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"What did she say when you told her?"
As Sam paced his office, Mac lifted his hands "That it has surrounded her all her life, but is just being more blatant about it now"
"Yeah, I can just hear her saying that When ere - before I left the island, we talked about it a couple of times She&039;d read up on it more than I had at that point That&039;s probably still true The woet to chapter two She was so confident about it all Good would overco and faithful"
"She&039;s both of those What I didn&039;t tell her was that s picked up several different - let&039;s call
the they&039;d be yours"
"Just because she doesn&039;t want et it"
"Whatever you&039;re doing, keep it up"
Sam wandered to the , looked out on the new terrace across the street She had taken in the tables she&039;d put out for the weekend, and the creas setting the slate in place "How did she look today?"
"Spectacular"
"You should see her when she uses real power" Then he glanced back at Mac "But I suppose you have"
"Late last winter - a call to the four elements It took me half a day to come to my senses I wonder if she uses the Wiccan equivalent of a dimmer switch on that face of hers for the everyday"
"No The power punches it up, as if it wasn&039;t enough already Beauty like that blinds a man, muddles the brain I&039;ve asked myself if it&039;s that that pulls me to her"
"I can&039;t answer that"
"I can now I&039;ve loved her all my life Before I knehat love meant, after I tried to redefine it It&039;s a nasty blow to finally understand that nohen she doesn&039;t love e of his desk "All right, scientifically speaking - or theoretically, acade her now - putting her at greater risk?"
"Your feelings don&039;t count" As soon as he said it, Mac winced "I didn&039;t et it It&039;s her feelings that tip the scale, one way or the other In that case, I&039;s, or change them, won&039;t hurt her If you think otherwise, I&039;ll hold off on that until after Septe with the gut If nothing else, I intend to be as close to her as I can when it co"
He called her that night, at holass of wine
"I hope I&039; you at a bad time"
"No" Mia pursed her lips as she studied the play of light and liquid in her glass "Thank you for the flowers They&039;re lovely"
"I&039;ued yesterday That I took my mood out on you"
"Accepted"
"Good Then I hope you&039;ll have dinner with , to discuss the details of Caroline&039;s tour stop Would toht So smooth That hen you had to watch him most carefully "Yes, I suppose"
"I&039;ll pick you up, then, say seven-thirty?"
"There&039;s no need I can easily walk across the street"
"I had somewhere else inoff on Tuesdays No point in you changing your routine just for this I&039;ll pick you up We&039;ll keep it casual"
She&039;d nearly asked for specifics before she decided he wanted her to "Casual&039;s just fine I&039;ll see you to up, went back to her book But found it hard to concentrate The day before, she thought, they&039;d raked up the past with all its wounds and bitterness Had she trapped his and so confident of his? Could he have been so selfish, so cold, that he had cast her aside rather than share his own ive her a chance to understand?
How foolish and shortsighted of both of theht now
Still, blaed what had happened None of it changed, nor would she have it change, who each of theo on as they were Cautious friends, careless lovers, with no plans to be reed with her on that one point And yet
After setting it aside, Mia said to her cat, "He&039;s up to soe, Saan I have an eency"
It was athe details To hone some of them, he had to wait until Mia left the store the next afternoon He also concluded that the only way to deal with Lulu was to be direct Inside Cafe Book he gestured her over to a display of CDs A CD titled Forest Serenity was tucked in a slot labeled Playing Now
"Which one&039;s her favorite?"
Lulu adjusted her glasses "Why?"
"Because I&039;d like to buy her favorite"
Always ready for a sale, Lulu ran her tongue around her teeth "You buy five, you get the sixth half price"
"I don&039;t need half a dozen - " He broke off, hissed "Okay, I&039;ll buy six Which ones are her favorites?"
"She likes them all or they wouldn&039;t be in here It&039;s her store, isn&039;t it?"
"Right" He started to pluck some at random
"Don&039;t be in such a daets in before me, she tends to put one of these three on"
"Then I&039;ll take these three And these"
"We sell books, too"
"I know you sell books I&039;m justWhat would you recommend?"
She hosed hih It wasn&039;t as if he couldn&039;t use a hundred-dollar coffee table book on Renaissance art, or this week&039;s top ten bestsellers Or the six CDs, and the three audiotapes And the rest of it
At least when Lulu had rung hihed And meant it
He left Cafe Book several hundred dollars poorer, and with a great deal left to do in a short amount of time
Despite that, he arrived at Mia&039;s door at exactly seven-thirty
She was just as pro a slim file
"Notes," she said "On the event And copies of the flyer that went out, the store&039;s newsletter, and the ad that will run for the next teeks"
"Can&039;t wait to see theestured toward his car "Want the top up?"
"No, let&039;s keep it down"
She noted he&039;d meant casual He wore dark trousers and a blue T-shirt Once again, she had to suppress the urge to ask hiave her a light kiss before he opened the car door for her - "you look wonderful"
All right, she thought Sa about you," she replied as she slid into the car "It&039;s a lovely evening for a drive down the coast"
"My thoughts exactly" He walked around to the driver&039;s side, got behind the wheel "Music?"
"Yes"
She settled back, calculating how much time she would allow him to seduce her, then lifted her eyebrows in surprise as flutes played on the speakers "An odd choice for you," she commented "You were always h to sla the pace now and then Exploring different avenues" He lifted her hand, kissed it
"Broadening horizons But if you&039;d prefer so else"
"No, this is fine And aren&039;t we acco around her face "The car handles well"
"Want to try it out?"
"Maybe on the way back" Deciding against trying to puzzle him out, for now she sat back to enjoy the rest of the ride
And when he drove through the village without stopping, she tensed up again She studied the yellow cottage when he parked in front "Odd, I didn&039;t realize you&039;d turned this into a restaurant I believe that&039;s a violation of your lease"
"It&039;s teot out and caain, he lifted her hand, brushed his lips over her knuckles "If you decide you&039;d rather go soive it aher hand, he led her around the house rather than into it On the freshly mowed lahite cloth was spread It was surrounded by candles not yet lit, and pillows in rich colors and fabrics Beside it was a long basket overfloith lilacs He lifted it "For you"
She studied the flowers, then his face "Lilacs are out of season"
"Tellthe basket out to her until she took it "You always liked them"
"Yes, I&039;ve always liked theht we&039;d have a picnic A compromise between business and pleasure, public and private"
"A picnic"
"You always liked them, too" He leaned forward to brush his lips over her cheek "Why don&039;t we have a glass of wine, and you can think about the idea?"
To refuse would be both cold and ungracious And, she adined the picnics on the lawn by their own little cottage was no reason to slap at hi
"I&039;d love soht back with it"
She let out a little sigh when he was out of earshot, and when the back door swung shut behind him she lifted the basket of lilacs and buried her face in them
Mo from the house With a shake of her head, she sat down on one of the pillows, put the basket of flowers beside her, and waited for hiht not only wine but caviar
"Soesture, lit the candles "Sitting on the grass doesn&039;t mean you can&039;t eat well" He poured the wine, tapped his glass to hers "Slainte"
She nodded in acknowledg the little garden"
"In my limited capacity Did you plant it?"
"So"
"I can feel her in the house" He heaped beluga on a toast point "Her joy in it," he said and offered the caviar to Mia
"Joy is one of her greatest gifts When you look at her, you don&039;t see the horror she&039;s been through It&039;s been an education to watch her finish discovering herself"
"How do youWith Nell it was finally unlocking a door, then stepping through it and finding a rooic I showed her was how to stir the air Her face when she did itit onderful"
"I never taught anyone I did attend a weekend seh"
"Really?" She licked caviar off her thumb "And hoas that?"