Free The Cutting Edge by Linda Howard

except for faint circles under her eyes, but she didn’t feel normal. “You may have saved my life,” she sighed. “Thanks, Sammy. I missed breakfast this morning.”
    He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “We’ve been working on Nelda practically all night. Hillary’s really great, isn’t she? I don’t have to explain things to her; she already knows.”
    â€œShe’s perfect for you,” Tessa said firmly. It went right over his head.
    â€œI’d still be putting Nelda together if Hillary hadn’t been helping me. She has some contacts who might be able to help us with marketing Nelda, too; she meets all sorts in the bank.”
    â€œShe’s a wonderful girl. Very pretty, too.”
    He looked a little surprised. “Well, yeah, but the best thing about her is that she’s so smart. She wrote the program for Nelda.”
    Tessa gave up; she’d done everything but propose to him for Hillary. She doubted that any woman held the same degree of fascination for him as Nelda did, but that was Hillary’s problem. Right now, Tessa felt that she had a large problem of her own to worry about, and that problem was about six-four with indigo eyes. Hadn’t she known from the start that Brett Rutland was more than she could handle?
    She caught a movement just past Sammy’s shoulder, and she looked up, feeling her heart skip a beat as she met Brett’s narrowed eyes. He gave Sammy a hard look, then turned that look on her. “Good morning,” he said, but Tessa heard the anger under the cool tones.
    â€œGood morning,” she returned evenly. “Mr. Rutland, this is Sammy Wallace, from data processing. Sammy, Brett Rutland.”
    Sammy thrust out his hand with a quick, awkward movement, and his face lit with eagerness. “Nice to meet you!”
    With impeccable control, Brett shook hands. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Wallace. You’re something of a genius with computers, aren’t you?”
    Sammy glowed. Before he could say anything, however, Perry Smitherman came rushing over, having spotted Brett. He practically skidded to a stop when he reached them. “Mr. Rutland!” Perry cried with a pleasure so obviously feigned that Tessa winced for him. “May I help you with something, sir?”
    â€œYes,” Brett said curtly. “I’d like to speak with you privately, and I thought I’d stop by on my way up to the office. There’s some information I’d like you to get for me.”
    â€œYes, of course, of course,” Perry babbled. “Right this way—my office—”
    With a nod to both Tessa and Sammy, Brett went into Perry’s office, with Perry skittering around him like a nervous poodle.
    â€œCan you believe that?” Sammy asked incredulously. “He’s actually heard of me.” He was beaming with pleasure, his eyes sparkling behind the lenses of his glasses.
    Tessa sat very still, but Sammy didn’t notice her lack of response; he was too bemused and too pleased to notice anything. It was time for him to be on the job, so he ambled out as casually as he’d ambled in. Tessa turned on her video screen but sat staring at the blinking cursor without really seeing it. Brett had been as controlled as usual, but she was acutely sensitive to his mood, and she’d felt the seething anger beneath his calm exterior. Had something happened this morning to put him in a bad mood, or was he angry because he’d walked in and found her talking with Sammy? He’d expressly ordered her not to see Sammy after working hours, but this was on the job; surely he didn’t expect her to go out of her way to avoid the people she worked with? It was ridiculous even to think that he might be jealous of Sammy. Sammy wasn’t even in the same class with Brett, and Brett had to know it. She’d also told him that Sammy was just a friend, but