Page 39 of Married to My Master

“So, you two just hit it off, then?” Jas asked, smiling delightedly and waggling her eyebrows as she sipped her wine.

Dane laughed. “You could say that. It's certainly been a fresh experience, that's for sure.”

“She's definitely a fresh experience,” Jas agreed, laughing with him.

“Oh, she's a spitfire all right,” he admitted. “And pretty hardheaded. But I like that about her. I really do.”

“Come on!” Jas replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. “Emily, hardheaded? Never!”

They both laughed as Dane leaned forward with the wine bottle and topped off her glass without asking. Her having a glass or two of wine in her had definitely helped with his little charade, that was for sure.

“What have you guys been doing this whole time?”

“Just, you know,” he said, with a shrug, “relationship stuff. Working in the garden and cooking dinner together. That kind of thing.”

“Emily cooks?” Jas asked, grinning. “I didn't know that!”

“Well,” he admitted, as he poured a touch more wine into his own glass. “We're both still learning. We've been talking a lot, too. We’re getting to know each other. She's a very remarkable woman, unlike anyone I've ever met.”

He meant it, too, he realized. She was perfect. Hardheaded, spirited, beautiful, and intelligent. One look from her could cut a man down to size, or lift him up to the heavens. She was everything he'd ever sought in a woman.

“What about you?” Jas asked. “I mean, I know all about her history, kind of, but what about you, Dane?”

He smiled and shook his head. “No, you don't want to hear about me. I'm boring.”

She grinned. “If you stole Emily's heart this way, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're definitely not boring.”

He laughed. “Well, I was in the military for a while. In the Air Force.”

“A fly boy, huh?” Jas said, leaning forward with her chin resting on one hand, a devilish gleam in her eyes. “Tell me more.”

For the next little while, Dane talked about his life and his time overseas. He steered clear of any talk about Benton, only telling Jas that he didn't get to see his brother as much as he wanted.

He took another sip of wine. “What about you?” he asked. “What do you do at BioSphere?”

“Oh, I don't know. I'm just Em' assistant. My job's pretty boring. Nothing like being a fighter pilot.”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Oh, I don't think so. Come on, we're sharing here.”

Jas smiled a little. She was much more excited to talk about her job than he was to discuss his past. He carefully teased out more and more information from her, plumbing her for information about the massive corporation and how it worked. There were some useful nuggets here and there, but nothing too earth-shattering. Clearly, she wasn't very close to the action. Which would make sense, of course. She might be the CEO's assistant, but, at the end of the day, she was still an assistant.

When recent developments came up, though, she definitely piqued Dane's interests. “And now some reporter has been calling, trying to get Emily to give some on-the-record response to a story she wants to write. I've been having to push her off, though. She won't speak to our press department, or take a boilerplate form.”

“A reporter, huh?” Dane asked, as he scooted forward in his seat. “Sounds juicy.”

Jas laughed and brushed off the comment. “God, I wish. Nothing interesting ever happens at Pharma. Which, honestly,” she said, as she raised an eyebrow over her wineglass, “is probably a blessing in disguise.”

He laughed. “Take it from personal experience—‘nothing interesting’ is a good thing. Believe me.”

“But, yeah, this reporter, Charlene Padilla, keeps calling from theTimes, and I might as well get a saddle fitted, for how hard Edward, that asshole who’s head of sales, has been riding me over the whole thing,” she said with a smirk.

Dane didn't laugh at the joke, though. How could he? He recognized the name. It was the reporter he'd been in contact with about Benton's case. She'd turned down his case before, but maybe something had changed. Had she gotten another line on some information, or was her interest up because Pharma had been stonewalling on her questions? Either way, it was good news for him and Benton. Definitely good news. Once he got the files in his possession, he could turn around and funnel them right to Charlene.

“Get it?” Jas asked after a minute. “A saddle, because he's been on my ass?” She put a finger to her chin and stared off into the distance. “Hmm, guess I could've made a joke about lube, too.”

Yeah, he figured. This could work. This might be the miracle he'd been hoping for when he jumped into this whole mess.

“Honestly, though, I just really hope Emily will make this reporter disappear somehow, just so she'll give my ear a rest. I mean, some of those allegations she was making, just with her questions, weren't exactly great for our image. And, you know, what's good for the company . . .”

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