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carrier. Cammie crawled up the couch, then onto
Edmund s lap, up his arm and then rested on his
shoulder. Cammie, get down from there.
It s okay. He touched Cammie s head. I ll
pretend I m a pirate.
Pirates have parrots on their shoulders, not
lizards.
I m a different kind of pirate.
She rested her hands on her hips. What kind
of pirate are you?
A land pirate.
And what do you like to steal?
He winked. You ll find out when you discover
something missing.
Whatever kind of pirate he claimed to be,
Edmund was doing a very good imitation with his
Dara Girard 143
wicked eyes and enigmatic grin. She hardly knew
this man, and she d just slept with him and wanted
to all over again.
The doorbell rang, the arrival of their dinner
breaking the mood. The rest of the evening, they
ate Taiwanese on the balcony. Mary had suggested
the couch, but Edmund argued that he preferred to
look at her, rather than the TV. She had no reply.
So, among the lights from the stars and the city
below, they ate and talked until the stream of cars
became only a trickle. Around 1:00 a.m. Mary
stifled a yawn.
You can spend the night, Edmund said when
Mary announced that it was time for her to leave.
She placed Cammie in her cage. I save sleep-
overs for the weekend.
He stood behind her and placed a kiss on her
neck. I m going to have to change that.
I m open to persuasion she drew away
when he wrapped an arm around her waist but
not tonight.
Why not?
Because I have work tomorrow.
So do I. I ll let you sleep. He held up three
fingers as though he were a Boy Scout saying a
pledge. I promise.
144 Power Play
She opened the door. No.
Fine. I ll walk you home.
I just live next door.
I want to make sure you get there safely.
Mary only shook her head. They walked over
to her apartment. Once inside, she turned to him.
Thanks.
I don t get a good-night kiss?
No.
He rested a hand on his chest as though he d
been wounded. I think you just broke my heart.
Then I ll heal it tomorrow.
His face brightened and he drew her close, hold
ing her tightly against him. Why wait until tomor
row?
She playfully pushed him away. Goodbye,
Edmund, she said, then closed the door.
Good night, Mary, he said, his voice muffled.
Pleasant dreams.
Mary slept well that night. Too well. She over
slept. The next morning she grabbed her clothes
and pulled on a tam before dashing off to work.
But the day didn t improve much from there. She
couldn t focus. Everything she looked at re
minded her of the night before. The steam from
the coffeepot reminded her of Edmund s passion;
Dara Girard 145
the chocolate-covered donuts left over from a re
cent business meeting reminded her of the de
lectable taste of his skin; instead of a modern
carving of ebony stone, she saw Edmund s firm
body, and& Do you have the files completed
yet? Mary looked up, flustered. She had been to
tally unaware that James had been standing in
front of her desk.
Oh, I m sorry. I got an important phone call I
had to take care of. I ll get them to you right away.
Mary hurriedly found the items she had promised
to deliver; when she was done it was already noon.
At lunch she was horrified to find that she d put
on two different shoes. She was returning to her
desk when she saw Edmund down the hall outside
James s office. She froze. Why did he have to stop
by her office today?
He glanced at her before she had a chance to
duck out of view. She smiled, but he showed no sign
of recognizing her before turning back to James.
She felt like crumbling to the floor. Perhaps he
hadn t seen her. Oh, please let it be that. Don t let
him ignore me. In high school and college, people
would be nice to her in class but when they saw her
on campus or in the hallway she didn t exist. She
sat down at her desk and got back to work. She
146 Power Play
wouldn t make a big deal of it. She reapplied her
makeup, then deliberately walked past them.
Mary, James said.
She turned and faced him.
Edmund handed her a file. Gregory wanted
me to give this to you.
There was nothing in his gaze to hint at what
had happened between them last night.
Thank you, she said briskly. He had the right
attitude, she told herself, trying not to feel re
buffed. They couldn t broadcast their relation
ship whatever it was to everyone. However,
her hand still trembled as she took the folder. I ll
look at it today. She turned.
Mary, are you all right? Jean asked when
Mary stumbled into the water cooler.
I m fine, she snapped. She forced a smile. I d
better get back to work. She sat at her desk and
slammed the folder down. Why couldn t she be as
unattached as he was? What had she expected? An
embrace? That would have been totally unprofes
sional. Business was business. She opened Greg
ory s folder, then closed it, feeling too restless to
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