“My God, I’ve never wanted a woman’s hands on me so much!”
She flinched at the sound of another voice merging with his, shattering like brittle glass as the spell was suddenly broken.
“Keena, I’ve got lunch!” Mandy was calling from the hallway.
A tiny sound burst from her tightly held lips, her eyes telling him how she felt about the intrusion.
His breath was coming as roughly as hers. “There’ll be another time,” he said tautly.
She managed a slow nod. He levered his body away from hers and moved to open the door.
“What are we having?” he asked Mandy, as composed as ever, one big hand unobtrusively closing the buttons Keena’s searching fingers had loosed.
Mandy grinned at him, her hands buried in a dishcloth. “Your favorite,” she said drily, hiding a smile when she caught a glimpse of Keena’s flushed face and wild eyes. “Beef Stroganoff, homemade rolls, a potato casserole and fresh apple pie.”
“Remind me to pry you away from Keena,” he told her with a lazy wink.
“Can’t split the set,” came the murmured reply.
He chuckled. “I’m working on that.”
Keena, a little more recovered now, moved around him and followed Mandy down the hall on rubbery legs without looking back. She couldn’t meet Nicholas’s mocking, confident gaze.
* * *
JAMES CALLED LATER in the day to invite Keena to supper that night, his voice faintly caressing on the other end of the line.
“If your houseguest doesn’t mind, of course,” he added waspishly.
Keena’s hand clenched on the receiver. “My...houseguest doesn’t tell me what to do.” She crossed her fingers involuntarily. “Nicholas is only a friend.”
“If you say so. Does six o’clock suit you?” he added, a purr in his pleasant voice. “I thought we’d dine at the Magnolia Room.”
She remembered the exclusive restaurant well. She’d ridden the bus past it on her way to Atlanta at the age of eighteen, when she’d left Ashton behind. She’d been crying, and through her tears she’d strained for a sight of James as the bus passed his favorite eating place.
“I’d like that,” she murmured.
“See you at six, then.”
She stared at the receiver when he hung up, wondering how she was going to explain it to Nicholas. She had a feeling it wasn’t going to improve his mood.
* * *
NICHOLAS SET UP shop in the study and tied up the phone for the rest of the day. Keena could hear him growling through the closed door, and she was careful to keep out of his way. So were the painters, she noticed. Everyone walked wide around the study except Mandy, who darted in and out with coffee and pastries.
“Do you have to encourage him?” Keena asked once, only to be met by an innocent stare and raised eyebrows.
She went downstairs just five minutes before James was due to arrive, wearing a gown that she’d originally designed for a well-known actress—and then decided that something a little flashier would suit her client better. It was a green—more olive than emerald—deep, soft velvet with short puffed sleeves, an empire waist and a low neckline that relied on a hint of cleavage for its charm. The color mirrored that of her eyes, adding to the flush of her lips and cheeks, and the highlights in her freshly washed, curling short hair, an effect achieved with a blow-dryer to make the ends turn toward her face. She eyed herself critically in the hall mirror. If this dress didn’t set James on his ear, nothing would.
“Bewitching,” Nicholas murmured from the doorway of the study.
She turned around, glaring at him. He was wearing his tweed slacks, but he’d discarded the jacket, and his silk tie hung loose across his chest, the top few buttons of his shirt undone. It was one of the few times she’d seen him when he didn’t look impeccable and businesslike. His dark, shaggy mane was faintly rumpled and a forgotten cigarette smoldered in one big hand. Her fingers itched to touch him.
“Going somewhere?” he asked pleasantly.
She swallowed and straightened her elegant figure. “Out. With James,” she added defiantly.
One dark eyebrow curled upward. “Oh?”
She stiffened at that mocking reply. Only Nicholas could mingle distaste, contempt and reprisal in a single sound.
“He asked me out to dinner,” she elaborated.
He studied the wisps of gray smoke that came between them. “I hope you don’t plan on being out late,” he remarked. “Waiting up for people makes me cranky.”
“I’m twenty-seven,” she reminded him. “Nobody waits up for me anymore, not even Mandy.”
“Well, honey, I’ll have to do something about that, won’t I?” he asked with a mocking smile.
“Mandy will fix you something to eat,” she replied.
“So she told me.”
“There’s James,” she murmured, her ears picking up the sound of an approaching car.
He shouldered away from the door facing. “Have fun. While you can.”
He went back into the study and closed the door.
* * *
THE RESTAURANT WAS the very best Ashton had to offer, spacious, elegant, with a hint of grandeur that would have taken Keena’s breath away nine years ago. As it was, she murmured suitably as James seated her. But the sophisticated woman she’d become wasn’t overly impressed, despite the company she was keeping.
James stared at her across the table when the waiter had brought the menus, frowning thoughtfully, his blue eyes approving.
“What a change,” he murmured softly, turning on the old charm she remembered so well.
A tiny thrill shot down her spine, but it was hardly the surge of pleasure she’d once imagined it would be to see that particular look in James’s eyes. It was disappointing. She’d halfway expected the earth to move.
She shifted restlessly in her chair. Nicholas had upset her in more ways than one. What in the world was she going to do about him? By tomorrow his presence in her house would be the subject of early-morning gossip over half the coffee cups in town. Not that she minded gossip ordinarily, but she had plans, and Nicholas was going to upset them all if she didn’t find some way to pry him out of her guest room.
“Did I say something wrong?” James asked, his tone one of concern.
She mentally pinched herself. “Of course not.” She created just the right smile and reached out boldly to touch his long-fingered hand. “I’m having a marvelous time. Remember when this restaurant first opened? Mayor Henderson cut the ribbon,
