“I suppose so. I’m sorry.”
Fraser leaned back in his chair. “Or maybe I’m the one who’s oversensitive. It’s a
pain in the ass being called ‘one of America’s most eligible bachelors.’”
Catherine wished he would not use words like that. But what bothered her most? she
wondered. Ass or bachelor?
Maybe Fraser was right. Perhaps her interest in him was not as impersonal as she
thought. Perhaps subconsciously…
“…a target for every goddamned idiotic unmarried female in the world,” Fraser was
saying. “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you how aggressive women can be.”
Wouldn’t she? Try our cashier. Catherine blushed as she thought of it.
“It’s enough to turn a man into a fairy.” Fraser sighed. “Since this seems to be
National Research Week, tell me about you. Any boyfriends?”
“No,” she said. “That is, no one special,” she added quickly.
He looked at her quizzically. “Where do you live?”
“I share an apartment with a girl who was a classmate at college.”
“Northwestern.”
She looked at him in surprise, then realized he must have seen the personnel form she
had filled out.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to tell you something about me that you didn’t find in the newspaper
morgue. I’m a tough son-ofabitch to work for. You’ll find me fair, but I’m a perfectionist.
We’re hard to live with. Do you think you can manage?”
“I’ll try,” Catherine said.
“Good. Sally will fill you in on the routine around here. The most important thing
you have to remember is that I’m a chain coffee drinker. I like it black and hot.”
“I’ll remember.” She got to her feet and started toward the door.
“And, Catherine?”
“Yes, Mr. Fraser?”
“When you go home tonight, practice saying some profanity in front of the mirror. If
you’re going to keep wincing every time I say a four-letter word, it’s going to drive me up
the wall.”
He was doing it to her again, making her feel like a child. “Yes, Mr. Fraser,” she said
coldly. She stormed out of the office, almost slamming the door behind her.
The meeting had not gone anything like Catherine had expected. She no longer liked
William Fraser. She thought he was a smug, dominating, arrogant boor. No wonder his