"I demand to see JR right now!" Katherine thundered, as she strode into reception. "Good morning, Miss Wentworth, I'm afraid that Mr Ewing is out at a meeting right now" one of the secretaries calmly informed her, accustomed to people bursting into the office angry and demanding where her boss was concerned.

"Then I will wait in his office" Katherine replied determinedly. The young woman looked at her, unsure how to respond. JR usually refused to contemplate anybody, even family, being left alone in his office despite the fact that he never left it without being sure to lock all documents and files away. However, there was something about Katherine's expression, combined with the suspicion that she and JR were more than just business associates, that gave rise to uncertainty on the secretary's part.

She glanced at her watch and calculated that JR would not be long back before deciding. "Yes, alright then, Miss Wentworth. Please follow me." Leading Katherine into the office, the offer of a drink declined, she gently closed the door before resuming her seat at her desk. The others looked at her quizzically. She shrugged her shoulders. "Just another day at Ewing Oil" she giggled before starting to type again.

Fifteen minutes later and JR was back. The secretary stood to greet her boss and inform him of his visitor. "Say, honey, could you go out to the coffee shop and fetch me a sandwich while you are on your lunch break?" he interrupted, thrusting a twenty- dollar bill in her hand. "Yes sir, but you have a visitor. Miss Wentworth is here. I told her you were out but she was very insistent on waiting for you. I thought it best not to offend her" she told him nervously.

JR stared at her. "How long has she been in there?" he asked annoyedly. "Not long. About fifteen minutes. She seemed quite angry" the secretary stammered, convinced that she had done the wrong thing. JR grinned wickedly. "Don't worry, sugar. You did just right. Now, run along and enjoy your lunch." The young woman retreated and collected her jacket before leaving, relieved that she had not incurred his ire.

JR entered the office and closed the door behind him, snapping the deadlock softly behind his back. Katherine sprang to her feet, turned and delivered a sharp slap to his face. "How dare you?" she shouted. "Good afternoon, Katherine" he greeted her, holding his hand briefly to his cheek, stinging in the aftermath of the slap.

She made to slap him again, angry at the fact that the first one had made such little impression on him. This time he intercepted the insult before she could make contact. Grasping her wrist tightly, causing her to gasp, he stared into her bright blue eyes. "Now that's not very nice is it, honey?" His tone was menacing but Katherine was too angry to care.

She attempted to free herself but he proved too strong for her. "What's wrong, Katherine?" he asked, grinning in a manner that was annoyingly demeaning to her. "You know what's wrong, JR" she told him through gritted teeth. "Have you seen the New York Stock Exchange this morning? The value of the shares in my father's company have plummeted overnight and it's all because of you and the advice that you've been giving me! I thought you were going to help me!"

JR laughed loudly. "Katherine, you're an intelligent girl but you have a lot to learn yet. I am helping you- to make a hostile takeover of the company from your half-breed brother and sister!" Katherine stared at him, adrenaline racing, first with anger and now with anticipation. "What do you mean?" she asked. "You see, I have been doing a little digging with the help of my friends at the banks. The cash that you inherited is more than enough to outstrip the Barnes's. Their cash reserves are no match for you. Together with the other major shareholders, the men who were loyal to your father and are now loyal to you, you can take them! Buy them out from under their feet, get rid of them both once and for all at the cheapest price possible."

Ashamed by her utter naivete and lack of trust in the man that she was falling more and more in love with, Katherine blushed and then sighed. "I'm sorry, JR. I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I thought you had double-crossed me, intent on taking the company for yourself." JR laughed. "That had crossed my mind, I will confess, but I'm only interested in oil. Plus, why ruin such a beautiful friendship?"

He let go of her wrist and drew her into his arms. "Now how are you really going to say sorry? To thank me even?" he asked her, his breath hot against her neck and face. "Not here" she told him, her knees weak, powerless in reality to resist him.

"The door's locked and I have no meetings this afternoon. Afterwards I will talk you through the next steps for the take-over. Come on, honey, it's about time that you showed me your gratitude." He began unbuttoning her blouse. She tried to prevent him, weakly and without any proper effort, as their lips met. "That's right, Katherine. Let yourself go" he murmured between kisses. She knew that what they were doing was wrong but her attraction to him right at that moment was too strong. Then there was the fact that she needed to keep him on side at least until her father's company was rightfully hers once more. Then she would decide whether her love for him could permit her to carry on as his mistress but nothing more.

Freeing her of her blouse he lifted her onto his desk. She gasped with arousal. This was a first for her but almost certainly not for him. She lay back at his direction and closed her eyes as his mouth rained kisses upon hers, making her ready for him. For the next hour or so she belonged to him. There was no pretending otherwise.

The End