmured to herself, and walked quickly out of the office before he could somehow entice her to stay even longer.

  Brett sat down at his desk and toyed idly with the scrap of paper that contained her address. That was just how he wanted her: out of her mind, totally senseless with the pleasure he intended to give her. He’d had a number of affairs, enough that the prospect of another woman in his bed should produce only a feeling of mild anticipation, but the way he felt could never be described as mild. Whatever it was about Tessa Conway, he wanted her. He couldn’t really remember a woman he’d wanted whom he hadn’t eventually gotten, and usually within a fairly short length of time. There was no reason for things to be any different with Tessa. He thought of the way she walked, her slender hips moving in a way that made sweat pop out on his forehead. It might take a while for him to tire of her.

  “I’m an idiot,” Tessa told herself over and over as she returned to her office, still holding the ice-filled towel to her bruised cheekbone. She’d actually agreed to go out with a man who occupied a rather high rung of the corporate ladder in her company, and that in itself could give birth to a bumper crop of gossip. Not only that, the man had a horrible reputation; whenever he appeared, people lost their jobs. “Ax-Man” was a singularly appropriate nickname. But all of that aside, he was also the sexiest man she’d ever seen, or imagined. It wasn’t his looks particularly, though his eyes were almost stunning in their beauty. It was the way he looked at a woman, as if she were his for the taking, and as if he knew all sorts of delicious ways to do the taking, and would linger over every moment of it. The eyes of a rake…except that there was something cool and controlled in his gaze, too, as if he held a part of himself aloof, totally untouched by the heat of his own passion.

  What was a woman supposed to do with a man who would want more of herself than she felt safe in giving? Her heart had never been broken, but it had been battered badly enough that she didn’t want to risk her emotions again, especially with a man like Brett Rutland. He’d ignore the barriers of laughter and lighthearted teasing, knocking them aside to get to the woman behind them. Tessa loved flirting and partying; it was a lot of fun, and frequently made people feel better about themselves. But the thought of getting serious with anyone was a little scary, and she was very much afraid that keeping things cool with Brett Rutland was only a remote possibility.

  After two broken engagements, Tessa no longer had so many stars in her eyes. She was optimistic and levelheaded enough not to condemn all men because of two failed relationships, but she was also more cautious now in the way she handled romantic entanglements. She knew danger when she saw it, and that man flashed danger signals like a neon sign. So why was she tossing aside all caution now, agreeing to go out with him when she knew better?

  “Because I’m an idiot,” she muttered to herself as she sat down at her desk.

  Perry Smitherman, head of the bookkeeping department, came out of his office and approached her small cubicle. His high forehead was knit in a perpetual frown. “Billie Billingsley called to say you’d had a small accident. Is everything all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.” Tessa removed the cold compress and explored her swollen cheekbone with a light, cautious touch. “How does it look?”

  His frown pulled even tighter as he bent down and examined the bruise as thoroughly as he would check the books. “Painful,” he finally pronounced. “Do you need to go home?”

  Tessa concealed her startled laughter. “No, I’m able to work,” she assured him demurely. Perry was a fussbudget, but he was kindhearted enough, and she liked him, for all his fussy ways.

  “Did you go to the infirmary?”

  “No. Mr. Rutland took me up to his office and put this compress on it—”

  “Brett Rutland?” Perry asked sharply.

  “Yes, he was in the elevator—”

  His high, white forehead began to glisten with sweat. “Did he ask you anything about the department? Did he say anything about going over the books?”

  Anxiety was evident in his face and his raised voice. Soothingly, Tessa said, “Not a word. He simply got the ice from his bar and wrapped it in the towel.”

  “Are you certain? He never does anything without a reason. He can be subtle, when it suits him. I’m sure he’s going to go over everything; but he’ll ask around first, and try to find out if we’re slack or careless in any way.”

  “You don’t have anything to worry about; the department is in good shape, and you’re a very competent manager.”

  “You never know,” he said, wringing his hands. “You never know.”

  He was determined to think the worst, and with a sigh Tessa gave up the effort of cheering him; he was probably happier looking for a dark lining in a silver cloud anyway. Some people simply had a melancholy outlook, and Perry was one of them.

  Billie popped in during the mid-afternoon break to check on Tessa. The other woman was full of curiosity about Brett Rutland, her big brown eyes even rounder than usual as she stared at Tessa and shot questions at her faster than they could be answered. “What did he say? How long did he keep you? Were you scared? My gosh, of all the people who could have been in that elevator! Did he say why he’s here?”

  Tessa picked out one question and ignored the others. “Why should I have been scared? I didn’t know who he was.”

  Billie gaped. “You didn’t know Brett Rutland?”

  “I knew the name, but I’d never seen him, so how could I have known him?”

  Looking impatient with such logic, Billie still tried to pry more information out of Tessa, who could be infuriatingly hard to pin down wh