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  Busy did not begin to describe the last few days, she thought as she absently began straightening his messy desk. Monday morning, right after they’d gotten out of the shower—another lovely, erotic, heart-stopping first for her—a local contractor they’d hired to do some framing had knocked on the door and soon after that the phone had begun ringing, packages had started arriving, meetings had started happening.

  The Santa Margarita job had officially begun.

  It had taken no time at all for Alec and Daisy to settle into a routine. When it came to work, they were a well-oiled machine. Daisy handled everything behind the scenes—the bids, the books, the orders, the deliveries, phones, blueprints, permits and, of course, her specialty—inspectors. Alec handled design and everything that happened on-site, from dealing with contractors to making sure that no one tried to stick them with a truckload of knotted, warped boards. And while this division of labor worked well and made good sense, the downside was that it kept them apart a great deal of the day.

  Fortunately, they were both passionately committed to making the most of their nights.

  And oh, the nights, Daisy thought as she gathered up the pencils he’d left strewn about the table and put them all into the empty cup where they belonged. They’d been the most amazing three nights of Daisy’s life. She felt her face flush when she thought about how bold she’d become so quickly, how much time she’d made up for in Alec’s arms.

  The only problem was that each caress, each moan and gasp and overwhelming climax made her fall harder and more hopelessly in love. And with that realization came the knowledge that when the time came, she was going to have one hell of a time letting him go.

  The phone rang, dragging her back to Thursday, day six of the ninety or so she’d spend here on Santa Margarita, making love with the man who was most definitely going to break her heart.

  “Mackenzie,” she said into the receiver as she dropped into Alec’s desk chair.

  “Kincaid,” Alec said with mock gravity, his low, sexy voice causing her blood to pop in her veins.

  Her heart rate kicked up to a cha-cha beat. “You on your way home?”

  “As fast as this damn cart will take me. You okay?”

  “Yes.” How domestic this all sounded, she thought, while it was anything but. For one crazy second, she considered telling him that she loved him. That, in spite of what she’d said, she was dreading the day she was going to lose him. “It’s been a busy day.” Coward.

  “Hey, if I haven’t told you already,” he said, concern heavy in his voice, “you’re doing an amazing job. I don’t know how I would be handling this without you.”

  “Thanks, Alec.” She loved the job. In fact, staying busy all day was the only thing that kept her mind off their future—or lack thereof.

  “I have an idea,” he said, then quickly added, “and I’m still the boss, so you can’t say no.”

  She smiled, thinking how much their relationship had changed in recent days. “What’s your idea, boss?” she asked, leaning on the final word.

  “Ohh, I like that,” he said, and she could almost see him stroking a nonexistent villain’s beard. “Subservience. Hmm. That gives me another idea…”

  “Stick to the first idea, Snidely Whiplash.”

  “Oh, that.” He managed to inject disappointment into the simple words. “What was that again?”

  “Alec…”

  “Take an hour and treat yourself to something at the spa over on Catalina Lane.”

  “Thanks, but there’s so much to do—”

  “Did I mention I was the boss?”

  “You did mention that, yes,” she said, her tone dry.

  “Then go on. Chop, chop. No dinner meeting tonight so I’ll pick something up.”

  “I don’t know,” she began.

  “I’m having a hard time being this nice,” he said, “so the offer expires in exactly ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six—”

  “Okay,” she said as she reached for her purse.

  “And, Daisy?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Don’t get an overhaul. I like you just the way you are.”

  Damn him.

  Alec took a long pull on a tall beer and collapsed onto the suite’s overstuffed couch. Something was definitely wrong. He was sure of it because he was starting to do things that only jerky, sensitive, New-Age guys did.

  For starters, he’d been calling Daisy all day long lately—always under the guise of talking about work, but he knew he just wanted to hear her voice. Tonight he’d even called her on the way home—like a husband, for pity’s sake. Then he’d offered to pick up dinner, which wouldn’t have been a big deal except that he’d made it a big deal by calling the chef at Pitcairn and bribing her to whip up a special menu. Then he’d spent the next hour running all over town picking stuff up, making nice with the surly proprietor of the wine shop and telling flagrant lies to the girls at the bakery who’d already closed up for the night.

  All in all, he was definitely having an out-of-body experience.

  A sigh loud enough to wake Daisy’s cat didn’t make him feel any better, either. He had to admit it, he thought as the cat got up, stretched his back into a perfect Halloween cat arch and settled down to lick one soft paw. He wanted Daisy the way he’d never wanted any woman. Not in a forever kind of way, of course, but in ways that alarmed him and ways that intrigued him and ways that made him feel like he’d already lost his freaking mind.

  He looked over at Daisy’s neatly ordered desk and all the familiar things she’d laid out on its surface—coffee cups filled with pens, a rack that held her color-coded folders, a stack of Post-its, a framed photo of her with her late mother. It struck him as ironic that all of that was so predictable while the woman herself had turned out to be anything but.

  The cat—whose name was Barney or something—chose that moment to give him one of those cat looks that said, “You don’t like me so I’m going to love you up until you start sneezing,” and promptly jumped onto Alec’s lap.

  “Aw, c’mon,” Alec said, holding his arms away from the cat in hopes it would get the hint.

  It didn’t. It just turned in a dozen tiny circles, curled up into a neat yellow ball right there on his legs and began to purr. Loudly.

  Alec tried to harden his heart against the furry monster, but when he looked down at the contentment on the cat’s face, he gave up. “All right. But don’t make this a habit.”

  Barney just blinked and purred louder. Then he dropped his head down on his front paws and exhaled with a little wheeze.

  “You got a pretty good gig here, don’t you?” he asked as he began to scratch the cat behind the ears absently. “Eat. Sleep. Love. The end.”

  Barney let out a little snore-snuffle combo. “Maybe I’ll take a page out of your book, Barney. Maybe I’ll try being domesticated for a while.” Alec took another swig of his beer. “I sure am tempted.”

  “I thought you and cats didn’t get along.”

  Startled, Alec coughed and gagged as he twisted around in his seat. “Daisy,” he said as he sat up straight, ejecting the cat in the process. “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Long enough to know that you weren’t paying attention when I told you his name was Bam Bam.”

  “I knew it was one of the Flintstones.”

  “Rubbles.”

  “Whatever.”

  Daisy stood in the doorway, her curvy figure silhouetted by the orange-purple glow of the sun’s dying light behind her. A warm breeze had slipped in with her, bringing with it the unique island scents of sand and sea and passion.

  She stepped inside and shut the door and he saw a tempting glimpse of her flat stomach beneath her cropped red shirt, a long, enticing stretch of her tanned legs below an abbreviated denim skirt and a bad girl’s smile lighting up her pretty face.

  His throat went bone dry.

  “What’s for dinner, honey?” she asked, teasing him as she walked toward him, her
hips swaying with each graceful step.

  Heat sizzled in his veins. How was he supposed to resist thinking what it would be like to come home to this every night, when he’d had more fun in the last five days than he’d had in the previous five years?

  “Just a little something I threw together.” He put down his beer and stood. “Come on,” he said, and took her hand and led her through the French doors and out onto the patio where he’d laid out a red-checked tablecloth and the most decadent spread he could muster on such short notice.

  Daisy didn’t say a thing. She just nibbled on her bottom lip. When she looked up at him, her eyes were suspiciously shiny. “You did this for me?”

  “Only the best for you,” he said as he pulled out a chair for her. Except me. I’m not the best thing for you but, heaven help me, I can’t seem to stay away.

  She spread a napkin out on her lap and chewed a little harder on her lip. “This is so sweet.”

  Sweet, he thought. Only sensitive, New-Age guys were sweet. Damn.

  “Don’t worry,” he said with a wink as he took a seat across from her. “I’ll make up for the sweetness with a little bit of sin later, I promise.”

  And he was a man of his word. After they ate the oysters on the half shell and the French bean salad with sea scallops and the salmon filet with goat cheese gratin and the Tahitian vanilla crème brûlée, he took her to bed and showed her that even newly minted, sensitive, New-Age guys could turn wicked when they wanted someone the way he wanted her.

  Ten

  “Hello?” Even with the bathroom door between them, Daisy could hear the annoyance in Alec’s voice.

  She peered into the mirror and nearly jabbed the mascara wand into her eye. “Almost ready,” she sang out. Goodness, this whole girly thing took a long time. Hair, makeup, clothes, lingerie and, oh, Lord, these shoes, she thought as she reached down and adjusted one strappy heel. So damned uncomfortable.

  She threw some of the cosmetics in her tiny bag and put on dangly crystal earrings, then adjusted her dress, sucked in her cheeks and struck a pose à la Marilyn Monroe.

  “Pathetic, Kincaid,” she said to her reflection. “You look like a tomboy dressed up like a girl.”

  “Daisy,” he said, and she could almost hear him looking at his watch. “Tell me the truth. Are we going somewhere tonight or—”

  Daisy yanked open the door and tried to stand still as Alec perused her with a gaze so hungry and appreciative she felt like she was vibrating beneath the force of it. She distracted herself by checking him out just as thoroughly. He looked gorgeous in his tuxedo, like Cary Grant with a touch of Jimmy Stewart thrown in for flavor.

  “Wow,” he said finally.

  She smiled, relaxed, smoothed the fabric of her black satin, bias-cut, low-cut glamour gown over her hips. “You like?”

  “Oh, baby,” he said, reaching for her, pulling her into his arms, bending her around the hand he laid at the small of her back. “Me like.” Then he kissed her with such attention to detail that she couldn’t catch her breath. In the end she had no choice but to believe that she looked pretty damned good.

  “Alec?” she gasped against his consuming lips, her heart pounding hard and furious. “Are we going somewhere tonight or—”

  “I haven’t decided. What do you have on under that dress?”

  “White cotton granny panties and a sports bra.”

  “Oh,” he moaned. “I love it when you talk dirty.”

  She laughed and smacked him on the arm before pulling reluctantly out of his embrace. “Come on. We’re late.”

  “No one will notice if we don’t show.”

  “At a thousand-dollar-a-plate benefit?”

  “Okay,” he conceded, smiling like the devil. “The caterer will notice.”

  She grabbed his shoulders, turned him toward the door and pushed. “Chop, chop,” she said and he obeyed.

  With the darkening sunset guiding their way, they walked hand in hand to Paloma’s largest venue, the Cosmopolitan Ballroom, to attend a benefit for Virginia’s pet charity, the Santa Margarita Trust. As they walked, they passed legions of Saturday night revelers on the gas lamp lit sidewalks. But Daisy and Alec were so intent on talking, laughing and sometimes moving into the shadows to grope each other that they hardly noticed.

  After a full week of working together by day and making love by night, Daisy could honestly say she’d never been happier. Things that had been missing her entire adult life—a sense of belonging, of being needed and desired and feminine—were now hers in spades. Her relationship with Alec was a big part of the changes in her, but she could also credit her new job responsibilities for giving her confidence and a sense of purpose. The only speed bump on her horizon was that it was all going to end long before she was ready.

  Soon the Ballroom loomed up before them, a huge and imposing marble structure that housed, among other things, a movie theater, a bowling alley, a casino and a museum. Before they headed for the main entrance, they circled the building and Alec told her what he knew about its history, recounting with awe the engineering feats that made the hundred-year-old building legendary among architects.

  She smiled up at him, loving his intelligence and wit and passion for his work. Loving him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said when it was clear she’d drifted away somewhere. “This must be dull as all hell.”

  She shook her head. “I’m on the edge of my seat,” she said and he kissed her and called her a liar in a fond voice before guiding her into the building with a strong hand at the small of her back.

  Virginia and Joseph greeted them warmly and escorted them to their table. The sound of a live orchestra was filling the huge room with rich, gorgeous melodies as the guests mingled and waited for the dinner to commence. Slowly couples began to wander out onto the ballroom floor.

  Alec held out a hand in invitation. “What do you say?”

  “Why not,” she said, and thought, Thank you, Arthur Murray, as Alec led the way.

  He took her in his arms and held her so close she could feel him breathing. Her heart thumped against his ribs, his pulse beat hard against her cheek. She wished she had some wood she could knock on because she couldn’t stop thinking that her fantasies were working out just fine.

  When dinner was announced, they returned to the table. Business associates and friends of the Baldwins had rounded out their table, leaving just one empty seat next to Alec.

  The dinner passed in a blur of conversation and wine and exquisite food and high spirits. The ornate chandeliers above them cast prisms of light on the china and crystal and silver on the table, making Daisy think whimsically that she’d fallen into a sparkling fairyland. Occasionally Alec would reach for her hand under the table and Daisy’s breath would hitch as he played with her fingers or traced a pattern on her palm, and all the while he’d carry on a passionate discussion with one of their table mates about design or architecture or history.

  Her heart hurt just looking at him, but the pain was well worth the return. She squeezed his hand, smiled at her good fortune and loved him just a tiny bit more.

  Alec looked over at Daisy, saw the emotion in her eyes. He leaned over to whisper in her ear, “You okay?”

  She was nodded and whispered, “I’m wonderful,” and something powerful clutched at his chest when her hand trembled in his.

  “I’ve been meaning to tell you something,” he said and he smiled as her brows drew together in a frown. “You look stunning.”

  And she did, he thought as she smiled at him, clearly pleased. She was like one long, slim column of black magic, from her unruly curls that had been partially tamed into a sophisticated style to her toes which had been painted a very tempting ruby red. Later, he thought, he looked forward to finding out what she really was wearing underneath that incredible, sexy dress.

  He looked into her velvet-brown eyes, then his gaze fell to the lush, red lips he couldn’t wait to kiss and he realized it was time to go. She gazed back
at him, a knowing smile curving her lips, and he experienced a moment of sheer expectation that shook him to the roots of his being.

  It was in that perfect moment that she leaned over and whispered into his ear, “Let’s go home now.”

  They stood and thanked their hosts for a lovely evening and tried not to seem too anxious to leave. Virginia seemed dismayed at their early departure and begged for a private word with Daisy, who reluctantly walked away with the woman, casting a longing glance over her shoulder at him. He shot her an understanding grin and took his seat again.

  It was only a moment later when a soft, bejeweled hand touched him lightly on the shoulder. He turned, smile still in place…and then his good mood died.

  “Hello, Alec,” his mother said, her face composed into the same serene mask she’d been wearing all his life.

  He cast one accusing glance at Joseph, who suddenly seemed engrossed in the tin tiles on the lofty ceiling. “Barbara,” Alec said simply. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well,” she said as she slipped into the empty seat beside him. “I could tell you it’s a wonderful coincidence.”

  “But it’s not.”

  “No. The Baldwins told me you were here and I begged an invitation.”

  “That was nice of them,” Alec said with another hard glance at Joseph.

  “Yes,” she said as she leaned toward him. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for quite some time. I want to talk to you.”

  He sat there, impassive beneath her waiting stare.

  She cleared her throat and smoothed her perfectly done hair. “Can we go somewhere…?”

  “No. I’m here with someone,” he said, looking around for Daisy. When he found her with Virginia several yards away, she was looking back at him with her brow furrowed, her eyes worried.

  “Is that Daisy?” Barbara asked, and he was startled for a moment until he remembered that the Baldwins were blabbermouths.