Читать книгу Lone Star Wedding - Sandra Steffen - Страница 11

Hannah couldn’t believe her eyes. Unless Parker Malone had an identical twin, he was staring at her across this very room. Surely every ounce of blood had drained out of her face. It stood to reason, since her heart seemed to have stopped beating.

She managed to turn her attention to her mother and arrange her features into what she hoped passed for a normal, nonplussed expression. Hannah believed in fate and in chance. She even believed in luck, good and bad. But what in the world were the chances that the same man who had mistaken her for a hooker not only knew the man who was going to marry her mother but knew him well enough to be invited to an intimate party honoring his intended engagement to her mother? If the odds of that weren’t slim enough to constitute bad luck, they were close.

“Do you know the dark-haired man on Ryan’s left, Mom?”

Still smiling, Lily answered, barely breaking eye contact with Ryan across the room. “That’s Parker Malone.”

So much for Hannah’s identical twin theory. “Is he a friend of the Fortunes?”

“Their families go way back, but Parker is Ryan’s divorce attorney.”

Malone, Malone & Associates. Ryan’s divorce attorney, who was adamantly opposed to Ryan’s wish to make his engagement to Lily public. And the first man Hannah had been completely attracted to in a long, long time. Three separate identities all rolled into one. Hannah couldn’t believe her run of lu—

“Luck,” Ryan said.

Hannah started, because Ryan said the word in the exact moment she’d been thinking it.

“It was a fluke, really,” he added, “that has reunited Lily and me. Therefore, I’d like to propose another toast. To the divine wheel of fortune that brought Lily back into my life. To chance and circumstance and a marvelous coincidence that changed my life.”

Hannah’s gaze was inexplicably drawn to Parker once again. He lifted his glass to her in a private toast and graced her with a smile that was stark and white and so intimate she had to remind herself to breathe.

While Ryan made his way toward Lily, people throughout the room drank to his health and future and patted him on the back as he passed. Hannah admired the way her mother held her ground, raised her chin, as regal as a queen, and waited for Ryan to stroll gallantly across the room. She was old-fashioned that way, wanting the man to come to her. The Cassidys had never had the Fortunes’ money, but they equaled them in pride.

Although Ryan accepted congratulations on his way by, his attention on Lily was steadfast. The degree of his devotion to her mother brought a lump to Hannah’s throat. It was the kind of love she was waiting for.

Ryan kissed Lily’s lips, and then Hannah’s cheek. “Thanks for coming, Hannah,” he said.

“You’re welcome.”

“I mean it,” he said. “It means so much to me to have both you and Cole here. I understand Maria isn’t as pleased about Lily’s and my upcoming wedding as you and Cole. I only hope that in time, she will come to realize how deeply I care for your mother.”

Lily and Hannah shared a long look and a heartfelt sigh. Maria was every bit as beautiful as Lily, but there was a hard edge to Maria that simply didn’t exist in her mother and sister. Although Lily had spoken with Maria by telephone a month ago, neither she nor Hannah had been successful in connecting on a meaningful level with the youngest Cassidy in a very long time.

“I don’t like to admit it,” Lily said, looking earnestly into Ryan’s eyes, “but I’m afraid Maria is ashamed of her meager roots.”

Ryan placed his hand on Lily’s cheek as if he couldn’t get enough of touching her. “Families are complicated. God knows, mine is.” His gaze strayed over Lily’s head where his son, Matthew stood, all alone.

Hannah had heard rumors that Matthew and his wife, Claudia, had separated. Her heart went out to the couple, whose lives had become twisted in tragedy and haunted by unanswered questions since their newborn son had been kidnapped and another child returned in his place. Matthew and Claudia were both here, but not together, the events of the past year etched in each of their faces.

Ryan shook his head. “My family history is riddled with enough twists and turns to fill several books. My son, Zane, thinks I should write them down. Maybe I will. In my old age. Suddenly, at fifty-three, I feel like a very young man.”

He took Lily’s hand and turned to the guests. Raising his voice above the laughter and noise, he motioned to the wide double doors Rosita Perez, his devoted friend and long-serving housekeeper, had just opened. “Some of the finest musicians in San Antonio have been tuning their instruments for the better part of the past hour,” he said good-naturedly. “Let’s all go outside where we can appreciate their music as well as the stars on such a beautiful summer night.”

Hannah was swept forward with Lily and Ryan and the throng of guests heading outdoors. She found herself in the courtyard, surrounded by people she didn’t know. Ryan had been right about the beautiful summer evening. Night had tamed the scorching temperature, turning it gentle, touching it with mystery. Lily had once told Hannah that Ryan’s mother, and later, his first wife, had been avid gardeners. The courtyard and the grounds were testimony to the love and care they’d given the lawns and gardens surrounding the sprawling adobe-styled house. Masses of large, purple sage plants looked almost black beneath the pale glow of artificial lights. Roses covered arbors, and flowering vines climbed the sandstone walls that surrounded Ryan’s home.

The orchestra was playing, and several people moved onto the dance floor. Hannah had gotten separated from her mother and Ryan. Making small talk with an older couple nearby, it occurred to her that she and Cole were the only guests present who were connected more closely to Lily than to Ryan. She made a mental note to remind the ushers, when the time came, to seat guests on either side of the church, so as to better balance the guests, rather than in the traditional manner of the bride’s guests on the left, the groom’s on the right.

“It’s a small world.”

Hannah recognized the deep voice spoken a few feet behind her. She took a calming breath, then turned to face Parker Malone. “Sometimes it seems that way.”

There was something deliberate in the step he took in her direction, something just as deliberate in his smile. He’d removed his navy jacket, loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. By all rights, he should have looked less intimidating. Her heart pounded an erratic rhythm because he didn’t look less anything. She cleared her throat, pretending not to be affected.

“I’m Parker Malone.”

Since it would have been impolite to refuse it, she took his outstretched hand, but only briefly. “I know.”

Parker waited to see if she would add anything, for instance, her name. She didn’t say a word. Evidently she knew her etiquette, but she only took civility so far. He’d always been under the assumption that women were uncomfortable with long stretches of silence. Hell, now that he thought about it, most of the women he knew never shut up long enough to find out. There was something different about this woman. He’d tried to dismiss memories of their brief meeting, but he’d had very little success putting her out of his mind. That wasn’t so surprising. He’d always believed that first impressions were the most potent, and his first impression of Hannah Cassidy had been a fantasy in the making.

“Are you enjoying the party, Hannah?”

She acknowledged his use of her name with the barest lift of her eyebrows. Parker would have preferred a proper introduction even though he’d grilled Ryan regarding all the Cassidys weeks ago.

“Yes, I am.”

It might have been her intention to instill her voice with an overlying coldness, but Parker earned a very good living by paying attention to the most subtle nuances and inflections in his clients’ voices. She wasn’t as cold as she wanted him to believe. A smug feeling of satisfaction settled over him. No matter what she pretended, she was aware of him. He’d venture a little further to say she was attracted to him, too.

“Nice night.”

She glanced at the guests, the orchestra, and the lawns far beyond the patio, and slowly nodded.

“Hannah?”

She turned her head very slowly, and looked up at him. There was a softness in her eyes, and a directness he liked very much. “Ryan was right about that orchestra. They’re very good. Would you care to dance?”

She hesitated, as if surprised by his question. “As a matter of fact,” she said, the sound of her voice as dusky as secrets whispered in the dark, “I would love to.”

Parker felt the way he did when he was nearing the end of an intense game of chess. Victory was close. Check.

She smiled sweetly at him. And he reacted in the most basic and masculine way.

He reached for her hand, but she’d backed up. Increasing the distance between them, she lowered her voice and said, “Perhaps if you combed the numbers on a public rest room wall, you could find someone to accommodate you.”

He watched through narrowed eyes as she stopped a dozen feet away to speak to her brother, Cole. She didn’t glance back at Parker, but when she dragged her brother onto the dance floor, Parker got her message loud and clear. She wanted to dance. Just not with him.

Checkmate.

Parker considered himself a reasonable man, but he still saw red. He wasn’t accustomed to having his overtures rejected, dammit. Although he had to admit her technique had been noteworthy.

Everything about Hannah Cassidy was noteworthy.

He’d noticed her when she’d first arrived. Every hair on his body had raised slightly, as if he was standing too close to an electric fence. He’d been on sensory overload ever since. It wasn’t the color of her dress that made such an impression, but the lack of color. It was a pale shade of brown, so close to the color of her skin that at first glance it almost appeared as if she wasn’t wearing anything at all. Almost. Every man in the universe knew just how provocative almost could be.

The dress was semi-transparent from the knees down, and if you looked close, in a three-inch band around her waist. It left her shoulders bare, but wasn’t low cut in the front or in the back. It was the kind of dress a woman who neither felt compelled to flaunt her body nor hide it wore. That such a woman existed was an intriguing concept, one Parker would have to ponder later. Hannah wore no necklace or rings. He’d checked her left hand twice. Her hair appeared darker beneath the twinkle of hundreds of tiny lights, a few tresses curling down her neck and in front of her ears, the rest secured high in the back with a single brown comb.

He didn’t know much about her. He sure hadn’t had any luck garnering information from the waiter who’d dumped chocolate mousse on his tie, or from the eccentric blonde who owned The Pink Flamingo, although he was certain she had been withholding information. Still, Parker hadn’t had to ask who Hannah was tonight. He’d known the moment he’d seen her standing next to Lily Cassidy. Although the eyes and color preferences were different, the resemblance between mother and daughter was unmistakable.

He was still watching Hannah when his father materialized out of a nearby crowd. Ice cubes clinked in the bottom of the older man’s empty glass. “Ryan Fortune is as stubborn as a mule, but his bourbon is the best money can buy.”

J. D. Malone was an inch shorter than his son and kept his weight within fifteen pounds of what it had been when he was young. Women enjoyed him. Men either feared him or revered him. Few actually liked him. Most of the time, the jury was out as to where Parker stood in regard to his father. “I take it you haven’t had any luck talking sense into Ryan concerning his affair with Lily Cassidy. The man’s not thinking with his head. I never trust the opposition, and I trust Sophia Fortune less than most. That woman isn’t going to let go of Ryan’s fortune without one hell of a fight. His infatuation with the Cassidy woman is a serious mistake.”

Parker shook his head. “Infatuation? Ryan wants her the way a man in the desert wants water.”

J.D.’s tone hardened. “That’s lust. If he can’t control his sexual urges he should find himself a call girl, at least until his divorce is final. I wouldn’t expect a man like him to shop on street corners. There are agencies these days that operate out of penthouses. Hell, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the only way to go. You get what you pay for, I always say.”

Parker wouldn’t want to be the one to suggest such a thing to Ryan Fortune. He wouldn’t recommend J.D. do it, either. His father had never preached honor when it came to sex. His sex talk had consisted of taking precautions and using discretion. No wonder Parker had jumped to the wrong conclusion in that damned storage room last week.

J.D. returned to the group of men he’d been talking to. Parker stayed in the shadows, scowling.

The song finally ended. He noticed it didn’t take long for one of Ryan’s nephews to ask Hannah to dance and for her to accept. Sipping seltzer water over ice, Parker stood apart from the crowd, biding his time. Fifteen more minutes and he would be able to leave.

Time was almost up when he noticed a pale-brown blur out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head just in time to see Hannah slip away from her latest suitor and stroll along one of the curving walkways in the distance. Placing his empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray, Parker glanced at his watch. Might as well put his time to good use.

Trying to catch her breath after all that dancing, Hannah smiled as she passed the teenage girls sitting on a weathered bench near the rose arbor. She strolled slowly along the path, her step light, the heels of her shoes clicking softly over the flagstone walk.

The garden was lovely, scented with honeysuckle and roses moist with dew. The paths were lit, but not nearly as brightly as the courtyard near the house. Here, shadows beckoned guests to enjoy the quietude of a leisurely stroll. If her mother’s wedding could have taken place anytime other than winter, Hannah would have loved to see it set right here. A few months ago she’d planned a wedding that had taken place in an arboretum where the lush ground cover had been mowed, creating a cloudlike carpet of delicate purple blooms.

Winter weddings were lovely, too, and would be the perfect time to accent in her mother’s favorite color, red. Hannah was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice the muted sound of a man’s footsteps behind her until they were very close. She glanced casually over her shoulder, and came to an abrupt stop.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” Parker Malone said quietly.

She rallied quickly, impatient to be on her way. “I startle easily.”

“I called your name,” he said. “But I think the saying goes something like you seemed to be miles away.”

“I have a lot on my mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

They both stepped in the same direction, paused, then tried going the other way. Hannah said, “What are you doing, Parker?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I have to kill a little more time before I can make a departure that’s socially acceptable. I thought I’d take a walk.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll leave you to your walk.” This time she darted around him, only to sigh in resignation when he fell into step beside her.

“I find myself in unfamiliar territory,” he said quietly.

The grounds were magnificent, but something told her that Parker Malone was accustomed to the finer things in life. “Unfamiliar, how?” she said, curious in spite of herself.

“I seem to be in the middle of a situation that calls for an apology.”

She felt his eyes on her, but she continued to look straight ahead.

“I’m afraid I’ve never been good at saying I’m sorry.” His voice had dropped in volume, losing its steely edge.

“At least you’re honest.”

“I’m sorry.”

She glanced up at him then, and they shared a small smile, because the way he’d said it, he could have been apologizing for being honest.

“I jumped to the wrong conclusion about you the first time we met. I would have apologized sooner, but I didn’t know your name, let alone your telephone number. So I left my card with your friend and waited for you to contact me. Evidently she didn’t see fit to pass it on to you.”

“Adrienne gave me your card, Parker.” Hannah fell silent, letting the implications soak in. She’d chosen not to call him. End of story. He didn’t need to know she’d taken his business card out of the drawer three times last week.

Strains of music wafted from the courtyard. Night insects hummed and squeaked as if the musicians were playing just for them. No one else had ventured this far away from the party. Hannah was aware of how secluded this section of the garden was, and how alone she and Parker were. “Well,” she said, “I think I’ll turn back.”

“Hannah, wait.” His hand felt warm on her bare arm, so her shiver must have been the result of something else.

“Look,” she said. “Cole just told me you’ve already confronted him with your view on marriage in general, our mother’s and Ryan’s in particular. If you followed me because you want to enlist my help in talking her into signing that prenuptial agreement you drew up, you can forget it.”

The pressure on her arm changed slightly. “I followed you because there’s something I’ve been wanting to do all night.”

Suddenly he was directly in front of her, his face angling toward hers, blurring in front of her eyes. “I followed you to do this.”

His mouth covered hers before she had the presence of mind to resist. She must have closed her eyes, because suddenly she had to rely on her other senses. Her lips parted, and a rush of feeling flooded over her. Their breath mingled, their lips clung. His hand went around to the small of her back, pulling her closer, until their bodies touched ever so lightly.

Her hands found their way to him, one inching up to his shoulder, the other spreading wide over his chest. He made a sound deep in his throat, and his heart raced beneath her palm.

Parker had always had a good imagination. God knew, it had been working overtime this past week, but imagery couldn’t hold a candle to the jolt of excitement that had begun to pulse through him the moment his lips touched Hannah’s.

She sighed, her long, lean body going fluid against his. Her three-inch heels made her the perfect height for kissing. Her waist fit his hands, the flare of her hips enticing him to explore. A few moments ago the garden had seemed idyllically private. Suddenly it wasn’t nearly private enough.

Music played from the other side of the courtyard. A bed of tall ornamental grasses blocked them from view of the others. Another shudder went through him, want and need melding, burrowing deep inside him.

“I don’t want to stop.” His voice was a rasp in the semi-darkness. “But we have to, at least for now.”

Hannah came to her senses slowly. She glanced nervously around, relieved to find them alone, the shadow of an old sweet gum tree on one side, tall grasses swaying in the breeze on the other. She placed her hands on her cheeks and took a backward step.

“That shouldn’t have happened.”

“I disagree.”

No doubt. She had to think, and it wasn’t easy to do with him standing there looking at her. “In a sense, you’re the enemy.”

“If you’d care to explain, I’m all ears.”

He wasn’t really, she thought. He was all shoulders and planes and angles and…

He slid a hand into the pocket of his dress slacks, the action drawing attention to a place she really shouldn’t be looking. She glanced up at his face, only to find herself staring at the cleft in his chin. For heaven’s sake, did everything about him have to be riveting?

Taking control of her senses, she said, “I’ve overheard bits and pieces of several conversations tonight, and the general consensus around here seems to be that you don’t want Ryan to see my mother. Something tells me it isn’t a moral issue with you.”

“At least you’re not blinded by my brains and good looks.”

He was very good at deprecating humor. If this had been a laughing matter she would have smiled. “At least it hasn’t gone to your head.”

“That isn’t what’s gone to my head, Hannah.”

She had absolutely nothing to say to that. Thankfully, footsteps sounded on the garden path, and she was saved from having to try to reply.

“Hannah, there you are.” It was her mother. “Oh, hello, Parker. Am I interrupting something?”

“Yes,” Parker said.

“No,” Hannah said at the same time.

“I see.”

“Parker and I have been talking. I was just telling him that neither Cole nor I will try to influence you when it comes to your relationship with Ryan. I didn’t have a chance to tell him how I feel about prenuptial agreements. Perhaps you’d like to enlighten him.”

“Parker’s just doing his job, dear.”

It was hard to tell who was more surprised, Hannah or Parker, but it was Hannah who said, “You’re defending him?”

Lily looked at Parker, but spoke to her daughter. “I believe Parker has Ryan’s best interests at heart. Ryan trusts him, and Ryan doesn’t trust just anybody.”

Parker found himself at a rare loss for words. He was accustomed to receiving respect when he earned it, but there was compassion in Lily’s expression, too. It left him feeling raw, as if something was missing from his life. It made him uncomfortable. Almost as uncomfortable as unspent desire.

Hannah linked her arm through her mother’s. Bidding Parker good-night, the pair strolled away. Parker watched until they rounded a curve and were out of sight.

He finished his walk alone, deep in thought. He had to get hold of this situation. His fantasies had been playing tricks on him. Now that he’d kissed Hannah Cassidy, he could get her out of his system.

He glanced at his watch. Coincidentally, his fifteen minutes were up.

Parker strode out the back door of the business complex that housed Malone, Malone & Associates. Snagging his key out of his pocket, he pointed it at the ground-hugging Corvette parked between the Mercedes and the Cadillac. The push of one button unlocked his door. The touch of another started the engine. Pausing, he listened closely. The timing was off. He’d better make an appointment to have his mechanic take a look at it.

Footsteps sounded behind him. “Parker,” his father called. “You’re just the man I wanted to see.”

Parker stopped and slowly turned. Another minute and he would have made his escape. His car wasn’t the only one whose timing was off.

“What is it, J.D.?”

“I’ll make this brief. I just came from the Double Crown Ranch.”

Parker acknowledged the information with a slight nod. “Any luck convincing Ryan to push that prenup?”

Tucking his briefcase beneath one arm, J.D. shook his head. “He wants his divorce from Sophia, and he wants it now. All he can think about is marrying the Cassidy woman. He says he trusts her.” J.D. made a disparaging sound. “You’ve got your work cut out for you, son. I understand you’ve made contact with Lily Cassidy’s daughter.”

Parker’s eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch, his only indication of surprise. “I suppose you could call it that.”

“Think you can get close enough to her to make her see reason?”

Parker knew how J.D.’s mind worked. By “reason,” he meant whatever suited him in his efforts to win the most money, the most assets, the lion’s share for his client.

“I don’t think so, J.D.”

“You kissed her.”

Parker didn’t even try to hide his reaction to that one. Did the man have spies?

J.D. smoothed a hand down the length of his tie. “I happened to be on that garden path last week. She looked pretty…shall I say, pliable.”

Parker clenched his jaw. “She’s refusing my phone calls. The flowers I sent her were returned to me, wilted.”

“So you’re already on it.”

J.D. turned to go. Accustomed to his father’s dismissals, Parker quickly strode the remaining distance to his car door.

“Parker?”

He looked up, one foot already in the car.

J.D. was watching him, eyes narrowed, his gaze cool and steady. His father had an uncanny ability to assess a person, a situation, a half-truth or an out-and-out lie. As a kid, that look had made Parker feel like a germ under a microscope. It still did.

“Check your calendar and let me know when you have an evening free,” J.D. said. “I’ll have my cook broil some steaks. You look like you could use a cattleman’s cut, medium rare.”

Parker hadn’t planned to smile. “I’ll do that, Father.”

J.D. smiled, too, but only briefly. And then he headed for the office. The father-son moment was over. It was business as usual.

An hour later Parker strummed his fingers on the steering wheel. His windows were down, but there wasn’t much air moving in downtown San Antonio today. Consequently, the plush leather seats felt at least a hundred and five degrees.

Come on, come on. He was parked along Smith Street, two car lengths away from a storefront painted a subtle charming beige. Two women, probably a mother and her grown daughter, had left a few minutes ago, arms filled with books and bags, heads undoubtedly filled with wedding plans.

It was twelve o’clock on the dot when he got out of his car and headed for the building bearing the sign The Perfect Occasion. A wind chime jingled softly when he opened the door, and air that was slightly cooler greeted him.

Hannah glanced up, the ready smile on her face suddenly looking a little less steady. “Parker, what are you doing here?”

He strolled farther into the room, the epitome of nonchalance, a hand on one hip, the other fiddling with a clasp he picked up off her desk. “I just happened to be in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d stop in and say hello.” He failed to mention that Ryan “just happened” to drop the name of Hannah’s business in passing that very day. He paused. “Is your air-conditioning on the blink?”

“No, why?”

His gaze made a quick trip over her sleeveless dress. She appeared cool and comfortable. “Never mind. I’m on my way to lunch. Care to join me?”

He could tell from her expression what her answer was going to be. Raising a hand, he said, “Would it sway your decision if I told you how much trouble I went to and how much time I spent juggling appointments so I could just happen to be in the neighborhood right now?”

“If you would have called first,” Hannah said, straightening pamphlets lying on her desk, “I could have saved you the trouble.”

“That’s a marvelous idea. I should know. I’ve tried it. You won’t take my calls.” He waited until she looked up to grace her with his sexiest smile. “And I take it you don’t like flowers.”

Her hands stilled for a moment, then resumed their task.

“Come on, Hannah. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for weeks. Even my father thinks it’s taking a toll on me. From the looks of all the brochures and swatches of material and files in this room, you’ve been busy, too. I have to eat. You have to eat. We might as well eat together.”

He gave her a second dose of his sexy smile.

“I can’t, Parker.”

Parker understood a simple no when he heard one. This wasn’t a courtroom, and she wasn’t a witness he could badger. She was a woman, and she’d made herself perfectly clear. He straightened and carefully returned the clasp to the edge of her desk. He did a quick inventory of the room. There were framed photographs on several shelves behind her; a yellow flowered sofa sat at a comfortable angle near a matching overstuffed chair. White lights were strung through the fronds of huge potted plants. Balloons bobbed from strings that were tied to an antique filing cabinet, a cardboard cut-out clown propped nearby.

It occurred to him that Hannah Cassidy made her living from planning more than weddings. Redistributing his weight to one foot, he said, “I’d like to hire you.”

“What?”

She had a suspicious mind. He’d given her good reason for it. “I’m thinking about having a party.”

“You’re kidding.” Her disbelief showed in the tone of her voice. Recovering slightly, she said, “What kind of party?”

“I don’t know. I just thought of it.”

“Parker, why are you really here?”

That was a good question. He worded his answer very carefully. “It isn’t because I have a lot of idle time. It’s just the opposite. Yesterday I was trying to talk an irate husband out of hiring a private investigator to follow his wife, whom he suspected was cheating. I was in the middle of trying to explain that in no-fault divorce states, there’s no use. Suddenly your image crowded into my brain. You’re interfering with my concentration.”

Hannah didn’t know what to say. Doggone it, she felt complimented. She had no business feeling that way. She and Parker were complete opposites. While she planned weddings down to the smallest detail, he took marriages apart, asset by asset.

“Look. I have an appointment across town with a very anxious bride to be.” She opened a drawer and pulled out a price list and several brochures depicting the different themes she’d used in planning parties. Placing the pamphlets near the edge of her desk, she said, “You can look these over, if you’d like. If you truly want my help planning a party, let me know. Otherwise…”

He glanced at the brochures, the rest of her statement hanging in the air, unfinished. That “otherwise” spoke volumes. He could hire her services as a party planner, but she didn’t plan to see him socially.

“I see,” he said. “Maybe I’ll do that.”

“Goodbye, Parker.”

Hannah watched him stride toward the door. It was in her own best interests to let him go. And she was letting him go. It was better this way. A clean break from what could have turned out to be a disastrous relationship.

She covered her lips with three fingers, remembering how it had felt to kiss him. If she let him go, how would she ever know what might have been?

She didn’t need to know. It was for the best. For both of them.

She wondered if he’d really been burning the candle at both ends. Had there been shadows beneath his eyes?

“Parker?”

His fingers were already wrapped around the doorknob when he turned around. His eyes looked hooded. She couldn’t read their expression from here. “You forgot your brochures.”

He retraced his steps, taking the brochures from her outstretched hand. Praying she didn’t regret this, she took a breath for courage and said, “I can’t have lunch with you, but I could free up my schedule for this evening. We could talk about this party you suddenly want to have then.”

The eyes staring into hers filled with a curious intensity. “Dinner?” he asked.

She pushed her chair out and stood. “That would be too much like a date.”

There was a good reason for that, Parker thought. “What else did you have in mind?”

“Do you own a bike?”

“A motorcycle?”

She shook her head. “A bicycle.”

“Not since I was thirteen.”

“That’s what I thought. You probably don’t have a pair of in-line skates in the back of your closet, either. Something tells me you get your exercise playing racquetball or walking on a treadmill. I prefer more spontaneous activities.”

Parker had the strangest urge to defend himself.

“Maybe we could go for a walk,” she said.

“You want to take a walk?”

She smiled. “That sounds lovely. Thanks, I’d love to.”

Parker shook his head. She thought she was so smart. That was okay. He happened to like smart women. “I’ll stop by around seven.”

“You can if you want to, but I won’t be back until seven-thirty.” She was grinning openly now.

“Seven-thirty, it is.”

“Oh, and Parker? I have one small stipulation.”

Of course she did.

“You can’t try to arm wrestle me into using my influence to change my mother’s mind about going public with her engagement to Ryan.”

Parker took a frank and admiring look at her. Her hair was down today, her dress a creamy beige that seemed to blend in with her surroundings. She had a great body, but he was beginning to realize that in front of him stood a woman who preferred to be recognized for having a great mind.

“If we arm wrestle,” he said, his gaze delving hers, “it’ll be to determine how far we go.”

Leaving her to mull that over, he strode loftily out the door.