Free Heart of Hurricane by Ginna Gray

he noted the almost imperceptible tilt of her chin and smiled slowly as he recognized the small sign of rebellion. Oh yes. There was definitely a lot of fire beneath that cool exterior.
    "Do you think I should?"
    "It isn't against the law to dress unattractively. Or to minimize your looks," she asserted bravely.
    "In this case it sure as hell should be!" he snapped back, his sardonic smile giving way to a fierce scowl.
    Slowly, as he studied the apprehension in her face, which she was trying so hard to hide, he relented and sighed. "Don't look so worried, Miss Winters. While my reasons for wanting a less physically attractive woman for this job are still valid, I'm not fool enough to fire you. You're too good at your job. What I have in mind is a transfer. George Freeman needs a good assistant."
    Two floors down, she won't be such a distraction, Ward told himself happily, yet he could still keep an eye on her. And an added advantage to the plan was that George was sixty and had been happily married for over twenty-five years.
    "A demotion?" Althea said, with the barest quiver in her voice.
    Damn! Look at that hair. It shines like spun gold . "No, not a demotion. Your duties will be essentially the same, only on a smaller scale. And of course, your salary will remain the same."
    "I ... I see. But . . ."
    Before she could finish, the door to Ward's office opened.
    "Darling, there was no one in the outer office so I thought I'd brave the lion in his den and walk right in. I came to ..." At the sight of Althea, staring at her in astonishment, Deborah Lang stopped abruptly, her eyes growing first wide, then narrow and stormy. "What is she doing here?"
    Ward's thick brows lifted at her imperious tone. "Althea works here."
    "Works here? You surely aren't going to keep her on the payroll now?" Deborah demanded. Not giving Ward a chance to reply, she added rashly, "Well, I won't stand for it, do you hear! I insist that you discharge this woman at once!"
    "You insist?" Ward questioned, the quiet menace in his voice sending an icy finger of fear down Althea's spine. Her wide-eyed gaze went back and forth between the two furiously angry people. Ward had risen to his feet, his big body taut and dangerous, his face implacable. Anyone who truly knew him would have retreated before that chilling glare, but evidently Deborah was too caught up in her jealous rage to know that she had pushed him too far. "What gave you the idea that you have the right to insist on anything, in either my personal or my business life?"
    The words were spoken slowly, precisely, their meaning hitting Deborah like a slap, and her face paled. Her mouth worked convulsively for a moment, but before she could force her vocal cords to respond, Ward added with hard finality, "Althea is my assistant, and she will remain my assistant until such time as I decide otherwise. The only person leaving is you."

Chapter 5
    Althea emerged from Ward's office and closed the door behind her. Flexing her cramped fingers, she crossed to her desk and sank down onto her chair, her shoulders slumping with weariness. In the six weeks since Deborah Lang had inadvertently pushed Ward into keeping her as his assistant, nothing had changed, Althea reflected. He was still abrupt, demanding, impatient and thoroughly exasperating. He still expected her to work all the hours that God sent, and he still rapped out orders like a field general and shouted at her when something went wrong. The only difference was that now he shouted "Althea" instead of "Miss Winters."
    No. No, that wasn't quite true , she admitted reluctantly. There had been subtle changes in their relationship, changes she didn't want to acknowledge or think about, because they made her uneasy. Like the fact that he watched her constantly in a strangely brooding way, or that he always managed to touch her whenever she came near—his fingertips grazing hers when she handed him something, a casual hand resting on her shoulder when he