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She sipped because her throat was suddenly dry "That should be obvious A black dress with faulty hooks"

"I mean the scent" He dipped a little closer to her neck

"I don&039;t know" She would have ers were busy at the waist of her dress "So to have to ain "Are you finished back there?"

"Not nearly" He ski her reaction reflected in the mirror "You&039;re very responsive, Abra"

"We&039;re very late," she countered, turning

"Then a couple of htly around her waist In defense, she pressed both glasses against his chest He took them patiently and set them on the dresser behind her "You have lousy taste in wine"

"I know the difference bethite and red" She lifted her hands to his shoulders as he circled her waist again His grip was loose, just the slight pressure of his fingertips against her But she didn&039;t shift aside

"That&039;s like saying I&039;m a man and you&039;re a woman There&039;s a lot more to it than that" He bent his head to nibble at her lips He&039;d been right They were inviting Very inviting "A whole lot s are one way or another Cody" She arched away as she felt the floor tilt under her feet "I&039;m not ready for this"

A yes or no he would have dealt with swiftly But there was a desperation in her words that " There were ti"

His eyes skiiven hiht, he gave her space "How long do you need?"

"That&039;s not a question I can answer" Her fingers tightened on his shoulders as his handsme into corners"

"So I do," he murmured He moved aside and waited while she stepped into her shoes "Abra" When she looked at hiain, he took her hand "This isn&039;t the end of it I have a feeling the end&039;s a long way off"

She was absolutely certain he was right That orried her "I have a policy," she said carefully "I like to knohat the end looks like before I begin I can&039;t see a nice clean finish with you, Cody, so I&039;ether sure I want to take you on - so to speak"

"Red" He brought her hand to his lips, leaving her flustered "You already have"

By the time they arrived at the Thornway estate, the party was in full swing The buffet was loaded with spicy Mexican cuisine, and wine andwhite-and-pink ranch house that Tim had had built for his bride was a sweep of carefully littered at the tip of a slight slope Near it was a pretty gazebo shielded by trailing vines just beginning to blooarden was as sweet as the lassed-in terrace and the lawn The cream of Phoenix society had turned out Abra had already decided to find herself a nice quiet corner She was always pleased to build for the upper crust, but she didn&039;t have a clue how to socialize with thelass "California Nice clean color, sharp aroma, and very full-bodied" &039; Abra lifted a shoulder as she sipped "It&039;s white"

"And your dress is black, but it doesn&039;t make you look like a nun"

"Wine&039;s wine," she said, though her palate told her differently

"Honey - " he trailed a finger down the side of her throat " - you have a lot to learn"

"There you are" Marci Thornway, Tilided up She wore a heavily embroidered white silk caftan, and around her neck was a jeweled collar that glittered in the ave Abra a pat on the hand, then lifted her sapphire-blue eyes to Cody Her voice dripped like Spanish moss "I suppose I can understand why you were late"

"Marci Thornway, Cody Johnson"

"The architect" Marci slipped a proprietary hand through Cody&039;s arm "Tim&039;s told me all about you - except he didn&039;t hed It was a musical sound that suited her silvery blond looks and her petite fra their wives about handsome men"

"Or men about their beautiful wives"

Abra an to spoon up a cheese enchilada

"You&039;re froan leading Cody away "I grew up in Georgia, a little town outside of Atlanta So it"

"Little nolia blossom," Abra muttered, and turned directly into Barlow "Oh, excuse ht to put irl Here, try these tortillas Don&039;t forget the guacamole"

Abra stared down at the food he had heaped on her dish "Thanks"

"Why don&039;t you have a seat with ht?"

Abra wasn&039;t sure what she&039;d expected of this evening, but it hadn&039;t been to enjoy a sweet and funny hour with one of the richest men in the country He didn&039;t, as she had half feared, make a pass, but flirted like an old family friend across the comfortable distance of thirty-five years

They sat on a bench by the rippling waters of the pool and talked about their mutual love of movies It was the one vice Abra allowed herself, the only pure recreation she didn&039;t consider a waste of time

If her attention wandered fro, it was because she spotted Cody off and on - more often than not in Marci Thornway&039;s company

"Selfish," Barlow decided as he finished off his drink "Ought to let you uilty about her lapse, she gave hi to you To tell you the truth, WW, I&039; man to fuss over her"

"I don&039;t like to be fussed over at all" She saw Cody light Marci&039;s cigarette

Barloas nothing if not shrewd He followed the direction of Abra&039;s gaze "Now there&039;s a pretty little thing," he observed "Like spun glass - expensive and easy to look at Young Tim must have his hands full"

"He&039;s very devoted to her"

"Been keeping your architect close co"

"Your architect," Abra said Because she didn&039;t like the way that sounded, she smiled "They&039;re both from the East - Southeast I&039;m sure they have a lot in common"

"Ms How about walking around the garden?"

"All right" Sheher back to Cody as she took Barlow&039;s ara? Cody wondered as he watched Abra disappear with Barlow The h - to be her father She&039;d spent the entire evening cozying up to the le himself fronized a woman on the prowl, and the porcelain-cheeked Marci was definitely sending out signals - ones Cody wasn&039;t the least bit interested in receiving Even if he hadn&039;t already set his sights on Abra, he wouldn&039;t have felt the slightest tug from a woman like Marci Married or not, she was trouble Tied Abra to be the kind of woman to flatter an old man, to sain her There was nothe fact that Barloas smitten with her, or that she had just wandered off into the roses with one of the Fortune 500&039;s best,

Cody lit a cigarette, then narrowed his eyes against the s the fact that she had wanted hiht even have backed her into a corner, as she&039;d said - but her response had been full-blown No one kissed like that unless she meant it

Yet she&039;d pulled back Each tiht it was because she was cautious,the connection between them had become And maybe he was a fool, and she held hier fish

Alht took root, he ripped it out It was unfair, he told hi himself to think that way because he was frustrated - because he wanted Abra more than he had ever wanted anyone And, most of all, because he didn&039;t knohat the hell to do about it

"Excuse me" He cut Marci off in midsentence, sent her a quick sarden

He heard Abra&039;s laughter, a lohispering sound that made him think of thein the beam of one of the colored lanterns the Thornways&039; staff had hung all over the garden She was sertips The saled on his terrace only the night before

"There&039;s not rinned at her, "but what&039;s there is choice"

She laughed again, then slipped the ste your pardon"

Both Barlow and Abra turned - guiltily, Cody thought - at the sound of his voice

-"Well, Johnson, been enjoying yourself?" Barlow gave him a quick slap on the shoulder "Enjoy yourself ht with so people don&039;t take enough ti up a beer"

For a broad h and Abra found herself alone in the festively lit garden with Cody "I should probably go an, but she stopped short when Cody blocked her path

"You haven&039;t felt the need to et out of the garden and away froue-sreat company"

"I noticed It&039;s an unusual woman who can jump from man to man so smoothly My compliments"

The smile turned into a look of blank confusion

Cody found a arette "He ht be in his sixties, but two or three hundred ine"

Abra stared at hio out and co about"

He tossed aside the match In heels she was eye to eye with hih Barlow&039;s a very rich man, ed for about ten years, and one who obviously appreciates a young, attractive wohed, but then she saw the disdain in his eyes He was serious, she realized It was incredibly insulting "You could say he&039;s certainly a man who kno to treat a worabbed her arm before she could storm past him "I don&039;t find any excuse for you, Red, but that doesn&039;t stopyou" He pulled her around until they were once again face-to-face "Can&039;t say that I care for it, but there it is I want you, and whatever goes on in that calculating head of yours I intend to have you"

"You can go straight to hell, Johnson" She jerked her arh "I don&039;t care what you want, or what you think of o on thinking he&039;s so We had a conversation tonight, the way some people do in social situations We happened to hit it off I wasn&039;t co on to him, nor he to me"

"What about that crack I heard when I walked up?"

"What?" She hesitated a h But her eyes were cold "That was a line from a movie, you simpleton An old Tracy-Hepburn movie Mr Barlow and I both happen to be fans And I&039;ll tell you so hi on to me, it would&039;ve been none of your business If I want to flirt with him, that&039;s my business If I want to have an affair with him - or anyone else - you don&039;t have jack to say about it" She shoved hiain, just for the satisfaction "Maybe I prefer his kind of attention to the grab-and-go treatet froreen in the light fro this kind of insult from you, or anyone So keep clear, Johnson, if you want that face of yours to stay in one piece"

She stored He let out a breath between his teeth as he dropped the cigarette onto the path and crushed it out

"You had that one co the back of his neck He knehat it was to dig a hole, and he knew he&039;d dug this one deep He also knew that there was only one way out