Excerpt:

The gray eyes narrowed again. "You are, aren't you?"

"I beg your pardon?" Meg countered, stiffening.

"Miss Buffy, from the Funny Bone, last night? You don't look quite the same, but I hear it in your voice," he told her coolly.

"I'm afraid so," Meg confessed, knowing by the tone of his voice that he didn't approve.

There was an oppressive silence for a long moment. Curtiss Edmunds braided his large-knuckled hands together and twisted them a few times, thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose to do that, you have to -- be intelligent."

"Look, I'm sorry if you disapprove," Meg apologized. "It was one of those silly college dares. I have no intention of being a stand-up comedienne for a living. I've prepared myself to make a living in business. I thought the best way to do that was to learn business management and focus of finance. To be where the money is."

"Precisely," he said. "Yes, I came to that conclusion myself when I was in college. Mr. Marsh and I are just beginning, but we have some important clients and pick up new ones every day. We're already having trouble keeping up and our girls aren't adept at using our computer. That should be no problem for you."

"No, I've taken several computing courses," Meg pointed out.

"Miss Buffington, the position is yours if you want it," Curtiss Edmunds told her, with a wave of his hand.

Why aren't those words sending me into rapture? Meg asked herself. It was because she had heard in his voice that he was about to say something else.

"I trust that escapades like entertaining at the Funny Bone will not be a part of your life if you're employed by a firm which maintains a circumspect image."

Meg's backbone stiffened. "Mr. Edmunds, I'm a competent businesswoman. I can handle whatever challenge this position presents. But I call to your attention that what I do on my own time, so long as it's not illegal, immoral, or unethical, is my affair and not yours. Mr. Boniface has asked me to perform at the Funny Bone next Friday night. I was undecided whether I should take him up on his offer. After all, I could use the money, and telling jokes comes very easily to me. Now, I wouldn't turn him down for the world."

"But..." Curtiss Edmunds sputtered, getting to his feet.

Fixing him with a drop-dead glare, Meg turned on her heel and strode from the room. She was almost angry that the deep carpet at her feet muffled the sound of her footsteps. After all, there was no sound so unequivocal as the loud staccato click of high heels on a hard floor. The firm statement of her anger was delayed until she reached the paving of the sidewalk that led to the parking lot. She punctuated it by slamming her car door.

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Author BIO: Writer Jane Bierce graduated from college, married and raised three children, published five books and a novella before she knew she was blind. After surgery to correct multiple vision problems, Ms. Bierce got back to work on her writing and entered the field of electronic publishing. "The Hardest Step" was inspired by her life in Florida, where she learned about the construction business through her husband's job. She even got up on a bulldozer to research this project, and hopes that other books dealing with challenged characters will follow.

Jane has been previously published in print by Harlequin, Silhouette and Zebra. Her book Black Tie Affair was the debut book of the Zebra Lucky-in-Love line in 1992. Her books have been translated into eight foreign languages, including Japanese and Russian.

In her spare time, Jane gardens, quilts and spoils her grandchildren. She now makes her home in Tennessee. Check out Jane's book, The Hardest Step (released in May of 1999), as well as her new release: Funny Business.