The Glass Shoe by Kay Hooper Page B

be... tangled." Of all the incoherent explanations, she thought a bit wildly, this had to be the worst.
    "Who are you?" Ryder asked, his voice suddenly flat.
    She folded her arms beneath her breasts, wondering why, between them, the furnace and the fire weren't heating the room. She felt cold. "I'm—Amanda Wilderman."
    After a moment he said, "Wilderman Electronics." It wasn't a question.
    But she answered. "Yes."
    "You own the company."
    She nodded. "I don't have much to do with the day-to-day running of it. But I knew about Dunbar's patent, knew we were trying to get the rights. Until you told me, I hadn't known that they'd been sold at all, much less to a guest about to arrive here."
    "Do you expect me to believe that?"
    Amanda could find nothing in his voice or his face. No emotion at all. He was just watching her, his eyes shuttered. She shook her head slightly and heard a touch of bitterness in her own voice. "I learned a lot about expectations, remember? No, I don't expect you to believe me."
    "Is it the truth?"
    "Yes. I didn't know you'd be here. I didn't know that Cyrus Fortune had bought the rights to Dun-bar's system, or anything else about him. He was just a name on a list of guests." She felt tired.
    Ryder got up from the couch and moved until he was standing an arm's length from her. "I believe you," he said.
    Amanda stared up at him. "What?"
    "I said I believe you."
    She was startled. "Why?" she asked slowly.
    "Several reasons." He was looking down at her, his eyes grave. "I don't think you'd lie about it, for one thing. You aren't the type for that. But the most convincing reason is purely practical."
    "And that is?"
    "The fact that you wouldn't have anything to gain by such an elaborate deception, as far as I can see. I mean, why the cloak and dagger? You don't have to resort to such tricks. Unless I'm much mistaken about your company, you have the resources to offer a hell of a lot more than I could possibly come up with."
    "So why... why muddy the water?"
    "Exactly. You have no reason to do that. Are you going after the rights, by the way?"
    Amanda temporized, very reluctant to make this an issue between them. "We were, naturally. Maybe we don't need that new system of his."
    Ryder studied her for a moment, his eyes slightly narrowed. "I think we're going to have to talk about that," he said slowly. Then he shrugged, clearly pushing the matter aside for the moment.
    She knew what he was thinking about because she could read the intent behind darkening gray eyes. Physically she responded instantly, a slow heat uncurling inside her, a tremor shaking her muscles. Emotionally she felt a little numb, having expected him to withdraw from her in anger, having been braced for that.
    It was unnerving.
    He took a half step closer, still not touching her.
    "Is that what you've been worried about? Because you thought I'd be mad when I found out who you were?"
    "It crossed my mind," she said as steadily as she could.
    "Did you want me to be mad?" he asked perceptively. "To back off, maybe?"
    Amanda hesitated. "That crossed my mind too," she confessed finally.
    "You don't have to look for excuses to push me away. All you have to do is tell me to get lost, Amanda." His hands rose, finding her hips and drawing her slowly toward him. "Just tell me you don't want me."
    She saw her hands reach up with a mind of their own to rest on his chest, pale against the black of his sweatshirt, the long fingers nervous and without assurance. The insistent guidance of his hands brought her closer until she felt the hard strength of his body against her. Even through the denim of their jeans she could feel the heat of him, and when he moved subtly her breath caught in her throat.
    "Just tell me," he repeated softly, his voice a little husky now.
    That was a fine thing to point out to her, she thought somewhat wildly. Just tell him? When he was touching her like this so that she could barely think? She forced herself to string words