The Cutting Edge

From New York Times bestselling author Linda Howard comes a fan-favorite tale of romantic intrigue

Brett Rutland is the top troubleshooter at Carter Engineering, and he’s used to getting his way. When he’s tasked with cracking an internal embezzlement case, he meets firm accountant Tessa Conway. She’s beautiful and interested, but falling for her will not only test Brett’s control, it may also jeopardize the case—especially since she’s the prime suspect.

The Cutting Edge

Linda Howard

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Cover

Back Cover Text

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

“THAT,” SAID BRETT RUTLAND in a quietly appreciative voice, “should be illegal.”

Evan Brady had been watching the young woman who had just walked past them, too, and he could only agree. He’d already been in the Los Angeles office for a week, and he’d seen her several times. “You’ll have to get in line, along with the rest of us,” he advised Brett dryly. “Her social life would make a Philadelphia debutante green with envy.”

A cool, hard smile touched Brett’s lips. “Sorry; I think I’ll cut in and go to the head of the line.”

Evan was a little startled, for he’d never known Brett to become involved with anyone in the company before, and he’d really only been teasing. Still, when a man looked at Teresa Conway, other considerations tended to fly right out of his mind. Then he shrugged. “She doesn’t look like the general idea of a bookkeeper, does she?”

Brett’s dark blue eyes cut sharply to him. “Bookkeeper?”

“And damned good at what she does, too. She has to automatically be considered a suspect.”

Brett nodded, turning his gaze once again to the slim back of the woman and watching until she entered the elevator and he was no longer able to see her. He and Evan were in Los Angeles to quietly investigate the mysterious discrepancy that an internal audit had turned up in the Los Angeles office of Carter Engineering, which was under the corporate umbrella of the Carter-Marshall Group. When Joshua Carter had heard of the possible embezzlement in his base company, he’d been livid, and Joshua Carter in a rage was something to behold, even though he was now pushing seventy. He’d called in his prize troubleshooter to investigate and handle the problem, and he’d instructed Brett to prosecute to the full extent of the law. Nobody stole from Joshua Carter and got away with only dismissal and a slap on the wrist! Bad publicity could go hang, for all he cared.

Brett shared with Joshua Carter the same cold distrust for a thief; he’d worked too hard to achieve his success to feel anything but contempt for anyone who tried to do it the easy way, by stealing the fruit of someone else’s labors. It might take a while, but he and Evan would find the thief, and their handling of the situation would make everyone else in Carter Engineering think twice before they took so much as a pencil home.

Computer theft, by someone who really knew computers, could be a real bitch to track down, but Brett had full confidence in Evan’s skills. There were few other people in the United States who could match Evan’s expertise with a computer. With Evan working on the technical end, and Brett investigating the people, they’d have this wrapped up before the thief even knew they were coming. The cover story that had been given out was that they were in Los Angeles to investigate the feasibility of a new computer system that was being considered. Evan could make that look legitimate for an indefinite length of time.

Brett rubbed his jaw consideringly. “Do you know her name?” he asked Evan in an almost absent manner.

“Every man in this building knows her name,” Evan replied, grinning. “Teresa Conway, but everyone calls her Tessa. She isn’t married; I…uh, pulled her personnel file.”

“Interesting reading?”

“Depends on what you’re looking for. No obvious skeletons in her closet, though.”

“I think I’ll combine business with a little pleasure, and take Miss Conway out to dinner,” Brett drawled. “I’ll pump her for information on the rest of the department; she may know of someone with financial problems, or have noticed any sudden riches.”

“I hate for you to have to work so hard.” Evan lifted his eyebrows sardonically. “I’ll pull night duty for you and take the lady out, so you can get a good night’s rest.”

In admirably succinct language, Brett told him what he could do with his suggestion, and Evan grinned. He was thin and dark and intense, and he’d never suffered from a lack of female companionship. Probably he would have asked Tessa Conway out himself before the assignment was finished, but he’d been too busy and now Brett was stepping in, which meant that no one else would have a chance with her until Brett decided to walk away. Women didn’t deny Brett Rutland; nature had given him a burning sexuality, a rawly demanding virility that drew women like moths to a candle, but his physical appetites were tempered by the icy control of his brain. Evan had never met a man more in control of himself than Brett Rutland.

Joshua Carter couldn’t have picked a better choice than Brett to send in; he was cool, alert, and he didn’t become emotionally involved. Evan had heard it said that Brett Rutland didn’t give a damn about anyone, and on occasion he’d thought that the rumor just might be right. The clarity of Brett’s thought processes was never clouded by sentiment or emotion. He had a guarded personality; he kept his thoughts well hidden, though most people never realized that, because he was so adept in handling them and bending them to his will.

“When we get back from lunch, I want to read her file,” Brett said now. His navy blue eyes were intent, and Evan felt a moment’s pity for Tessa Conway; she didn’t have a chance.

* * *

AS TESSA REENTERED the building after lunch, she smiled at the security guard at the front door, earning an ear-to-ear grin from him and an exasperated snort from Martha “Billie” Billingsley, who worked in the payroll department of Carter Engineering and who was also Tessa’s closest friend.

“You’d flirt with a dead man,” Billie growled.

“I wouldn’t,” Tessa defended herself good-naturedly. “Besides, there’s a difference between flirting and just being friendly.”

“Not where you’re concerned, there isn’t. You have every man in this building falling all over himself whenever you’re anywhere near.”

Tessa laughed, not taking Billie’s charge at all seriously. She was a cheerful flirt, laughing and teasing, but doing it so lightheartedly that it was almost impossible not to laugh with her. Most people liked Tessa—even women—because she wasn’t a poacher, despite the sunny charm that drew men to her like iron filings to a magnet. She was always the first person invited to a party because she was so lively. She had a sharp but kind wit, the sort that had people hanging on her lazy words, waiting with almost painful anticipation for her to get to the punch line, then exploding with mirth when she finally got it all said. Tessa’s drawl would have driven everyone crazy months ago if the lazy music of it hadn’t been so distracting. She was originally from Mobile, on Alabama’s Gulf Coast, and Billie had long ago concluded that it would take an earthquake to make Tessa hurry. It was really odd how she managed to accomplish so much on her job, because she approached it with such calm laziness, never appearing ruffled or frantic no matter what crisis was crashing down on the office. Tessa just sort of strolled around, and things somehow got done. It was a complete mystery.

They entered the elevator, where they were joined by the company’s computer genius, Sammy Wallace. Sammy was tall and thin and blond, with vague, sweet blue eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses that made him look like even more of a genius. Put him at the keyboard of a computer and he could practically make it sing opera, but he was almost painfully shy. Tessa felt protective of him, even though he was actually a few years older than she, and she greeted him warmly. He still blushed whenever she spoke to him, but he’d learned that the kindness in her eyes wasn’t a lie, and he returned her smile. He might usually have his mind on computers, but he’d noticed how men looked at Tessa, and he felt a little proud that she always spoke to him.

“Do you have a free night for another chess lesson?” she asked, and he blushed a little more at the way she suggested that his social life was so busy that his free nights were few and far between. He liked that, and he gave her his sweet smile.

“How about tomorrow night?”

“Wonderful!” She rewarded him with a dazzling smile, her deep green eyes sparkling. “About seven?”

“Sure. Do you want to play poker again, too?”

“Now, you know I never turn down a poker game.” She winked at him, and Sammy winked back, surprising even himself. He was teaching Tessa chess, and in return she was teaching him poker. He was so good with numbers that he was picking up the basics of poker far more easily than she was handling chess. Tessa played chess with verve and dash, going on instinct rather than strategy, and the board was often chaotic before her adversary figured out what was going on and began methodically boxing in her king. On the other hand, she was very good at poker; she liked the sheer exhilaration of blending skill and luck.

The elevator stopped at the next floor, and several men entered; Tessa moved toward the rear, holding the rail as the doors closed and they all moved upward again. It was lucky that she did hold on to the rail; when the elevator reached the next floor, it lurched violently before shuddering to a stop. Ted Baker, the man standing in front of her, lost his balance and flailed wildly in an effort to keep from falling. He succeeded, but his elbow crashed against Tessa’s cheekbone, and she staggered from the force of the blow. Instantly, the man beside her had his arm around her waist, holding her up, and he swore softly.

The man who had hit her turned around, apologizing profusely. “It wasn’t your fault,” Tessa tried to reassure him.

“Baker, have a repairman called to check out the elevator,” the man holding Tessa ordered, and Baker quickly murmured an acknowledgment.

Tessa had already recovered from the brief dizziness caused by the blow, and she tried to move away from the man, but he held her firmly within the hard circle of his arm. Billie squeezed over to them, her eyes anxious. “Tessa? Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” But she probed her cheekbone gingerly with her fingers, not certain if she was being truthful or brave. Her face felt a little numb.

“I’ll take her up and put ice on it,” the authoritative voice above her head said, and she doubted if anyone ever disobeyed that note of command. Certainly no one in the elevator made any other suggestion. Billie got off at their floor, looking back worriedly at Tessa, but she didn’t try to accompany them. Little by little the elevator emptied as it rose higher and higher in the building, and Tessa pursed her lips thoughtfully at what that meant. She wanted to tilt her head back and get a good look at her rescuer, but he was standing slightly behind her, and she really didn’t feel safe in moving her head that much. Sensation was returning to her face, and her cheekbone was throbbing painfully.

They exited on the executive floor, where Tessa had been only a few times in the past, since there was seldom any need for someone from bookkeeping to venture that far afield. He opened a door that had no name on it, but a secretary sprang to attention at her desk.

“Helen, do I have any ice in my office? There’s been a slight accident.”

“Yes, sir, I’m certain you do.” Helen jumped to open the door for him, then walked straight to the small built-in bar in the corner of the large office to check the supply of ice. “Yes, there’s ice. Do you need anything else?”

“I’ll get a towel from my washroom,” he said easily. “That’ll be all, thanks.”

The secretary left, closing the door behind her, and Tessa was alone in the big office with a man she’d never seen before. “Sit here,” he instructed, easing her into the huge leather chair behind the desk that stretched out like a football field. He turned away to fetch a towel from his private washroom, and Tessa promptly got to her feet, propelled by both curiosity and an instinctive wariness of a man so used to giving commands and having them obeyed. She walked to the wide windows and looked out at the almost endless vista of Los Angeles. She heard him when he came back into the office, but she didn’t look around.

“I told you to sit down,” he said abruptly to her back.

“Yes, you did,” Tessa agreed in a mild voice.

After a moment, he walked over to the bar, and she heard the clink of ice cubes as he got them out. “I’d feel better if you sat down; that was quite a crack you took.”

“I promise I won’t faint.” She could hear him approaching…no, the thick carpet muffled his footsteps. She sensed his movements, as if her skin had become acutely sensitive to him; she actually felt the warmth of his body as he came closer. Turning, she faced him for the first time.

While he’d been holding her so closely against his side, she’d noticed several things about him. The first was that he was very tall, probably six-four, and very strong. She was of medium height, but her build was delicate and graceful, and she’d had the feeling that he could have lifted her with one hand. The heat and power of his hard-muscled body had been almost overpowering. She’d also noticed his clean male scent, and felt the lean strength of his hands.

Now he stood before her, looking at her with narrowed, intent eyes, and Tessa looked back.

A curiously light-headed feeling began to creep over her, and she wondered for a moment if she might have a slight concussion; then she realized that she was holding her breath. She let it out in a soft sigh, still staring up at the hard, distinctly unhandsome, but remarkably sensual and arresting face. He had the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen on anyone: navy blue eyes, fringed by thick dark lashes, a blue as pure and deep as she could ever imagine. His hair was tawny brown, with strands of gold running through it, and verging on shagginess. He looked hard and sensual and perhaps a little cruel, and Tessa couldn’t look away from him.

His chin was a little too prominent, his jaw a little too long, his cheekbones a little too high and raw and hard; his nose could almost be called beaky. His features were so roughly hewn that he might even have been called homely if it hadn’t been for the dark blue beauty of his eyes and the sensually chiseled perfection of his mouth. That mouth was positively wicked, and she stopped breathing again when she looked at it. His mouth was just the right size, neither too wide nor too small, and his lips were mobile and clear cut, with a small curl to them that could be either cynicism or amusement. It was the mouth of a man of wide and varied experience, a man who knew how to kiss, how to savor the taste of a woman’s skin. Tessa found herself suddenly shaken by the compulsion to rise on her tiptoes and find out for herself just how well he could kiss.

Very gently, he put one finger under her chin and tilted her face to the light so he could examine her cheek. “You’ll have a bruise,” he told her, “but I don’t think your eye will turn black.”

“I hope not!”

Cautiously he placed the makeshift ice pack against her cheek, and Tessa reached up to hold it in place. Her hand touched his, and she noticed that his fingers were slightly rough, not the hands of a man who never did anything more strenuous than sign his name. He didn’t drop his hand, but kept it under hers, and he looked down at her with such calm, self-confident awareness in his eyes that Tessa automatically wanted to put a safer distance between them. She was used to charming men so easily that it wasn’t even a conscious effort, but it was a lighthearted charm, and she always danced away before emotions could become intense. She couldn’t have said how she knew it, but every bone in her body, every fiber of her flesh, every instinct of her very female personality, recognized him as being more than she could handle. He wasn’t a man of easy charm; he overwhelmed women with the intensity of his maleness. He wouldn’t let the butterfly flit away after dancing tantalizingly before him; he would reach out and capture her, and hold her for as long as her beauty intrigued him. Tessa knew that she had to go, then, in order to protect her own best interests. But she didn’t want to go, she thought wistfully. She wanted to stay near him… .

Beneath all the light and laughter, Tessa had a strong streak of common sense, and it surfaced now. “Thank you for the ice,” she murmured as she stepped away from him. “I’d better get back to my job before I’m fired for being late. Thanks again—”

“Stay,” he commanded softly, and it was definitely a command, despite the evenness of his tone. “I’ll call your department head and cover for you.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’m really all right, so I can go back to work.”

“If you insist.” His lids dropped lazily over his deep-sea eyes. “I’d like to talk to you, though, so I’ll take you out to dinner tonight. Will seven-thirty suit you?”

“Whoa!” she said, startled. “I don’t even know you!”

“That’s easily remedied.” He held out his hard, sun-browned hand. “I’m Brett Rutland, from Carter-Marshall.”

Tessa’s eyes widened fractionally. She’d heard the name so many times during the past week, and so many people seemed to be a bit cautious of him that she’d begun actually to believe all the things she’d heard about him. Just the rumor that he might descend on Carter Engineering had made a lot of people nervous. He must have arrived that morning. But he was still holding out his hand, and slowly Tessa put her hand out to clasp his. His fingers wrapped gently around hers, as if he were very aware of the difference between his strength and hers.

“Tessa Conway,” she said as a self-introduction. “I work in the bookkeeping department.”

He didn’t release her hand. “Well, Tessa Conway, now you know who I am and I know who you are. Dinner?”

She eyed him warily for a moment; then her natural sense of humor began to surface. Was this man the ogre everyone had been telling horror tales about? He was no one’s tame pussycat, that was for certain, but he didn’t look as if he ate raw meat for breakfast, either. Teasing lights began to dance in her green eyes. “I’m not certain I’d be safe with someone known as the Ax-Man,” she pointed out cheekily.

He threw back his head and laughed, a good, deep sound, and a warmth began to grow inside her. “Ax-Man? That’s better than what I’d thought! But you won’t have anything to worry about, Tessa Conway. I won’t chop you up into little pieces.”

No, but he was a man who could put a woman’s emotions through the meat grinder. Just standing there in the office with him, Tessa could feel her heart beating a little faster, and the way her blood was humming through her veins made her feel warm all over. Temptation was weakening her because she really wanted to go with him, but she knew that the smartest thing to do would be to run, not walk, to the nearest cover.

“If we went out together, the grapevine would short-out from the overload of gossip. I really don’t—”

“I don’t give a damn about gossip, and neither do you.” His fingers tightened over hers. “Seven-thirty?”

She looked up at him again, and that was a tactical error. With a low, musical laugh, she cast caution to the winds. “Make it six-thirty. I’m the original sleepyhead; if I don’t get my eight hours, I’m incapable of functioning. During the week, I don’t even stay out as late as Cinderella did, and we all know she was a party-pooper.”

Brett veiled his eyes with his lashes, not letting her see the predatory gleam in them. He’d be glad to make certain she was home in bed at an early hour; letting her sleep was something else entirely. “I’ll be there. Write down your address for me.” He planned to read her file, and he could get her address from there, but she didn’t need to know that.

Tessa held the cold compress in place with her left hand while she scribbled her address on a scrap of paper, along with her telephone number. Then she looked at him again, and shook her head a little. “I must be out of my mind,” she murmured to herself, and walked quickly out of the office before he could somehow entice her to stay even longer.

Brett sat down at his desk and toyed idly with the scrap of paper that contained her address. That was just how he wanted her: out of her mind, totally senseless with the pleasure he intended to give her. He’d had a number of affairs, enough that the prospect of another woman in his bed should produce only a feeling of mild anticipation, but the way he felt could never be described as mild. Whatever it was about Tessa Conway, he wanted her. He couldn’t really remember a woman he’d wanted whom he hadn’t eventually gotten, and usually within a fairly short length of time. There was no reason for things to be any different with Tessa. He thought of the way she walked, her slender hips moving in a way that made sweat pop out on his forehead. It might take a while for him to tire of her.

“I’m an idiot,” Tessa told herself over and over as she returned to her office, still holding the ice-filled towel to her bruised cheekbone. She’d actually agreed to go out with a man who occupied a rather high rung of the corporate ladder in her company, and that in itself could give birth to a bumper crop of gossip. Not only that, the man had a horrible reputation; whenever he appeared, people lost their jobs. “Ax-Man” was a singularly appropriate nickname. But all of that aside, he was also the sexiest man she’d ever seen, or imagined. It wasn’t his looks particularly, though his eyes were almost stunning in their beauty. It was the way he looked at a woman, as if she were his for the taking, and as if he knew all sorts of delicious ways to do the taking, and would linger over every moment of it. The eyes of a rake…except that there was something cool and controlled in his gaze, too, as if he held a part of himself aloof, totally untouched by the heat of his own passion.

What was a woman supposed to do with a man who would want more of herself than she felt safe in giving? Her heart had never been broken, but it had been battered badly enough that she didn’t want to risk her emotions again, especially with a man like Brett Rutland. He’d ignore the barriers of laughter and lighthearted teasing, knocking them aside to get to the woman behind them. Tessa loved flirting and partying; it was a lot of fun, and frequently made people feel better about themselves. But the thought of getting serious with anyone was a little scary, and she was very much afraid that keeping things cool with Brett Rutland was only a remote possibility.

After two broken engagements, Tessa no longer had so many stars in her eyes. She was optimistic and levelheaded enough not to condemn all men because of two failed relationships, but she was also more cautious now in the way she handled romantic entanglements. She knew danger when she saw it, and that man flashed danger signals like a neon sign. So why was she tossing aside all caution now, agreeing to go out with him when she knew better?