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"There were no models The artist worked from my descriptions From my dreams"

"I see" She turned to face him "He or she is very talented"

"She A Wiccan artist living in SoHo I think she captured" He trailed off as he shifted his gaze froht in his head scattered in pure, pri"

"Thank you I like, very much, what you&039;ve done with the restaurant"

"It&039;s a start" He started to take her ar new lighting designed So in brass, more lanternlike And I want - well, why don&039;t we sit before I bore you with all uide her to an intine was already chilling

She slid in, then deliberately slipped out of her jacket She watched his eyes blur, but to his credit, his gaze stayed primarily on her face "Warm in here," she said, then nodded to the waiter when he poured her cha to?"

Saet to that Are you trying to kill me?"

"No Just kick your ass"

"Done I don&039;t think a woman&039;s made et sohed, he tapped his glass to hers "To mutual business"

"Do we have any?"

"That&039;s what this is about First, regarding dinner I pre-ordered I think I reet you a ht Very smooth The erous edges When it suited him

"I don&039;t aze drift around the rooet better The first-floor renovations should be complete in another teeks The new presidential suite rocks"

"So I hear Your contractor is my contractor"

"So I hear When do you plan to start your expansion?"

"Soon" She glanced at the variety of appetizers placed on the table by silent waiters She sampled a bit of lobster pate

"I hope to keep the inconvenience tothe ine you&039;ll pick up some of my lunch crowd" She paused for a beat "Temporarily"

"Improvements to your business only benefit ree to that"

"Why not exploit it? I want to stock some local-interest books, maybe some current bestsellers, in the luxury suites A discreet card or bookmark could advertise your store"

"And?" She waited for the catch

"You get a lot of day-trippers Again, using the local-interest angle, what if they bought a particular book you&039;ve selected - a book on the island&039;s history, whatever A purchase of that book gives them a chance to win a free weekend&039;s stay at the hotel They fill out a form with their na the season, and soets lucky"

"And we have all those nane "I knew you&039;d follow et a few more tourists into the hotel, and we both add to our potential custo a delicate crab puff "Hotels, beach reading Then there&039;s business travel Saet thee is a discount coupon for Cafe Book, which gets them into your place across the street"

"Which, if they fill out the prize forets them back into your place on a weekend vacation"

"Bull&039;s-eye"

She considered as fresh field-greens salads were served "The cost to each of us is negligible Soh In fact, much too simple to warrant a business dinner to discuss it"

"There&039;s more I&039;ve noticed you don&039;t, as a rule, do author events"

"One or two a year, local interest again" She shrugged her shoulders "Sisters and Cafe Book are well off the beaten path for book tours and standard book signings Publishers don&039;t send authors to reland coast, andto pay to coe that"

He had her interest now She accepted the bread he&039;d buttered for her, unaware that he&039;d been nudging food on her since she&039;d sat down "Can we?"

"I ot so a few key people that sending a touring author to Three Sisters would be orth the tienerous corporate rate and first-class acco a classy independent bookstore right across the street What you have to do is put together a proposal detailing just how Cafe Book would host an author, how you&039;d pull in the war out the door We pull it off once, just once, and others will be hopping on the ferry"

She felt the quick twist of excite a room a few times a year at a corporate rate will hardlyto help hbor isn&039;t gullible or naive"

"No, she&039;s just the most beautiful woman I&039;ve ever known"

"Thank you Now What&039;s the point in these ideas for the hotel?"

"Okay, so much for charm" He leaned toward her "There are a lot of publishers with a lot of authors with a lot of books to hype That&039;s one Two, publishers have sales conferences If I snag the interest of one publisher because of a successful author event, it&039;s going to add to the weight I&039;oing to get in a lot of repeat business" He lifted his water glass "So will you If you can handle an author event"

"I kno to host a signing" She ate without thinking because her mind was already on the details "If you can push those buttons for, say, July or August, even into Septeet plenty of warm bodies Give me a novel, a mystery, a romance, a thriller, and we&039;ll sell a hundredthe folloeek"

"Write the proposal"

"You&039;ll have it tomorrow, by the close of the workday"

"Good" He ate so herself, enjoying hiain "Don&039;t toy with uy He doesn&039;t tour, his books come out in February, not the suood"

"Okay, just testing How about Caroline Truood I&039;ve read her first three books Solid ro her well, and they&039;reher into hardcover this su Saet ain "I et ured you&039;d have so off a seduction atte really viable"

"If I hadn&039;t had soet you here" He brushed his fingers over the back of her hand "Even if it only ht," she continued, "that so the conversation you&039;d remind me that you had a number of rooms upstairs, and why didn&039;t we ht about it" He remembered what she&039;d said to hie "But it wouldn&039;t ht for an instant "Oh, I wish I knew if that was sincere, or just fucking clever"

"Mia - "

"No I don&039;t knohat&039;s between us I can&039;t see it, and I&039;ve tried to Why is it that, even knowing better, we can fool ourselves into believing we&039;d be all right if we just knehat happens next?"

"I don&039;t know I can&039;t see it either" When she looked at hi away the now to see the what-ifs, but I had to try"

She looked to the portrait of the sisters "The only thing set in stone is yesterday I can proan be destroyed This isthat matters to me is on this island I&039;m more than I hen you left, less than I will be when I&039; withhere now" Her lips curved as their entrees were served "I was going to sleep with you"

"Christ" He pounded a fist on his heart "Medic"

Her laugh was low and intiine, before we&039;re done, I will But since we&039;re being so friendly, I&039;ll tell you frankly, I want you to suffer first"

"Believe lass "Let&039;s go back to business before I whiht, tell me about your other plans for the hotel"

"I want it to matter I want people who stay here to take away an experience I spent sixand dissecting the smaller hotels It&039;s about service first, but overall, it&039;s about the details Color schemes, the thread count on the sheets Can you reach the phone without getting out of bed? Can I get a daet this spot cleaned off ?"

"How thick are the towels," Mia commented "How firm is the mattress"

"And so on In-room faxes and Internet access for the business traveler Cone and roses for the honeyuests by naoing to hire a e to butler the luxury suites"

"Well, well"

"And every guest, on arrival, will have an a water to cha on the price level of the room Every room will be rehabbed before we&039;re done, and every one will be personalized and unique I&039;uests will stay in the Rose Room or the Trinity Suite, and so forth"

"That&039;s a nice touch," she told him "More personal"

"Exactly We already have a data bank, but we&039;ll put it to better use for repeat guests That e can do our best to put them back in a favorite room We&039;ll bu visits, maintain a file on their preferences And in the health club" He trailed off "What?"

"Nothing" But she couldn&039;t help set caught up"

"You knohat you want, and how you intend to go about it It&039;s very attractive"

"It took et there You always knew"

"Maybe I did But wants and intentions change"

"And sometimes they circle back around"

He laid his hand on hers, and then she gently slid hers free "And soe"

He went back to work after she&039;d left the restaurant But he couldn&039;t concentrate He went ho with her was both torture and pleasure Watching the expressions cross her face when she becah not to close herself off fro in his bloodstreaed and walked into the dark woods He went unerringly to the circle where he could feel the shie with Nell&039;s, with Ripley&039;s Preparing himself, he stepped into its center, and let their power, and his oash over him like water

"What is mine, I add to yours With power shared, the link endures" The light grew, spreading around the ring as strong as the sun "To win your heart, I&039;ll face the fire, and all that the fates conspire By earth and air, by fire and water, I will stand by the sisters&039; daughter Yet I wait for her to coht ht while the ht streams, she is safe within her dreaht that which feeds on pain and blight Know I join the sisters three and dare to show yourself to me"

The earth treed the circle ran straight and true toward the night sky

And outside the circle, a dark round, and coalesced into a ith a pentagraht, let&039;s understand each other

"To hi this vow I make By all the power that lives in me, from your hand she will be free I will crush you into dust by all means fair or foul or just"

Sa

"Do you think I fear you? You&039;re nothing but sht around the circle lowered In challenge, he stepped clear of the protection "Power to power," he murmured while the air outside the circle swirled filthy and foul Saather, the ripple and bunch of ht of it was a shock, as was the quick, sharp pain in his shoulder where claws dug Using boththe wolf aside, then yanked the ritual knife out of his belt "Let&039;s finish it," he said between his teeth

This tied, he pivoted and raked the knife over its side There was a sound, round, sizzling into it like hot oil And wolf and mist vanished

Sam studied the fresh scar on the earth, then the blackened tip of his blade Absently, he ran a hand over his shoulder where his shirt and flesh had been ripped

So, they&039;d both bled But only one had screaoes to round