have to prove myself. Revealing Lord Sin’s true identity is my ticket out. If I find out who he is, I get transferred to investigative reporting.”
Her eyes were green, not the emerald color of her dress but something softer. Now they sparkled with the challenge. Lottie was right. His attraction to this woman could be trouble. WTRU had a reputation for hiring people who went for the jugular. As innocent as she appeared to be, Sunny Clary would be a serious threat. If there was any way to tie Ryan Malone to Lord Sin, this woman might be the one to pull it off.
“And you want to report all the tough stuff?”
“Yes,” she answered seriously. “I need an interview with Lord Sin. I’d really appreciate your assistance. Will you help me expose the man’s identity?”
Ryan blinked. He’d been so caught up in wanting her body that he wasn’t thinking clearly. Her innocence was dangerous. She drew you in before you realized you’d been caught. She was not going to just let Sin fade away. He would have to find a more public ending to make Lord Sin disappear forever. Suppose he let Sunny Clary write Sin’s final story, the one Ryan Malone had created. Why not? Sure, Malone, and you’ve got your spaceship anchored in the parking lot for your next mission to Mars.
If the world learned that Ryan Malone earned his fortune from investments made as a stripper, he’d become the laughingstock of Atlanta. He had to get serious and find a way to stop her—quick. “Maybe I could help you. Let me get you a glass of champagne and we’ll find a more private spot to talk.”
“No champagne. I’m not much of a drinker. Couldn’t we talk right here?” she asked, moving into an alcove off the lobby. “Just a minute.” She reached down and slipped the back of a strappy sandal from her heel and kicked it off. The other soon followed. “Now, that’s better.”
Ryan clenched his teeth. Her long legs and her remark just blew off his newly gained control. He frowned. Misdirection, he decided. Put her on the defensive for a change. “I’m just curious. Most women love Lord Sin. Apparently he didn’t seduce you.”
“He tried. I guess I just didn’t buy it,” she lied. “Even years ago, this palace would have cost a bundle. He couldn’t have made enough money stripping two nights a week to buy a building like this, could he?”
Ryan swallowed his impulse to tell her that not only could he, he had. And Lord Sin had owned a hotel and two restaurants as well, one of which he still owned on the Riviera. Instead, he said, “Sin doesn’t call himself a stripper. And I’m told he owned several clubs—profitable ones.”
“Where I come from, strippers only perform at the truck stops and they don’t own them. Why did he keep his life secret if he had nothing to hide?”
“Maybe he had good reason,” Ryan said. “Maybe dancing was the only way he could get what he wanted. What would you do to get what you wanted?”
She frowned, chewing the corner of her lower lip. “What do you mean?”
“You talk a good game, Ms. Clary. Tell me, have you ever cared about something so badly that you’d do anything to get it?”
“Yeah, the truth. But it cost me everything. This story will give it back.”
“But you won’t get it, Miss Clary, not without my help.”
He watched her face as that thought churned in her mind. She seemed so sure of herself, so full if idealism. He couldn’t believe that Sunny had ever been rejected. Not the way his mother had been. The pain of that rejection had killed her and driven him to succeed. Now he’d finally done what he’d set out to do. The dream would be fulfilled in two more weeks. The children’s wing at Doctor’s Hospital, named for his mother, would be dedicated. Then he could relax and enjoy his life as a successful businessman. And the only way to be sure of that was to make certain that Sunny Clary’s zeal didn’t interfere.
He leaned back against a fluted column and gave her a heated smile, intended to intimidate. “You say you want an interview with Lord Sin. What would you do to find him?”
His question stopped her for about ten seconds. “I’d do anything, so long as it’s not illegal or immoral!”
Ryan didn’t doubt for a minute that she meant it. But he was certain the “anything” that came to his mind was not what she was envisioning. In spite of the risk he was running, he was more intrigued with Sunny Clary than he had been with any woman in a long time. She’d put down the way he’d made his money and she doubted his success. Topping it off was her challenge, “What’s the matter? Aren’t you up to seducing a real woman?” Her taunt was still nagging at him. Lord Sin might not be up to seducing Sunny Clary, but Ryan Malone was. “Suppose I could arrange an interview?”
“Name your price.”
Before he’d thought it out, he heard himself say, “I’ll do what I can to help you find Lord Sin, if I can have you.”
“Have?” Her voice quivered slightly. “Define have, from a legal and moral standpoint.”
“Well, I’m not talking marriage so that covers legal. And moral? I’m not even certain morality exists anymore. But, hey, I’m a businessman turned lover, not a philosopher. What do I know?”
Sunny was taken with a bout of coughing. First her attraction to Lord Sin, now Ryan Malone was making her feel like she was in South Georgia on a riverbank in the middle of June. Hot. This was not what she’d learned in Journalism 101. “I think I will have that glass of champagne now.”
He could tell she was delaying, looking for a way out. But he wasn’t going to give her one. Once he’d made up his mind, having Sunny Clary felt right. Like a business deal ripe for the taking. He told himself that burying Lord Sin forever was all the justification he needed for the risk he was taking to get Ms. Sunny Clary in bed. He deserved to have just one woman from all those Lord Sin had seduced over the years. He’d keep her so occupied with Ryan Malone that she’d forget Sin. “Don’t go away, Ms. Clary. I’ll be right back.”
But he was saved from the necessity of leaving her by the timely appearance of a waiter carrying a tray of slender glasses still bubbling. Without taking his eyes off Sunny Clary, he snagged two. Handing her a glass, he said, “I get you and I’ll try to persuade Lord Sin to grant your interview. Are you game?”
“What makes you think you can do that?” she asked, tempted, in spite of the danger Malone represented. Her father would have said, “follow your instincts.” She wondered what her mother would have said if she’d lived to see her daughter grow up.
“Let’s just say, given the right situation, I might. I can’t be sure but I know some people who can help you.”
“I’ll have to think about it,” she said, delaying her answer again. How had she let herself get into this kind of situation? Was the story worth the risk?
“Don’t think too long.” Malone warned. “I understand Lord Sin is leaving town. You may only have a couple of weeks.”
She took a sip of her champagne, wrinkled her nose and took another, seeking the courage she’d always heard came from alcohol. It didn’t come. “I can’t imagine that you’d want to sleep with me,” she said desperately. “I’m just a country girl.”
“I’m not sure I believe that, and I don’t sleep with women, I make love
