“They aren’t responsible for my expenditures. As for the suite, the hotel upgraded my accommodations.”
That sidetracked her. “Why would they do that?”
He shrugged. “I’ve done work for them in the past.”
“And they’re grateful?” she persisted. “Grateful enough to let you stay in their best suite?”
“Yes.”
His tone warned that the discussion had come to an end. She stewed over the implications, aware that she was missing something, something important. Perhaps if she weren’t so distracted by him, she’d have figured out what it was. Pouring the coffee, he filled a single plate with fresh fruit and croissants. One plate, she noticed, not two. Apparently, they were meant to share, if his placement of it between their coffee mugs was any indication.
The nook was small and intimate, becoming far smaller and more intimate the instant Harry joined her. Or maybe it just felt that way because he took up more than his fair share of the space. He reached for a croissant and ripped it in half and Madison closed her eyes, fighting a reaction she had no business experiencing. It had to be lust, or something equally earthy and impractical. Here it was, nine in the morning, but it might as well have been late at night, after an evening of wine, music and blatant seduction. It took a full minute before she trusted herself enough to reach for her coffee cup without betraying the confusing jumble of emotions.
A long swallow sent caffeine shooting through her veins. Maybe the coffee had been a mistake. Caffeine only aggravated the situation, making her tension more pronounced. A strawberry didn’t help, nor did eating the half a croissant Harry had left on the plate. In fact, that only made it worse. Each bite was a vivid reminder of his hands shredding the flaky bread. He had distinctive hands—large, long-fingered, broad-palmed hands—capable of covering a lot of territory with very little effort. She’d discovered that much in the elevator. Or perhaps her attack of nerves had something to do with the watchful gleam in his hazel eyes. It was as though he knew precisely what she was experiencing. Knew and was amused by it.
“Stop it.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Stop what?”
“I don’t know what love principle you’re practicing on me, but cut it out. I’m not into those sorts of games.”
“I don’t play games.”
She shoved the plate in his direction. “You’re trying to seduce me. Don’t bother to deny it. I can tell when I’m being seduced and you, my friend, have some hot and heavy love vibe going on. I don’t know if it’s a trick your father taught you or if you came up with this one all on your own. But knock it off. I’m not interested.”
He picked up a huge dark red strawberry and bit deeply into the juicy flesh. “Love vibe.”
“Don’t pretend innocence. You don’t do it well.” She waved her hand to encompass everything from his sexy eyes, to his sexy strawberry-flavored mouth, to his sexy juice-stained fingers. “Turn it off so we can get down to business.”
Harry regarded her with interest. “How do you propose I do that?”
“No switch?” she demanded.
He shrugged apologetically. “None that I’ve been able to find.”
“Then how about if you pretend we’re in a business meeting. You can make that sort of adjustment, can’t you?”
“It’ll be tough.” He gestured downward. “I’m not wearing a suit.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Boy, had she noticed! “Maybe that’s part of the trouble. Come on, Harry. This is important to me.”
Just like that he went from seducer to business exec. “Talk to me.”
It was the same phrase she used when dealing with her family and she acknowledged the connection with a fleeting smile. “We have a problem.” A far worse one than she’d first suspected considering her uncontrollable reaction to him, but she’d have to deal with that some other time. “I’m sure you don’t want your father involved in an unfortunate relationship any more than I want my grandmother involved in one.”
“Wrong.”
She stared in disbelief. “You don’t care if they rush into an unhappy marriage?”
“No, I mean it’s not my problem. It’s not yours, either. If they rush into marriage, they’ll have to deal with the consequences. I repeat. It’s none of our business.”
“So you aren’t willing to help?”
He eyed her warily. “What do you mean, help? You’re not going to interfere in their affair, Madison. I won’t let you.”
She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “He may be your father, Harry. But he’s a love expert.” Didn’t he understand the significance of that? “Sunny doesn’t stand a chance against him. And now that I’ve had personal experience with the sort of techniques he’s likely to employ—thanks to you, I might add—I’m even more concerned about my grandmother.”
“I don’t employ techniques. And my father isn’t a love expert. He’s simply touting a book about love. If you’d just read the damn thing—”
“What if he’s using Sunny as a model in order to write a sequel?” Madison smiled triumphantly at Harry’s stunned expression. “You hadn’t thought about that, had you? Sunny could be some sort of experiment.”
“He’s not going to marry an experiment.”
“He might if it meant another blockbuster book.”
“You’re being ridiculous.” Harry shoved back his chair. For some reason, the extra space didn’t allow her to breathe any easier, perhaps because of the anger that turned his eyes from an autumnal hazel to a sandstorm brown. “This is my father you’re talking about and I’m starting to get ticked off at the assumptions you’re making about him. Totally unsubstantiated assumptions, I might add.”
“I understand. You’re feeling protective. Well, I am, too. So here’s what I suggest.”
He forked his hand through his hair. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Probably not.” Not that his opinion would stop her. “I want to monitor their engagement.”
Sure enough, he didn’t appreciate her suggestion one little bit. He also took an inordinate amount of time before responding. Finally, he said, “In that case you’ve left me no alternative.”
Uh-oh. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” she asked, echoing his words.
He didn’t pull his punches. “Not even a little. I’m going to monitor you monitoring them.” He touched a berry-stained fingertip to her mouth, stopping her before she could voice a single word of complaint. “That’s not open to negotiation, Madison. Either you agree or I’ll tell them what you’re up to.”
“That’s blackmail!” she argued around his finger.
His hand lingered for an instant longer before falling away. “And monitoring is just a polite word for spying.” He waited for that to sink in. “I suggest you tell me what’s first on the agenda before I come to my senses and put an end to this nonsense.”
She fought against the insidious pull of his touch. The temptation to wrap herself around him and kiss his strawberry-flavored mouth was almost more than she could stand. “The picnic, remember? I have Rosy tracking down the happy couple as we speak. As soon as she finds out where they’re headed, we’ll follow.”
He sighed. “You gave me the impression we’d been invited to join them on this picnic. We haven’t been, have we?”
“Not exactly.”
“You mean, not at all.”
Why did he look at her as though she were one of his more disappointing economic models? It made her feel like a set of confused equations in need of serious alteration. She didn’t care for the sensation at all. Their situation wasn’t just about business. Family resided at its core. “You don’t understand, Harry. I’m responsible for my grandmother.”
“She’s old enough to be responsible for herself.”
“She’s only known your father for two days.”
“They’ve known each other for a year.”
“E-mails. Phone calls.” She dismissed their relatio
nship with a wave of her hand. “That’s not knowing each other. Not well enough for marriage.”
He studied her for several tension-filled minutes. “Why is this bothering you so much? What’s going on, Madison?”
“I’ve already explained. I’m responsible. Sunny and I have always looked out for each other.”
“You don’t think she’s capable of looking out for herself?”
“To a certain extent. But if Sunny has one great failing, it’s that she’s controlled by her emotions. That’s why we make such a great team.”
“You’re the brains and she’s the heart.”
Did he have to sound so amused? She lifted her chin. “Something like that.”
“I promise you, Madison. My father isn’t going to do anything to hurt her. And I’m not going to let you ruin my father’s happiness just because you have trust issues.”
She stared blankly. “Trust issues?”
“It’s the only thing I can figure. Otherwise you’d be celebrating Sunny’s good fortune instead of trying to put an end to it.”
Madison swept to her feet. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Now there’s a surprise.”
He climbed to his feet, as well. Without her high heels, he towered over her even more than yesterday and she rushed into speech to prevent his expanding on any more inane theories. “Here’s the plan… We’ll keep a discreet distance between us. But I want to make sure that Sunny isn’t being blinded by love principles.”
“You’ll be able to spot any he might use on her, I assume?”
Now came the tricky part. “With your help.”
Amusement returned the brilliance to his eyes. “So I’m supposed to warn you if he’s using a page out of the book, so to speak.”
“Exactly.”
“Let me get this straight. The other Sunflowers are more impractical than you?”
“Very funny.” She turned and walked briskly from the kitchen. “Let’s move, Harry. If we’re going on a picnic we have to get organized.”
“Are you sure you can afford this much time away from work? Won’t there be other Sunflowers clamoring for your attention?”
“I’ll have my cell phone with me. Rosy will call if anything urgent crops up.”
He looked briefly intrigued. “Does that happen often?”
“Every day.” Opening the door to his suite, she swept through. “What you don’t seem to realize is that the Sunflowers need me.”
“I think you have it backward, sweetheart,” he muttered. “I’m beginning to suspect that you need them.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Principle 5: View the one you love
in every possible light.
True love never fades nor wilts—not even
beneath the harshest conditions…
IT BEGAN as one of those rare Seattle days, with craggy mountains standing in stunning relief against a violently blue sky. The Puget Sound could be mistaken for a sheet of glass, dotted with sailboats and mirroring the Olympic Mountain range. Not that it would stay that way for long, Harry acknowledged. Already heavy, black clouds were gathering to the west, rolling toward them with impressive speed.
But for now the freshly mowed grass smelled sweeter than grass had a right to smell. Even their alcove in the park could be considered a romantic paradise, flowers blooming in brilliant profusion, bushes screening them from curious onlookers. It was sheer perfection—a man, a woman, food, a comfortable blanket. And then there was the view…
Harry shook his head. The view was one of the most glorious he’d ever seen, if somewhat dissatisfying. Madison knelt in the grass, her nose stuck in a laurel bush. Peering through the thick green leaves at Sunny and his father, her pert backside waggled in his direction. As an average, lusty, red-blooded male, he appreciated such an impressive vista. But right now he’d have preferred looking at flashing dark eyes and cheeks flushed with enthusiasm rather than the sort covered by the skirt of her red sundress.
Yesterday, after their run-in with the elevator, he’d found her delectable as the consummate businesswoman. Last night in the restaurant she’d been a flame of gold that tempted his touch beyond endurance even as she threatened to burn his hand. But dressed in glowing red, flimsy bits of sandals strapped to her feet and her hair in casual disarray, she’d become sheer fantasy. A mild breeze played with the dark strands, lifting them around her face before tossing them in a swirl of abandoned waves. She shoved the curls out of her way with an annoyed mutter.
The trick to it, Harry decided, was to get Madison’s focus off Sunny and Bartholomew and on to him. Considering her powers of concentration that would prove quite a feat. But all modesty aside, he was up to the task. After all, he’d diverted the focus of some of the most aggressive men in corporate America. How tough could one determined brunette be?
“The salmon is fresh,” he thought to mention.
“I would hope so.” Her backside wriggled some more as she changed position. “After all, this is Seattle.”
“The cheese and bread are local, too.”
“Uh-huh.” She flipped her hand in a wave that gave him permission to dig in. “Darn it all, those people are blocking my line of sight. What the heck are they looking at that’s worth all the fuss?”
“The view? I know I’m giving it my full attention.” What else did he have to do? He rested on his elbows and released his breath in a sigh. “I have a recommendation for next time you go on a covert mission.”
Wiggle. Waggle. Wiggle. “Don’t be ridiculous.” Swish-hitch-wriggle. “This isn’t a covert mission.”
He clamped his back teeth on a groan. It took a whole two minutes before he could gather his control enough to reply. Perhaps a determined brunette would prove more of a challenge than he’d anticipated. “Anything that involves peering through bushes at unsuspecting innocents can be termed covert. I suggest you wear clothing in a color that blends in with your surroundings. You’re a little hard to miss in that outfit.”
“Good suggestion,” she approved. “I’ll make a note of it.”
This was ridiculous. Time to put an end to it. “Madison, your grandmother and my father aren’t going anywhere. Have a bite to eat and give them some privacy.”
“Hang on. Those people have finally moved. And about time, too.” She inhaled sharply. “Harry! Your father’s doing something to Sunny. Come here and take a look.”
“Is he strangling her, perhaps?”
“No.” Madison swung around. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
“It was just a passing thought. I can’t imagine why it occurred to me.”
“Neither can I.” She eyed him in concern. “Is there some risk that he might actually do that? There isn’t a history of abuse in your family, is there?”
“Not yet.”
“Good.” She maneuvered on all fours to another bush. Shoving aside the branches of a rhododendron, she returned her attention to the couple at the far end of the park. “Come look at this, Harry. Is that a principle he’s using?”
His anger tended to be slow to ignite. But Madison had the uncanny knack of heaping dry kindling on sensitive subjects. He took a deep breath and struggled to utilize the sage advice he’d offered countless times to feuding board members. For some strange reason he couldn’t recall a single word. “Honey, if you’d read the damned book, you’d know that isn’t how the principles work. They aren’t techniques like…like sexual positions or something. They’re simply commonsense rules for forming a strong, loving relationship.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right. You can’t fool me with that one, Harry.”
“I repeat. If you’d read the book—”
“I can’t. I lost it on the elevator.”
“I’ll get you another one.”
“Don’t bother. I skimmed some of the choicer parts. Take another peek at Chapter Three and tell me again it’s not about sex. All that stuff about touching and smelling and looking. No wonder Sunny’s s
o bamboozled.”
“Chapter One is looking. Chapter Two is listening. Chapter Three references touch, taste and scent. Don’t you think appealing to all the senses is an important part of an initial romantic attraction?”
She started to reply, then hesitated. An instant later, her spine snapped into a rigid line and she swiveled to face him. Her gathering frown bore an unfortunate similarity to the threatening clouds filling the western sky and bearing down on them with rumbling determination. “I just thought of something.”
Finally. He’d captured her attention. Though judging by her frown, he may regret succeeding. “What’s that, sweetheart?”
“Chapters one through three.”
“What about them?”
“You’ve read them, right?”
“I’m familiar with the entire book. What’s your point?”
“I’m talking about on the elevator.” She pinned him with a stare rapidly filling with feminine outrage. “Was it deliberate?”
“You’ve lost me.”
“Then let me make it perfectly clear.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Did you or did you not hustle me through those first three principles? On purpose, I mean.”
At least her attention was on him again, if he could only find a way to keep it there. “Hustle is such a negative word.”
“I’m serious, Harry.”
A wariness had darkened her eyes, suspicion and distrust eclipsing every other emotion. He didn’t care for the expression, suspecting her reaction had its origins in circumstances and events from her past. Time to defuse the situation. “We discussed this after we got off the elevator. I told you we’d managed to work our way through the first three principles.”
“Accidently. I’m talking about a deliberate attempt on your part to seduce me using that book.”
He answered with absolute honesty. “As tempting as that sounds, it didn’t even occur to me.”
“Then how did we manage to work our way through so many of your father’s precious principles in such a short period of time?”
The Marriage Project Page 7
