Guardian Angel (4 page)

"Why don't you tell Mr. Templeton the problems you've been having with Mr. St. Clair about your budget?" Dena suggested. "I bet he'd be more than on your side for the changes you want to make."

Alex shook her head with a vehement gesture. "This is my baby and I'll handle it my way. If I went crying to him, he'd think I can't handle my own problems and if I can't do that, how can he feel comfortable knowing I'm also supposed to be protecting him?"

The secretary nodded in agreement, seeing the logic in Alex's statement. "I'm on your side and so are most of the secretaries around he
re. The company certainly takes
enough security precautions in the lobby and on each floor; it should allow you to do the same everywhere."

Alex laid her glasses on her desk and leaned back in her chair, resting her head back. "We'll find out, won't we?"

She hadn't expected her meeting with Walt St. Clair to be amiable, but she hadn't expected to be shot down from the moment she had stated her first project either.

"There is no reason to have all these space age gadgets set up in the parking garages when we already have them at the entrance and exit and a guard at the visitors' gate." His pompous voice set Alex's teeth on edge. "I can't imag
ine anyone getting past the guard or the gates, can you?" he challenged.

"Yes, I can," she replied coldly. "Not all of these per
verts running around wear dirty jeans and T-shirts, Walt. They can be dressed in th
ree-piece suits and carrying ex
pensive briefcases. No one is allowed into the employee parking garages and the gates are only a partial deterrent. They
e
nsure that the visitors to this building use only the one level which leads directly to the lobby and a man is
stationed at the gate and another at the entrance doors. Right now the assaults are happening in the employee parking areas and it's happened in three other company parking lots within the past six months. I don't intend to see it happen here." Her features were sharply etched with her anger. She added sarcastically, "Just because these attacks have been made on women in the past doesn't mean that a man might not be assaulted at some time."

"Oh, come now, Mrs. Page," Harold Morton, Walt's assistant, chuckled. He had always privately thought of Alex as a lovely woman, but
a little too liberal with wom
ens' rights as far as he was concerned. Why Mr. Temple
ton put her in such a position was beyond him. "Do you think a deranged woman will break into the parking ga
rage and vent her anger on one of us?" His laughter was unkind and demeaned her suggested improvements.

Alex's eyes flashed over him with icy contempt. "Per
sonally, Harold, I wouldn't have a damn thing to do with you, even though I have had all my shots. Of course, you can't account for some people's taste," she drawled with cold insolence. She could read their thoughts reflected on their faces. Just like a woman, get upset when she doesn't have her own way.

Alex stood up and looked at each of the five men with anger sparking in her green eyes. "It appears that nothing is going to be accomplished here." Her body was rigid with suppressed violence. "For your sake, gentlemen. I sincerely hope that we won't have to contend with the problem Kovack has, because our next meeting won't be as civilized. Good day." She gathered her papers together and walked out of the conference room with her head held high.

Dena looked up from her typing and saw the fury on Alex's face when she entered the office.

"Oh, oh," Dena muttered, hurriedly turning off her
typewriter and getting up from her chair to follow Alex into her office. "Let me guess, the meeting didn't go very well."

"That's the understatement of the year," she said harsh
ly, tossing the folders on her desk, for once disregarding her old habit of neatness. "They refuse to allow me to stretch the budget this year for those cameras. They feel our security system is adequate," she snorted, clearly ready for a fight.

"Are you going to talk to Mr. Templeton about your ideas when he gets back?" Dena asked her, now a little cautious. She hadn't seen Alex in a temper like this one before.

She shook her head vehemently. "This is my battle and I'll fight it alone. And, by God, I'll win too."

The secretary nodded, never having any doubts in her belief that her boss wouldn't win. "What do you want me to do?"

Alex looked up with a grateful smile. "Research. It's going to be boring as hell, but I want a breakdown of assaults committed in buildings similar to this one with the same security measures we now have. And if there's more than one in a particular building, I want the time of day the assault occurred. The next time I
go in
there, I'm not going to be shot down the way I was today," she vowed, dropping into her chair. Alex picked up her tele
phone messages and sorted through them, now confident of her plan of attack.

A few days later, when Jared returned from his short vacation, Alex was back on the merry-go-round of short business trips to Fernwood's
v
arious offices. She said noth
ing about her abortive meeting with the accounting execu
tives.

Late Thursday evening Jared pushed his chair away
from his desk and stood up to stretch his weary muscles. It was well after nine and his body was telling him that his grueling schedule was catching up with him. Deciding a quick swim was the ideal solution, he switched off the desk lamp and walked out of his office toward his private eleva
tor.

This wasn't the first time he had chosen to take a late night swim in the gym's pool. Since it closed at eight, he knew he would have complete privacy.

Entering the men's locker room, he was surprised to hear the loud plop of a ball bouncing off a wall. Frowning with annoyance, he walked out to the counter where Max, the manager, was usually found, even at this late hour.

"Max, who has the nerve to keep you here so late?" he demanded.

Max, a balding man who resembled an aging prizefight
er, grinned at his boss's assumption that no one would dare what he would do without a second thought.

"Why not take a look for yourself," he invited. "Court three."

"I will." Jared's grim face promised his wrath against the intruder. "You shouldn't have to stay late for anyone. With me, you know I always lock up when I leave."

"So does court three," Max told him, still refusing to name the unknown person. "It's just someone who has frustrations to work out."

Jared strode over to the walkway and looked down over the racquetball courts. There he could see dark hair in a braid hanging down the back and a sweatband covering the forehead. White athletic shorts bared golden legs and a pink tank top was dark with perspiration. He watched the woman pound the ball against the wall, then spin around to retrieve it off the back wall. Sensing she was under observation, she glanced up to identify her visitor.

"Working late, Mr. Templeton?" Alex called out, lift
ing her arm to wipe her forehead.

Jared looked over her slender body with appreciation, now seeing the curves her businesslike suits had only hint
ed at during the day. "I could say the same of you," he countered. "The gym closes at eight."

"I'm a special case." She added pointedly, "Just like you." The saucy grin she displayed revealed the little girl usually hidden deep in her personality. "What time is it?"

"Ten after nine."

Alex grimaced. "No wonder I feel wiped out. I've been here since a little before eight."

"Why don't you get cleaned up and I'll take you out for some dinner." Jared surprised himself by his impulsive invitation. "Knowing you, you haven't bothered eating all day."

Alex was equally surprised by his off-hand invitation. "Max said you come up here to swim sometimes." She tipped her head to one side, surveying the business suit. "Wouldn't that be more to your liking than taking one of your employees out to dinner?"

For some reason it angered him to think of her as one of his employees, yet what else could he call her? She certainly wasn't a friend. She didn't allow anyone to get close enough to her for that. Unless he counted Chris. They certainly seemed chummy enough.

Al
ex was considering Jared's suggestion with mixed feelings. She couldn't complain about her working condi
tions and she certainly had enough freedom in her job, except for the fiasco with St. Clair. At the same time, she was hungry, and she hated the thought of returning to her apartment and fixing a meal so late at night.

"I'll make a deal with you. You go take your swim while I shower and take a few minutes in the Jacuzzi," she suggested.

Jared's stern face broke into a brief smile. "Sounds good to me," he agreed. "Twenty minutes."

Alex nodded, then walked over to the door and opened a small compartment where she kept her can of balls and locker key.

She used the gym every once in a while and was able to stay late after Max realized that she cleaned up after her
self and was careful to lock up when she left.

For many women, twenty minutes would have been impossible to get ready to go to dinner with a good-look
ing man. Not so with Alex. She took ten minutes in the Jacuzzi, then showered and changed into the clean clothes she had brought with her, a pair of black wool pants and a black and white striped silk shirt. Her hair was kept in its braid.

Alex was talking with Max when Jared walked out of the locker room. He had left his tie off and now had his jacket hooked over one finger and draped over his shoul
der.

"No more late nights, Max," he admonished the man.

"The rules say no one swims alone," he corrected the younger man. "And even the Chief of Security needs pro
tection sometimes." He smiled at Alex, who returned his warm gaze.

"You certainly have him on your side," Jared com
mented as they rode down in the elevator. "Max is one of the original woman haters."

"He doesn't think of me as a woman," she replied.

Jared glanced down at her with disbelieving eyes. "I find that hard to believe."

"Why don't we just walk down to Nico's?" she suggest
ed when they reached the lobby. "That will save us taking two cars."

"For a moment back there I thought you were going to refuse my dinner invitation."

"This is a lot nicer than having to go home and fix something this late at night."

Jared felt a little annoyed that the only reason she had agreed to go out with him was to save some work for herself and not because she wished his company. She cer
tainly knew how to tramp on a man's ego.

Nico's was a small restaurant not far from the building that catered to office workers during lunch hour and brought out the tablecloths and candles for the dinner hour. Both Alex and Jared were greeted warmly and ush
ered to a side booth.

Not taking time to study the menu, Alex ordered a salad and a glass of white wine.

"Cheap date," Jared joked.

"It wouldn't be good to have anything too heavy so late at night," she explained, lacing her fingers together and laying them on the table. "We have an early day tomor
row."

He smiled at her remark. "If people overheard you, they'd tend to get the wrong idea," he said silkily.

She shot him a sharp glance. "Not if I could help it."

He took a cheroot out of his cigarette case and lit it, drawing deeply. "You don't like me very much, do you?"

Alex hid the smile that threatened to appear. Did it bother Jared that much because she hadn't fallen under his spell? "Your idea of working hours might be more than many people can handle, but you're also a fair man to work for. You care about your employees. There's proof of that with your addition of the gym." Three years before, Jared had arranged for the installation of a gym for his employees, which boas
ted a swimming pool, three rac
quetball courts, and a fully equipped weight room. Alex made use of it once a week, teaching a self-defense class to the interested women employees and even to a few of the men.

Jared was even more curious to ask Alex her opinion of him as a man, but hesitated, afraid that he might not like her answer. It was true that his ego was dented a bit by the fact that she had never shown him more than superfi
cial courtesy. That she had accepted his dinner invitation surprised him, since she usually kept him at more than arm's length. He also recalled the day when he had walked unannounced into Chris's office and found Alex and Chris talking and laughing the way old friends would. He refused to admit that he might be just the tiniest bit jealous of the easy companionship his bodyguard and secretary shared.

Sitting so close to Jared, Alex was more than aware of the musky cologne he wore that blended naturally with his body scent, leaving a woman with the impression that this man was all male. She had been around men who could exude a blatant masculinity all her life, but none who could tumble her thoughts the way Jared did. It had become increasingly more difficult to keep her mind where it belonged when she was alone with him the way she was now.