Free Almost Forever by Linda Howard Page B

decision would be. He would wait and watch. He wouldn’t allow the alloy to fall into the wrong hands, but he was going to conduct his research in private for as long as possible.
    â€œAny takeover attempt right now would probably fail. We have some property that has skyrocketed in value, but it hasn’t been appraised in years. An offer wouldn’t take that into account.”
    â€œI’ll have it reappraised,” Claire said, making a note.
    â€œTell them to rush it. I hope it’ll be enough to keep us safe. I just want time to finish my research before I turn this over.” He shrugged his broad shoulders, looking tired. “It was good while it lasted, but I’ve known for some time that we were getting too close to an important breakthrough. Damn, I hate to complicate things with bureaucratic nonsense!”
    â€œI suspect it isn’t nonsense, but you just hate for anyone to tell you what you have to do, bureaucrat or not.”
    He scowled at her, a look that Claire met with complete serenity, and a moment later the scowl faded into wry acceptance. That was one of the things she liked most about Sam. He had the ability to see the truth and accept it, even when it was something he didn’t like. Whatever blows life had dealt him, he’d learned from every one of them. He was a genius, locked into his creative dreams, but he was also a cautious, scrappy street fighter. Sam would never be a nine-to-five button-down executive; paperwork and corporate decisions, as important as they were, didn’t interest him, and he did them only out of duty. His ambition, his life, was in his laboratory.
    Despite the distractions of the morning, Claire was always aware of the passage of time, bringing her closer and closer to lunch, when she would see Max again. At last it was timeto leave, and she grabbed her purse and darted out of the office. Her flesh was burning and her heart was pounding as she crossed the street, and she took several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself. This would never do. This was a simple lunch date between friends, nothing more. She didn’t dare let it appear to be anything else.
    Max stood up as she wove her way through the maze of crowded tables. She was flushed from hurrying, and his eyes dropped momentarily to her mouth, parted because of her rapid breathing. Her lips were wide and soft, and his senses jolted. He wanted to taste her, not restrict himself to those chaste, monumentally unsatisfying pecks on her cheek or forehead. He wanted to strip off her clothes and taste her, from her head all the way down to her pink toes, with a hungry urgency that threatened to shred his self-control. Damn her, he couldn’t get her out of his mind, but he didn’t dare make a move on her. She was so skittish that she would retreat from him again, and he wouldn’t be able to get any information from her at all. He didn’t have a lot of time, anyway, and he was hampered by not knowing exactly what he was looking for, but Anson was certain that Bronson would have hidden assets, and Anson Edwards’s hunches were never wrong.
    The trouble was that when he looked at Claire, it was difficult to remember that business was supposed to be his primary reason for being in Houston. The entire thing was beginning to leave a bad taste in his mouth. Corporate maneuvering was one thing, but he didn’t like the idea of involving Claire, of using her. Only his loyalty to Anson Edwards kept him on this particular job, and for the first time Max felt that loyalty wavering. He didn’t want to waste his time searching for information; he wanted to fold Claire in his arms and hold her so tightly that there could never be any distance between them again. A sharp longing knotted his insides as she finallyreached his table and he stood to welcome her, but he schooled his features to reflect only the light, casual friendliness she seemed to prefer.
    â€œBusy