Plain Jane Allison was now pretty. No, gorgeous!

Her clothes were stylish and revealing, her hair fluffed around her face. People she’d known her whole life passed her on the street without a flicker of recognition. Allison hadn’t run into Jeff yet, but he was due to pick her up soon. She tried to corral the butterflies in her stomach. Would he whistle with appreciation? Would he stare with his mouth open? Would he take her in his arms and kiss her passionately?

The doorbell rang. Allison held her breath and opened the door.

“Hey, Allie.” Jeff flashed an easy smile. “Are you ready?”

“Um, yeah,” she managed.

“I’ll get these.” He took her two bags to the car and stashed them alongside his. “Hey, we have matching bags.”

Allison wasn’t sure how she managed to assemble words and phrases, but she must have done all right, because Jeff didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

And that was just the problem, wasn’t it? She had changed everything about her appearance. And Dr. Jeff Hardison hadn’t even noticed!

Dear Reader,

What a special lineup of love stories Harlequin American Romance has for you this month. Bestselling author Cathy Gillen Thacker continues her family saga, THE DEVERAUX LEGACY, with His Marriage Bonus. A confirmed bachelor ponders a marital merger with his business rival’s daughter, and soon his much-guarded heart is in danger of a romantic takeover!

Next, a young woman attempts to catch the eye of her lifelong crush by undergoing a head-to-toe makeover in Plain Jane’s Plan, the latest book in Kara Lennox’s HOW TO MARRY A HARDISON miniseries. In Courtship, Montana Style by Charlotte Maclay, a sophisticated city slicker arrives on a handsome rancher’s doorstep, seeking refuge with a baby in her arms. The Rancher Wore Suits by Rita Herron is the first book in TRADING PLACES, an exciting duo about identical twin brothers separated at birth who are reunited and decide to switch places to see what their lives might have been like.

Enjoy this month’s offerings, and be sure to return each and every month to Harlequin American Romance!

Happy reading,

Melissa Jeglinski

Associate Senior Editor

Harlequin American Romance

Plain Jane’s Plan

Kara Lennox

Texas native Kara Lennox has been an art director, typesetter, advertising copywriter, textbook editor and reporter. She’s worked in a boutique, a health club and has conducted telephone surveys. She’s been an antiques dealer and briefly ran a clipping service. But no work has made her happier than writing romance novels.

When Kara isn’t writing, she indulges in an ever-changing array of weird hobbies, from rock climbing to crystal digging. But her mind is never far from her stories. Just about anything can send her running to her computer to jot down a new idea for some future novel.

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

840—VIRGIN PROMISE

856—TWIN EXPECTATIONS

871—TAME AN OLDER MAN

893—BABY BY THE BOOK

917—THE UNLAWFULLY WEDDED PRINCESS

934—VIXEN IN DISGUISE *

942—PLAIN JANE’S PLAN *

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

“You are coming to the conference, aren’t you, Jeffy?” the sultry female voice asked through Jeff’s answering machine. “We had so much fun last year, and I just can’t wait to see you again.” The voice lowered to a sexy whisper. “I’ve got the most incredible new black dress. You’ll love it. Okay, Jeffy? See you next weekend, bye-byeeeeee!”

Jeff Hardison groaned and flopped onto his leather sofa. He could almost see Sherry McCormick’s frosted lips as she’d cooed her way through the message. Last year, at the medical products convention in Dallas, he’d found the man-crazy nurse an amusing distraction. But a little of Sherry went a long way, and he had no intention of spending four days with her stuck to him like a tick.

He briefly considered skipping the conference, but he really needed to go, since his father couldn’t make it this year. Jeff and his dad prided themselves on having all the latest diagnostic equipment, despite the fact they ran a small-town medical practice in Cottonwood, Texas.

So how was he going to dodge Sherry? In fact, he’d just as soon dodge any female who had her sights on him. He was tired of shallow relationships with shallow women who saw a single doctor as their ticket to the country-club life. He was even a bit tired of the ones who just wanted to party.

A knock on his door distracted him momentarily from his dilemma. When he opened the door, he was pleased to see his friend Allison Crane on his porch.

His pleasure quickly turned to concern when he realized she had a bleeding elbow. A huge tear in the leg of her sweatpants revealed a nasty case of road rash along the side of her leg. Her bike was lying in the grass in his front yard with a bent wheel, telling the rest of the story.

“Hi, Jeff,” she said quickly before he could express his concern. “I’m fine, don’t worry, I just slid in a patch of gravel, hit a pothole, and got myself two flat tires. Since I was right up the street—” she shrugged “—I just want to use your phone.”

Jeff dragged her inside. “Hell, Allie, you’re going to kill yourself on that bike if you don’t slow down.”

“I wasn’t going that fast,” she protested as he led her into the kitchen. “Can I use your phone?”

“To call 911?”

She laughed. “I’m not hurt that badly, just a scratch. I was going to call Anne and see if she could run me and the bike home in her van.”

In the kitchen, he took a piece of sterile gauze from the cabinet where he kept his first-aid supplies, then poured some antiseptic onto the gauze and faced Allison with a determined expression.

“Get away from me with that stuff. It stings.”

“You can use my phone after you let me fix you up. God knows what kind of germs are lurking in gravel.”

“Oh, you and your germs.” But she capitulated, sitting in a chair at his kitchen table and rolling up the sleeve of her oversize T-shirt.

“I can give you a ride,” he offered.

“That’s not necess—ouch!” She jerked her arm out of his grasp when he tried to clean the cut on her elbow. “Surely medical science has invented a disinfectant that doesn’t sting by now.”

“Stop being a baby.” After wiping away some of the blood, he inspected the cut more closely. “You’re bleeding like Niagara Falls here. You need stitches.”

“No way. I’ll just apply pressure. It’ll stop bleeding in a minute.”

Jeff shook his head. “You are the most pigheaded person when it comes to medical care. You’d bleed to death before you let someone take a couple of stitches.”

“Pigheaded! You’re the one who hasn’t seen a dentist in three years.”

“My teeth are fine.”

“And my elbow is fine. You and your needles can just keep away from me.”

Despite her protests, he managed to clean out the cut to his satisfaction. The bleeding had already slowed. “All right, maybe some antibiotic ointment and a couple of butterfly bandages will do the trick,” he said. “Can I at least do that?”

Allison frowned. “If it’ll make you feel like a hero.”

Jeff stifled the smile that threatened. Taking care of a patient, any patient, always made him feel like a hero. Most people thought he’d gone into medicine simply because his father was a doctor. But that had little to do with his career choice. In fact, he’d been planning a very different path, something related to business or marketing, leading to a fast-paced job and a corner office and all the big-city excitement he could handle. Then his mother had gotten sick, and he’d watched, helpless, as this doctor and that one tried futilely to save her.

Jeff’s father, himself a physician, had accepted her death. He’d accepted the fact that medical science had limits, and he’d let his wife go, knowing he’d done his best. But Jeff hadn’t let go so easily. He’d disappeared into the woods for hours, screaming at the unfairness of it all. Then he’d vowed that he would never be that helpless again. He would learn the healing arts, learn them better than anyone ever had, so no one he loved would get sick and die like that.

As he got older, he realized his outlook had been naive. Doctors weren’t gods, and sometimes patients died. But he always took it hard when one of his patients slipped away. And he’d never gotten over the thrill of finding a cure, easing pain, giving comfort and occasionally pulling off something that bordered on miraculous.

He would never say it aloud, because it sounded so sanctimonious, but being a doctor truly was his calling.

ALLISON WINCED as Jeff deftly cleaned the scrapes on her leg.

He looked up with clear, blue eyes that could melt a glacier. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

“It’s okay,” she said. It wasn’t the pain that made every nerve ending in her body stand at attention. It was the touch of Jeff’s hands on her bare skin. They’d played doctor once, when they were children, but ever since then she had assiduously avoided letting Jeff practice his medical arts on her. It wasn’t that she mistrusted his skill. He was one of the best doctors in all of East Texas. But she was deathly afraid that if he touched her, her bodily reactions would give her away.

Thank goodness he thought her fidgeting and shortness of breath were due to discomfort, rather than the fact she was so hot and bothered she couldn’t sit still.

She was crazy in love with Jeff Hardison, had been since she was thirteen. Unfortunately, Jeff had never given her any indication that he reciprocated, so she had pined away in secrecy. He’d always been a good friend to her—really, her best friend—but nothing more, and she would die a thousand deaths if he ever found out her true feelings.

She’d known since high school that he would never be the one for her. Jeff gravitated toward sophisticated females with style, panache and long legs. She had none of those things. Even losing sixty pounds—a result of her newfound passion for bicycling—hadn’t turned her into the sort of femme fatale Jeff went for.

It was hopeless, completely hopeless. She never should have opened her dental practice back home in Cottonwood, where she saw him all the time. They hung out with each other. She even spent time with his family at the Hardison Ranch, which Jeff’s brother Jonathan ran. She was constantly reminded of everything she couldn’t have. Yet, a certain perverse part of her enjoyed being with him. It was torture, but sweet torture.

Jeff applied a couple of bandages over the worst scrapes on her legs. “There, that ought to keep you from bleeding all over my car.”

“You don’t have to take me home. Anyway, I couldn’t fit a loaf of bread in the trunk of your Porsche, much less a bicycle.”

“You can pick up the bike later. I trust you won’t be riding it right away.”

“Of course I will.”

He gave her a disapproving frown.

“Oh, all right, you can take me home,” she said. as if it were a great concession on her part. In truth, she loved riding in Jeff’s luxurious, dark-green sports car, loved the buttery feel of his calfskin seats and the powerful purr of the engine, barely contained on the calm streets of Cottonwood. “I need to take the bike into the shop, anyway, to have that wheel straightened out.”

She would ride her mountain bike until the racing bike was repaired, but Jeff didn’t have to know that.

“That road rash will be a great topic of conversation next weekend,” Jeff commented as they headed for his garage.

“Next weekend?”

“The convention? You’re going, aren’t you?”

“That’s next weekend? Oh, shoot, I think I forgot to send my money in. I’ve probably got back-to-back patients next Thursday and Friday, too.”

“Allie, you have to go.”

She was surprised by the urgency in his voice. “Why?”

“Because it’s no fun without you. Anyway, you have to save me from Sherry McCormick.”

“That nurse with the curly blond hair?”

“That’s the one. She’s planning to hunt me down at the convention and make me her love slave.”

Allison rolled her eyes. “The fact that you’re irresistible to women is a curse you’ll just have to live with. What’s wrong with Sherry, anyway? I remember her from last year. She seems just your type.”

“You really know how to hit below the belt.”

“Well, if you want to discourage her attentions, wear a fake wedding ring. That ought to cool her jets.”

Jeff opened the passenger door to his dark-green Porsche and helped Allison into her seat with more concern than usual. Allison enjoyed his solicitousness. She just wished it wasn’t because she’d left half her skin in the intersection up the street.

“I doubt Sherry would be dissuaded by a wedding ring,” he said as he slid behind the wheel. “She’d just consider it a little extra challenge. What I need is a wife, a flesh-and-blood wife.”

Allison batted her eyelashes. “Why, Jeff, this is so sudden.”

Jeff didn’t laugh, as she expected he would. Instead he looked at her with a speculative gleam in his eye.

“What?”

“How would you like to be my fiancée for the weekend? Run a little interference for me?”

“I told you, I’m not going to the convention.”

“You can change your plans. It’s not too late to register as a walk-in. C’mon, Allie, it’ll be fun.”

Allison’s instincts told her to say yes. What a fantasy, walking around for four days on Jeff Hardison’s arm, pretending they were engaged. “It would be dishonest.”

“It would save me from Sherry the Leech. Please?”

“What about all the other women? As I recall, you usually cut a wide swath on a long weekend in Dallas.”

“Not this time. I’m mending my ways. No more tomcatting. I’ll be your devoted fiancé, proper in every respect.”

That would be the day.

“I’ll take you to dinner at Antares,” he wheedled.

Antares was the revolving restaurant atop Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas, and Jeff knew darn well it was her favorite restaurant. He was really going for the jugular.

She heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Let me see if I can rearrange my appointments.” She knew all the while she would give in to his request. She was pretty much powerless to say no to Jeff, and he knew it. Anyway, she’d been looking for an excuse to get up to Dallas and see her former roommate, Stephanie Rich, who was a gynecologist. If she phoned right away, Steph could probably squeeze her into her schedule.

She most definitely did not want to see her regular doctor, who happened to be Jeff’s father, about her little health problem.

ANNE HARDISON froze, a French fry halfway to her mouth. “You’re going to do what?”

Allison enjoyed the look of shock on her friend’s face. They were lunching at their usual spot, Triple Z Barbecue. Anne’s husband, who was Jeff’s younger brother, Wade, was taking his turn today watching their new baby.

“I’m going to pose as Jeff’s fiancée to keep this certain woman, Sherry, from hitting on him at the convention,” Allison explained. “She just about drove him crazy last year.”

“And you agreed?” Anne asked, dumbfounded.

“Sure. Why not? It’s a favor between friends.

Anyway, he promised to take me to Antares for dinner.”

“You could afford to take yourself to Antares. Allison, honey, he’s taking advantage of you. He’s using you.”

“Oh, he’s not, either.” Allison took a bite of her barbecued beef sandwich. She loved the fact she could eat anything she wanted, guilt-free, since she started bicycling.

“Yes, he is,” Anne insisted. “He’s a big boy, and I’ve seen him break a heart or two without blinking an eye. I’m sure he can fight off a dozen Sherrys if he wants to. I think he has another angle.”

“Like what?” Allison took a sip of iced tea.

“I don’t know. Like…like maybe he’s tired of being single, and he wants to test the waters—see how it might feel to be committed, without really committing.”

Allison laughed so loud the construction workers at the next table looked over. “That’s the craziest thing I ever heard.”

“No, I think I’m on to something,” Anne said, her enthusiasm rising in her voice. “Jeff has been hanging around at our place quite a bit, helping out with the rodeo camp. He’s wonderful with the kids, and sometimes I catch him looking at Wade and me and the baby with this sort of wistful expression on his face.”

“You think he’s jealous of your marital bliss?”

“All men get the urge to settle down and procreate sooner or later, even Jeff.”

Allison took a particularly savage bite of an onion ring. “Even if you’re right, I’m not the one he fantasizes about. I mean, get real.”

“What do you mean, ‘get real’?”

“I mean, Jeff can have any woman he wants. Why would he set—”

“Don’t you dare use that word, settle. Jeff Hardison would be damn lucky to have you. Any man would.”

Allison rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen, Anne, you don’t have to stroke my ego. Jeff is attracted to sophisticated model-types with long legs and collagen lips. We both know I’m no beauty queen.”

Anne threw down her French fry, splattering ketchup on the checkered tablecloth. “That is such bull! You could go up against any woman in this town—or anywhere, for that matter. You’ve got great skin, great cheekbones, great hair—”

“Mousy brown is not great.”

“But it’s thick and shiny, and—”

“Anne, cut it out, okay? I don’t care that Jeff doesn’t notice me.”

“Oh, don’t you?” Anne asked innocently. The silence that followed her question was charged with enough tension to suffocate a mule.

“We’re just friends, and I like it that way,” Allison said, trying her best to sound casual.

“Liar.”

Suddenly Allison found it hard to swallow. She’d nurtured her ridiculous crush on Jeff for years, and no one had ever suspected. Or had they? She’d never said a word to anyone and always acted completely indifferent around Jeff, but Anne was very observant.

“You haven’t mentioned this to anyone, have you?” Allison asked, dying a thousand deaths. Her secret, her precious secret, was out in the open.

“Um, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I don’t have to mention it. Everyone knows.”

Allison thought she was going to throw up. Surely this was just a terrible nightmare. “Everyone?”

“Everyone but Jeff, the lunkhead. I guess he’s so used to women adoring him that he’s oblivious.”

Here, at least, was a shred of hope. “You’re sure he doesn’t know? And nobody’s said anything to him?”

“Not that I’ve heard.”

“Listen, Anne. He can never, never know. Promise me you won’t say anything to Jeff.”

“I won’t. I wouldn’t do that. But, Allison, why can’t he know? In every relationship, someone has to make the first move. Why don’t you just tell him how you—”

“I did that once.”

“When? I thought—”

“In seventh grade. I screwed up my courage and asked him to the Christmas dance at the country club, and he was grossed out by the whole idea.”

“Good Lord, Allie, that was eons ago. He probably doesn’t even remember it.”

“Well, I do.” No sting of rejection had ever hurt so badly.

“You need to try again,” Anne said gently.

“No! Oh, Anne, you don’t know what you’re saying.” Allison scooted out of the booth. The restaurant suddenly felt stifling, suffocating. She had to get out. She threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table and scrambled to her feet, unable to get to the door fast enough.

“Allison, wait,” Anne called, hot on her tail.

In the parking lot outside, Allison stopped and caught her breath. “Anne. I am not Jeff’s type. If he knew I had…feelings for him, it would just make him uncomfortable, and then he’d feel sorry for me, and I can’t be some object of pity, I just can’t. I could never be friends with him again. At least if we’re friends, I can see him.”

“And slowly torture yourself to death. Allison, honey, that’s no way to live.”

“You have another suggestion? Besides making a total fool of myself? I’d have to move, you know. If he rejected me, I’d have to leave Cottonwood forever.”

“Chill out, drama queen.” Anne was walking slow circles around Allison, chin in hand, looking very thoughtful.

“What? Did I spill something on myself?”

“What if I could turn you into ‘Jeff’s type’?”

“Huh? You mean, like, a makeover?”

“Yeah. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, Allison, but you don’t exactly enhance your good points.”

“You mean because I don’t wear two pounds of makeup and a push-up bra, and tease my hair like Dolly Parton? That’s not me, Annie.”

“I’m not suggesting you do any such thing. But you hide your figure under baggy clothes, and you’ve been wearing the same hairstyle since junior high.”

“I’m comfortable with myself this way.”

“Yeah, because no one notices you. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about because I’ve been there. I was a nerdy law student before I met Wade, remember? Men never looked twice at me. But one crazy night I did myself up like a country-and-western singer and went to the rodeo, and boy, did the men notice.”

“One man in particular,” Allison said with a smile, recalling Anne and Wade’s tumultuous courtship. Anne had settled on an image that was somewhat toned down from the vampy rodeo queen. But Allison had to admit, her friend was a knockout now, when before she’d been easy to overlook. “But I’m just not the girly-girl type,” Allison added.

“You say you want Jeff to make the first move,” Anne said, “but he’s never going to do that if he doesn’t notice you.”

“I could walk down the street stark naked and he wouldn’t notice. I lost sixty pounds—sixty pounds—and he never said a word.”

“That’s because you’re still wearing size sixteen clothes!”

Allison looked down at what she was wearing. “Am I that bad?”

“Frankly, yes! Let me play Professor Higgins. Maybe you’ll like it. If not, there’s nothing lost.”

Allison sighed. “Okay, if you really want to. But it won’t do any good.”

“Maybe not. But there’s a whole sea of men out there besides Jeff.”

ALLISON PACKED and repacked her suitcase, making sure she had everything in her arsenal that she would need for the convention.

Three Miracle Bras in various colors, check.

Garter belt and stockings, check.

Catch-me-kiss-me, four-inch pumps, check.

Little black dress with no back, check.

Two pounds of makeup she’d sworn she wouldn’t wear, but which made her look like a supermodel so she’d changed her mind, check.

Clingy tops two sizes too small, and pants that showed her belly-button, check.

Dangly jewelry, check.

Contraceptive devices—like she would need them—check.

As she zipped the suitcase closed, she caught a glimpse of herself in the dresser mirror, and her heart skittered around until she realized there wasn’t a stranger in her bedroom. Anne had done a real number on her. They’d taken two evenings to accomplish the makeover, plus an evening of shopping, but the results were more than Allison had ever dreamed of.

Plain-Jane Allison was now pretty. No, she was gorgeous. A knockout. She hardly resembled the creature she’d been before. Her clothes were stylish and figure revealing, and her figure was worth revealing, taut as a bowstring but still softly curved. Her makeup enhanced her dark eyes, full lips, and sharp cheekbones.

And her hair—that was the wildest change. Anne had taken her to her favorite stylist, who had suggested golden highlights and a feathery cut that fluffed around her face. Jeez, she was almost a blonde.

People she’d known her whole life passed her on the street without a flicker of recognition. Her own patients stared at her as if she was going topless. And her parents…well, they’d been surprised to say the least. Her father, a church minister, had actually given her a brief lecture on the sins of the flesh. Her mother had nodded in agreement, then taken her aside and said, “Don’t listen to your father. He’s being a fuddy-duddy. You look fabulous. Do you think Anne might have time to show me how to do my makeup?”

Allison hadn’t run into Jeff yet, but that would soon be remedied. He was due to pick her up any minute. They were riding together to Dallas, of course, as an “engaged” couple should.

Allison tried to corral the butterflies in her stomach. How would Jeff react to the new Allison, all decked out in low-cut jeans and a snug purple crop top? Would he whistle with appreciation? Would he stare with his mouth gaping open? Would he take her in his arms and kiss her passionately?

Well, okay, that third possibility was a pretty farout fantasy. But she couldn’t wait to see what he would do.

The doorbell rang and the butterflies fluttered themselves into a frenzy. This was it, her moment of truth. If this didn’t prod Jeff into thinking of her as a desirable woman, she didn’t know what would.

She hoisted her suitcase off the bed and wheeled it to the door, where her smaller bag of toiletries was already waiting. “Coming!” she called as she found her purse, a sassy little faux-alligator bag Anne had picked out for her.

Then she held her breath and opened the door.

Oh, Lord, he looked good. But then, he always did. Even as a skinny high-schooler, his broad shoulders and burgeoning muscles had hinted of good things to come.

“Hey, Allie.” He flashed an easy smile. “Are you ready?”

“Um, yeah,” she managed, searching for telltale signs of shock on his face. But he looked perfectly passive.

He spotted her two bags and reached for them. “I’ll get these.” He loped back out to his car, popped the trunk with a button on his key chain and stashed her luggage alongside his. “Hey, we have matching bags.”

“Bought mine on sale at the outlet mall.” She wasn’t sure how she managed to assemble words and phrases into coherent sentences, but she must have been doing all right, because Jeff didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.

And that was just the problem, wasn’t it? she thought with a wave of despair. Her big plan was a big, fat failure. She had changed everything about her appearance, and Dr. Jeff Hardison didn’t even notice.

Jeff drove along the interstate toward Dallas feeling inexplicably happy. He didn’t particularly enjoy conventions. He wasn’t big on strange hotel beds and banquet food. But he hadn’t been out of Cottonwood for a while, and he supposed the idea of getting away for a few days was appealing.

The weather was fine, so he’d put the top down, enjoying the feel of the fall wind in his hair.

Allison didn’t talk much. Before he’d lowered the convertible top, she’d put on a scarf to protect her hair from the wind and sunglasses to shield her eyes. Now she sat slouched in the passenger seat with a slightly petulant frown, lost in her own thoughts.

That was okay. It was hard to talk with all that wind. One thing he liked about Allison was that he didn’t always feel obligated to carry on a conversation. She was comfortable with silence sometimes.

Maybe he shouldn’t have pressured her into coming with him to Dallas. He probably could have dealt with Sherry some other way. But he was really glad Allison had capitulated. He would have someone to talk to among the sea of strangers, someone to eat meals with and rescue him from boring conversations. Allison could be counted on to ask provocative questions during tedious workshops or volunteer as a guinea pig when a vendor wanted to demonstrate a product.

He looked forward to seeing some old friends at the convention, fellow physicians who came every year basically as an excuse to play golf and escape their wives or girlfriends. He didn’t look forward to announcing his “engagement” to them, though. He was the last holdout, and they would give him a hard time. But if he told them the engagement was fake, and the news leaked out to Sherry, she might know he’d carried out the deception to discourage her, and her feelings would be hurt…for about thirty seconds, before she sank her claws into him.

When he pulled up in front of the Del Mar Hotel, a valet scurried to open his door while a bellman did the same for Allison, then pounced on the bags. That was one drawback to driving a Porsche: everyone assumed you’d be a big tipper.

He didn’t disappoint either man. Then he joined Allison by the revolving door and guided her inside with a hand at the small of her back.

Her bare back. Low-cut jeans and a crop top left her midriff bare. Funny, he couldn’t recall ever seeing Allison’s midsection before. Even when she rode her bike, she wore baggy shorts or sweats and oversize T-shirts.

He pulled his hand away, feeling sort of weird about touching Allison. She was like a sister to him. Of course, if they were going to fool anyone into believing they were engaged, he would have to stifle any brotherly feelings and summon up some fake sexual sparks. He would have to get used to touching her.

The check-in desk was swamped with conventioneers. Jeff resigned himself to standing in line for a while. “You can go sit down if you want,” he said to Allison. “I’ll handle check-in.”

“No, that’s all right,” she said coolly. “I’ve been sitting for three hours. Do you think they have a health club here?”

“It’s a big hotel. I’m sure they do.”

“Good. I missed my usual ride this morning, so I’d like to make it up on the stationary bike.”

“Do you ride every day?”

“Six days a week. I’m training for a century next month.”

“Century?”

“A hundred-mile ride.”

Damn. He was in pretty good shape, and there was no way he could ride a bike for a hundred miles. Not unless someone gave him a week to do it. Since when had Allison become a jock? He seemed to recall that in a high school gym class she’d once hidden in the bushes to avoid being chosen for a softball team.

“Speaking of riding, how’s the elbow?” he asked her. “And the road rash?”

“All better.” She showed him her elbow, which sported a fading bruise and just a thin scab. “I’m a fast healer. Oh, Jeff, I think that woman is trying to get your attention.”

Jeff tensed, thinking it might be Sherry. But then he realized Allison was nodding toward one of the hotel clerks, who had just opened up a new station. She was looking straight at Jeff and motioning him to come be the first in her line, even though there were half a dozen people ahead of him.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he waltzed up to the desk.

“Hi, Dr. Hardison,” the bouncy clerk said.

“How did you—”

“I checked you in last year, remember? You requested feather pillows and a standing wake-up call for 6:00 a.m.”

Jeff was flabbergasted. “How do you remember that? You must check in fifty people a day, if not more.”

“Yeah, but none of them are as good-looking as you,” she said with an unmistakable come-hither look.

Oh, yeah. He remembered her now—remembered that beehive of bright red hair and the china-doll face.

“I have you down for the two-room suite with…oh, with a Ms. Allison Crane.” She blushed.

“Dr. Crane,” Allison said, setting her credit card on the desk.

Jeff scooped up the card and handed it back to her. “I’ll get this…darling.”

Allison’s skin prickled with awareness as the darling sank in. How many times had she fantasized that word coming out of Jeff’s mouth, those blue eyes looking at her with adoration, just as they were now?

This game they were playing was a mistake. She’d known that going in, known that deception of any kind always got her in trouble. But she’d done it anyway, because she’d thought pretending to be engaged might be fun. She hadn’t counted on Jeff being such a good actor, producing these unwanted effects in her.

The clerk looked mortified over her faux pas. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Doctor. Doctor Crane. I wouldn’t have been…I didn’t know he was—”

“Engaged,” Jeff said smoothly. “Allison is my fiancée.”

The clerk found a smile. “How lovely. May I see your ring?”

Allison looked up at Jeff, slightly panicked. “Um, I don’t have—”

“We’re planning to shop for a ring while we’re in the city,” Jeff said. “We don’t really have a good jewelry store selection in our hometown. Cottonwood is pretty small.”

Allison hadn’t realized Jeff could be such a smooth liar.

“You’ll have to show me the rock when you get it,” the clerk said to Allison with a wink as she handed each of them an electronic key, having apparently overcome her embarrassment. “I love diamonds.”

“I’ll bet you do,” Allison murmured, then immediately felt guilty for being so catty. The clerk was just being friendly, and Allison could hardly blame her for flirting.

“You’re in Suite 1516. If you’ll point out your bags, I’ll have the bellman bring them up.”

Jeff gestured toward their matching suitcases, then casually slung an arm around Allison’s shoulders and guided her to the elevator. The clerk watched them walk away, her eyes downright misty, before turning her attention to the next person in line.

“Well, wasn’t that sweet,” Allison said, stepping out of Jeff’s light embrace the moment the elevator doors closed. She hoped he didn’t notice her accelerated breathing, or the fact that beads of sweat had broken out on her forehead. “Is that how it is for you all the time? Women throwing themselves at your feet?”

“No, of course not. Some women just like to flirt. She’s probably saying the exact same thing to the next person she checks in.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. She remembered you.”

Jeff shrugged. “Some women have a thing for doctors. Anyway, getting hit on is a problem women have more than men, I think.”

Not me, she wanted to add, because it was true. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to fend off an unwanted advance. Maybe it was Hughey Jobson, in sixth grade, who’d threatened to kiss her on the mouth if she didn’t hand over her Twinkies from lunch. But pointing that out would only gain Jeff’s sympathy, not his passion.

“Well, anyway,” she said, “I wish you would warn me next time before you present me as your fiancée. I wasn’t ready.”

“I thought we needed the practice.”

“I’m supposed to protect you from Sherry. I didn’t know I’d have to smile and simper for everybody.”

“No one said anything about smiling and simpering. Jeez, that’s not the kind of woman you think I’d marry, is it?”

“I can’t see you marrying anyone.”

He leaned against the elevator wall and folded his arms. “Why is that?”

“You’re too fickle.” She folded her own arms, mirroring his posture. “You buy a new car every six months. You throw out milk before the expiration date, and you won’t eat a banana if it has a single brown spot. You have no tolerance for imperfection. Every woman you date has some fault—this one has an annoying laugh, that one has too many cats. You look for excuses to dump them. When you’re married, you have to accept a person, faults and all. You have to commit. You can’t just walk away when you get a little bit bored, or when something else attracts you.

“That is why I can’t see you married.”

Jeff just stared at her. Even when the elevator doors opened onto their floor, he still stood there, his mouth slightly open, his eyes glazed.

Belatedly Allison realized she’d been too blunt. He’d been looking for a little harmless banter, and she’d given him a no-holds-barred assessment of his personality. She hadn’t painted a very pretty picture.

“Well, thanks, Allison, for answering my question so…honestly.” He walked off the elevator ahead of her.

Allison felt just awful. Jeff was her friend, one of her very, very best friends. Just because women threw themselves at him was no reason for her to launch such a personal attack toward him. He’d done nothing to her. She supposed her doctor’s appointment with Stephanie tomorrow had her more on edge than she realized, and she was taking it out on poor Jeff.

She hurried down the hall after him. “Jeff, wait. I’m sorry.”

He said nothing, just kept walking until he reached Suite 1516. He opened the lock with his electronic key, then threw the door open and gestured for her to enter.

When she saw the room, she was momentarily distracted from her need to apologize. The suite was gorgeous, the most luxurious space she’d ever seen. She’d never traveled much, and when she did, she stayed in a budget-minded place. It had taken her many years to pay off the huge debts from dental school, then the equipment she needed for her practice. She was out of debt now, but still didn’t like to spend money wantonly. Last year when she’d attended this convention, she’d stayed at a Motel Six.

Jeff’s financial situation was a lot different. His father had paid for med school, then welcomed him into the practice—where the equipment was already paid off.

“Wow.” She wandered from the living room into the bedroom, resisting the urge to kick off her shoes and run barefoot through the inch-thick carpet. “This place must be costing you a fortune,” she said. “Why don’t we split the bill?” Even split in two, the rate would be three times what she normally paid, but it wasn’t fair to make Jeff carry the whole burden, even if this engagement scheme was his idea.

“I can afford it,” he said gruffly.

The bellman arrived moments later with their bags. He set them both up on luggage racks in the bedroom. Allison looked at those matching suitcases, side by side, and thought how cozy they must appear to the bellman.

Jeff tipped the man and sent him on his way. Then he wasted no time grabbing his suitcase and carrying it out into the living area. “You can have this room. I’ll sleep on the fold-out sofa.”

“You mean there’s not a second bedroom?”

“No, this is it.”

“I don’t mind sleeping on the sofa. I’m smaller.” She was proud of the fact she could say that and mean it.

“I’ll try it first,” he said. “But I probably won’t be able to commit to the sofa bed. I’ll find lumps, or it’ll sag in the middle—”

“Jeff…”

“And then I’ll want to toss it aside and go for the king-size bed. C’mon, you know it’s true.”

“I was completely out of line with those comments, and I’m sorry.” She stood in the bedroom doorway, talking to his back as he hoisted his bag onto the sofa and unzipped it. “Truly, Jeff. Can you forget I said them?”

He straightened, then slowly turned, a troubled frown marring his handsome face. “I’ll always forgive you, you know that. But I can’t forget. Is that how you actually see me? I had no idea.”

“I was exaggerating. I was irritated because that beautiful woman threw herself at you, and you took it for granted. I was jealous.”

“Jealous?” He stopped scowling at her.

“Yeah. Because beautiful men never throw themselves at me. It hardly seems fair.” All right, so she was playing her sympathy ticket. Not very commendable, but if she could nudge Jeff out of his pique, she swore she would watch her tongue in the future. He might not see her “that way,” but he was her friend and he cared for her, which gave her the power to hurt him. She’d never realized that before.

He finally smiled. “You’ll find your white knight someday, Allie.” Then he paused, looking thoughtful. “Do I really throw out perfectly good bananas?”

“I saw you do it once. And the—” She censored herself.

“The what?”

“Nothing.”

“What, Allison? Tell me, or I’ll tickle you.”

Oh, no, not the tickle monster. He hadn’t done that to her since junior high, when the mere thought of his perfect hands on the rolls of fat around her middle had prompted her to capitulate immediately to the threat.

Now, the idea of his hands on her ribs—no more rolls of fat—was unsettling for a different reason. Her hormones were already on red alert from the casual way he’d touched her in front of the hotel clerk. She couldn’t handle any more touching at the moment.

She took an instinctive step backward. “I was going to say, ‘And the heels from bread.’ You throw those away, too.”

“That has nothing to do with commitment. I never commit to the heels, even at the grocery store when I first put the bread in my basket. I always tell them up front, ‘I’m not eating you. You’re too tough.”’

She laughed, relieved he was no longer angry. “The heels make good toast. It’s wasteful to toss them.”

“I’ll save all my heels for you. Okay, Miss Conservation?”

“Then you’ll have to toast them for me for breakfast.” Oh, stop it. She was flirting with him. What if he got completely turned off? What if he said, Allison, there’s no need to play the part of my lover when we’re alone. It weirds me out.

But he didn’t say anything. In fact, he didn’t appear to even realize she’d dropped a provocative line.

While Jeff unpacked, she ogled the blindingly white-tiled bathroom with its Jacuzzi tub. She heard him opening and closing drawers in the living room. She’d decided not to argue further about his choice of bed. After all, if things worked out as she hoped, they’d get to share the big bed.

“We have just enough time to grab lunch before registration,” he said after they’d both hung up their clothes and stashed toiletries in the bathroom. “There’s a good sandwich place up the block.”

Allison remembered the place. They served sandwiches as big as her head, along with piles of greasy potato chips and chocolate brownies to die for. Since she wouldn’t be bicycling during the convention, she couldn’t afford all those fat grams. “I think I’ll check out the health club instead.”

He looked at her curiously. He was probably remembering the old Allison, who never turned down a meal and thought walking to the refrigerator was plenty of exercise. Then he shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll wait for you at registration.”

He took off without much fanfare, and Allison slumped with disappointment. She’d been hoping Jeff would want to work out with her. There was no way he could fail to notice her newly sculpted body if she was wearing her skimpy new exercise clothes. Or maybe he could. Sometimes she thought she must be invisible to Jeff.

Allison spent forty-five minutes on the exercise bike, another fifteen with free weights, then bought a strawberry-banana concoction and a cucumber sandwich at the juice bar. That would hold her to dinner. She showered, changed clothes, went to registration and signed up as a walk-in. She didn’t see Jeff anywhere. So much for his promise to behave like a devoted fiancé.

Unfortunately, she did see Sherry. Or, more to the point, Sherry saw her. The buxom nurse, with her cloud of blond curls and black-lined eyes, marched up to Allison and hugged her as if they were long-lost friends.

“Allison, right?”

“Yes,” Allison said, straightening the jacket Sherry’s hug had knocked askew. “And you’re Sherry.”

“You remembered! Of course, everybody remembers me. I seem to make an impression, for better or worse.” She gave Allison a once-over. “New…hair?”

“New everything.”

“You’re a friend of Jeff Hardison’s, right?” Sherry scanned the crowd, looking for her quarry.

Uh-oh. Allison was either going to have to lie, or mess up Jeff’s carefully planned strategy. “Yes, we came together.” There. That wasn’t a lie, but it implied something more personal than “just friends.”

“Well, wasn’t that nice of him to let you tag along,” Sherry said with an uncertain smile.

Allison silently critiqued Sherry’s caps. She couldn’t help it; professional hazard. Hers were good.

Sherry reapplied her coral lipstick. “Does he still have that Jaguar?”

“No, he has a Porsche.”

Sherry’s eyes sparkled. Ka-ching! “Well, where is he? I’m just dying to give him a big ol’ long-time-no-see kiss. He’s such a doll.”

Allison knew she had to say something. No self-respecting fiancée would allow this woman to kiss her future husband without protest.

“Um, maybe you better re-think your strategy,” Allison said. “Jeff is spoken for these days.”

Sherry looked horrified. “No, say it isn’t true. He’s not married, is he?” She said the word married as though it had four letters.

“Engaged,” Allison said.

Sherry relaxed. “Oh, is that all? Then he’s still a free man in my book.”

“Well, he’s not in mine,” Allison said sharply.

Sherry’s face fell. “You? He’s marrying you?”

“Incredible as it may seem.”

“Oh. Gosh, I’m just mortified. Talk about making a fool—Well. I see. I hope it…works out. You’re not one of those clinging vines who tries to keep her man from having female friends, I hope. Because Jeff and I have known each other for years.”

“I have no control over Jeff’s friends.” Unfortunately. Because if she did, she’d stuff Miss D Cups into a taxi and send her back to whatever slime pit she crawled out of.

The strength of Allison’s jealous reaction startled her. She’d always been a bit wistful over the Sherrys of the world, confident of their sexuality and bold. She’d never felt the green-eyed monster’s claws dig in like this before.

Sherry flashed another broad smile. “Good. Because it’s hard to keep a man if you put too many restrictions on him.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Allison barely restrained herself from kicking Sherry in her swaying butt as she walked away.

JEFF WAS LATE getting back to the hotel for registration. He’d run into an old friend in the lobby and lost track of the time. He looked around for Allison, but realized she must have come and gone already. She was planning to attend some seminars this afternoon, so she’d probably already gone to get a seat.

As he waited for the woman behind the registration desk to check him in, he heard a familiar laugh, and a cold chill washed over him. Sherry. He hadn’t wanted to run into her without Allison on his arm, ready to back up his engagement story.

The registration woman seemed to be moving in slow motion. Finally she handed him his badge and packet. He grabbed them and turned, intending to hightail it to the elevator. Instead he ran smack into Sherry.

“Jeffy! I knew you were lurking around here somewhere.” She grabbed on to him and put a lip lock on him that would have done a vacuum cleaner proud. He pushed her away so forcefully she almost fell off her spike heels.

“Sherry. It’s nice to see you, too, but there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Is it about your fiancée?”

That threw him. “You…know?”

“I ran into Allison a few minutes ago. She’s…sweet. But you could have knocked me over with a feather when she said you two were getting married. I always got the feeling you weren’t the marrying kind.”

“Well, people change.” Jeff wondered how much of Sherry’s orange lipstick was smeared all over his face.

“She just doesn’t seem your type,” Sherry persisted.

“Why is that?”

“Well, she’s so…sweet. I can’t picture her being able to handle a tiger like you.” Sherry made a noise, a sort of combination meow-purr.

“Believe me, I’m thoroughly tamed.”

“A tiger can never be tamed. You can put a collar on him and make him jump through hoops, but the minute the trainer drops her guard…” She swiped the air with her hand, her coral talons curling like claws.

Jeff had had just about enough of this conversation. Was the woman not able to take a hint? “Yes, well, interesting observation. I have to go. Allison’s waiting for me.” He made his escape, finally breathing a sigh of relief when he reached the safety of the elevator.

None of the afternoon workshops appealed to him. He went for a swim in the hotel’s Olympic-size pool, wishing he’d worked out with Allison instead. At least he’d have had someone to talk to, and he wouldn’t have that pastrami sandwich sitting in his stomach like a lump. He sat in the whirlpool for a while. The only other person there was a woman from Albuquerque, a bookkeeper for a medical clinic who was attending the conference to brush up on the latest insurance laws. Jeff steeled himself for a come-on, but then she started talking about her husband and daughter, and he realized she was just being friendly, not flirting.

Not all women threw themselves at him, as Allison believed. Hell, he’d been turned down by plenty of ’em. He could remember times he’d been ignored and overlooked by the opposite sex. She didn’t have a corner on that market.

Come to think of it, though, he couldn’t remember Allison ever dating anyone. Maybe he should set her up with a nice guy. He had a few single friends left.

That thought immediately made him uneasy. No, he wouldn’t meddle in Allison’s love life. That was a sure way to ruin a perfectly good friendship—introduce her to some guy who later dumps her, and then Jeff would take the blame.

When he glanced at the clock, he realized he ought to go to the suite and change for the reception. He hoped Allison was there, so they could go together. He didn’t want to face Sherry again without her.

ALLISON WAS READY a half-hour early. Her new hairdo and makeup routine took forever, so she’d left herself plenty of time. But it was only four-thirty, and the reception didn’t start till five.

And where was Jeff? That thought had scarcely formed before she heard him at the door. Oh, shoot, she didn’t want him to see her yet. He would know how eager she was, and besides, she wanted to make an entrance. She quickly retreated to her bedroom and closed the door.

“Allison? You here?”

“I’m getting dressed,” she called through the closed door. “Bathroom’s all yours.”

“Thanks. Oh, and thanks for running interference with Sherry. You did good.”

“No charge.” She hoped they could steer clear of Sherry from now on. Lying didn’t sit well with Allison.

With time to kill, she decided to polish her nails and tried not to think about the fact that Jeff was naked in the shower. Then she would get all hot and bothered, and her face would glow and her hair would go flat, and she would chew off her lipstick.

The water in the bathroom stopped, and she heard Jeff moving around in the living room. Probably getting dressed. Maybe she could walk in by mistake and catch him half-naked.

Oh, Allison, you are sick.

When her nails were dry and she judged she’d given him plenty of time to make himself decent, she doused herself with perfume guaranteed to drive any man wild, grabbed her tiny evening bag, and opened the door, walking with as much sensuous grace as she could manage.

Apparently, that wasn’t very much, because the first thing she did when she entered the living area was trip.

Somehow, Jeff caught her before she hit the carpet face first. “Whoa. You all right?”

Just dying of embarrassment. “Fine, fine. New shoes. I’m not used to them.”

He inspected her four-inch heels, then tsked at her. “Do you know how many women I’ve had in my office who have sprained their ankles wearing ridiculous shoes like that?”

“Don’t lecture me, Jeff. I happen to like these shoes. Anne picked them out for me.” She figured mentioning Anne couldn’t hurt, since she was only slightly less revered than a saint in the Hardison family.

“I’ll have to have a talk with her.” He sneezed. “Are you wearing perfume?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I think I’m allergic. What is that stuff?”

She would die before she admitted it was something called Seduction. “Mmm, I don’t remember.”

“Could you tone it down a little? I have to hang out with you all night.”

Her face burning, Allison retreated to the bathroom. So, he thought hanging out with her was a chore, did he? She swiped her wrists, behind her ears, and between her breasts with a damp washcloth. The beast! He hadn’t even noticed her dress, which had cost her two root canals and one crown. It was a sexy little black thing with a plunging neckline and no back and a hem much higher up her thigh than she’d ever worn before. And he hadn’t said a word.

She said nothing as they rode down the elevator together. She wished he didn’t look so damn handsome in his suit. She wished she could find something wrong with his appearance—some evidence that he was turning prematurely gray or thickening around the middle. But no such luck. He was more handsome than ever, and at the moment she hated him.

As soon as they arrived at the reception, which was packed with conventioneers eager to take advantage of the complimentary hors d’oeuvres, she excused herself to the rest room. In the ladies’ lounge, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Anne’s number.

“Allison? What are you doing calling me? You’re supposed to be seducing Jeff.”

“It’s not working. He said my shoes were stupid, my perfume stinks—”

“What about the dress?”

“It could have been a potato sack for all he noticed. I might as well be a piece of furniture.”

“Why don’t you pretend to trip and let him catch—”

“Been there, done that. He patted me on the shoulder like I was a golden retriever.”

“This calls for drastic action. You’ve got to shake that boy up—but good.”

“How?” Allison wailed. “I’ve tried everything.”

“I bet you haven’t kissed him.”

I bet you haven’t kissed him.

Yeah, right, Allison thought as she minced her way back to the ballroom in her high heels. What was she supposed to do, just grab him and put a lip lock on him? Just give him a big ol’ long-time-nosee kiss, like Sherry had wanted to do?

A woman like Sherry could get away with such behavior. If Allison tried it, though, Jeff would probably have her committed. Allison shook her head. She needed a plan, but a full frontal assault wasn’t it.

Allison didn’t immediately spot Jeff when she returned to the ballroom, which made her a bit uneasy. She wasn’t a social butterfly, certainly no good at making small talk with strangers. She usually did her best imitation of wallpaper at these receptions and beat a hasty retreat as soon as she’d scammed some free hors d’oeuvres.

She was about to decide to do just that when she spotted Sherry, wearing a black halter dress with a plunging neckline. Allison supposed she ought to find her “fiancé” and live up to her end of the bad deal she’d made.

Maybe he’d gone to get them drinks at one of the crowded bars set up at either end of the ballroom. But a quick tour of lines of conventioneers waiting to order their beverage of choice didn’t turn him up.

She was starting to feel a bit piqued that Jeff hadn’t stayed where she’d left him. She reconsidered her urge to flee to the room and order room service, never mind they were supposed to go out to dinner at Antares, when a group of three men walked straight up to her.

“Allison?” the tallest one greeted her.

“Yes? Oh, Tom, how nice to see you again,” she said, recovering quickly as she recalled his name. He was a dermatologist from Cincinnati with wavy black hair and killer brown eyes. She’d played match-stick poker with him in the lobby last year.

“I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve…changed something.”

“I’ve changed everything,” she said with a laugh, gratified that at least this man had noticed. “Whole new lifestyle.”

“You look great.” Those velvety brown eyes held hers just a trifle too long before he introduced her to his two friends, also dermatologists.

The two friends, Greg and Ian, practically elbowed each other to shake her hand first. Then they all stood in a semicircle around her and showered her with compliments and all kinds of attention.

Allison was overwhelmed. These men were flirting with her, and she hadn’t done a thing. Two other men wandered over, friends of Ian drawn in by the laughter. Allison did her best not to act like the shrinking violet she wanted to be, matching joke for joke, asking questions of the men to deflect attention away from herself. After a few minutes she forgot to be nervous and found she was actually enjoying herself.

This had never happened to her before. Normally, if she was included in a group of people, it was on the fringes, listening and maybe laughing, but never saying much, and certainly not the center of attention.

Was this phenomenon a result of her change in appearance? Or had the changes she’d made caused her to project more outward confidence?

“So, would you like to join me for dinner?” Tom asked. “Greg and Ian have plans with their wives, so I’m…at loose ends.”

Allison, caught up in the flirtation, was on the verge of saying yes. Tom was a charmer. But a masculine voice behind her saved her the trouble of answering.

“She has plans.”

Allison whirled around to see Jeff standing behind her, his usually pleasant face darkened with a scowl. He slid a possessive arm around her waist, obviously laying claim to his territory.

She cleared her throat. “Tom, I’m sure you remember Jeff Hardison. We’re from the same—”

“We’re engaged,” Jeff said, relaxing slightly as he shook the other men’s hands. “I promised Allison dinner at Antares.”

Tom took a step back. “Well, congratulations, you two. I guess I’ll have to make other plans myself.” The rest of the men slithered away until Jeff and Allison stood alone.

Allison couldn’t think of a thing to say.

“Our reservation is at seven-thirty,” Jeff said tightly. “We’d better go.”

As they stood outside the hotel waiting for the valet to bring Jeff’s car around, Allison finally found her tongue. “That was pretty rude.”

Jeff immediately relaxed, a smile forming on his sensual lips. “That’s all right, I forgive you.”

“You forgive—what are you talking about? You’re the one who was acting like some caveman, coming on all macho, speaking for me. What were you doing, marking your territory?”

Jeff’s smile vanished. “I was playing the part we agreed to play. You, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten I existed, flaunting yourself in front of those men like some…some…”

“Single woman?”

“You’re not single, at least not for the moment. You’re supposed to be engaged to me. It doesn’t reflect very well on me if my fiancée is throwing herself at every man who walks by—”

“You have totally lost your mind. I was making pleasant conversation. Anyway, if you don’t want me talking to other men, you could be a bit more attentive yourself. You disappeared while I was in the rest room.”

“Another ice age came and went while I was waiting for you. What were you doing in there?”

Allison abruptly lowered her voice. “Ix-nay, shark warning, three o’clock.”

“What?”

“Sherry!” Allison whispered. “And she’s heading this way.” Allison knew she ought to let Jeff sink in his own macho pool—just blow the whistle on him right here and now. But then she wouldn’t get dinner at Antares. At least, that was what she told herself.

“Well, hi, you two!” Sherry greeted them, coming up between them and putting her arms around both of them. “Where are you two lovebirds off to this evening?” Her nose was practically twitching, trying to find a weakness she could sink her teeth into.

“Antares,” Jeff said, suddenly turning into the devoted fiancé. “It’s one of Allison’s favorite places.”

“I’ve never eaten there,” Sherry said. “I’ve heard it’s wonderful, unless you have motion sickness. Personally, I just don’t think my food would settle with the restaurant spinning circles that high up in the air. You don’t have that problem, do you, Allison?” She looked at Allison, all innocence.

“Um, no.”

“I get car sick just thinking about it. I’d order something light if I were you. Well, you two have fun. That’s my car.”

The valet had just delivered a red Firebird. Sherry disengaged herself from Jeff and sashayed to her car, where two other women joined her.

“Thank you,” Jeff said under his breath.

“I’m not going to renege on our deal just because you’re acting like a Neanderthal.”

“Listen, if you want to go out to dinner with Tom What’s-his-face, just say so. Seems Sherry’s safely occupied for the evening.”

“Oh, no, you’re not weaseling out of our dinner,” Allison said, doing her best to hide her hurt feelings. She’d been looking forward to this romantic dinner all week. Apparently, he wasn’t. “I’m ordering the most expensive thing on the menu.”

Despite her threats, Allison ordered a modest dinner. She kept thinking about what Sherry said about motion sickness. The restaurant’s movement was so subtle you couldn’t really feel it—unless you were thinking about it, which Allison was. The last thing she wanted to do was spoil the evening further by becoming nauseated.

So she ordered a chicken breast and picked at it, barely sipping at the expensive wine Jeff had ordered to accompany their meal.

But, really, could the evening be any more spoiled? She and Jeff had never fought like this before. Even though they eventually apologized to each other, and Allison admitted that she had been flirting, and Jeff admitted that he’d overreacted, the bloom was off the rose of this evening. The panoramic view could have been a dingy brick wall for all the attention Allison paid it, and the food might as well have been sawdust.

JEFF CRINGED when he saw the bill. He wouldn’t have minded paying a sky-high price for an enjoyable evening. But dinner had been an ordeal to be survived.

He still felt angry, even though he and Allison had apologized and were talking. He couldn’t bring himself to tease her, the way he usually did. Their conversation was stilted, almost forced. He’d never had trouble talking to Allison before.

They returned to the hotel and practically raced each other upstairs. She seemed as eager to end the evening as he was. She beat him to the door with her key already out, then scurried into the bedroom and closed the door.

When she opened it again, she was wrapped head-to-toe in one of the hotel’s roomy terry cloth robes. Her hair was slicked back from her face with a stretchy headband.

For some reason, her appearance was reassuring. Jeff relaxed slightly. Allison seemed suddenly more like his friend, less like the fake fiancée she’d been pretending to be in public.

“I’m done in the bathroom,” she announced.

He brushed his teeth and washed his face. When he came back out of the bathroom, Allison was sitting stiffly on the sofa, watching the news. She immediately stood.

“Guess I’ll turn in.”

“The wake-up call’s for six,” he reminded her. “It’ll ring in your room. If that’s too early, we can change it.”

“No, that’s fine. I want to work out. Good night.” With that terse dismissal she retreated into the bedroom and closed the door.

Jeff found an extra blanket and pillow in a closet, then undressed and stretched out on the sofa. The sofa was large, so it wasn’t terribly uncomfortable. He shouldn’t have had any trouble falling asleep, especially after the glass of wine he’d drunk with dinner.

But sleep eluded him. He was as tense as a coiled spring, and he found himself checking the illuminated dial on his watch every five minutes or so, wondering how long before he could relax.

He’d never in his life had insomnia. Something he ate, maybe? He couldn’t even remember what he’d eaten. All he could recall was staring covertly across the table at Allison, wanting to shake her.

Now that was just patently stupid. He’d never touched a woman in anger and he wasn’t going to start with his best friend. But why in the world was he so mad at her? And he was still mad, there was no denying it.

The truth hit him like a truckload of concrete. He was jealous. All those men flirting with Allison had brought out every savage instinct in his reptilian brain. He’d wanted to challenge Tom to a duel, run him through for daring to look at Allison’s breasts—which was exactly what the jerk had been doing.

He couldn’t possibly be jealous—that was ridiculous. If he’d wanted to make a conquest out of Allison Crane, he would have done so by now.

Or…maybe not. He talked with Allison all the time, and she told him all kinds of personal things. But maybe not everything. Maybe she had a string of boyfriends he wasn’t even aware of.

He’d just never thought about this before. Allison dating, going out with men. She was in her midthirties, close to his own age. She’d said she couldn’t see him married, but he’d never even thought about Allison falling in love, marrying, having kids.

Now he did—and it filled him with the most awesomely uncomfortable pricklings.

It couldn’t be jealousy, it just couldn’t be. Brotherly protective instincts—that was it. All big brothers resisted the idea of their little sisters falling in love, getting married…having sex.

Relieved to have put a name to the strange phenomenon, Jeff was finally able to relax and fall asleep. But the next morning those foreign feelings assaulted him anew, stronger than ever.

He and Allison ordered a light room-service breakfast. The waiter set the food up at a small round table, and Jeff and Allison sat down to eat, both of them in their exercise clothes. Jeff’s gaze was drawn again and again to Allison’s breasts, revealed rather fetchingly in a clingy blue shirt.

No wonder Tom had stared.

Allison ignored him and read the paper, which was a good thing or she might have noticed his state of agitation. No, agitation wasn’t the right word. Arousal said it better.

He couldn’t believe it, but he could no longer deny it. He’d known her for twenty-five years or more. Why was he only now noticing how shapely Allison’s legs were? How had he never noticed how alluring that hollow in her throat was? She drank a big glass of water with lemon to prepare for her workout, and he watched her lush lips wrap themselves around the straw as she took a sip. His arousal was going to be painfully evident when they stood up.

But no thoughts of cold showers or tax audits or Mrs. Simmonetti, his third-grade teacher, could douse his sudden ardor.

“I want to get going,” he said abruptly. He sprang to his feet and bolted from the table before Allison even had a chance to look up. He grabbed his key and exited the room, hoping a couple of seven-minute miles might set everything aright.

Three miles into his run, he realized nothing would ever be the same now that he’d brushed up with the idea of sexual awareness of Allison Crane. He could never take the notion any further, of course. Allison wasn’t the type of woman to trifle with, and he sure as hell wasn’t in the market for a serious relationship—Allison had been right about his commitment aversion. Besides, Allison was his friend, really his best friend. Nothing messed up a friendship like sex.

That was assuming he could have sex with her if he wanted, which he seriously doubted. He’d seen the way she was flirting with those guys at the reception. She’d never acted like that with him.

And if those weren’t reasons enough to put these ridiculous thoughts right out of his mind, there were a couple dozen people who would have his hide if he trifled with Allison, if he approached a relationship with her with anything but the utmost respect and the most serious of intentions. Respect he had, but serious intentions were out of the question. His sister-in-law, Anne, would have him drawn and quartered. She was a force to be reckoned with.

At least he’d come to a decision. He would not act on these newly hatched desires. He would ignore them, deny them and eventually conquer them.

He absolutely would not try to seduce Allison Crane.

ALLISON STARED at the door where Jeff had disappeared for a long time. What was with him? She couldn’t imagine he was still angry after their stupid disagreement last night. He wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, and everyone agreed he was the most easygoing of the three Hardison brothers.

She could only conclude that he just didn’t want to be with her right now. Pretending to be her fiancée was more of an acting job than he’d counted on, and he couldn’t take the pressure.

Well, what else could it be?

When Allison returned to the room after her workout, it appeared Jeff had already showered, dressed and cut out. Feeling disappointment mixed with relief, she dressed in one of her new outfits, a red knit dress with a zipper down the front. She couldn’t afford to wear heels today, not when she had miles of convention floor to cover. She had to get as much done this morning as she could, because her doctor’s appointment was scheduled for two o’clock.

She put on a pair of red Keds with lace socks.

Once on the trade show floor, Allison consulted her map and zeroed in on the vendors that interested her. She needed a new irrigation system for her office—the old one was so ancient it leaked all over her patients. And she wanted to find a new supplier for dental stone and X-ray blanks. The one she was using was woefully unreliable.

Shortly before lunch, she was pleased with the progress she’d made. She’d found a new irrigation system that she could actually afford, and she’d gotten a number of other dental supply companies to agree to come by her office and bring her free samples. She’d also filled up a canvas tote bag with freebies she could pass on to her patients—toothbrushes, toothpaste, flavored floss, whitening systems. What fun.

She’d also managed to stop thinking about Jeff, at least for a little while. Her plan to convince him she was a desirable woman, worthy of his romantic attention, was a bust, and she had almost come to terms with the idea that she would have to extinguish the flame she’d been carrying for him since junior high and look elsewhere for male companionship.

Then she saw him, just before lunch, walking down one of the aisles at a brisk pace—with Sherry trotting after him like a loyal puppy.

Sherry was nothing if not determined.

Allison sighed. She supposed she ought to rescue him. That was the deal, the price she paid for staying in this nice hotel.

She caught up with him, pasting on a smile. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you all morning.”

Jeff smiled, too, an expression she hadn’t seen on his face since sometime yesterday. “This place is a zoo.”

“Are you ready for lunch?” she asked brightly, taking his arm. It was a struggle, touching him and acting as if it was nothing. She could feel the heat of his skin through his shirtsleeve.

“Sure, let’s go.”

“Mind if I sit with y’all?” Sherry asked.

Jeff started to object, but Allison elbowed him. “We’d love to have you.” She didn’t know why, but suddenly she felt sorry for Sherry. After all, Sherry was in the same boat as Allison, carrying a torch for Jeff Hardison, who wasn’t the least bit interested. Allison was sure Sherry wouldn’t be a problem at lunch, so long as Jeff’s fiancée was there to protect him.

At lunch they found themselves at a table with an obstetrician, an ear, nose and throat guy, a medical office manager, a woman from a laboratory that made fake skin, and a maxillo-facial surgeon.

Allison was seated next to the surgeon from Chicago, a distinguished-looking older gentleman, and she was fascinated by the stories he told her about reconstructing an accident victim’s jaw and replacing a hockey player’s teeth.

“I’m doing a tricky surgery next week,” the surgeon, Dr. Handel, said. “You’d be most welcome to come and observe. I know of a charming hotel very near the hospital where you could stay.” He waggled his eyebrows ever so slightly, and his ulterior motives became clear.

And here she’d thought his interest in her was professional!

Jeff slung his arm around Allison’s shoulders. “Some other time, perhaps,” he answered for her. “Allison and I have plans for next week. Would you like me to get you a fresh iced tea, sweetheart?” he asked with almost sickly devotion.

Once she got over her shock that Jeff had been listening to her conversation with Dr. Handel, she wondered why he was bothering. Sherry, quite the opportunist, was busy flirting with the obstetrician. “No, I think I’ll drink water today,” she answered just as sweetly.

“Did you enjoy your morning?” he asked, playing with a bit of her hair, tickling her ear with it.

Allison’s nerves vibrated from her toes to her scalp. She had to keep reminding herself that all this affection was counterfeit.

Before she could answer, he spoke again, addressing the surgeon. “I don’t mean to divert Allison’s attention from you. It’s just that we’re…well, we’re newly engaged.”

Dr. Handel, apparently a good sport, smiled widely. “Well, then, let me offer my congratulations. May I kiss the bride?”

Oh, great! Thanks a lot, Jeff.

“I’m afraid that’s a privilege I reserve for myself,” Jeff said smoothly just before he swooped in and kissed her full on the lips. It wasn’t a gentle, teasing kiss, either. It was a full-blown, grinding, lip-locked kiss—a French kiss, she and her friends used to call it in high school. And it affected her like no other kiss ever had. All those previously awakened nerve endings crashed together in a crescendo of desire that heated her core to the boiling point in record time.

Uncomfortable with the public display, Allison gently pushed him away. “What are you doing?” she asked. Her tone was teasing, but the way she stared at him was intended to let him know she was slightly alarmed by his behavior.

“Just making it clear you belong to me,” he said easily, though his breathing was uneven. Was it possible the kiss affected him, too?

The others at the table had stopped their conversation to stare with amusement, though Sherry looked more intrigued than amused. Had she guessed there was something not quite right about the relationship between her quarry and his ersatz fiancée? Was she still looking for some chink in the armor of love and devotion?

Allison didn’t think she could continue sitting at this table as if nothing had happened, but neither did she want to cause a scene or leave room for too much speculation. She looked at Jeff. “I don’t really want to hear the lunch speaker.”

“Me, neither.”

In unison they put their napkins on the table and slid their chairs out. Allison kept a wary eye on Jeff, in case he decided to make another unpredictable move. But all he did was meet her gaze, rather boldly, she thought.

“Y’all are leaving?” Sherry asked. “But you’ll miss dessert. They’re serving raspberry fudge cake.”

“I think they’ve got their own dessert in mind,” the obstetrician said in a stage whisper.

Allison wanted to object. That wasn’t the impression she’d meant to leave. But to argue the point would just draw attention to it. She picked up her purse and tote bag. “Nice to meet all of you.”

Sherry gave her a forlorn little smile as Allison whisked herself away from the table, nearly knocking down a waiter with a tray full of raspberry fudge cake. If she’d thought she could get away with it, she’d have nabbed a slice from the tray and taken it up to her room.

Jeff was following right behind her as she wove her way out of the crowded ballroom. He caught up to her as she made her way through the lobby toward the elevators.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.