Free White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz Page B

until I had a chance to discuss it with you.”
    “Why the secrecy?” Clare asked, opening her parasenses cautiously.
    “Because I wanted to get you on board first.”
    The pulse of truth reverberated in the words.
    “You’re not planning to set up this foundation of yours just so you can give me a job, are you?” she asked.
    “It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”
    Not an outright lie, she decided. But Archer was not telling the whole truth, either.
    “Since when?” she asked.
    His mouth twitched a little. “You’re the skeptical type, aren’t you?”
    “I have trust issues.”
    “The idea came to me a few months back.”
    “Right after you found out that I got fired from my job at the Draper Trust and it became obvious I was having trouble finding a new position?”
    Archer moved one hand negligently. “I’m not saying that there was no connection. I’m telling you that it all came together in my head a few months ago.”
    “Far be it from me to discourage you from giving away some of your money but I honestly don’t think it would be a good idea to put me at the head of your new foundation.”
    “Why the hell not?”
    “Well, for starters, you’d want to be in charge,” she said. “My ultimate goal has always been to be my own boss.”
    “I’d give you your head. It’s not like you haven’t had plenty of experience in the field. You’ll know what you’re doing.”
    “Let’s not kid each other, Archer. We both know that you’ve dedicated your life to building your empire. You’ll certainly want the final word when it comes to deciding who gets your money and what they spend it on.”
    He snorted. “Well, it would bemy foundation, after all. I ought to have some say in where the money goes.”
    She picked up her tea. “I agree.”
    “Doesn’t mean you wouldn’t be in charge.”
    “Yes,” she said. “It means exactly that.”
    Annoyance hardened Archer’s sun-weathered face. “Doesn’t look to me like you’re going to get a better offer anywhere else.”
    Clare’s stomach knotted. “Please don’t tell me you’re the one who’s been calling every potential employer I’ve contacted in the past six months and warning them not to hire me.”
    “Hell, no.” Archer slammed his hand flat on the table. “You really think I’d do something low-down and nasty like that just to get my way?”
    “If it was sufficiently important to you, yes.”
    For a few seconds she thought he was going to explode. Then he heaved a heavy sigh. “Your mother told you a little about me, huh?” he said.
    “She said you could be ruthless. At least you were in the old days.”
    “You don’t build the kind of company Owen and I built unless you’re willing to play hardball.”
    “I don’t doubt that for a minute.”
    “I did what I had to do,” Archer said. “But I had my own rules and I stuck by them. As God is my witness, I never took advantage of anyone who was weaker than me or anyone who didn’t know how to play the game.”
    He was telling the truth, Clare decided.
    “That sounds fair enough to me,” she said quietly. “But you have to admit those rules do leave some wiggle room.”
    “Won’t argue with that. But I didn’t use that wiggle room to call up people in San Francisco to tell them not to hire you.”
    “Okay. I believe you.”
    He looked at her. “Be reasonable, Clare. It doesn’t look like you’re going to get a better offer anywhere else.”
    “I know. That’s why I’m thinking about setting up my own business.”
    “Why did you get into the charitable foundation field?”
    “It wasn’t my first choice, but I have to admit that it turned out to be a reasonably satisfying alternative.” She paused. “At least until recently.”
    “What was your first choice?”
    She hesitated and then decided there was no harm in telling him the truth. “For the past several years, I’ve dreamed of going to work for Jones & Jones.”
    Archer was clearly taken aback. “Your goal was to become a psychic investigator for J&J?”
    “I thought it would be exciting and a perfect