“I'll be back in the office tomorrow. We'll talk then.” She'd almost hung up when she heard him again.
“Ms. Lambert?”
“Yes?”
“I had a date with that woman who was giving me a hard time.”
“And?”
“She won't be doing that anymore.”
“You set her straight?”
“No, I saw the light. I can do better.”
Megan did smile then. “I always thought you could.”
“Thanks for… well, you know, for everything.”
“No. Thank you,” she said, referring to his tip on the traitor, Clancey.
She was just replacing the receiver when two hard arms came from behind her to wrap around her waist and an avid mouth adhered itself to her neck. “That better have been a female caller, and do you know just how saucy your little rear end is?”
“Oh, Josh,” she said, whirling around to face him. It suddenly occurred to her that she had the ammunition that she'd have given anything for even a few days ago. She had the power to totally defeat Josh if she wanted to. Withholding this information about Clancey's betrayal would cause a serious setback to his career. He'd face public ridicule for letting such a precious account slip through his fingers. He'd lose tens of thousands of dollars in revenue.
Right there on the tip of her tongue was the secret that, left untold, would assure her of a revenge greater than any she could have dreamed. By smiling beguilingly up at him and wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her body to his, and passing off the telephone call as a wrong number, she could lead him like a lamb to slaughter—innocent, unaware, incognizant of the disaster that was waiting for him.
But Megan didn't even entertain the thought. She knew only an urgent need to help the man she loved.
“Something terrible has happened, Josh.”
His mouth swooped down on hers for a hard kiss.“You got pregnant last night? Don't worry. I'll marry you. I hope it's twins.”
She tore her mouth free from his persistent lips. “Please. I mean it.”
“Who was that?” he asked, snapping his head up, instantly alert to her distress. He gripped her arms.
“Barnes.”
The irregular brow shot upward. “Barnes!” he said scoffingly, with no small amount of relief. “Don't tell me. His girl friend's left him again.”
“Josh, listen.” Her hands wrapped as far as they could around his biceps and shook him slightly. “You have a man named Clancey working for you.”
“Yes,” he answered with a puzzled frown.
“He's going to take all his work for the Air South Airline to Powell Associates.”
He stared at her for a moment, his face expressionless. “What?” he asked at last, his voice a disbelieving whisper.
“He and Barnes were at the same party last night. Clancey got drunk and started spouting off unflattering comments about you. Barnes said he was disgruntled over some argument you'd had with him and was threatening to take his
ideas to your competition.”
She didn't know what to anticipate, but it wasn't the booming laughter that shook the ceiling. Josh collapsed on the bed, pulling her down with him. She was so dismayed by his absurd reaction to the disastrous news that she was almost unaware that he hadn't bothered to dress after his shower. His body hair was still slightly damp.
“I didn't think Barnes was that ingenious,” he said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.
“Ingenious? Josh, don't you see—”