Corporate Groom. Linda Varner

used real ink from a bottle and produced bold, black strokes. Laying the paper on the desk, he drew a line from the top of the page to the bottom. The left column he labeled “Know”; the right, he labeled “Don’t Know.”

      Reo then began to list exactly what he could or couldn’t say for certain about Miz Rusty, so that he could discourage what he believed could become a full-blown obsession with her. Under “Know” he wrote “hair color, eye color, shoe size, profession, phone number, name....” Here Reo paused. Unless Miz were her first name and Rusty her last, he didn’t know her name at all. Besides that, “Rusty” had to be a nickname based on hair color. Reo shook his head, wondering exactly how he and this unnamed woman wound up together in the garden at Ten Oaks Country Club, sharing one hot kiss.

      Things had moved much too fast since the moment they met yesterday. And he had a funny feeling that the two of them might have shared more than just a kiss last night if her friend Jade hadn’t suddenly appeared and dragged her away.

      Jade. Frowning, Reo wrote something else under “Know”: “Shares house with woman named Jade.”

      Now why did that name—and the statuesque brunette to whom it belonged—seem so familiar? he wondered, even as he visualized a nameplate on a desk in an office in which he’d been more than once.

      “Well, hell!” Reo suddenly exclaimed, slapping his palm to his forehead. Obviously Witch Rusty had put a spell on him. Why else would he not realize at once that Jade—a woman who dressed like an expensive but classy hooker, flirted shamelessly with all male clients and typed faster than humanly possible—worked for Colleen O’Shaunessy.

      Jade had also not only witnessed his uncivilized split with Colleen, but knew his real name. At once Reo felt foolish for not having told Rusty the truth the first time she’d called him Brad. He had his reasons, of course, not the least of which was the novelty of being appreciated for something besides his money.

      Was his real identity, then, the reason Miz Rusty had run last night? Reo hoped not. The idea that she’d run from instead of to when she learned who he was thoroughly intrigued him. He could feel his curiosity piquing, and he ruthlessly squashed it by reminding himself that the reason she’d fled was undoubtedly because Jade had told her about Colleen.

      But no...Jade, who’d watched the fight, knew Reo and the lawyer were no longer a pair, knew he was free to kiss any woman he wanted.

      Reo sighed his frustration. Second-guessing a female was pretty darned tricky—not a skill at which he excelled. He honestly couldn’t think of a single good reason why Jade would warn Rusty away...unless ... unless Colleen O’Shaunessy had shared confidential information about his grandfather’s possible indiscretion.

      Such a scandal might put Rusty off, Reo realized. And God only knew Colleen desperately wanted to keep her skillful receptionist in her employ. Why, that forktongued lawyer had probably gone right back out in the reception area after Reo’s departure and lambasted the Sampson name. As a result, Jade had simply tried to save Rusty, a friend, from a fate worse than death.