The reaction was just as crazy and totally irrational as all his other responses. He knew he should forget about her and go back to Liane. He was obviously going to have to fight both her and her chosen mark for the evening to obtain her services for himself. He also couldn't say much for her taste in men. The fellow had a distinctly shifty look in those little pig eyes. The eyes reminded him vaguely of someone. George. That was it. Good old greedy gut, Uncle George. He felt his antagonism swell with a sudden intensity that had nothing to do with logic. The Uncle Georges of the world managed to snatch quite enough for themselves without having it handed to them on a plate. There was no way he was going to let pig eyes here get his hands on anything he wanted. And he was beginning to want Kate more every second.

As the tense silence lengthened, Kate glanced furtively at the leather-banded watch on her wrist and then stared at Beau. "Please go," she ordered. "Now!"

"Not until you go with me."

The bearded man's hand dropped away from Kate's hip and he scowled menacingly. "I told you to-"

The lights flickered and Kate's face went tense with strain and exasperation. "Oh, damn!" She reached for the bourbon bottle in the middle of the table. "Triple damn!" She brought the bottle down forcefully on Ralph's head. "I told you to leave," she wailed at Beau as Ralph's eyes glazed over and he slumped forward, knocked unconscious by Kate's blow. "Why couldn't you do it, blast it?"

The lights went out and sudden darkness threw the patrons into an uproar. Their shouts muted the screech of hurriedly pushed back chairs and were followed by angry curses as they stumbled around.

"I'll remember next time how strongly you tend to reinforce your wishes," Beau said dryly. "You didn't have to get rid of him yourself, you know. I would have done it for you. Besides the fact that he was in our way, he reminded me very unpleasantly of Uncle George."