page4 (1/2)

Except that her computer wouldn’t start The battery was dead It was the final straw, and she glared at the da it to the floor, then settled for telling it what she thought of it, under her breath

She heard a soft, masculine chuckle, and then a man’s voice

“Here you go, darling,” he said

Lara looked up Ain front of her He was tall, he was probably what soht she was in thelittle sht up his nose

She drew herself up and looked at him as coldly as she could

“I beg your pardon?”

But not coldly enough, apparently His smile broadened and he shot a pointed look at the person seated in the chair next to hers Lara lifted her brows Obviously he was accustoht as the wi surprise

“I aar,” her unwanted visitor said He had a drawl of some kind Not Southern; she knew Southern drawls Western, y look to him, and those ridiculous cowboy boots

“I aar,’” she said coldly “You’re out of your league, cowboy If those boots of yours are , you’d better let them walk”

He grinned It was, she had to adrin on a nice face Definitely handsome, if you liked men who looked as if they’d just ridden down from the hills, despite what had to be a hand-tailored suit and a Burberry raincoat Not that any of that changed the fact that she wasn’t interested

“Ah,” he said, “I see You think this is just an old-fashioned pickup”

Lara gave a wide-eyed stare “My goodness,” she said sweetly, “isn’t it?”

The stranger sighed, as if she’d wounded him deeply Then he opened his coht away, it was the duplicate of hers

“It’s painful to be ar,” he said “You need a battery for your computer and I just happen to have an extra Now, does that sound like a pickup line to you?”

Of course it did Lara started to tell hi, and as the har she saw the huht make the interminable delay seem less onerous

“Yes,” she said, and smiled, to show she wasn’t really offended

“Well, you’re right But you have to admit, it’s creative”

She laughed, and he laughed, and that was the way it all began

“Hi,” he said, and held out his hand “I’m Slade”

She hesitated, then took his hand “I’m Lara”

A tiny electric jolt passed between them

“Static electricity,” she said quickly, and pulled back her hand

“Or soain “I couldn’t help but overhear your, uh, your conversation The one you were having with yourself I didn’t actually hear what you called your dead battery, but I have a pretty good iination”

She laughed “I’ very polite”

“I’ you that extra battery”

“Thanks, but I can do without it”

“Well, I’ll lend it to you, then So you can check your e-mail, or whatever”

“I did that, just before the stupid thing died Actually it’s the ‘whatever’ part that I was going for” She s to play solitaire”

His brows lifted They were dark broinged a little at the ends, and went nicely with his black, silky-looking hair “Coe,” he said with a dead-serious expression “One card or three?”

“One, of course Tias rules…”

“The deck with the palm trees?”

Lara laughed “Uh-huh I like that little face that appears, the one that grins when you least expect it”