“So which rule are you going to demonstrate for Madison?” Aunt Dell asked her nephew. “I just can’t decide. I want to pick a special one, since she’s so special. But I can’t figure out which one that would be. How did you decide?”
Harley grinned. “Easy. I’m gonna draw a rule out of a hat.”
“Very scientific,” she approved. “Maybe we should suggest that method to Sunny for the rest of us, especially with so many rules to choose from.”
“You can do that right after I get mine out of the way.” He shoved his hand into a Mariners’ baseball cap and pulled out a scrap of paper. “The way I’ve got it figured, the sooner we trot Madison through the rules, the sooner I get my Beemer.”
“A BMW?” Aunt Dell’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “But, I thought you were after a Mercedes.”
“Changed my mind.” He opened the paper and read it through. “Okay, this’ll be no sweat.”
She peered over Harley’s shoulder. “Which one is it?”
“It says something about working together and talking.” He laughed. “Man did I luck out. Talking is all Madison ever does. So all I have to do is get them working together and let her yak his ear off and that little red sports job is all mine.”
“Dearest? I’m not sure that’s quite what the rule means.”
He waved Aunt Dell’s uncertainty aside. “Relax. I’ve got it covered. I’m so positive this’ll work that Sunny can book the church on my matchmaking scheme alone. And why?” He slapped the cap on his head and grinned, bits of paper raining down around his ears. “Because Harley Sunflower, love expert, is in charge. That’s why.”
“Yes, dear,” Aunt Dell murmured. “In the meantime, the rest of us will hope your rule isn’t one of the more important ones.”
CHAPTER SIX
Principle 6: How to Work Together as Partners…
Finances, Children, and other Important Discussions.
“OKAY, I’m here,” Madison announced the minute Harry opened his hotel room door. She strove to keep her tone direct and to the point, without a hint of the emotional turbulence from their last encounter. In an act of sheer defiance, she’d even worn a brilliant red business suit the exact shade of yesterday’s sundress. “What’s the big emergency?”
Harry released his breath in a long, exasperated sigh. “And good morning to you, too.”
“Oh, dear. I’ve done it again, haven’t I?” When would she learn? Perhaps if she hadn’t been trying to pretend yesterday had never happened, she’d have remembered to utilize an ounce of common courtesy. “Good morning, Harry. How are you?”
“Fine, thanks.” He swung the door to his hotel room open in an exact imitation of the previous morning, though this time there was a knowing expression in his gaze—an acknowledgment of both the color she’d worn and the reason behind it. “Won’t you come in?”
Pasting a gracious smile on her face, she stepped across the threshold and turned to confront him. “So what’s the big— Oh, good heavens!”
Every thought in her head evaporated as she got her first good look at him. He stood leaning against his hotel door, the very picture of indolent masculine grace. Gone was the formal suit and tie he’d worn on previous occasions. Gone, as well, were the jeans and casual shirt. The neatly combed hair of a practical-minded economist had also vanished, along with every other guise of civilization. All that remained was a dangerous smile and a low-slung towel.
He folded his arms, drawing her attention to impressive biceps and an immense expanse of muscular everything—chest, arms, shoulders. How on earth had he stuffed all that into a suit jacket? It didn’t seem possible. Swirls of dark brown hair formed a perfect, rippled triangle across his chest and her gaze followed a thin rivulet of hair draining out of the bottom of the inverted pyramid. It trickled down his flat belly before disappearing into the towel and she had the craziest urge to follow that seductive path and see where it led. If it weren’t for the fact that the towel appeared to hang on his lean hips through sheer will alone, she might have turned thought to action.
Harry shifted his stance and the towel hitched downward another threatening inch. “When you focus your attention on something, you give it your full attention, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” she responded absently. “I have excellent powers of concentration.”
“So I’ve noticed. May I suggest you shift that concentration elsewhere? Otherwise my attention will be focused on how quickly I can get you out of your clothes and into the nearest bed.”
Madison jerked her gaze upward. “What?”
He unfolded from his stance and approached. Somehow he managed to coerce all those muscles into working together in perfect coordination, each bunching and releasing in a fluid series of dips and swells. The sheer symmetry fascinated her. In that moment, she’d have given anything to have Harry spend the next couple hours in constant movement so she could analyze the amazing play of tendon and sinew. She wanted to learn his unique rhythm, to imprint and match it to her own.
Of course, in order to do full justice to her analysis, she’d have to insist the towel go, as well. Yes, indeed. She’d definitely have to make a few alterations to her blueprint of the perfect man. Somehow she’d forgotten to include all of—she examined Harry a little closer—this…this lovely masculine magnificence. It was an oversight she’d make a point of correcting at her earliest opportunity.
Harry snagged her chin with his index finger, forcing her gaze upward. “Talk fast or you won’t be able to say anything for a long, long time.”
“I won’t?” A fierce green light sparked in his eyes, affecting Madison’s breathing in the oddest way. Or maybe it had something to do with being so close to all those impressive tendons and sinews. “Why not?”
“Because my mouth will be in the way.”
Just like that, she flashed back on their rain-sweetened kiss from the previous day. She liked having his mouth in the way. Liked it too much. His kisses had the unique ability to untangle knots she’d spent a lifetime tying. And then, right when she thought every last one had come undone, new knots formed, the sort that made her acutely aware of the vulnerability that came from being a woman in the arms of a man she found irresistible.
The main problem with their kiss had been the aftermath. She’d been so close to surrendering to Harry. Even when he’d left, it had taken hours to scrape together a pinch of common sense about how to handle the situation—the sort of common sense that would keep her out of his bed. But stay out of it she would. She couldn’t risk the consequences if she allowed him to overrun her defenses. He’d already gotten too close to places she guarded with painstaking care, allowing him to catch a glimpse of aspects of her life that she preferred to keep buried. She couldn’t afford to reveal any further vulnerabilities.
She fought to infuse a business-like note in her voice with only limited success. “I didn’t come here so you could kiss me.” Despite what she might want.
“But that’s what you’ll get. Tell me why you’re here, sweetheart. Otherwise I’m going to make good on my promise.”
She puzzled over that. “Don’t you know?”
“Uh-huh.” He reached for his towel with pointed intent.
“Wait a minute!” She took a hasty step backward. “Maybe you should put on some clothes. I think it might help our discussion.” It would certainly help her end of the discussion.
“I have a better idea. Why don’t you shed a few?”
She shook her head with what she prayed was sufficient resolution. “I’d rather not.”
A brief debate waged in his eyes. Then he shrugged the shoulders she’d embarrassed herself by drooling all over. “Give me a few minutes to shower and dress. After that we’ll talk.”
“About business.”
He simply smiled. “Among other things.”
She watched him walk away with a growing feeling of unease. That’s what she was afraid of. She didn’t want to talk about the picnic or what happene
d afterward. He’d start asking questions about her background. About her mother and father and those terrible years when they’d divorced. And then he’d find out just how much of an Adams she really was. There were facts about herself she preferred to keep hidden in the darkest recesses of her soul—facts she hadn’t even told her family. Facts Harry threatened to pry loose.
The faint sound of running water distracted her, escaping from behind closed doors. She wished she couldn’t hear it. The mere thought of Harry in a shower cubicle was enough to cause her far-too-analytical brain to short circuit. A delectable image of him popped into her head—Harry, stripped naked, streams of water surging in and out of all his various bulges and creases. He’d take up a whole lot of room in that shower. Why, if she were to join him, she’d be squashed tight as a bug between him and the tiled stall, their bodies, slick with soap slipping and sliding—
Harry snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Wake up, princess.”
The tantalizing image burst like a soap bubble and she stared at the fully showered, shaved and dressed Harry standing in front of her. “What? You’re finished already?” Where had the time gone? She could have sworn only a scant minute or two had passed.
“Yes, I’m finished already. And you’re doing it again.”
She couldn’t seem to wrap her brain around his words. “Doing what again?”
He leaned in. “You’re looking at me in a way that makes me think I can get out of my clothes a hell of a lot faster than I got into them.”
“I’m just surprised that you managed to get so much done in such a short amount of time,” she muttered.
“I’ve been gone almost twenty minutes.” His eyes glittered with far too much awareness. “You didn’t realize it had been that long?”
She shrugged, snagging the first excuse that drifted through her head. “Blame it on work. I was considering the wisdom of whether to add more tech stocks to my portfolio or sell short on Biogenetics.”
“Are you asking my advice?”
“That won’t be necessary.” Excellent. She’d said all that without a hint of drool. “If you’re ready, I suggest we get down to business.”
“And that business is…?”
Her brows drew together. “You asked for my help.” He fixed her with a stare curiously devoid of expression and a momentary doubt seized her. “The job you came here to do? Harley called and said to get to your hotel right away. Or—or did he make a mistake?”
“What, precisely, did Harley tell you?”
“He said you wanted my advice on your current project.” Madison concealed her uncertainty behind a bright smile. “I think bringing in a backup consultant is very wise of you, Harry. I’m happy to help in any way I can.”
“That’s very generous of you.”
His voice held a quality she couldn’t quite identify. Not quite sarcasm. Irony? She sighed. “Let me guess. Harley got it all wrong. I wondered why he’d have called me about it instead of Rosy.”
“I suggest we go to your office where we can discuss this in a business setting.”
Something was definitely wrong. Why would they need to go to her office to discuss his latest job? Nervousness gripped her and she fell back on a formality that came all too naturally. “Excellent suggestion. Are you ready?”
“Let me get my briefcase and jacket.” He hesitated. “Or should we discuss yesterday first?”
Oh, dear. She lifted her chin and met his look dead-on. “I don’t believe yesterday’s worth discussing.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Funny. I could have sworn there were several matters we should clear up.”
“I can’t recall any.” Defiance edged her voice, betraying her inner turbulence, but she didn’t care. “Nope. Not a single thing.”
“Oh, no? I won’t bother mentioning the most obvious one, like our kissing in the middle of a rainstorm—”
“How gracious of you,” she interrupted dryly. “I appreciate your restraint.”
A dangerous expression gleamed in his eyes, part aggressive demand and something more explosive, something charged with acute sexual tension. “But I’d hoped you’d at least talk to me about your parents and what happened with them.”
Madison folded her arms across her chest, afraid she looked every bit as defensive as she felt. “They divorced. End of story.”
“It isn’t the end of the story or you wouldn’t get so upset every time the subject comes up.”
She decided against subtlety. She doubted it would work with someone like Harry, anyway. “Allow me to rephrase. It’s the end of the story as far as you’re concerned.”
“For now.”
He certainly knew how to set off her temper. “No! Not for now. This isn’t a subject available for discussion, Harry. Not yesterday. Not today. Not ever.”
“I assume that also goes for discussing your problems with commitment?”
She’d told him far too much yesterday, given him too many liberties. And now he wanted to take advantage of her mistake. Well, she wouldn’t let him. He may be interested in a relationship, but she wasn’t. She wasn’t interested in any sort of affair. But what if it were temporary? an insidious voice whispered. What if she could enjoy his company during the brief times he visited Seattle without worrying about commitment? Just a light, uninvolved sexual relationship that would skim the surface and never gain access to those places she preferred to keep unseen and untouched.
He must have sensed her wavering. “Madison?”
Her name held a certain urgency, a compelling demand that almost sent her tumbling into his arms. She teetered on the tips of her three-inch, flame-red heels. If she didn’t plan to surrender every bit of herself, she had to get away from him. Now. She took such a hasty step backward, her heel caught in the carpet. He was at her side in an instant, steadying her. For a long minute their gazes locked, their unspoken communication saying more than words ever could. All of her fears were there for him to read, as was his fierce determination to learn all she fought to keep from him. It only took an instant to recognize the stalemate and with a brief nod, Harry released her.
“Let me grab my things and we can go,” he said.
The moment he shrugged on his suit coat and picked up his briefcase he became a different man. Madison found it fascinating to observe. Each time they were together, Harry revealed another facet of his personality. In the elevator he’d betrayed a gentleness she wouldn’t have believed possible if she’d seen him beforehand. His subsequent transformation from lamb to lion had come as an unpleasant shock. But just as she’d accustomed herself to that, he’d morphed into the determined seducer. It was the side of his personality she found the most threatening. She studied his current guise and smiled. No doubt everyone else in the world would claim this particular aspect of Harry was the most threatening—Mr. Jones, financial analyst and consummate businessman.
Sure enough, when they walked through the lobby, a half dozen people descended on them, fluttering nervously. Several were hotel management checking to make sure that Harry’s accommodations met with his satisfaction. Was his suite big enough? Had they stocked it properly? Did he need additional domestic staff during his visit? Did he have any complaints? He dealt with each of them politely, yet briskly, dispensing with their services in short order.
Others, she gathered, were former business associates. To her surprise their nervousness was even more pronounced than the hotel staff. They’d heard he was in town. Anything they could do to assist him? Were recent rumors about XYZ company true? Did he have any advice/suggestions/concerns about the latest economic trends? Could he offer some clue as to his current assignment? That last question had been offered as a great joke, and might have been amusing if it hadn’t been for the serious apprehension that underscored the query.
By the time the brief conversation concluded, Madison had gained the impression that Harry’s presence in Seattle roused real concern among certain elements of the business community. She fough
t back a smile of amusement. It would seem his intimidation tactics were a great success. Certainly these men had bought into the pretense. Little did they know!
The last individual waiting to speak to Harry turned out to be an employee. “I was just on my way up.” He greeted his boss. He checked his watch with an alarmed frown. “Am I late?”
Harry shook his head, quick to reassure. “Not at all, Dane. My plans have changed. Do you have the information I requested?”
“Right here, Mr. Jones.” He handed over a folder. “You asked for a basic research job. If you want a more insightful report, just say the word.”
“This should be fine. I’ll call if I need anything else.”
“Yes, sir. You have my pager number. For you, I’m available twenty-four seven.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your diligence. You can take the rest of the day off.”
Dane appeared stunned. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!”
As soon as Dane had left, Harry glanced at an openly grinning Madison. “What’s so funny?”
She tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, relieved to have them on a more comfortable footing. It reminded her of their hours together in the elevator. “I have to give you credit, Mr. Jones. You’ve managed to bamboozle the whole lot of them. You really do have this intimidation thing down to a science.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “But I don’t fool you, do I?”
“Not in the least,” she confirmed cheerfully. “I’m on to your tricks.”
“What if they’re not tricks? What if all those people have a real reason to fear me?”
She chuckled. “Don’t even try that one on me. I know you too well.”
“And you’re not the least intimidated?”
“Not even a little.” At least, not in regards to his business dealings.
“Interesting.”
It was her turn to look at him curiously. “What’s interesting about it?”
The Marriage Project Page 9
