not dog training!” she practically shrieked. Noticing half a dozen people turn to look at them, she sucked in a deep breath and tried to remain calm. “My columns promote the use of proven behavior modification techniques.”
“Dog training,” Denton repeated.
“Call it what you want, but it works. I have hundreds of letters from satisfied readers who’ve tried my man-taming techniques and transformed their relationships.”
Denton looked thoughtful. “So you’re telling me you can take any man and turn him into the perfect tame boyfriend using your techniques?”
“Of course.”
“Even someone like Wild Man Kelly?”
She glanced toward where Garret was standing by the keg, surrounded by half a dozen admiring men and women. He stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a plastic cup, a casual, slouching pose. The too long hair, beard stubble and general demeanor spoke of a quintessential bachelor who didn’t care much about his appearance. No doubt his apartment was a sty and his idea of a balanced meal was a slice of pizza in one hand and a beer in the other. Hundreds of women had written to her about similar men in their lives.
“I’ve seen worse.” Of course, none of those men had managed to reduce her to a whimpering mass of hormones within two minutes of meeting her.
“Then maybe we can make a deal.”
“Huh?” She blinked at Denton, coming out of her lust-induced fog.
“I’ll make you a little bet.” Denton actually rubbed his hands together, a gesture she had never seen outside of a B-movie. “You apply your man-taming principles to Garret Kelly to tame him and if you succeed, you can have your show.”
“That’s fantastic!” In her elation, she almost hugged Denton, but restrained herself just in time. “This will be the easiest bet I ever won.”
“Don’t count on it,” Denton said. “Kelly’s got way too much testosterone in his system to tame.” He chuckled. “I don’t call him Wild Man for nothing. And from what I hear, that applies to both on and off the field.”
She glanced toward Garret again. A short brunette was beaming up at him, her expression telegraphing the message, Take me, I’m yours. So maybe Wild Man wouldn’t be a pushover. No one ever said she didn’t like a challenge.
“I can handle the Wild Man,” she said, a thrill running through her at the thought. Okay, so she’d like to handle him in more ways than one. All in good time….
“Denton, how marvelous to see you!” Rhonda, her timing impeccable as always, descended on them in a perfumed cloud. She offered her cheek to Denton, who obligingly kissed her. Rhonda made a show of just now noticing Rachel’s presence. “Hello, Rachel. I didn’t know you were here.”
“Of course not. Why would you notice little old me?” She took a step closer to Denton, in an attempt to keep him from being completely lured away by Rhonda’s black-belt charm. “Denton and I were just discussing our plans for a television show based on my Man Taming columns.”
She ignored Denton’s frown and kept her gaze fixed on her sister.
Rhonda’s smile vanished, replaced by an expression more appropriate for funerals and firing squads. “Oh no! Please tell me you aren’t going to embarrass yourself—not to mention the rest of the family—by taking these ridiculous ideas of yours public.”
“Hello? I write a monthly column with a circulation of over two hundred thousand. I’d say that’s pretty public.”
“The Man Tamer is one of Belinda magazine’s most popular features,” Denton said. His defense of her pleased Rachel, though she suspected the billionaire just liked pitting the sisters against each other. The socially acceptable equivalent of female mud wrestling.
Rhonda’s expression didn’t lighten in the least. “I suppose reality television and daytime talk shows prove the general public has a taste for sensationalism,” she said. “Still, it’s difficult to accept that a beloved family member would lower herself so.”
Only Denton’s presence and fear of making a public scene saved Rachel from slapping her sister. She forced a saccharine smile to her face. “Just think of it as my way of helping people to get the most out of their relationships,” she said. “I know how interested you are in philanthropy.” Rhonda was on the board of half a dozen Dallas charities—not because she was so interested in the underprivileged, but because it kept her name and face in the spotlight.
“Speaking of charity…” Rhonda latched onto Denton’s arm and fixed him with a dazzling smile. Rachel thought about telling her to lay off the teeth whitening. It was starting to look a little scary. “I wanted to discuss the upcoming fund-raiser for the Children’s Hospital….” Ignoring Rachel, she steered Denton away, a determined tugboat towing a not-so-reluctant barge.
Rachel headed back toward the buffet table and a fresh plate of strawberries—and a pile of napkins. She was going to drown her frustrations in chocolate and plot her next move with Garret Kelly. A positively evil smile shaped her lips as she pictured herself, on Garret’s arm, introducing him to Rhonda. “This is Wild Man Kelly,” she’d say. “The star of the Dallas Devils and my very good friend.” One older husband—no matter how wealthy and socially prominent—wasn’t a match for a muscular hunk with a sexy foreign accent. Rhonda would be positively green. A good color on her, Rachel thought.
“MEN LIKE GARRET KELLY think they’re happy living the way they do, but that’s only because they don’t know what they’re missing.” The following Monday, Rachel stirred sweetener into her iced tea and eyed Moira across the café table. “I can show men like him how to improve their lives.”
“For your sake, I hope it involves regular sex,” Moira said. “That’s something that’s been missing from your life for a while.”
Rachel ignored the dig. “I can’t let myself get distracted by my personal desires,” she said. “This is serious business. If I can prove my man-taming principles work on a he-man like Garret Kelly, I can have a whole new career in television.”
“That’s a big if.” Moira added pepper to her salad. “A man who goes by the nickname ‘Wild Man’ might not respond well to taming.”
“I’m not going to fail.” No matter what Denton or Rhonda or anyone else thinks. “I’m going to devote all my energy to this project. I will have that television show.”
“I guess there’s nothing that says you can’t enjoy yourself while you’re at it,” Moira said. “After all, Garret Kelly is awfully sexy. If you like the big, brawny type.”
The memory of Garret’s mouth wrapped around her fingers made Rachel squirm in her seat. “Yeah. He’s all right.”
“All right? Girl, you should have seen the women drooling over him at Denton’s party. And he asked about you.”
She blinked. “He did? What did he say?”
“I mentioned that I was your friend and he said you were very interesting. But he said it in a way that meant he was interested in getting to know you better.”
“Well,
