Читать книгу Guardian Angel - Leanne Banks - Страница 9

Someone knocked on the front door.

Talia jerked back, looking as if she’d touched a snake. “That must be the committee members. I’ll let them in.”

Trace watched her bolt from the kitchen, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. A man could incur some heavy losses under that kind of woman’s influence, he decided. Loss of perspective. Loss of sleep. Loss of sanity.

His body was still tense with the excitement of merely being close to her, kissing her hand and touching her silky legs. He remembered how her eyes had grown soft and vulnerable. Odd, he mused. It was almost as if she’d forgotten who he was.

Then she’d turned to ice.

Talia swung open the door and greeted the committee members as if they were the cavalry coming to her rescue. Accompanied by the two middle-aged men and one woman, she walked back into the kitchen and made the introductions. Lou Adkins, Opal Taylor, and Darryl Harris, one of the vice presidents at the local bank.

Since the three arrivals wore expressions varying from surprise to distrust, Talia supposed Trace would have his hands full winning them over. It would be interesting to watch. And she was relieved to have his attention directed away from herself.

“I’m going to check on the brownies,” she said. “You can go into the den.”

After the others left, she set the brownies on the counter to cool, poured the coffee and set the cups on a tray. Untenable though it may be, she knew she was drawn to Trace. But, as easily as she accepted her curiosity about him, she knew she wouldn’t do a thing about it.

She picked up the tray. Her shaking hands caused the cups to clatter noisily, and she uttered a mild curse. How was she supposed to be calm and collected with Trace Barringer in her house?

She didn’t want his attention, she reminded herself as she walked into the living room. She wanted his donation.

The meeting progressed as the group mapped out more plans for Lung Awareness Month. Though she tried to concentrate on each word, Talia found her gaze repeatedly drawn to Trace. Although he sat relaxed and quiet, she’d bet he could recite every detail of the discussion.

Watching his deliberate examination of her living room, she wondered what conclusions he was making. What did he think of the oak end tables her father had made before he died? The homey green sofa and slightly lumpy chairs? Did he recognize Kevin from the picture on the wall? Could he possibly know the porcelain bunny collection on the second shelf of the bookcase was one of her weaknesses? And why did she feel he’d gained too much knowledge of her just from his perusal of the room?

His gaze slid from the bunnies to her eyes, and she wondered, inanely, if he could read her mind. Then he was studying the little mole above the right corner of her mouth. She had to purse her lips to resist the urge to run her tongue over the mark.

Flustered by his quiet, invasive attention, she forced her eyes away from him.

When Trace finally spoke, he offered his opinions and suggestions with utter politeness. “Since you have a dual goal of raising both awareness and funds, it sounds as if you’ve got a good start. I’d like some posters for the mill, Lou, if you could manage that.” Lou nodded, and Trace continued without missing a beat. “The mill could sponsor an event. Perhaps a bowling tournament or a night at the roller-skating rink. And I think you could increase your donations significantly if you generated some interest from the country club.”

They all stared at him. That last suggestion had the impact of a small bomb, because none was a member of the country club.

The silence was unnerving. Knowing she would have squirmed under such intense scrutiny, Talia gave him points for sitting in her lumpy chair with a confident, expectant expression on his face.

Opal Taylor cleared her throat. Darryl Harris pushed his glasses back on his nose. Lou Adkins studied his fingernails. The only sound in the room was the ticking of her mother’s anniversary clock.

Talia sighed. Since she would receive no help from her fellow committee members, she’d better go ahead and respond. “I think your suggestions are very helpful. Getting the mill involved would increase awareness among the part of the population who need the information.”

She paused and chose her next words carefully.

“As far as the country club is concerned, you already have connections with the members there. It seems logical that you would be the one to represent our committee.” There, she thought. That hadn’t been so bad.

Trace hooked an ankle over the opposite knee and smiled. “I’ll be glad to represent the committee.” He pulled an appointment book from his suit coat, which he’d hung over the side of the chair. “However, since I’ve only just become involved in this project, I’d like another committee member to come along with me. Talia, are you available Saturday night? We could meet a few of the club’s charter members for dinner.”

“Not in a million years,” she said under her breath.

He raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Talia couldn’t bear that penetrating gaze one more minute. She felt as if he’d been studying her the entire evening. If that wasn’t galling enough, she’d had a hard time tearing her own attention away from him!

She stood and collected the coffee cups and dessert plates. “Actually, I was wondering if one of the other members would be interested in helping you out. I’m pretty busy. What do you think, Opal?” She sent her late mother’s best friend her most persuasive look. “You’d probably enjoy an evening out.”

Opal gave a self-conscious little giggle. “I don’t have anything appropriate to wear for a night out at the country club, Talia dear. Besides,” she continued coyly, “Mr. Barringer is such a young, attractive man. He needs a young, attractive escort.”

Talia barely stifled her groan. Trace had won Opal over, but Talia hadn’t lost yet. “Well, what about you, Darryl? Perhaps you could bring your wife with you.”

Darryl again nervously arranged his glasses on his thin nose. “Nancy and I have a standing date for dinner at her mother’s house on Saturday nights.” His voice held a note of apology. ‘“They’re both pretty insistent about it.”

“Oh, but for just one night—” Talia broke off when she saw Darryl’s strained expression. She was beginning to feel desperate.

With her brightest smile, she turned to her last, most futile hope, and tried to ignore the amused light in Trace’s eyes. “Lou, I’ll bet you haven’t—”

“I’ve got poker Saturday night,” he said bluntly.

If she didn’t get out of that room, Talia knew she was going to scream. She picked up the tray of cups and saucers and carried it into the kitchen. Once there, she resisted the urge to test the dish manufacturer’s warranty against breakage by flinging a few pieces against the wall.

Instead, she took a deep breath and counted to ten.

Squaring her shoulders, she marched back into the living room where the group waited expectantly. Just as she opened her mouth to refuse, Trace said, “Talia, we can set this up for another time if Saturday night is inconvenient.”

He sounded so reasonable. “Of course,” he continued in a bland tone, “it would be a shame to give up all those potential donations.”

With that, he nailed her coffin shut. If Talia turned down this opportunity, she’d be doing a disservice to the agency that had appointed her, the people who were depending on her and, in a way, to her mother’s memory. She forced the words from her mouth. “What time shall I meet you?”

Wearing an indiscernible expression, Trace stood and pulled on his suit coat. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll pick you up.”

“No, thank you.”

He stopped in the midst of straightening his tie and studied her. “I insist.”

“No.” She abandoned any attempt at tact. He wanted to bulldoze her. She could see it in his eyes. But he was too clever to push her any further tonight.

“Six o’clock in the lounge,” he said, and walked to the front door.

Within three minutes they were all gone. Sensing her mood, the other committee members patted her shoulder on their way out. Opal touched Talia’s cheek and murmured, “You go on and have a good time.” Too weary to take Opal to task, Talia merely thanked the older woman for coming.

When her home was quiet and empty again, she leaned against the door and closed her eyes. Even though Trace was gone, the air still hummed with tension. She could smell his woodsy aftershave, see his wicked smile.

Moaning at her predicament, she thought of her brother. He would die if he knew she was going out with Trace Barringer, even for charity’s sake. She could imagine the betrayal he would feel.

They both bore a grudge against the Barringers, and her Sicilian blood ran hot when she remembered what they’d done to her only brother. She unapologetically, unequivocally detested them.

If one good thing had come out of the evening, it was that she would never again have to restrain herself from pulling off Trace’s glasses to determine his eye color. She’d waited fourteen years to find out, and he had stood close enough for her to see that they were a penetrating green.

After a restless night, Talia was woken by the insistent ringing of her phone. She rolled over and blindly reached toward the noise coming from her nightstand.

“Hello,” she murmured in a sleep-husky voice.

“Talia, this is Trace Barringer. Did I wake you?”

“Oh, no,” she said automatically, and wondered if everyone lied about being asleep when the phone rang.

“Right,” he said. His low chuckle brought her nerve endings pleasantly to life. “I wouldn’t have called this early, but I think I left my wallet at your house.”

Talia’s eyes flew open.

“Would you mind,” he went on, “if I pick it up on my way into the office? I can be at your front door in about twenty minutes.”

Her mind was still stuck on the wallet as she absently repeated, “Twenty minutes.”

“Right. I’ll see you then.”

Click.

“Wait!”

She sat up abruptly, then pounded her fist against the mattress in frustration. Like a punch-drunk fighter, she shook her head to clear it. She was never at her finest in the morning. “Trace Barringer is going to be here in twenty—” she glanced at the clock “—in nineteen minutes for his wallet.”

In her panicked mind, she saw an eerie similarity between this incident and the one that had happened years ago between Philip Barringer and her brother. When Philip had invited Kevin to the Barringer estate for a night of pool and pizza, Kevin had practically leaped at the opportunity.

After all, Philip had made it plain that he didn’t want Kevin dating his sister, Valerie. With the invitation, Kevin had assumed Philip had changed his mind, that he now found Kevin acceptable.

It had all been a dirty trick.

Kevin had left the Barringers’ home with a false sense of hope and some family jewelry planted in his car by Philip. He hadn’t even made it all the way home before the sheriff stopped him.

Talia wondered if the practice of framing people ran in the Barringer family. Should she expect the police to show up with Trace?

She glanced at the clock again. Fifteen minutes. There was a reasonable explanation for this, she told herself, but part of her wondered if this was Trace’s idea of a sick joke.

Fourteen minutes.

With her heart thundering in her chest, she tossed the covers aside and raced to the shower.

Her hair was wet, but she was clean, alert and wearing decent clothing when she answered his knock. She thrust the eel-skin wallet at Trace as if it were a grenade.

“Here it is. It was hidden under the cushions. I practically tore the chair apart, but nothing seemed to have slipped out. You might—” She broke off her verbal sprint when she noticed the strange way he was studying her.

Dressed in a chalk-striped suit, he stood with one hand resting on his hip. It was a very masculine, very powerful stance. A tingle of awareness ran through her. Having Trace Barringer’s undivided attention was pretty heady stuff.

She cleared her throat. “You might want to make sure everything is there.” She looked at his wallet and waited expectantly.

He shrugged and put the wallet away. “I’m not really worried about it. I just realized I’d left it here last night and I never know when I’ll get called out of town. Between your schedule and mine…” His voice trailed off, and he gave her a grin that had nothing to do with schedules.

She tried to ignore the quick flutter of her heart. “I’d really feel better if you looked through it now.” When he wrinkled his brow, she explained, “Since you misplaced it at my house, it would set my mind at ease if you made sure everything’s in the right place.”

He paused, then took the wallet back out and riffled through the credit cards and money. “It looks okay to me. But I would have been very upset to find this missing.” He flipped to a photograph and showed it to her.

Feeling foolish for overreacting, she let out a long breath of relief. The man had simply left his wallet by accident and she’d had a full-scale anxiety attack over it. She smiled weakly and looked at the photograph. A pint-sized version of Trace looked back at her. “Your son?”

He nodded. “You see the family resemblance?”

She studied the towheaded charmer with the heartbreaker smile. “How could I miss? He’s adorable. He’s got your smile.”

“Thank you. I’ll assume that means you think I’m adorable.” Trace chuckled at the disconcerted expression on her face. She’d appeared so panicked when she first opened the door, and he was glad she seemed more relaxed. Her hair was starting to dry into tousled waves that reminded him of rich silk.

He’d love to put his hands through it.

Her clothing was perfectly respectable, yet he couldn’t help but wonder if she wore a bra beneath the aqua T-shirt.

“You assume quite a bit, Mr. Barringer.”

He tore his gaze from her shirt up to her beautiful eyes. “Talia,” he said in mock offense. “I’m beginning to think you have something against me. And I know that can’t be true, because you don’t know me yet.”

He said the last phrase like a promise, Talia thought, as though she was going to get to know him if he had anything to do with it. Biting her tongue didn’t keep her retort back this time.

“You’re smarter than I thought, Mr. Barringer.”

He laughed, and she hated him for having a sense of humor. Most men in his position would be pompous. He was entirely too charming for her good. Furthermore, he made her want things she couldn’t have. She backed away and turned the doorknob behind her. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to finish getting ready for work.”

She’d just about made it through the door when he clasped her hand and lifted it to within an inch of his lips. Talia’s heart lodged in her throat.

“Saturday night, Talia. And my name is Trace.” His gaze held hers as he deliberately turned her hand over and pressed his warm mouth against the racing pulse in her wrist. The effect was like liquid flame racing through her bloodstream.

When he loosened his grip, she snatched her hand back, resisting the urge to rub away the effect of his light caress. “Saturday night,” she whispered, and miraculously managed to back her way through the door without falling.

She watched him walk away with that same confident stride he’d had fourteen years ago. He walked like a man who knew how to get what he wanted.

“Just a minute please, Freddie,” Talia said as she pulled a food order from her fax machine. After noting the number and types of subs ordered, she mentally calculated how long it would take to fill the order.

“Is that Aida you’re playing today, Talia?” Freddie asked.

She turned and smiled at the shy young man. She had a soft spot for Freddie, probably because he was the same age as her brother. “Yes, it is. You’ve been listening to Verdi more.”

Her smile faltered when she saw a man walk up behind Freddie. Trace. Her heartbeat quickened.

“What can I get for you today?” she asked, focusing on Freddie again. She tried not to think about the attractive blond man who’d never set foot in her deli before that day. A difficult task, considering the way he was studying her.

“I’ll take a meatball sub and a cola,” Freddie said. “How’s your fax machine working out? Sometimes I think we use it more than the telephone or mail.”

“It’s been great. Kevin nagged me to get it, you know, and I love it. This way I don’t have to answer the phone as much. Especially for large orders.” Large orders from the Barringer complex. What was Trace doing there? She had deliveries taken over to the main offices every day at lunch.

Freddie grinned. “I know all about those large orders. The secretaries usually ask me to tally up an order and send it to you. I guess they figure since I’m a messenger for the Barringer complex, it’s easy enough for me to take orders for lunch when I deliver memos and the mail.”

Growing weary of the Barringer name, Talia just smiled and rang up Freddie’s sub and soda.

“If you ever need any help with that fax machine,” Freddie said as he took his order from her, “you let me know. I do a lot of—” He was so intent on watching Talia that he backed right into Trace.

“Oh! Excuse me.” Freddie’s pudgy cheeks flooded with color. “Mr. Barringer,” he gasped.

Talia thought she heard a faint “Oh my God” too. Her heart went out to Freddie as he struggled with both his words and his wide plaid tie.

She gazed beseechingly at Trace.

He put a steadying hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “That’s no problem, Freddie. I probably shouldn’t have been standing so close.” He shared a “we men have to stick together” grin with Freddie and lowered his voice. “Besides, she’s pretty distracting.”

If possible, Freddie’s face turned brighter red. He mumbled something unintelligible, then ran out the door.

Talia expelled a disgusted sigh. “Well, I’ll know not to look to you for help in the future.”

“I was just trying to put him at ease. It’s obvious he’s got a crush on you.”

“He does not!”

“Are you kidding? The poor guy couldn’t tear his eyes from your shirt the whole time he was in here. And I don’t think he’s that enamored with the logo on it.”

“Right. And Dolly Parton’s my twin sister.” Well acquainted with the assets and deficits of her lean body, Talia had faced the fact long ago that Playboy wouldn’t be beating down her door with offers. Still, Trace’s remarks left her feeling unsettled. And the fact that his gaze remained on her logo didn’t exactly help matters.

She turned away and picked up the order from the fax machine. “Was there something else, Mr. Barringer? I don’t have time to chat right now.” That wasn’t exactly true. The lunch crowd had cleared out a few minutes before.

The impersonal way she said his last name annoyed Trace. He wanted to hear his first name from her lips. He wanted to watch her tempting mouth form the word. Talia had something against him and he had no earthly idea what it was.

He considered using the straightforward approach of asking her flat-out, but she was acting too cool. He found he liked her better a little off balance.

A kiss would do the trick. She’d either go off like a firecracker or melt in his arms. Or, he thought with a touch of irony, she’d pick up one of those sharp knives from the counter and use it on him.

An outrageous idea formed in his mind, and he grinned wickedly. Slipping behind the counter while she turned her back to him, he moved close enough to her to feel the warmth from her body.

“Trace,” he said into her ear.

Talia spun around, startled to find him so near. That was why she was dizzy, she told herself. Not because of his tantalizing scent. Not because of his inviting green eyes. And certainly not because of the naturally seductive timbre of his voice.

“Dolly Parton’s okay,” he went on, “but you’re more my style—sleek and firm.”

The intimate remark embarrassed her, though it was nice to know he approved of her body. She cleared her throat and started to speak, but he continued in a low, matter-of-fact voice.

“Yep,” he said, “you’re just right. Not too firm, soft enough to mold to a man’s hand. And I bet you’re responsive. It would probably only take a couple of flicks from my thumb.”

The room grew very warm. Her shirt felt tight, her breasts heavy. He stood too close, yet he was careful not to touch her. Talia swallowed hard. “You should—”

“I imagine you taste sweet, like honey or cream.” He kept on as if she hadn’t spoken.

His words paralyzed her vocal cords. She knew she should be appalled, but she was oddly mesmerized by his fantasies. The sub shop faded away as the picture of him with his mouth on her breast formed in her mind. She bit back a moan as her nipples pushed against the cotton of her shirt.

“I’d want to feel you against my chest,” he whispered. “You know, there’s something about a woman’s soft naked breasts rubbing against a man’s hard, bare chest that drives a man crazy.”

Images raced on through her mind like a movie, each more erotic than the last. Trace’s muscular chest, her pouting breasts, rubbing, caressing each other. Though she’d never seen his chest before, she could feel it in her hands, hard and muscular with crinkly hair. Her breath came in short spurts. Her knees turned to liquid.

He leaned toward her, his eyes intent on her face. She could feel his arousal, but it brought her no comfort to know his verbal torture had done him in too. He’d drummed up a fever within her, and all her secret places throbbed with life. In some distant, coherent corner of her mind she knew she should push him away.

His chest grazed her aching breasts. She didn’t bother to withhold the moan this time. “Talia, haven’t you heard that more than a mouth—”

“Stop,” she choked out, and covered his mouth with her hand. Shaking her head, she whispered, “We’re in the middle of a deli. For Pete’s sake, what do you want from me?”

He considered that. “We don’t have time for me to answer that question completely.” He took hold of her hand and kissed it. “Besides, you’re not ready. And I never rush.”

He dropped her singed hand and stepped away. “I’ve already had lunch. I dropped by to tell you we won’t be meeting with the country club members on Saturday night.”

Talia felt as though he were changing her gears without using the clutch. She tried desperately to keep up. The country club. He’d said something about the country club.

“Saturday night?” she asked.

“Yes.” He seemed pleased with her bemusement. “I had to change it to next Saturday, since I have to go out of town. Is next week okay with you?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps one of the other committee members might—”

“Come on, Talia, we’ve been through this before. No one else will do it.”

Totally confused by his nonchalant attitude, she turned away from him and began slicing sub rolls with short, jerky movements. “Well, maybe I don’t want to go. Maybe I don’t trust you after the way you, you…” She broke off in frustration.

“After I what?” he asked far too innocently.

She counted to ten. She was hot: angry-hot and aroused-hot. “After the way you talked to me.”

“Did I say something threatening? Was I insulting?” He sidled close to her again, and she felt the space around her shrink. “I was just telling the truth. You can’t fault a man for that. As a matter of fact, you have all the more reason to trust me if I tell the truth.”

Her head started to pound. “Are you sure you’re not a lawyer?”

He smiled sympathetically. “I have a law degree, but I’m not practicing now that I’m CEO.”

Not practicing? she repeated silently. You could have fooled me. She wanted him out of her shop so she could regain her equilibrium. Giving in now seemed the lesser of two evils. “What time next Saturday night?”

“Same time. Six o’clock in the lounge. We’ll be having dinner with the two Misses Fitzgerald.”

She nodded. “I’ll be there.” She turned to watch as he strode to the door.

Just before he left, he said, “By the way, you’ve got a great logo.”

Talia spent the better part of the next week wondering what had possessed her to allow Trace to speak to her in such an intimate manner. For that matter, what had possessed him to speak to her that way? When her mind could provide no suitable answer, she threw her arms up in frustration and vowed to think of anything but Trace Barringer.

If her heart raced at the thought of him, she ignored it. If the image of his heated gaze taunted her day and night, she pushed it aside. But in her deepest, darkest fantasies, she remembered his graphic analysis of her breasts and paid him back in spades.

During a day trip to Richmond, she splurged on a new dress and French perfume. She chose a soft white frock with a shawl collar and V-neck. It skimmed over her slim curves with womanly appeal down to a knee-length pleated hem that flirted against her long legs.

When she asked the saleswoman the translation for the name of the perfume, the older woman got a naughty gleam in her eye. She drew out the three-syllable word with a flourish. “Ecstasy.”

Dismayed, Talia was thankful her natural tan concealed blushes. Otherwise, her cheeks would have been flaming red. She consoled herself with the knowledge that she could keep that information to herself. Besides, she preferred to smell like something besides salami and meatballs.

Before she felt sufficiently prepared for enduring a dinner with Trace at the country club, it was Saturday evening. Her new clothes did give her a measure of confidence, and the perfume made her feel sensual and feminine. Still, when she pictured the two women she was supposed to meet that night, her stomach fluttered with nervousness.

Talia envisioned a pair of eagle-eyed society matrons who would assess every thread of her clothing, every piece of faux jewelry and every hair on her head. In an act of defiance, she wore her hair down.

She’d chewed off her rose lipstick for the second time when the phone rang. Her stomach fluttered again. Could it be Trace?

“Hey, Little Italy,” a man said when she answered. “How’s life in the fast lane?”

Talia smiled. That nickname had been a source of torment throughout her elementary school years. The only person she allowed to call her that was Kevin. “You’re walking on thin ice, baby brother. You know how I feel about my name. Since exam week is coming up soon, I’ll assume your anxieties have rendered you temporarily insane. I’ll excuse you this time. And I’ve noticed you only call me Italia when you’re more than an arm’s reach away.”

Kevin laughed. “Yeah, well, I like my face the way it is.”

“As do all the women in Massachusetts.” She checked her watch. “So, why are you calling me on a Saturday night?”

She could picture his broad-shouldered shrug in the brief silence that followed. “I just wanted to know how you’re doing. And to let you know I’m going camping up in Vermont with a few of the guys in my dorm for a week after exams. Is that okay with you?”

Talia’s insides turned to marshmallows. Kevin had always possessed the unique ability to mold her into a complete softy. “That’s great. I’ll miss you, but I’m glad you’re getting away for some fun. How’s campus life?”

“This semester’s been tough. MIT hasn’t gained its reputation for being the top engineering school by coddling the students.”

Mentally putting together a care package of cookies and other treats for him, she said, “You sound tired. Are you worried about your exams?”

“Nah, but I’ll be glad for summer.” He paused. “Listen, Tal, I’ve got this professor friend. He teaches calculus. I told him about you, and showed him your picture—”

“Hold it right there, Kevin. If you’re going to start matchmaking, more than your face will be in danger.” She knew her brother felt responsible for her lack of dating partners during his high school years. Since she was financing his education now, too, he felt obliged to provide her with suitors beyond the realm of Barringer. “I’m doing fine,” she added. “As a matter of fact, I’m getting ready to go to the country club in a few minutes.”

Kevin gave a low whistle. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

Talia rolled her eyes in self-disgust. She’d walked right into that hornets’ nest. “Actually, it’s part of the planning for Lung Awareness Month. I’m meeting a few people for dinner.”

“Anybody I know?”

Studying her buffed nails, Talia grimaced. Kevin would be present for some LAM activities, so she’d better go ahead and break the news now. “Trace Barringer.”

The silence was heavy, fraught with painful memories. Her heart twisted, and she rushed on. “It’s not a real date, Kevin. For some reason I don’t understand, Trace Barringer has been real pushy about this. I tried to put him off, but he’s set on the idea of the mill being directly involved. If it were up to me, I’d tell him to take a flying leap, but the Barringer Corporation is one of our biggest contributors.” She was breathless by the end of her explanation, and felt incredibly guilty and disloyal.

When Kevin didn’t immediately respond, she said, “Listen, if it really bothers you, I’ll resign from the committee.”

His sigh was audible. “No. It just threw me for a minute. There probably isn’t anybody who cares as much about LAM as you, Talia. Mom would be proud of you for what you’re doing. Besides, Trace is the one Barringer who wasn’t involved in my little mess with them. Val used to talk about him. She always said he…”

Talia strained to hear the uncompleted sentence. Kevin rarely spoke of Valerie Barringer, even though he’d been wildly infatuated with her years ago.

“Just keep your eyes open,” Kevin warned her in a voice beyond his years. “We learned the hard way not to trust the Barringers.” Then his tone lightened.

I’ll see you in a few weeks, big sister. And I’m bringing you a tall, dark, handsome guy with a brain as a coming-home present. The guys in Barringer are too stale for you. I love you.”

“I love you,” she whispered to the dial tone, and tried to work up some enthusiasm for Kevin’s tall, dark “coming-home present.” Unfortunately she was far more intrigued by a certain blond man with green eyes. She sighed heavily and snatched up her keys.

Alternately cursing and encouraging herself, Talia drove to Hidden Hills Country Club. When she stepped from her battered Datsun, she bit back a laugh at the parking attendant’s expression of chagrin. She dropped the keys into the older man’s hand and gave him a saucy smile. “Be careful with it, the front fender’s a little loose.”

When she looked up at the club’s white columns and grand entrance, a tremor of unease swept through her. The differences between Trace Barringer’s lifestyle and her own suddenly seemed acute. On her last date, she’d gone to a miniature golf course. Before that, it had been bowling. The most adventurous date she’d had in the last year involved a trip to Richmond to see a baseball game. And while she enjoyed baseball, she would have given her eyeteeth to see the opera.

Opera and ballet. Country clubs and elegant dinners. Those were Trace’s life. Hers was ham and salami.

Still, Talia hadn’t arrived at the age of twenty-six without a large dose of practicality. This country club would likely provide LAM with a generous donation. She battled down the notion that she was a fish out of water and marched up the steps.

Nodding briefly to the doorman, she muttered under her breath, “This one’s for you, Mom.”

She was crossing the red-carpeted foyer, heading toward the desk to ask for directions to the lounge, when she felt a hand on her arm.

“Wait up, Italia,” a familiar voice murmured behind her.