Excerpt from:

All Shook Up
By Natalie Stenzel
Harlequin Flipside
September 2004
ISBN: 0-373-44198-3

From Chapter One

            After carefully checking the resignation letter for errors, Marley slid it into an envelope and dropped it in the mailbox -- next to a smaller envelope with a 1.5-karat bulge in its side.

            She supposed it was less than rational to drop a diamond ring in the mail like it was worth no more than the postage stamped on the envelope.

Maybe it was even a little irrational.

Fine.

Good, in fact.

She slammed the mailbox shut and returned to her apartment to browse the classifieds. Briefly, she allowed herself to feel a little wistful about quitting her job. She'd had to do it, but the timing . . .

She grimaced. She'd just gotten into the heart of the Blaylock project, a major undertaking she'd tackled with enthusiasm but hadn't fully discussed with her father as yet. It still required special handling. And so did her father.

Mentally, she shrugged and forced herself to let it go. It was no longer her responsibility. Larry could deal with the project -- and her father. She'd worry about relaying the contents of her briefcase later, when she felt up to dealing with any of the male rats in her life. And as for her own attachment to the Blaylock deal, the challenge of it . . . well, there would be other challenges.

She would see to it.

            Frowning over a fresh cup of coffee, Marley circled an ad for a marketing coordinator. Promising, she decided. It merited a phone call, at least. Just as she popped the lid back on her highlighter, the telephone rang.

            "Hello?" She spoke absently, still scanning columns of fine print. Director of marketing . . . hmm. She popped the lid off again and slashed bright yellow across it, too.

             "Marley. What are you doing at home?" Larry sounded baffled and mildly annoyed. "We had a one o'clock meeting today and you never showed."

            Marley glanced up from the ad, feeling her stomach muscles knot up all over again. What was that feeling anyway? Anger, maybe? Well. How about that. Cool, composed little Marley had rediscovered her temper -- and that it had staying power.

            "Larry. How nice of you to call." Her voice saccharin, she carefully recapped the pen and set it down.

            "Well, damn it, you didn't show up. I thought we had an understanding. Now that your Dad thinks the sun rises and sets in Josh Walker's office, you're my biggest ally in the company. Hell, Brentwood won't even listen to me without your backing. And you didn't show. You let me down."

            Pompous asshole was actually chiding her for disloyalty? Unbelievable. "Gosh, Larry, funny you should mention alliances and business in the same breath."

            After a silent moment, he exhaled roughly. "Okay, I get it. You're upset about the promotion your father offered me."

            "Oh, you heard. I'm so relieved."

"You're overreacting, Marley. This wasn't some underhanded scheme intended to hurt you in any way."

"Then what was it?"

"It was . . . a simple business agreement based on my-- my new position of trust in your father's company."

Marley gave an un-Marley-like snort.

"Come on. Be reasonable, Marley." Larry's voice rose in mild annoyance. "Deals like this happen all the time in the business world. And you have to know how much that promotion would mean to me. Think about it. In this higher position, I might even have a chance at unseating Walker as your dad's right-hand man. I'd have new leverage."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe I should have considered your career path before I broke our engagement. Where are my priorities?" She glared at the phone before returning it to her ear.

"I--" He stopped.

"Yes?" It was a challenge.

He just sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. I'm being completely insensitive."

Finally. Someone exhibiting signs of sanity in her world. "Yes, you are."

"It must have been a shock for you. Hearing everything like that. Especially if you went to the boss for explanations." He laughed, a little uncomfortably. "Your father and mine should get together and have an arrogance party, hey?"

She didn't reply.

He hesitated, then spoke softly, coaxingly. "Look, Marley. I'm sorry if this hurt you. Or embarrassed you. But I think you're viewing this situation in the worst possible light. It's not all black and white. Just because there are some substantial gains to be made doesn't mean it wouldn't be a good marriage, too. I really do like and respect you. I always have. And, frankly, I still think we'd do well together."

"You've got to be kidding. You really think I'd marry you still, knowing where it all started? With cash and a promotion? Get real. I may have been blind and gullible up to this point, but that load of bricks hit me pretty damn hard today."

"Come on, just think about it, Marl. Please. We could have a great life together. And one day your father would retire and we'd be in control of his company. Together. We'd be the ultimate power couple, and--"

Her stomach heaved at the thought. "Forget it, Larry. We're through. Period."

"Marley! You can't do this. You know what this could mean for me." Bitterness crept into his voice. "Hell, I could even show my father, arrogant bastard, that once and for all--"

So that was it. He was one-upping daddy Donatelli, and he wanted to use her and her father's company to do it. Not in this lifetime. "So sorry about the lost promotion, Larry. Better luck next time." She tried for a blasé tone, was almost sure she pulled it off. "Such a shame that you'll have to rethink your strategy, though. Now that I'm off the market, my father's all out of saleable daughters." The last ended on a brittle singsong.

"I--" Larry halted mid-tirade. "Um. Marley? Have you been drinking?" He sounded uncertain all of a sudden, even alarmed. "This isn't like you. You're usually so level-headed, so--"

"Rational?"

"Yeah. Rational. Completely. I just--" She heard him exhale in heavy frustration. "I don't know how to talk to you in this mood. Maybe you ought to just, um, sleep it off or something."

"Sure. Why not? Bye, Larry. Your ring's in the mail." She hung up to his shocked protests. "Jerk."

Oh, but it felt good to kiss him off like that. He had it coming. Now, maybe she could work in peace and quiet. In fact, she'd ensure just that. She reached for the phone's base.

Before she could turn the ringer off, the phone rang again, almost immediately. Groaning over possibilities -- her father? Larry hitting redial? -- she just let the machine get it. After the tinny version of her own voice invited a short message, she heard the familiar sound of her cousin's voice on the line.

Relieved, she picked up. "Hi, Samantha."

"Marley! Are you sick? I called your office and they said you left work early today. You never leave work early."

The concern in Sammi's voice soothed her. "No, I'm not sick. I resigned."

"You resigned? From your job?"

"Yeah. At lunch today."

"Nooo."

At the scandalized tone in her cousin's voice, Marley almost smiled. "Yep. I really did. I quit my job, my engagement, and very probably, the city itself. I guess we'll see what the job search turns up." As shocking as the words sounded on her own lips, Marley couldn't deny the heady feeling that something inside her had finally broken free.

It actually felt good. In a naughty kind of way. How irresponsible of her to quit her job before finding another one.

"Do not move." Sammi sounded urgent. "I'm coming over." The line clicked.

Not ten minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Marley glanced up in surprise. "Wow. That was fast." She smiled. Good. She needed nothing more right now than Sammi's outrageousness and diehard loyalty. She should have called her immediately.

Still smiling, she swung the door open. And nearly slammed it closed again. "You. Why?"

It was Josh, his broad shoulders filling the doorway and calm determination written all over his too-handsome face. "I was worried about you."

When she opened her mouth to either welcome or curse, the phone started ringing again. She glanced back at it, then raised an inquiring eyebrow at her unwelcome guest. "And I suppose that's my father on the phone now?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Not waiting for an invitation, he brushed past her and reached for the phone himself.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Sparing you." Then he held up a casually silencing finger, thereby boosting her blood pressure all over again. Anger. Truly an amazing concept. She could really do something with that.

"Charles? Yeah, I'm here. . . No, I won't . . . I wouldn't recommend it. . . No, I'll let you handle that. File's on my desk. Bye." He dropped the phone into its cradle, then turned back to face her.

Marley gestured with arms stretched wide, her baffled outrage nearly robbing her of words. "In case it escaped your notice, we're in my apartment, not your office. When the phone rings, I answer it, not you."

He gave her a rueful look and sighed. "I know. And I pissed you off again. I only answered it because I knew it would be your father on the line and I was afraid another encounter between you two would be fatal. For somebody."

Her raised eyebrow implied that the fatality might have been -- could still be -- Josh. "What did he want?"

"Among other things, he wanted you to come back to work tomorrow. I didn't think that was in the cards and told him as much. He didn't argue."

She gave him a cynical look. "He always argues."

"Yeah, usually." His mouth curved slightly. "But this time, I think he's relieved that I'm here instead of him. I don't think he knows how to deal with you right now."

"Of course he doesn't. I understand I'm overreacting. Being unreasonable. Even alarmingly impulsive." She almost sneered the words, the memory igniting her temper all over again. "So I suppose you think I'm being irrational, too? That I should continue to work for my father, now that he's undermined me both personally and professionally?"

Josh slid his hands into the pockets of his suit pants and regarded her thoughtfully. "No. Given the circumstances, I think you've been surprisingly rational about all this."

Her fury seemed to hit a brick wall. She stared at him. "Surprisingly rational. Huh. You know at this point in time, I don't know whether to be offended by that statement or not."

He chuckled, his green eyes twinkling appreciatively. "Actually, it's my opinion that everyone's entitled to the occasional impulse, irrational or otherwise." His voice deepened. "So what's yours going to be?"

From the book: All Shook Up
By Natalie Stenzel
Imprint and Series: Harlequin Flipside
Publication Date: 9/04
ISBN: 0-373-44198-3
Copyright: © 2004 By: Natale Nogosek Stenzel
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher.
The edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books, S.A.
For more romance information surf to: http://www.eHarlequin.com

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