The Man With The Money. Arlene James

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      “Guilty as charged.”

      “Is it working?”

      “We’ll see. We’re rotating corporate staff in and out of the various stores around the country. So far the reports have been mixed, but all in all, I think we’ll gain a new appreciation for what our front line is actually doing.”

      “I think it’s brilliant,” she told him baldly, and watched in surprise as his eyes darkened almost to black.

      “Do you?” he murmured, stepping closer. “That’s nice.” He lifted a hand and very lightly ran the tip of a finger along the arch of her cheekbone. “Thanks.”

      She found it very difficult to breathe. Until that moment she had half believed that it was her imagination, but now she knew without doubt that he was coming on to her. The pleasure of it swept over her in a glad rush, but the next instant she thought of Ponce and automatically stepped back.

      “We, uh, we still have to pick up some equipment,” she muttered.

      The brilliance of his smile, the confident, predatory gleam of it, filled her with dismaying delight. Her heart pounded, and the tiny, sparse hairs on her arms lifted as her skin came alive. Appalled, she turned on her heel and walked off in the direction of a display of soccer balls, firmly controlling the insane urge to run.

      Darren watched Charly walk away, noting with extreme interest that her hips swayed in a much more seductive manner than before. She was embarrassed about it, but he was, without doubt, getting to her. This was working out even better than he’d hoped.

      Following at a short distance, he walked toward the equipment section of the store, but he did not, as she obviously expected, go to the big wire bin of soccer balls offered at a special price. He knew perfectly well that the balls were probably two or three years old, the last of an unsold lot from a previous batch, which the manufacturer undoubtedly dumped on the discounter for free, or very nearly so, in exchange for a sizable order of new balls to be sold at a good price. Such sale balls were fine for use by individuals, neighborhood play, that sort of thing. Getting booted around by sixteen kids in an hour was another matter entirely. Better to buy good game balls. Charly disagreed.