TALL DARK AND HUNGRY Page 0,94

then gave her head a shake. She really shouldn't be impressed. After all, the penthouse was rather impressive too. Still, to work in an office like this? Man, she wished her own was half as nice. Or even a quarter. Her office at the university wasn't much larger than a closet. There was barely room for her desk and a chair for visitors.

Terri moved to the chair in front of Bastien's desk and sat down, setting her purse on the floor as she did. After sitting there, staring for a moment, she shifted restlessly, stood, and walked to the bookshelf Meredith had pointed out. Terri scanned the book titles with in¬terest, noting that--as in most things--Bastien's taste didn't vary much from hers. But starting a book that she was only going to have fifteen minutes to read seemed a bit silly. Turning away, she crossed the room to the coffee table in front of the couch to go through the magazines lying there. There was quite a selection: women's magazines, men's magazines, business, fashion, celebrity gossip.

Terri picked up one of the women's magazines and sank onto the couch, then recalled her purse. She cartied the magazine with her to collect it, then carried her purse back to the couch, set it out of the way by her feet, and started to leaf through the magazine again. Terri had only turned a couple of pages when she became aware that she was thirsty. It must have been all that walking. Lifting her head, she glanced toward the bar and hesitated. Meredith had said to help herself.

Setting the magazine down on the coffee table, Terri stood and moved behind the bar. There were countless bottles of liquor on a triple set of shelves with a mirror backing on the wall. It almost looked like a professional bar. But she wasn't interested in al¬cohol. Turning, she surveyed the area behind the bar, noting that there were two refrigerators. One was small, and one large. Terri tried the small one first and found it locked. She tried the larger one and it opened at once. This fridge was packed with liquid refreshments of every variety. Juices, pops, even milk made up its contents. But there were also two small vials of a clear liquid.

Terri picked up the small containers curiously. She recognized the vials. She'd seen enough of them-- first, when her mother had been ill, then when Ian had been dying. They were medical vials, and both had the same long incomprehensible term and med¬ical symbol on them.

Terri set them back, confusion reigning in her. Why would Bastien have medical vials in his refriger-ator? It only took her a moment to come up with the answer. Medical laboratories were one of his com¬pany's interests. Blood banks, medical research, and medical labs were specialties of Argeneau Enterprises. In fact, Meredith had said Bastien was at a meeting right now with lab guys. This was probably some¬thing to do with that.

Satisfied, Terri set the vials back in the refrigerator and surveyed the beverages. She settled on a Diet Coke, grabbed a glass from the collection under the bar and poured her drink, then carried it back to the couch. Of course, Terri forgot all about her purse, which she'd set on the floor out of the way. But not out of the way enough. She tripped over the darn thing, and stumbled forward.

She managed to save herself from falling any far¬ther than to her knees by catching herself on the couch, but she had to let go of the pop to do it.

"Darn," she breathed, staring at the puddle of liq¬uid on the carpet. She followed that with a stronger curse and leapt into action. Pushing herself to her feet, she whirled back the way she'd come and hur¬ried behind the bar in search of a towel or rag. But, of course, there was nothing. Terri turned back to the room, her gaze shooting around until it landed on a door on the opposite wall.

"Please be a bathroom," Terri prayed as she hur¬ried in that direction. She could have cried with re¬lief when she saw that it was. And there were towels. Expensive, fluffy white ones. She'd replace them if she had to. It seemed better to ruin the towels than the carpet.

"Are the caterers here with lunch yet, Meredith?" Bastien asked as he walked into the outer office, loosening his tie. He hated wearing the bloody things, and he took them off every chance