Stormy Challenge (19 page)

But was the commitment Court wanted from her the same as the one she wanted from him? She had trusted Alex Harlow once and suffered the humiliation of being used. Court Tremayne was the only other man to have gained her trust to such an extent. And once again she had played the fool for a man.

Or had she? Court could have taken her tonight. Why hadn't he? Was it really so important to him that she commit herself fully? Did he need her trust because he needed her?

Deliberately, coldly, Leya applied the calculating, analytical portion of her mind to the enormous problem with which she was confronted. The pattern of moonlight on the ceiling shifted several times before she began to see a solution in it.

She needed to dissociate herself from Brandon Security in Court Tremayne's mind, she finally realized. She needed to find out how long his interest in her would last if she were no longer connected with the business. Perhaps then they could truly start from scratch.

But what would she do if she took the step of severing all ties with Brandon and then found out Court lost interest in her?

Leya closed her eyes briefly against the potential misery and then firmed her resolve.

There was no other way to clear the cluttered path between herself and Court. If they were to have another chance, she must take the one step to create the opportunity.

* * *

"Nope. I was prepared to do it all this week, anyhow, remember?" Cynthia chuckled, handing her boss a cup of coffee.

"He should be at work in another half-hour," Leya noted, accepting the coffee gratefully and perching herself on one of the tall stools behind the counter. She smoothed the denim skirt she was wearing with a red-and-white checked blouse and smiled wryly. "I've stopped dropping by his apartment unexpectedly in the early mornings!"

"You mean after the door was opened a few times by various females?" Cynthia laughed knowingly.

"Why are they always blonde, Cynthia?" Leya complained, thinking of her conversation on the subject with Court the night of the party. "And they all seem to look alike, too. I'm not sure how my brother tells them apart. Something about the eyes always looks the same!"

"Your brother is a smart man," Cynthia assured her sympathetically. "When it comes time to get serious, he'll pick one he can talk to out of bed as well as in it!"

"I hope so!"

They chatted a few minutes longer over coffee, and then Leya glanced at her watch.

"I'd better be on my way if I'm going to catch Keith before he gets involved in a meeting or something. You've got the number if you need me."

"Right. Don't worry about this place. I'll call if anything goes wrong."

"It won't. I just like to have the illusion that I'm useful once in a while," Leya grinned, heading out the door.

But the grin disappeared as she slid into the front seat of her car. The stop at Brandon Books had been a delaying action and she knew it. The real business of the day lay ahead of her, and there was no sense putting it off any longer.

With a feeling that she was deliberately concocting her own doom, Leya pulled out into the early morning traffic and headed for the offices of Brandon Security Systems.

Several minutes later, she walked past a secretary's desk with a smiling nod and entered her brother's sanctum. She still experienced a pang on occasion when she did it, remembering how her father had once

occupied the office. But the sadness didn't last long anymore. Keith had made the place his own in the months since he had moved in, and once inside, Leya was no longer disturbed by memories.

"'Morning, Leya, what's up?" Keith asked cheerfully, closing a folder he had been scanning. "Enjoying yourself with my new consultant?"

"Funny you should mention that," Leya began dryly.

"Uh-oh. I have a feeling Court should be here to handle this."

Keith eyed his sister warily. Smart younger brothers usually learned to assess a sister's moods early in life, Leya reflected wryly. And Keith was, as Cynthia had noted, smart.

"Not at all," she told him far too smoothly, dropping into a nearby chair. "This is between you and me, brother dear."

"The last time you called me 'brother dear' you wanted to borrow my motorcycle,"

Keith said reminiscently. "It was returned with a crumpled wheel."

"Dangerous things, motorcycles," Leya murmured sympathetically. "I'm glad you've had the sense not to buy another one."

"I've, uh, developed other interests."

"So I've noticed. But I'm not here to borrow anything today," Leya went on briskly, crossing one knee gracefully over the other and swinging her toe idly.

"You're here to chew me out for not having come to your rescue the other night when Court carried you off over his shoulder?" he hazarded, lifting one eyebrow.

"No, although an impartial observer might think I had cause to do so," she retorted, silver-green eyes glinting dangerously.

"Most impartial observers would have the sense to realize it doesn't pay to interfere in an argument of a domestic nature," Keith shot back easily, lounging into his chair.

"Are you sure I shouldn't call Court in here? He's on a tour of the manufacturing facilities at the moment, but I can have him paged." Keith waited hopefully.

"I've told you this is between us, Keith."

"Okay, let's have it," he sighed in obvious resignation. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing at all. I'm here to give you something." Leya fixed him with a cool, calculating glance.

"What?" He didn't look anxious to receive any gifts, she decided, smiling inwardly.

A smart younger brother.

"My shares in Brandon Security Systems."

"Your what?" he demanded in stunned amazement. "Why the devil would you want to do that?" Keith leaned forward, resting his elbows on the wide mahogany desk, his green eyes staring at her.

"You know I've never had any real interest in the firm."

"Yes, but. . ."

"And now that you've hired yourself a man of great expertise to assist you in getting the company back on its feet, you don't need my 'silent' input any longer!" The hint of sarcasm was barely concealed.

"But this is part of your inheritance from Dad, Leya!"

"I don't want it or need it. You're the one who's taken to the business like a natural, Keith. There's no reason you shouldn't have it all."

"But Dad wanted you to have something!" he protested, waving a hand helplessly.

"He gave me my start in the book business, remember?"

"That was a loan, which you paid back!"

"Interest free," she reminded him with a smile. "And he gave it to me at a time when none of the banks would have touched me with a ten-foot pole. Besides, there was the money from the sale of the house, which you and I split. Believe me, Keith, I'm more than content with my inheritance."

Her brother eyed her thoughtfully, absently tapping the tip of a pencil on his desk.

"This has something to do with your relationship with Court, doesn't it?"

"How did you guess?" she mocked grimly. "It may very well put an end to that relationship."

"But you're hoping it won't?"

"That's my business, Keith. Do I ask you pointed questions about all those blondes?"

"Yes!"

"Liar. I haven't asked any for ages!" she argued.

"Leya, I don't know what you're up to, but . . ."

"Don't worry, Keith, I know what I'm doing. And I truly don't want the shares in Brandon Security. I should have turned them over to you months ago," she added sincerely. She reached into the thin leather case at her side. "I've brought the papers with me. We should be able to take care of everything today."

"Are you certain this is what you want, Leya?" Keith asked slowly, scanning her face a few minutes later as they concluded the business.

"Yes, but there is one other small item," she drawled.

"I knew it!" he gritted with morbid satisfaction.

"I want you to make it very clear to Courtland Gannon Tremayne that there is no longer any gain to be had in remaining 'interested' in me," Leya said decisively, even as the raw pain of what she was doing cut deep.

"So that's it," Keith breathed, nodding his head finally in understanding. "You're an idiot, Leya. The man wants to marry you."

She flinched. "He's certainly never said anything about marriage to me!"

"Knowing you, you haven't given him a chance! You're probably still mad at him for deceiving you up there in Oregon!"

"He told you about that?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, he did, and I think you're a fool to hold it against him!"

"Would you trust someone after he'd done something like that?" she hissed angrily.

"Depends on the someone. I'd trust Court," Keith declared forcefully.

"You've got a bad case of hero worship!" she accused, getting to her feet and starting for the door. Her glance halted at the bare spot on the opposite wall. "What did you do with my picture?" she turned back to ask curiously.

"Court asked me for it," Keith said briefly, watching her expression with great interest. "He's got it hanging in his own office now."

"He does?" Leya swallowed her surprise.

"Ummm, I suppose he enjoys having an image of his
victim
handy to gloat over!"

Keith retorted nastily.

Leya slammed out of the office.

The ringing of the doorbell shortly after Leya had returned home from work was not entirely unexpected. Court was not a coward. With a distinct feeling of impending disaster, Leya uncoiled herself from the couch and made her way toward the door.

Court stood on the threshold, still dressed in a business suit and dark tie, his gold-and-brown hair damp from a faint sprinkling of rain. The tortoiseshell eyes gleamed.

"Good evening, Leya," he said politely, propping himself against the edge of the door with one large hand. "I understand you've had a busy day."

"I merely took care of some business matters," she retorted loftily, her heart pounding with a strange hope. Was he here to mock her or woo her?

"So I gather. Get your jacket, I'm taking you out to dinner."

At the note of command in his voice, she stiffened. "I'm not very hungry."

"Then I'll force-feed you. I'm taking you out to eat, Leya, and to discuss our future.

Don't bother fighting it, I'm not in a mood for your stubbornness this evening."

"What's the matter? Can't you say what you want to say right here? It shouldn't take long!" She faced him bravely.

"I'll give you the same choice I gave you the night of the party," he said politely.

"You can come out on my arm or over my shoulder."

Leya drew herself up to her full height and fixed him with an angry glare. Why couldn't he get it over with right now? What was the point in dragging everything out? Either he was still interested or he wasn't. It should be so damned simple!

"Very well," she announced disdainfully, "if you're going to be that way about it!"

"I am," he assured her, but there was a slight smile in his eyes.

Leya didn't volunteer a word during the short drive to a nearby steak house, and Court didn't bother to open the conversation until after he'd ushered her into the darkened lounge and ordered both of them a drink.

"I needed that," he muttered thankfully a few minutes later as he took a swallow of the scotch and settled into the chair. His jacket had been removed and slung over the back, and he'd loosened his tie. He looked like any other businessman relaxing after a hard day at the office, Leya thought fleetingly, stifling an urge to touch his sleeve soothingly.

"Sleep well last night?" he inquired pleasantly.

"Don't be ridiculous," she responded tightly.

"Neither did I. I gather you spent the hours lying awake staring at your ceiling in useful contemplation, however," he went on blandly.

"You've talked to Keith?" she said as coolly as possible, her fingers curling around the cold glass in her hand.

"This afternoon. So you finally decided to turn your shares in Brandon Security over to your brother, hmmm? Should have done it long ago."

"It would have made everything so much simpler, wouldn't it?"

"Much!" He lifted his glass for another swallow.

"And you're a great one for taking the easiest path to a goal!" she went on sarcastically, sipping moodily at her drink.

"I try," he agreed modestly, watching her from beneath lowered lids. "But even I have to stand back in admiration of your talents along that line."

She eyed him sharply. "Meaning?"

"Meaning you very neatly removed the one obstacle I was powerless to remove. If I'd asked you to give up your shares in Brandon Security, you would have been certain I was determined to get you out of the picture."

"And now I've done it for you," she concluded morosely.

"Why?" he asked quietly.

She moved a hand in a small gesture that conveyed her inability to fully explain. "I ...

I wanted you to stop seeing me as an obstacle you had to overcome in order to have control at Brandon Security."

"I wonder how long it will take you to realize the full implications of what you did when you abdicated your rights at Brandon," he mused thoughtfully.

She frowned, bewildered.

"Don't you realize how much trust you demonstrated, sweetheart?" he said with a hint of a smile.

"I did no such thing! I merely decided to opt out of the stupid game we were playing!" she protested righteously.

"And leave your little brother to my mercy?" he murmured.

"What's wrong with that? You're going to ... Oh!"

"Precisely. When did you stop worrying about my having designs on Brandon Security? When did you decide I would honor the spirit of the contract and not take advantage of Keith?"

She glanced away, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip briefly.

"Now it really is just between you and me," he went on softly. "You very graciously removed the one factor which was unduly complicating things, leaving us free to get on with this nutty relationship!"