mean… ? Surely not.
Her grey eyes took in the studied arrogance of his stance, the coldly cynical expression evident in his eyes, eyes as incredibly blue as the deepest reaches of the Pacific Ocean.
If she was unsure of his meaning then those chilling eyes confirmed her suspicions. He meant exactly what she’d suspected his words implied.
Keira’s back straightened instinctively and her chin rose. ‘My intentions? I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean by that,’ she said succinctly, and they both knew she was stretching the truth.
‘Oh, I think you do, Mrs Strong. What are your intentions towards my nephew? I would have thought that was fairly self-explanatory.’ He made a slightly irritated movement of one well-shaped hand. ‘However, I’ll try to be a little more explicit.’
‘Please do,’ Keira put in levelly and his eyes narrowed.
‘What would a married woman, one not in her first bloom of youth, want with a teenage boy scarcely out of the classroom, hmm?’ He folded his arms across his chest again and held her gaze.
Keira seethed inside. How dared he? How dared he stand there all holier than thou and make such vulgar insinuations? And what precisely did he expect her to say, allowing for the fact that he was, in all essence, her boss? What she’d like to say to him…
‘Apart from the obvious, that is?’ he added disparagingly, and hot colour flooded Keira’s cheeks.
‘Daniel and I,’ she got out between clenched teeth, and then made herself pause, swallow to regain her control. She had to keep her cool, not allow him the satisfaction of nettling her. ‘Daniel and I are working acquaintances. No more, no less. Daniel kindly—’
Eden Cassidy bit off a derogatory expletive and Keira vehemently wished Daniel were here at this particular moment so that she could give him the sharp edge of her tongue.
‘Daniel asked me to accompany him to his grandfather’s party as a favour, in a purely friendly capacity.’
‘So you’re just good friends?’ Eden mocked sceptically and Keira’s lips thinned.
‘We are. Daniel is a very nice, intelligent young man. This is the first time I’ve seen him outside working hours but I must admit I enjoy his company.’
‘And you expect me to believe that?’ Eden Cassidy’s hands went to his hips as he glared his so obvious doubt.
‘I’m not a liar, Mr Cassidy,’ Keira informed him directly. ‘However, you don’t need to take my word for it. Check with your nephew if you want to.’
‘Oh, I do intend to speak to Daniel, make no mistake about that.’
Keira felt a momentary pang for Daniel, having to face his uncle’s icy wrath, but then she quelled her sympathy. Daniel Cassidy was, after all, to blame for this embarrassing scene.
‘But I also felt the need to discuss the situation with you,’ Eden Cassidy continued smoothly. ‘You being older than my nephew, and supposedly more mature.’
‘For heaven’s sake,’ Keira got out. ‘I’m not that much older than Daniel.’
‘Oh, come on now, Mrs Strong. You are a number of
years older—’ Eden Cassidy put in, but Keira held up her hand negatingly.
‘You make it sound as though I’m old enough to be his mother, which is a physical impossibility, apart from the ludicrousness of the idea.’ Her eyes flashed contemptuously over him. ‘And I resent your implications.’
‘Implications?’ Eden Cassidy’s dark brows rose. ‘I thought I was being reasonably specific, Mrs Strong. Let’s call it a table card, shall we? So what is it exactly that you resent?’ A cold smile touched his lips and Keira knew an uncharacteristic and almost overwhelming desire to slap his handsome face.
‘I have no designs on your nephew’s inheritance or his family associations,’ she bit out through clenched teeth. ‘And whether or not you choose to believe that is irrelevant to me. As for your other ridiculous insinuation, well, it would be laughable if I didn’t find it so insulting.’
‘I’ve offended you. My humble apologies.’ He gave a slight bow, his mocking tone contradicting his placating words. ‘But surely even you, Mrs Strong, must see how your liaison looks.’
Keira marvelled silently that she remained in the same room as this insufferable man. If this was typical of Eden Cassidy she was beginning to understand Daniel’s less than favourable view of his uncle. ‘Daniel and I do not have a liaison, Mr Cassidy. As I told you before, we are simply friends.’
‘Friends?’ he repeated with that same heavy disbelief.
‘Yes, friends, Mr Cassidy,’ she reiterated. ‘And although it’s hardly any of your business, but allowing for the sordid state of your mind, I don’t make a habit of sleeping around with men younger than I am.’ Keira realised he would most probably misinterpret her words and added, ‘Or older than I am, for that matter. You have a nerve to surmise such a thing when you’d never even met me.’
‘Such a passionate speech, Mrs Strong. But we’re talking about the real world here. The next thing you’ll be telling me is that you’re just an old-fashioned girl who is happily faithful to her husband.’ He raised one dark eyebrow with exaggerated scepticism. ‘A husband who, by the way, happens to be conveniently conspicuous by his absence.’
Keira drew herself together. So her company personnel records weren’t complete. The great Eden Cassidy didn’t know everything. And he thought she had left her husband at home while she enjoyed a weekend of illicit sex with a teenager. Charming!
‘There appears to be a hitch in the Cassidy-Ford Publishing archives. Or perhaps your minions have misreported. It must be so difficult to get good snoops these days.’ Keira unconsciously tapped her leg with her tennis racket
‘Meaning?’ He watched her through narrowed eyes.
‘Meaning I’m sorry to have to ruin your little fantasy, Mr Cassidy, but I’m not a bored old bag having a fling. However, you are right about one thing. I did, and still do, believe in the sanctity of marriage, so I suppose in the let-it-all-hang-out circles you move in that does make me prosaically old-fashioned.
‘Now, I’m more than a little tired of this pointless and humiliating conversation. When Daniel returns I’d appreciate it if you’d inform him that I’ve gone on to the tennis court.’
Keira took two steps towards the door and stopped, turning slightly to look back at Daniel’s uncle. ‘And just a word of advice which you can take or leave. If I were you I wouldn’t try to warn Daniel away from me. He’s more than a little-—’ she paused ‘—disenchanted, shall we say, with some of your ultimatums already. This may be the one to tip the scales completely against you. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to do any more damage to your already shaky relationship with your nephew.’
‘My relationship with my nephew is scarcely any of your business,’ Eden Cassidy bit out acidly, and Keira knew she’d struck a raw nerve.
‘Ordinarily I’d have agreed with you,” she told him evenly. ‘But when the results of
