Page 69 of Kiss an Angel

He picked up a pencil and absentmindedly tapped the eraser on the battered desktop. “I agree with you. I hate that damned menagerie—it’s barbaric—but cages are expensive, and Sheba’s still thinking about selling off

the animals. You’ll just have to do your best.” He spotted something out the window, and his chair creaked as he leaned back to get a better view. “Well, will you look at that. It seems you have a visitor.”

She looked outside and saw a baby elephant standing untethered in front of the red wagon. “It’s Tater.”

As she watched, he lifted his trunk and bellowed, looking for all the world like a tragic hero calling out for his lost love. “What’s he doing over here?”

“Trying to find you, I imagine.” He smiled. “Elephants form strong family ties, and Tater seems to have bonded with you.”

“He’s a little large to be a pet.”

“I’m glad you feel that way because he’s not sleeping in our bed, Daisy, no matter how much you beg me.”

She laughed. At the same time she refrained from telling him that she wasn’t certain she’d be sleeping there, either. Too much still needed to be settled between them.

As Sheba approached Alex, she was having the grandmother of bad days. Just that morning Brady had told her that Daisy wasn’t pregnant. The idea of that woman bearing Markov babies was so abhorrent she should have been relieved, but instead, something ugly had pooled in the pit of her stomach. If Alex hadn’t married Daisy because she was pregnant, then he must have done it out of choice. He must have done it because he loved her.

Acid burned inside her. How could he love that no-talent little rich girl when he hadn’t loved her? Couldn’t he see how unworthy Daisy was? Had he lost all his pride?

Now she intended to put into action a plan that had been taking shape in her mind for days. It made business sense—she never did anything that wasn’t for the good of the show, regardless of her personal feelings—but this idea also might finally pull the blinders away from Alex’s eyes regarding his new bride.

She came up behind him as he worked on the stake driver. His damp T-shirt clung to the strong muscles in his back. She remembered how that taut skin had once felt beneath her hands, but instead of arousing her, the memory filled her with self-hatred. Sheba Quest, the queen of the center ring, had begged for this man’s love and been rejected. Her stomach curled with loathing.

“I need to talk to you about your act.”

He picked up a greasy rag and wiped his hands with it. He’d always been a first-rate mechanic, and he’d somehow managed to keep the ancient stake driver running, but right now she couldn’t summon any gratitude for the money he was saving her.

“Go ahead.”

She shaded her eyes, taking her time, making him wait. Finally she spoke. “I think you need a change. You’ve only made a few variations in your act since the last time you went out with us, and there’s too much of the season left for you to get stale.”

“What do you have in mind?”

She pulled the sunglasses from the top of her head and folded in the stems. “I want you to put Daisy in it.”

“Forget it.”

“Afraid she won’t be able to do it?”

“You know she won’t.”

“Well, then, you’ll have to make her. Or does she wear the pants in the family?”

“What are you trying to do, Sheba?”

“Daisy’s a Markov now. It’s time she started acting like one.”

“That’s my business, not yours.”

“Not while I own this circus. Daisy has a way with the crowd, and I intend to take advantage of it.” She gave him a long, hard stare. “I want her in the show, Alex, and I’ll give you two weeks to get her ready. If she needs persuading, remind her that I can still file a criminal complaint against her any time I want.”

“I’m getting real sick of your threats.”

“Then think about the good of the show instead.”

Alex finished repairing the stake driver, then stalked to the trailer to scrub the grease off his hands. As he took a nail brush and a bar of Lava from a chipped saucer under the kitchen sink, he forced himself to acknowledge the truth of what Sheba had said. Daisy did have a way with the crowd, and although he hadn’t admitted it to Sheba, he’d already thought about putting her in his act. He’d hesitated, however, because of the difficulties of training her.

The assistants he’d worked with in the past had all been seasoned circus performers, and the whips hadn’t bothered them, but Daisy was full of fears. If she flinched at the wrong time . . .

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