Free Truth or Dare by Janis Reams Hudson Page A

and some of them headed for the door immediately, as if they couldn't wait to get out.
    When Cynthia Morgan came in to go to lunch with Jared, Rachel wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.  Please don't let her see me.
    Rachel circled the table, keeping her back to the door as much as pos sible, and gathered empty coffee cups to avoid going anywhere near the door until Jared and his mother left.
    The murmur of voices died down and she let herself relax.  Too soon.
    "Rachel?"
    At the sound of his voice right behind her, she cringed.
    "Rachel," he repeated, a definite note of laughter in his voice.
    Slowly, she turned around to face him.  It was as she'd feared.  Cynthia was standing there, her mouth hanging open in shock.  Her head pivoted back and forth as she looked from Jared to Rachel and back again.  When her gaze returned to Rachel the third time, recognition dawned.  Her eyes widened.
    Jared smiled at his mother, then shrugged.  To Rachel, he said, "We're going for lunch.  Would you like to join us?"
    Rachel tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry.  "Uh, no.  No thank you.  I've . . . got some things I need to do."
    He pursed his lips to keep from laughing.  "All right.  I'll see you later, coward.  Come on, Mother.  Let's eat.  I'm starved."
    As the couple went through the doorway, Rachel heard Cynthia whisper, "Jared Morgan, you tell me what's going on, and you tell me right this minute."
    Jared's answering laughter rang down the hall.
    Afraid to stick her head out the door, Rachel had room service bring her a sandwich.
    When the meeting resumed an hour later, Jared had the floor.
    "What I want to do, Harve, is drop the late – night network programming and run a local movie."
    "You know the network is going to scream at a move like that," Harve said.
    "Let them scream," Jared said.  "Until they provide me with a program that will attract at least a few viewers, I'm wasting air time and money."
    Jared went on to explain his plan, then leaned back in his chair and caught Rachel's eyes with his.  He gave her a big wink.
    Hal Holt saw and nearly choked on a mouthful of coffee.
    The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur for Rachel as she took notes and tried to keep up with what was going on.  A lot of what the men discussed was still foreign to her, but Jared would be able to answer any questions she had.
    Jared.
    She hoped Harve would let him try out his idea of a late – night movie.  She hoped it would work, that the Oklahoma City viewers would like the idea.
    And she hoped that somehow, by some miracle, she and Jared could regain their easy, friendly working relation ship.
    When the meeting was over, Harve announced that the company was picking up the tab for dinner and the Bellagio’s regular show later that night , Cirque d u Sol e i l ’s underwater spectacular, “O” .  Rachel, too, was included in the invitation, and for a moment, panic sat in.  There was no way she could spend a sociable evening in Jared's company.  Not after last night.  Not even dressed as she was.
    Then she remembered the computer time she'd planned to put in that night and realized with relief that she had a legitimate excuse to decline.
    As the men left the room a short time later, Jared hung around until he and Rachel were the only two left.  She moved around the room, straightening this, fiddling with that, trying to look busy, hoping he'd leave.
    He didn't.  Instead, he stalked her, and finally cornered her next to the coffee pot.   "Pretending last night didn't happen was your idea.  Why do I get the distinct feeling you're trying to avoid me?" he asked, his voice low and deceptively pleasant.
    Unless she turned toward the wall, there was no place for Rachel to look but at Jared.  She focused on the knot of his tie.  "Don't be silly.  Of course I'm not trying to avoid you."
    The knot bobbed up, then down, as Jared swallowed.  "We have to talk, you know."
    "About what?"  Dumb!  Dumb, dumb,