Page 16 (1/2)

She smiled at him and he immediately felt every nerve and muscle in his body shift froe swept over him to pick her up off the sofa, carry her into the shadowy room at the end of the hall, and put her down on a bed He flexed one hand deliberately to regain control

It had been like this all evening, as though he alking the edge of a cliff in a violent storo over into very deep water It didn't help that outside the rain and the wind had struck land with a vengeance so room to the stone fireplace, picked up an iron poker, and prodded the fire The blaze didn't need prodding, but it gave hi to do with his hands

"I've enjoyed your books," she said "I've got all four in the series"

"I noticed" He put aside the poker, straightened, and glanced at the bookshelf where his novels were arranged between two heavy green glass bookends "We authors tend to pick up on little details like that"

The bookends looked expensive, he thought Dolphins playing in the surf One-of-a-kind pieces of art glass, not cheap, utilitarian bookends picked up at a rue sale

There were other quietly expensive touches in the cottage An exotically patterned carpet done in shades of old covered reen sofa The coffee table was a heavy sheet of green glass that rippled and flowed like a wave of clear lava A couple of fra on the walls

Not the kind of furnishings you expected in a weekend or su that she had deliberately set out to ood

"Tell me," she said, "was it difficult to make the decision to leave Harte Invest the decision was easy" He sat down on the sofa and reached for his coffeeout of the family business was a little more difficult"

"I'll bet it was You were the firstborn and from all accounts you showed a talent for investave hi smile "There must have been a lot of pressure on you to take over the helm after your father retired"

"My parents were very understanding and supportive" He took a s of coffee and slowly lowered the"But Sullivan went off like Mount Saint Helens"

"I believe it Harte Investrandfather's creation Everyone around here knohat he went through to recover and build a new company after Aunt Claudia--" She broke off "After Harte-Madison went under"

He wrapped both hands around the"Dad tried to shield me from the worst of the blast but no one could have suppressed that explosion Sullivan and I went a few rounds before he finally realized that I wasn't going to back down and change my mind"

"It must have been a difficult tiot through it"

"It's a tribute to the strength of your family bonds"

"Uh-huh" He did not want to talk any more about that time in his life It was tied up too closely with Alanced around the room "Looks like you planned to stay here for a while"

She raised one shoulder in a tiny shrug "Plans change"

He couldn't think of anything to say to that so he tried another topic "Heard you've been seeing Jereether a couple of times" She sipped her coffee

He looked at her "Mind if I ask if there's anything serious in that direction?"

She pursed her lips and tilted her head slightly Thinking "I would describe my relationship with Jeremy as friendly"

"Friendly" What the hell did friendly mean?

"Jeremy and I have a lot of interests in co Jereave him polite concern "Is there a problereat care "Is Jereht?"

"I doubt it" She looked surprised by the question "But if he says anything, I'll explain the situation to him"

"How, exactly, do you intend to explain it?"