“You don’t see any need to expound on that succinct answer?” There was a teasing glint in his gray eyes.
“Not really. I’ve been here for four years. I was here when the park was sold to you. Harmon … Mr. Sanders … has made it worth my while to stay. I’ve gotten periodic pay increases from him.”
“From me, not Sanders.”
“Oh,” she floundered. “I’m sorry, I thought—”
“You thought that the man in Atlanta was too high up, too detached, to know each person in his employ? Not so with me, Hailey. I knew of you and your capabilities even before I purchased the park.”
Capabilities? Would he say that if he were about to fire her?
“There was only one thing missing in my file on Miss Hailey Diane Ashton, twenty-eight years old, social security number 462-89-1002. Nowhere in the file did it say what a beautiful woman you are.”
Her heart had long since leaped from her chest to settle somewhere in her throat. Now it began to pound, blocking off her breath. She tore her eyes away from the hypnotic allure of his gaze and concentrated on the hemline of her skirt.
When she braved another glance at him, he, too, was studying the hemline of her skirt, which revealed her smooth, nylonclad knee. His eyes went further and took in her long, shapely calf and slender foot She dared not move. Her head was spinning. What was he up to? Sexual harassment? Would she have to placate him to keep her job?
Etiquette forced her to respond. “Thank you,” she said huskily.
“You’re welcome,” he said, standing up and walking around the desk to lean negligently on its corner. He sounded amused. Was he moving in for the kill?
“Have you ever thought of leaving Serendipity?”
She shook her head before she answered. “No. I like my job here.”
“What if I offered you another job?”
He wasn’t going to fire her! She looked up at him. “What kind of job?” she inquired curiously, though she doubted that she’d really be interested.
“I have a computer company. It needs someone like you in customer relations. I would like you to train my employees how to deal with people.”
“But I don’t know anything about computers!”
“You don’t have to. You know about people. That’s the expertise I’m looking for. Unfortunately some of my employees know every intricacy of a computer but have a difficult time relating to a customer—satisfied or irate. Would you consider it?”
She looked at him levelly for a moment and then down at her cold, damp hands. “I don’t think so, Mr. Scott. I’m really very happy here at Serendipity.”
“I see.” He stared down at his highly polished shoes and frowned. The telephone in the outside office rang. They heard Nancy’s muffled answer. Otherwise the heavy silence reigned in the air-conditioned room.
“I suppose you should continue in your present position then,” he said, finally looking up at her. “Actually, your staying here will make it much more convenient.”
“More convenient? Make what more convenient?”
“Your seduction,” he said, piercing her with razor-sharp gray eyes.
CHAPTER 3
If he had suddenly sprouted wings, he couldn’t have shocked her more. For long moments she couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. She could feel her mouth hanging slack in an expression usually attributed to the very stupid. “What?” she asked on an incredulous gasp.
“You heard me correctly.”
“But I don’t believe what I heard.”
“I’m going to seduce you.”
“Of course you’re not serious.”
“I’m always serious,” he said. Then, as though to belie his own statement, he laughed a deep, masculine laugh, a pleasant sound she couldn’t help but appreciate even though she was still stunned by his audacity.