Free The Insiders by Rosemary Rogers

prove something. Whatever he is, he's all evil."
    Eve got up and walked over to the bar again.
    "I need a drink after that. I hate Peter! He was the one who introduced us. I guess he knew what would happen, the kind of proposition the man would make. Ugh!"
    Marti came over to join her and started to pour herself some vodka. Her eyes were unreadable.
    "By the way, David called. I didn't tell him where you were, just that you were out."
    Her casual, offhand statement caught Eve by surprise and acted like a jolt of electricity.
    "David? Oh, Marti! What did he say? What time was it? Did he want me to call back?"
    Marti shrugged. Obviously her talkative mood was over and she was withdrawing into herself—something Eve had noticed about Marti since the advent of Stella.
    "He didn't say much, just asked for you. But then you know he doesn't like me." Almost violently, she added, "Why in hell do we have to fall in love with the people who are worst for us? Look at you, getting starry-eyed because David calls out of the blue—and after the lousy way he's treated you. And me—not able to play it cool with Stella, waiting for a damned phone call that I know damned well isn't going to come!"
    Marti turned away so abruptly, she spilled part of her drink. But she didn't bother to wipe it up.
    "I'm going to my room. I have a shooting at ten in the morning, and I'm going to feel like hell and look worse."
    After she left, weaving slightly, Eve finished her drink and thought about David as she stared at the phone. She was still in a state of shock. David had called. Out of the blue. What did it mean? Of course it had to mean that he still wanted her. That he loved her, even if he never had admitted it. Oh, damn, damn! Why hadn't she stayed home tonight? Now David would think— Well, she shouldn't care about what David might think. Forget David. Wasn't that the name of the game, the name of the project she'd been concentrating on all these months?
    She should forget about David. Not talk to him if he called again. But her hands were shaking and her knees felt weak. David, David, David. Please God, let him call again!

CHAPTER TEN
    He did call again , after all—at six in the morning— and she felt, groping fuzzily for the telephone, as if she'd just barely fallen asleep. As usual, he sounded crisp, alive, and wideawake. And just as if nothing had ever gone wrong between them.
    "Eve? I'm sorry if I woke you up, but you're very difficult to get hold of these days. Listen, I'd like to see you. To talk to you."
    "Who... David?" Eve sat up in bed, the sheets falling away from her body, her head starting to spin. "David, it's only six o'clock!"
    "I know." His voice had a chuckle in it. "Time you were awake—the sun's up already. You shouldn't party so late."
    "I didn't— You have some nerve, David Zimmer! Calling me up at this ungodly hour, telling me I shouldn't party so late. Is that what you—"
    He interrupted her smoothly, his voice changing, becoming warm and intimate, making her cheeks flush.
    "Eve—baby—I'm asking to see you again. I've missed you. I tried like hell, but I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. So I'm a coward, asking you on the telephone, but I want you to be my girl again. Eve?"
    She held the phone to her ear and felt her eyes close. Her hands were shaking. He was asking her to see him again, to be his girl. Oh, God, you must be real, you heard me!
    "David—" Her voice came out as a whisper, and she had to swallow hard before she could say any more. "Oh, damn you, David! Why'd you have to catch me by surprise this way? Just when I was starting to get over you, too. After everything you said, the things you thought about me—oh, David, I just don't know what to say!"
    "Say you'll have dinner with me this evening. That'll do for starters. You don't know how much I need to see you again, baby, or just how much I've missed you. Lisa keeps sending her love, too. Every time I go down to see the kids, she keeps