suitcase, searching for a pair of bike shorts and her exercise bra. It was time to try to release some of this nervous energy. She dug down farther and found her favorite tape. Smiling grimly, she crossed to the expensive stereo system built into the wall and put the tape into the tape deck. She pushed Play and music came on. She cranked the volume.
The tape contained an assorted collection of her favorite songs—loud, fast songs with pulsating beats. It was good music, familiar music, loud music.
Her sneakers were on the floor of the closet near the bathroom. As Veronica sat on the floor to slip them onto her feet and tie them tightly, she let the music wash over her. Already she felt better.
She scrambled up and into the center of the living room, pushing the furniture back and away, clearing the floor, giving herself some space to move.
With the furniture out of the way, Veronica started slowly, stretching out her tired muscles. When she was properly warmed up, she closed her eyes and let the music embrace her.
And then she began to dance.
Halfway through the tape, it came to her—the answer to her frustration and impotent anger. She had been hired to teach Joe to act like the prince. With his cooperation, the task was formidable. Without his cooperation, it was impossible. If he failed to cooperate, she would have to threaten to withdraw.
Yes, that was exactly what she had to do. At nine o’clock, when she went down the hall to the royal suite, she would march right up to Joe and look him in the eye and—
A man wearing all black was standing just inside her balcony doorway, leaning against the wall, watching her dance.
Veronica leaped backward, her body reacting to the unannounced presence of a large intruder before her brain registered the fact that it was Joe Catalanotto.
Heart pounding, chest heaving, she tried to catch her breath as she stared at him. How in God’s name had Joe gotten into her room?
Joe stared, too, caught in the ocean-blueness of Veronica’s eyes as the music pounded around them. She looked frightened, like a wild animal, uncertain whether to freeze or flee.
Turning suddenly, she reached for the stereo and switched the music off. The silence was abrupt and jarring.
Her red curls swung and bounced around her shoulders as she turned rapidly back to look at him again. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Proving a point,” he replied. His voice sounded strained and hoarse to his own ears. There was no mystery as to why that was. Seeing her like this had made his blood pressure rise, as well as other things.
“I don’t understand,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she studied his face, searching for an answer. “How did you get in? My door was locked.”
Joe gestured to the sliding door that led to the balcony. “No, it wasn’t. In fact, it was open. Warm night. If you breathe deeply, you can almost smell the cherry blossoms.”
Veronica was staring at him, struggling to reconcile his words with the truth as she knew it. This room was on the tenth floor. Ten stories up, off the ground. Visitors didn’t simply stroll in through the balcony door.
Joe couldn’t keep his gaze from sliding down her body. Man, she was one hot package. In those skintight purple-and-turquoise patterned shorts and that tight, black, racer-backed top that exposed a firm, creamy midriff, with all those beautiful red curls loose around her pale shoulders, she looked positively steamy. She was slender, but not skinny as he’d thought. Her waist was small, her stomach flat, flaring out to softly curving hips and a firm, round rear end. Her legs were incredible, but he’d already known that. Still, in those tight shorts, her shapely legs seemed to go on and on and on forever, leading his eyes to her derriere. Her breasts were full, every curve, every detail intimately outlined by the stretchy fabric of her top.
And, God, the way she’d been dancing when he’d first climbed onto the balcony had exuded a raw sensuality, a barely contained passion. He’d been right about her. She had been hiding something underneath those boxy, conservative suits and that cool, distant attitude. Who would have guessed she would spend her personal time dancing like some vision on MTV?
She was still breathing hard from dancing. Or maybe—and more likely—she was breathing hard from the sudden shock he’d given her. He’d actually been standing inside the balcony door for about ten minutes before she looked up. He’d been in no hurry to interrupt. He could have stayed there, quite happily, and watched her dance all night.
Well, maybe not all night…
Veronica took a step back, away from him, as if she could see his every thought in his eyes. Her own eyes were very wide and incredibly, brilliantly blue. “You came in…from the balcony?”
Joe nodded and held something out to her. It was a flower, Veronica realized. He was holding a rather tired and bruised purple-and-gold pansy, its petals curled up for the night. She’d seen flowers just like it growing in flower beds outside the hotel.
“First I climbed down to the ground and got this,” Joe said, his husky voice soft and seductive, warmly intimate. “It’s proof I was actually there.”
He was still holding the flower out to her, but Veronica couldn’t move, her mind barely registering the words he spoke. A black band was across his forehead, holding his long hair in place. He was wearing black pants and a long-sleeved black turtleneck, with some kind of equipment vest over it, even though the spring night was quite warm. Oddly enough, his feet were bare. He wasn’t smiling, and his face looked harsh and unforgiving. And dangerous. Very, very dangerous.
Veronica gazed at him, her heart in her throat. As he stepped closer and pressed the flower into her hand, she was pulled into the depths of his eyes. The fire she saw there became molten. His mouth was hard and hungry as his gaze raked her body.
And then his meaning cut through.
He’d climbed down to the ground…? And back up again? Ten stories?
“You climbed up the outside of the hotel and no one stopped you?” Veronica looked down at the flower, hoping he wouldn’t notice the trembling in her voice.
He crossed to the sliding door and pulled the curtain shut. Was that for safety’s sake, or for privacy? Veronica wondered as she turned away. She was afraid he might see his unconcealed desire echoed in her own eyes.
Desire? What was wrong with her? It was true, Joe Catalanotto was outrageously good-looking. But despite his obvious physical attributes, he was rude, tactless and disrespectful, rough in his manners and appearance. In fact, he was about as far from being a prince as any man she’d ever known. They’d barely even exchanged a civil conversation. All they did was fight. So why on earth could she think of nothing but the touch of his hands on her skin, his lips on hers, his body…?
“No one saw me climbing down or up,” Joe said, his voice surrounding her like soft, rich velvet. “There are no guards posted on this side of the building. The FInCOM agents don’t see the balcony for what it is—a back door. An accessible and obvious back door.”
“It’s so far from the ground,” she countered in disbelief.
“It was an easy climb. Under an hour.”
Under
