Free The Dakota Man by Joan Hohl Page A

can I do for you, Maggie?”
    The ideas that sprang to her mind didn’t bear thinking about. Shocked at herself, Maggierushed into speech. “There’s a call for you on line two…a Ms. Natalie Crane.”
    A pause, then he said, “Get rid of her,” in a hard-sounding near growl, before disconnecting.
    Oh, my, Maggie thought, so much for opening all doors. Happy to oblige, she released the hold button. “I’m sorry, Ms. Crane, but Mr. Grainger is in conference and can’t take your call right now. May I take a message?”
    “Yes,” Ms. Haughty snapped. “Tell him I expect him to return my call as soon as he is out of conference.”
    Maggie winced as the receiver was slammed down at the other end of the line. “Well, goodbye to you, too,” she murmured, smiling with satisfaction.
    “Who was that?”
    Not having heard the office door open, Maggie started at the sound of Karla’s voice. “Oh, Karla,” she said, her smile widening. “Feel better?”
    “Umm,” Karla nodded, and grinned. “At least for another hour or so. Who were you talking to?”
    “An unpleasant woman named Natalie Crane,” Maggie drawled. “She demanded to speak to Mitch.”
    Karla made a face. “The Popsicle Princess.”
    “Popsicle Princess?” Maggie laughed. “Why do you call her that?”
    Karla laughed with her. “Because she’s cold as ice, and has very little substance.” Her laughter gave way to a frown. “What did Mitch say?”
    “He refused to talk to her.” She lowered her voice. “In fact, he told me to get rid of her.”
    “I’m not surprised,” Karla confided. “He can be utterly unrelenting at times.”
    A terror and unrelenting, Maggie mused, suppressing a shudder. Wonderful. The strange thing was, the shudder was made up of equal parts of trepidation and…and…surely not a sense of fascination and excitement? Of course not, she assured herself, while at the same time speculation whispered through her mind about whether some of those unrelenting times might occur when he was in bed, with a woman. More to the point, was Natalie Crane one such woman?
    Although Maggie tried to contain her curiosity, she had to ask, “And he’s unrelenting with this particular woman?”
    “Yes.” Karla sighed. “She’s called here several times, but he absolutely refuses to speak to her.”
    Unrelenting indeed, Maggie mused, her curiosity unanswered by Karla’s response. But, telling herself it was really none of her business, Maggie refrained from questioning Karla further on the subject.
    “Is his visitor still in there?”
    Jarred from her musings by the question, Maggie blinked. “Visitor?” she repeated, getting up and moving around the desk so Karla could sit down. “He has a visitor?”
    “Yes.” Karla nodded, settling into the chair. “Frank brought him in right after you went out.” She frowned. “Didn’t you see them?”
    “Oh, yes,” Maggie said, her smile wry. “I nearly ran smack into Frank. But I was in such a rush, I didn’t notice the man with him.”
    “You’re kidding,” Karla exclaimed. “Gosh, I’d have taken notice of him in a crowded room.”
    Maggie laughed. “Good-looking, huh?”
    “I’ll say.” Karla heaved a dramatic, exaggerated sigh and placed a hand on her chest. “Be still, my heart.”
    “Wow,” Maggie said, playing along with the fun. “I can’t wait to see…” She broke off when the sound of men’s voices preceded the opening of Mitch’s door.
    The man who emerged from the office ahead of Mitch was good-looking, tall and lean, but the sight of him didn’t set Maggie’s heart to fluttering. That feat was accomplished by Mitch, coming to a halt in the doorway, his silvered eyes piercing hers before shifting to Karla.
    Mitch introduced the man as Ben Daniels, an old friend of the Grainger family. As greetings and handshakes were exchanged, Maggie couldn’t help but notice the flare of keen awareness in Ben’s eyes each time he looked at Karla.
    Interesting,