Stone walked into the large room and found Arrington sitting at her dressing table, fiddling with her makeup, and dressed in only a bath towel. “Would you like me to come back?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “You’ve seen me naked often enough.”

“And enjoyed the experience,” Stone replied, standing behind her and rubbing her shoulders.

She looked at him in the mirror, then dropped the towel, exposing her lovely breasts. “Would you like to enjoy it again?”

Stone’s reaction was immediate, and Arrington knew it. She moved her head back until it came in contact with his crotch.

“I think that’s an affirmative answer,” she said.

“You may be sure of that.” He reached down and fondled her nipples.

“You know what that does to me,” she said.

“I do, and it seems to be working.”

She spun around on her stool, unzipped his fly, and took him into her mouth.

Stone gave a little gasp. “I believe that’s a bed over there,” he said.

She stopped what she was doing, took his hand, and led him to the bed. “Get out of those clothes,” she said.

But Stone was way ahead of her. They fell onto the bed, and she resumed her earlier activity.

“Wait,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I don’t want to finish too soon.”

“I don’t want that either,” she said, pulling him on top of her and helping him inside her. “It’s been too long,” she breathed as she began to move under him.

“You’re right,” he replied.

She came in less than a minute. “Again,” she said. “This time with you.”

Stone held it back as long as he could, and her rising orgasm finally set him off. They were both noisy about it.

An hour or so later, Stone disentangled himself from Arrington and used her shower. When he returned, she was back at her dressing table, wearing a slip. “Isn’t this where I came in?” he asked, rubbing her shoulders while she brushed her hair.

“It is, and what did you want to talk about?”

“We’ve got the shares we need to control the studio, in conjunction with Rick Barron. It occurred to me that it might be good for you to buy his shares, too. Rick’s in his nineties, and if he leaves them to his grandchildren, we could find ourselves back in the same situation in a few years.”

“Can I afford it?”

“I’ve already asked Bill Eggers to extend your line of credit for another hundred million.”

“That’s a breathtaking amount of money,” she said. “How will I ever pay it back?”

“When the market goes up again, and it will, you’ll sell other stocks and repay the loan. Hardly anything in your portfolio would be a better investment than Centurion.”

“I’ll do whatever you recommend,” she said. “You know I trust you.”

“Then I recommend that you buy the twenty thousand shares from Long and Baird.”

“And that will give us control?”