" you don't have to offer me hospitality, Mr. Logan . I was just checking to see if there was anything else you needed. I left a list of phone calls. Two magazines want to do interviews—"
" I never give interviews. That Bussines International Monthly thing was unauthorized. Send the phone calls on to the general manager in London ." He gulped his drink and poured himself another, humming along to the phonograph.
Angie looked around at all fine leather - bound books on the shelves , waiting for him to dismiss her . In the silence, the old phonograph played away : "… after the ball is over , after the break of morn …
" such a great antique !" Angie said, a little awkward in the silence, wondering if he had forgotten she was there .
" Antique, yep , that me," he muttered , sipping his drink.
Angie laughed, although she wasn't quite sure what the joke was . " No I meant e phonograph. You don't see many like it these days —"
" bought it new." He seemed lost in thought .
" New ?" Angie was certain she'd misunderstood him." But it must date back to the turn of the century —"
He looked up sharply , disconcerted . " I meant, a dealer found it in the warehouse for me, never been opened . Rare find ."
" I'd say so ," Angie said.
The song had run out and was scratching over and over at the end of the wax cylinder . In the silence , there was no other sound. Logan skipped his whiskey . Because that didn't make much sense.
" you mean, the greedy king who wished that everything he touched would be turned to gold? Logan nodded and frowned , then gulped his drink. " The lesson here , Angie , is to be careful what you wish for; you might get it, and the price may be higher than you think,"
She thought of the tabloids, ringing phones , the constant faxes, the stress of making multimillion- dollar Bussines deals, the lack of privacy , and alarmist felt sorry for John Logan VI Angie suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Whatever emotional problems this man was having , she wasn't sure , as a personal assistant, that it wasn't presumptuous of her to comment . She cleared her throat softly, but his mind seemed to be far away. He put the needle back on the cylinder .
" After the ball is over ,after the break of morn…"
" Do you waltz, Mrs. Newland?
Before she could answer , he put down his drink , swept Angie into his arm and waltzed her around the room in the dim light of the coming nightfall.
Angie was too dazzled by his strength and warmth to do anything but let him hold her . Slowly dancing her around the room. His breath was warm against her hair. Without meaning to sue closed her eyes and relaxed her body. It seemed to fit into the hard planes of his . She could feel his heart beating against her . She wondered about the hard bulge under his jacket .
" You dance well ," he mumbled . " so many women don't know how to waltz anymore."
Was she out today her mind , dancing in the darkness with her drunken employer? Angie pulled away from him self consciously. " as an officer's daughter, I learned some of the social graces ."
He was looking at her in a way that made her very aware that she was a woman, that he was a virile , perhaps dangerous male and they were alone in an almost dark room . He moved slightly , and she saw the gleam under the jacket and realized abruptly what the bulge had been . " Mr Logan , are you —are you carrying a gun ?"
" A pistol ; it's not a gun ," He reached inside his coat and pulled out a fine but well- worn old western colt. From here , it liked as if it had notches in the butt. " Dint look so shocked , Mrs. Newland . It's legal to pack a pistol in this state."
Angie blinked . " I know ; I'm just it used to a man wearing a pistol so casually ."
He hefted it in his hand . " I'd feel naked without it ."
With all his money , he must feel vulnerable to thieves . " Mr. Logan , I'm leaving now . Can I do anything ; get you anything before I go ?"
He sighed and shook his head i head , " No I don't think so ." He was once again cold and remote . " I was out of line, Mrs. Newland . I—I'm just tired ; Bussines pressure and all ."
She didn't want to like this arrogant man , yet her heart went out to him. " Maybe you need to get away for a while , Mr. Logan. I could make reservations for you. Can your business run without you?"
He laughed without mirth. " the way my accountants gave it set up , if I disappeared forever , Logan Enterprise could keep running without missing a heart beat . I'm just a figurehead."
He looked so desolate that without thinking , Angie reached out and almost out her hard on his arm. The. She drew back, knowing this remote and mysterious man would resent such familiarity . " But you have your family—
" No, my parent aware list at sea more than a dozen years ago with they're yacht. I'd been living and bound to school in Europe u til then . Father was afraid of kidnappers , so even the press hardly knew I existed until I caught a plane home when I heard the news ."
" I'm sorry," Angie." You don't have any brothers or sisters ?"
He shook his head . I'm alone in this world."
" me too ," she started towards the dot and paused . " I'm surprise you aren't married ,"
His eyes grew cold and he straightened his shoulders. " Mrs .Newland you overstep yourself. All women I meet seem to be either stupid little ninnies or after my money."
How could she have thought there was any warmth to this man? The outlaw of Wall Street, what an arrogant, dislikable son of a bitch . " you're right, Mr. Logan, of course . My apologies. Now, if if there's nothing else , I'll be going ."
He didn't answer. He was staring off a horizon , his face incredibly sad. "Did you ever see a movie called the Highlander ?"
" what?…
" Never mind ," He shrugged and refilled his glass . " you can leave , Mrs . Newland ." His tone was one of curt dismissal. The door behind her , the stains of the gay Nineties tune still echoed through the deserted sixty- sixth floor of Logan Towers. The Highlander she thought in confusion as she got her things . That was a strange movie about a man who had the power to live forever . It didn't seem like a movie a tycoon like John Logan would like. Ah, well, he was evidently drunk.
Angie caught the last bus on the evening run to the south side of Oklahoma City and warmed a cab soup in the microwave . The rented room was crowded and hot, and the neighbors upstairs were fighting again. The whole building smelled of greasy fried food and stale beer . When she got her first paycheck , she could even buy a car,Althing she didn't have any place to go except to work, and the bus worries get her there . She didn't have a boyfriend. Or even any real friends to speak of . With her father in the Air Force , the family had moved so often , she'd stopped making friends ; it was too painful to leave them. Her own loneliness had led her into a too- hasty marriage.
Marriage. She was only too aware of her own loneliness as she reached for a western romance novel to carry her away from her dreary surroundings for a little while. Yet she had a difficult time keeping her mind on the story . She kept seeing John Logan's dark, virile profile in her mind .