Circle of Shadows (12 page)

Since most of them were staying
over at the motel, they relaxed in the bar after dinner, enjoying an evening of
good-natured banter.

Although Lili had only a glass of
white wine, she was soon having trouble keeping her eyes open.

No one else seemed to notice, but
Ken took her arm and said, “Come on, Lili. I’ll drive you home.”

“Oh, but ....”

“No buts. We’ll see you all in
the morning,” he tossed over his shoulder as he got her jacket and held it for
her.

Lili was too tired to argue with
him. She allowed him to seat her in his car, and watched him walk around and
get behind the wheel. “You needn’t have left on my account,” she told him as he
started the car and pulled out. She squirmed as he turned towards her and his
eyes narrowed.

“You’re dead on your feet.”

“Thanks a lot,” Lili exclaimed,
wondering if she looked as worn out as she felt. She added ruefully, “I guess I
am more used to office work than stocking shelves. I’ve discovered muscles I
didn’t know I had, and every muscle is screaming at me.”

Ken stopped at her house. He
turned to look at her and grinned. “You’re as beautiful as ever, even with a
smudge on your nose,” Pulling out a handkerchief, he rubbed that spot. “You’d
better get into a hot bath and take some aspirin. Don’t worry about me. I’d
return to the bar if I wanted to.”

“Oh.”

Ken opened the car door and took
her arm to walk her to the door. “But as a matter of fact, I’m going home. I
have some unfinished work to do, and Renee has probably faxed me some new
problems as well.”

She smiled gratefully at him and
nodded.

He kissed her goodnight and
raised a hand to brush her long hair back. “So beautiful! I’ve never seen such
soft, silky hair. But however did you choose such an unusual color?” Without
waiting for a reply, he bent to kiss her again.

Choose such an unusual color? A
giggle rose in Lili’s throat, born of fatigue and fate. He, just like everyone
else, thought that she dyed her hair. It wasn’t worth arguing about. Besides,
who could think when his kisses were sending such scintillating messages
running up and down her veins? Dare she invite him inside?

Before she could decide, he said
a quick goodnight, and walked away.

Disappointed, she shrugged and
went inside. A hot bath and bed were a better idea for her sore and aching
muscles.

By the next evening Lili had relaxed
considerably. As Ken had promised, some managers and company reps had left the
night before, but others had appeared to replace them. Gradually, section by
section, aisle by aisle, her store returned to order. She had to admit that Tom
was right—the new arrangement was a definite improvement. Relief and
satisfaction began to replace the fear and frustration she’d felt since
learning of the reset.

One by one, the visiting helpers
took their leave, until Tom and Ken were the only outsiders left.

Anna was supervising the filling
of last section of shelves and the stock boys were beginning to mop the floors
as Ken came up behind Lili.

“Like it?” he asked.

She turned and smiled at him,
acknowledging his implied question as to whether she had forgiven his insistence
on all the changes. Nodding, she admitted, “It looks very nice. I’m sure it
will work out beautifully. Even Anna seems pleased.”

Ken glanced toward Anna. “Yes, I
do believe she is thawing a bit.”

Tom joined them. Lili told him, “Your
plan worked out very well, Tom. I think it will be easier for our customers to
find things this way.”

Tom flushed in pleasure. “Thanks.
There were a few tight spots, but as a whole, I’m satisfied. But you know, we
still have all the tagging to do. I’ll stay over one more day and help you and
Anna do that. I brought a complete set of numbers with me.”

“You can worry about all that
tomorrow,” Ken said, taking Lili’s arm. “Let’s call it a day, and go eat. I’m
starving.”

The three of them had almost
finished dessert when Tom reminded her of
Allied’s
upcoming Food Show. “Remember, I told you about it at Ken’s housewarming
party,” he said.

“Yes, I remember.” At the time,
she hadn’t known she would be buying from Allied, so she hadn’t expected to
attend. Now she could hardly avoid going.

“It’s a week from Wednesday, but
come the night before. Allied will pay for your motel room. There’s a cocktail
party, dinner and dance on Tuesday night which is a great time to get
acquainted with some of the other managers and their spouses. Did you get my
letter with the map to the motel and convention center, and the form for name
tags and room reservations?”

“Yes. I’ll fill it out and send
it in tomorrow.”

Ken grinned at Tom. “I’ll see
that she finds the place, Tom,” he told him, his eyes on Lili.

A flutter began in Lili’s stomach
at the promise in Ken’s gaze.

“I’ll pick you up on about noon
on Tuesday. That’ll give us plenty of time to stop for lunch on the way,” Ken
said firmly.

She could hardly refuse his
offer. Just the thought of the long drive with him and the idea of staying at
the same motel gave her goose bumps. She nodded, not trusting her voice.

Whenever she remembered that
promise over the next week, the excited flutter returned. She tried to tell
herself that it was just a buying show and business dinner, and that she was
silly to be feeling that it was so important.

But she couldn’t help it. She
went shopping with Tami, who insisted they shop in an exclusive shop Lili
rarely dared enter.

“You can afford it,” Tami
scolded. “You know you never spend enough on yourself, and your image is
important. You’ll be meeting lots of new people.”

“Don’t remind me, I’m nervous
enough about going with Ken.”

Lili could voice her anxieties
freely to Tami, and get an honest opinion on what to wear. A sleek blue dress
with a flowing full skirt was the first one of the dozens she tried on that
Tami was enthusiastic about.

“It’s not too daring for a
business meeting, is it?”

Lili asked anxiously, turning
about in front of the triple mirrors for the third time.

“It’s not daring at all, it’s
very proper. Every inch of you is covered.”

“But it shows off every curve.”
Lili rose on one toe and looked back over her shoulder at her reflection.

“That’s only because you have
such lovely curves.”

“Ha!”

“Buy it. You’ll never find a
better one.”

“All right, I’ll take it. Write
it up before I change my mind,” she told the hovering salesgirl.

***

Now, standing in the blue
creation in her motel room, she turned about again in front of the mirror, wishing
she had bought something else. It was too daring, even if it covered every inch
of her. It was too late now. Ken was picking her up in a minute. She tried not
to think of him getting changed right across the hall. Was he slipping into a
shirt, buttoning it up over that muscular chest she had admired in the pool? Or
pulling up his trousers over those long thighs? No, he was knocking on her
door.

With a last brush of her long
hair, she sprayed on a bit of Chanel No. 5, picked up her blue beaded evening
clutch and went to answer it.

For a long moment they just stood
there, looking at each other.

Lili thought Ken had never looked
more handsome. He was dressed in a navy business suit, set off by a pale blue shirt
and bright patterned tie. That one errant curl was still down on his forehead,
lending him a rakish air.

“You look lovely, Lili. You’ll
have all the women jealous and the men panting.”

“Flatterer,” she said with a
laugh. She closed the door and took his arm to walk down the hall. “You look
great, yourself. Are we meeting the other managers?”

“Yes, downstairs.” He punched the
elevator button and let his eyes sweep over her as they waited for it to
arrive. “You’ve met most of our own group. I do want to warn you though, that
the Allied president will introduce the people from all the new accounts.
Usually all you have to do is stand up to be recognized. It’s nothing to be
nervous about.”

“Oh.” Lili’s heart beat faster in
anticipation as they rode down to the main floor. She had hoped to merely blend
into the crowd, not be singled out. They joined a stream of people walking down
the halls towards a pair of open double doors. Everyone seemed in high spirits;
laughter echoed between the walls, and light-hearted greetings bounced from one
to another.

The huge dining room had two bars
set up, one at each end, and a waiter was busy at each mixing drinks. Large
round tables were set up throughout the center of the room. Each table was
covered in a white cloth contrasted with red cloth napkins folded in peaks at
each place. A vase in the center of the table held a single red carnation. The
room was already humming with the sounds of voices and laughter of people who
were standing around in little groups.

Ken’s grip on her arm brought a
warm flush to Lili’s cheeks, adding to her excitement. A nervous flutter jumped
in her stomach at being in a room full of strangers. She glanced about, hoping
for the sight of a familiar face.

“There’s Tom,” Ken said.

“I see him, and there’s Harry,
too.”

Tom waved to them from beside the
nearest bar, and they wove through the crowd toward him, stopping a dozen times
along the way to talk to someone. Ken seemed to know everyone. Lili lost track
of the number of people she was introduced to, and just kept smiling and
listening.

Harry had saved them places at
one of the tables. When they finally sat down to dinner, she was relieved to
find she knew most of the people at their table. Tom and Harry introduced their
wives, and Lili found them all easy to talk to.

When everyone settled down at the
tables, a crew of uniformed waiters and waitresses began serving a prime rib
dinner. Portions were generous and Lili was soon stuffed.

They had dessert and coffee, listened
to several speeches and introductions, then a band struck up. Dancing started
and people began moving from table to table to chat.

Lili danced with Ken, amazed to
find how much her traitorous body enjoyed being in his arms and how much she
enjoyed feeling a part of this group of people. She knew she should pull away,
keep her distance emotionally, but the strains of music and the warmth of his
arms enticed her. She sighed and snuggled closer.

Slowly the huge dining room
emptied, and Ken and Lili took the elevator back to their rooms. Ken loosened
his tie and slipped off his suit jacket, draping it over one arm.

“It was a very pleasant evening,”
Lili said. “I enjoyed it.”

“Allied always does it up
nicely,” Ken agreed, not accepting credit for the dinner-dance. “We all look
forward to coming each year.”

“I think....”

They stepped out of the elevator
and started down the hall. A door burst open in front of them and two men
rolled out, fists flying in combat. Loud curses and grunts accompanied the
blows as they fought.

“Look out!” Ken pushed Lili back
against the wall out of the way.

“Hank! Rudy! Cool it, guys.” Ken
tossed his jacket to Lili.

With a quick grab, he pulled Hank
off of Rudy, who thanked Ken by turning on him with a lunging punch which sent
them both reeling against the far wall. Then Hank was back, fists flying at
both men.

Lili screamed when she saw blood
spurt from Ken’s nose. Hank was drunk and slow. Ken easily pinned Hank’s arms
behind him, and held him immobile. Then Rudy realized it was his boss who had
caught them fighting. He dropped his arms and stepped back, a sheepish look on
his face.

“What’s going on here?” Ken
demanded, catching his breath. His angry gaze raked from one man to the other.

“Nothing, Ken,” Rudy said
quickly.

Hank stopped struggling, frowned
and stared at Rudy belligerently, but remained silent. It was obvious neither
wanted to explain what they had been fighting about.

“We’ll talk about this when
you’re sober,” Ken said, releasing Hank. “Both of you, hit the sack.”

Rudy murmured, “Sorry,” and went
back into the room they had both come out of and closed the door. Hank merely
grunted, and headed for the elevator.

“You okay?” Ken asked, turning
back to Lili.

“Yes, but you’re not...you’re
bleeding!” she exclaimed.

Grimacing, he pulled out his
handkerchief and held it to his nose.

She took his hand in hers to
examine the bloody scrape on his forearm. “Let me wash and bandage that for
you.” She dug out her room key as they walked down to her door. She unlocked it
and waved him inside.

“It’s nothing. My nose has
stopped bleeding and I just lost a little skin on my arm,” he protested as she
pulled him into the bathroom and turned on the water. “One of them must have
been wearing a sharp ring.”

His arm was smarting from the
scraped skin, but the other hand still held in hers was burning for another
reason.

Lili seemed not to notice,
adjusting the water to a comfortable temperature and gently rinsing his arm
with a wet washcloth. The water in the sink turned red with blood, but she
agreed, “You’re right, the wound isn’t serious. It should be all right if I
just had something to bind it to stop the bleeding.”

“There’s a clean handkerchief in
the top bureau drawer in my room,” Ken said. Blood dripped again, so he quickly
moved his arm back over the sink and pressed the washcloth against it. “The
room key is in my right pants pocket. Can you get it?”

Blushing, Lili slipped her hand
into the warm pocket, and found it. She went across the hall to his room to get
the handkerchief, feeling a strange sense of intimacy at going into his motel
room and digging through his underwear and socks. Finding the handkerchief, she
returned to her own room, and bandaged his arm tightly, hoping he wouldn’t
notice how her cheeks burned.

Ken watched her, smiling. “Did
anyone see you?”

“No...I don’t think so.” Her
startled glance swept up to his face and then quickly away again. “There was no
one in the hall.”

“Then why are you so
embarrassed?” His hazel eyes held hers in a riveting gaze.

Her breath caught. She felt
warmth slide down her insides, as though her bones had turned to honey. “I...I
don’t know.”

He stepped closer and his
uninjured arm wrapped around her. He bent his head until his lips brushed hers
in a soft caress. “Are you afraid someone will know I’m in here with you? That
they might suspect I’m kissing you like this?” he asked softly. “Or even like
this?” The kiss deepened.

She pulled back, trying to ease
out of his grip. “No, I mean, I don’t care what people think....”

He smiled, and his lips nibbled
hers, urging her cooperation in their efforts. “Good. Neither do
I
. I want to kiss you, more than anything, Lili. All the
time we were dancing, I ached to kiss you like this.”

His words sent hot fingers of
desire wending their way through her. The washcloth dropped from her fingers
and splashed back into the sink. Her hand moved up to the soft brown curls on
his neck and her fingers wrapped themselves around the curve of his head,
mindlessly stroking.

His hand slid up her side,
cupping her as a thumb eased along her breast, teasing a shudder of delight
from her.

He eased her zipper down her back
to give him better access, and stepped from the brightly lit bathroom into the
carpeted bedroom, his arm still around her, moving her with him. She was beyond
objecting, and made no sound as her feet followed his lead and his gaze stayed
locked with hers, coaxing her permission for his actions. He was kissing her
again. She couldn’t stop her fingers from following his lead and undoing the
buttons on his shirt. Each one opened easily amid more torrid kisses.

Stopping beside the bed, he
pulled back and began untying his tie, his eyes on hers. He slipped out of his
shirt and dropped it onto the chair.

She swallowed as he came back to
her and slipped the sleek blue dress from her shoulders, letting it drop to the
floor. Trembling with desire, she stepped out of it and tossed it onto the
chair on top of his shirt. Her slip followed.

She didn’t remember sitting down,
but he was sitting on the side of her bed and she was on his lap. His kisses
traveled down her neck to the soft skin of her breast. One long fingered hand
slid the strap of her lacy bra off her shoulder, then unhooked it and pushed it
aside. His warm lips eagerly tasted each spot of creamy skin as he uncovered
it.

She gasped at the strong
sensation he elicited as he drew her erect nipple into his mouth, a crinkle of
satisfaction showing around his eyes as he watched her excited response.

He leaned back and pulled her
with him, then turned to cover her body with his own, showing her clearly how
much she affected him. The knowledge of his need for her sent an answering
surge of heat coursing through her.

Reason flew out the window as her
heart raced in response, and her fingers tried to finish their job of releasing
him from his restricting clothes. Drawing a ragged breath, he sat up and
quickly disposed of them, while she slipped out of the remainder of hers.

Pulling back the bedspread, he
laid her back onto the smooth sheet and covered her once more. His hands moved
slowly over her now, as though to give her time to refuse him if she wanted to.
He sought her gaze. “I want you, Lili,” he whispered softly. “You’re so
beautiful! Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” she returned,
desire raging inside her. Disappointment surged as he turned away from her and
sat up. Was he having second thoughts at this late stage?

No, he was only digging in his
pants pocket for a foil packet of protection. In a moment, he turned back to
her and eased full length beside her on the king-sized bed.

Soon kisses and touching were not
nearly enough, and neither could wait any longer. Watching her face, he
carefully entered her.

As she smiled and sighed in
pleasure, the concern on his face disappeared and he began the ancient rhythm
of lovers. Lips and tongues joined the fun, and all other thoughts receded as
desire tossed them to glorious heights. He covered her final cry of pleasure
with his lips, then gasped and arched in sweet reply.

At last, slick with sweat, he
rolled them to their sides, refusing to separate from her. He took her lips
with his again, then reached down to pull the blanket over them.

When she awoke hours later, she
was still cuddled in his arms. That wayward curl was again down over his
forehead. She gently brushed it aside and his eyes opened to meet hers.

She smiled sleepily and tried to
pull away, but his arm tightened around her, molding her against his warm,
solid flesh. The hairs on his chest tickled the tips of her bare breast,
sending ripples of pleasure through her.

“You’d better go back to your
room,” she murmured.

“Mm
hm
,
in a minute. First things first.” His hand slid the sheet down to uncover one
dark peak and his lips quickly followed to grasp it firmly in his mouth.
Pleasure arched her against him and all thoughts of going back to sleep fled
from her mind.

It was considerably more than a
minute before he left her.

* * *

In the morning, she felt nervous
about going downstairs. Ken was waiting for her in the lobby along with several
other managers of their group. Except for a special smile and a familiar
squeeze of her arm, Ken acted as usual.

Each of the managers was carrying
a ‘deal book’, which they had received and read several days before to decide
what deals they would choose to run for their upcoming weekly sales.

“Nervous?” Ken asked as they
walked out to his car.

“A bit,” Lili admitted. “I’ve
always ordered groceries as we needed them, not booked them months in advance,
especially on a ‘no return’ basis.”

“Don’t worry,” Ken assured her.
“You’re only expected to get your feet wet this time. Don’t let the salespeople
pressure you. Most of them are pretty low key, so you shouldn’t have any
problems.”

They drove to the auditorium
where the show was to be held, and hunted for a parking place for ten minutes,
then still had to walk for blocks.

A hum of voices greeted them from
the entrance of the huge room. Several Allied reps in their distinctive jackets
sat behind a long table covered with tote bags, name tags, and literature. Tom
greeted them and dug their name tags from the pile in front of him.

“Help yourselves to coffee and
fruit and rolls at the Allied table to your right just inside,” Tom told them.

Inside they made their way
through the crowd to the table with the huge coffee urns and platters of rolls.
Everyone stood around talking as they ate.

A few faces she remembered from
dinner the night before, others were new, which wasn’t surprising since there were
several hundred people there.

The huge auditorium was decorated
with brightly colored banners and balloons. Paper streamers were strung from
the rafters and the constant hum of voices from the people provided the music.

The room was divided into rows of
booths, each booth manned by a representative of a different company. Some were
from equipment companies selling such things as computers, cash-registers and
refrigeration, others from drug companies touting everything from suntan
lotions to toothpaste. Still others were showing general merchandise, such as
kitchen utensils, nylons, school supplies, and books.

But of course, the majority were
pushing one or another brand of food, each anxious to gain a larger share of
shelf space by grabbing the attention of the store buyers with a better price
or product than their competitors. The delicious aromas of coffee and bacon
mingled in the room. In many of the booths, a representative was cooking and
passing out samples of foods.

“Honestly, there must be a
hundred booths,” Lili exclaimed in awe.

“A hundred and twelve this year,
I believe,” Ken agreed.

Pausing at each booth to book
various deals took time and paperwork, so Lili and the others were soon
separated.

Everyone seemed to know Ken.
Politely, he stopped to talk to each person, greeting most of them by name.
Lili was amazed at how many names he could remember. She moved through the
throngs of people going from booth to booth, carrying their order books and a
large tote bag of samples and literature on new products. When she realized
she’d lost sight of him, she felt a strange sense of loss.

Hours later, she was glad to hear
someone announce that lunch was being served downstairs. She wasn’t really
hungry because she had sampled everything from pizza and broasted chicken to
new flavors of fruit drinks throughout the morning. But she badly needed to sit
down for a while. As she made her way towards the stairs, Ken appeared beside
her.

“Sorry I got lost like that,” he
said, taking her arm as they joined the long line to the buffet dinner. “Did
you have any problems?”

“Oh no, only that my feet are
killing me,” she said, laughing ruefully. “This is harder than working at the
store.”

“More nerve-wracking, too. Too
many decisions in too short a time,” Ken agreed.

The buffet table groaned under
huge pans of chicken, ribs, salads and vegetables. They filled their plates,
went to the side table for beverages and found places at one of the long tables
filling the huge room.

Tom joined them a few moments
later and introduced several more of
Allied’s
representatives. Rudy and Harry joined them, accompanied by Harry’s wife and an
attractive female department manager Rudy had brought with him. Lili enjoyed
the way they all seemed to accept her, and included her in their conversation
and jokes.

She wasn’t sure she was quite
comfortable with the way they seemed to think of her and Ken as a couple. Was
it so obvious to others that they were more than business partners?