" Mac surveyed her through narrowed eyes. A month ago this woman"sblatant interest would have been returned, tenfold. h.e.l.l, a month agohe"d have asked someone just like her to accompany him on that tropicalvacation he"d been planning. But a lot seemed to have changed in thepast few weeks, not the least of Which was his preference forvoluptuous blondes with bust sizes that rivaled their IQ. That Was before he"d seen a pair Of wide vulnerable eyes of the rarest gold. It was before he"d witnessed the gut-clenching sight of a woman who putherself back together time after time, no matter what life threw ather. It was before he",d met Raine. Not responding to her invitation,he pushed himself away from the post. " Suit yourself.
You can talk to her.
She won"t be going anywhere, though.
"I guarantee iL" He walked into the house and entered the office. Sarahraised her eyebrows at his terse response and ran lightly up the stairsand down the hall. Breezing into the studio, she said, " Surprise!
I hope you"re going to be a little more welcoming than Mac was.
He seems to think he"s taken over Andre"s job as your watchdog duringworking hours.
" Raine looked around at her entrance, smiled and put down her brush. "Sarah!
" She picked up a rag to wipe her hands before going over to give herfriend a hug. " It"s good to see you.
" " Yeah, well, maybe you better tell that to Mac.
He was positively taciturn downstairs.
Of course, I doni have anything against silent men.
Not talking does leave their mouths free to do, shall we say, moreinteresting things, so they have their good qualities.And Mr. "~O"Neill has a few good qualities of his own." She paused to take a breath. " What"s he still doing here, anyway?How much more work is there to be done?" Raine bit her lip at the question. It was as straightforward as Sarah herself and demanded an equally straightforward answer. She searched frantically for words that wouldn"t be an out-and-out lie butwould satisfy Sarah. Before she could think of any, Sarah"s eyes liton the half-finished canvas beyond Raine. " Raine, this is a differentpainting for you.
Does Andrfi know?
He"ll throw a tantrum if he doesn"t.
" She fell suddenly silent as she recognized the person in the
painting. She sent a surprised glance to her friend. " So, that"s what Mac O"Neill is doing around here.
He"s your live model, hmm?
" " Not exactly.
" Raine led her friend out of the studio and down the stairs, hoping she"d drop the subject. But no such luck. " Well, there"s certainly something more going on here than installing a few alarms.
Oh, don"t worry." She waved her hand. " I won"t pry.But he"s exactly the opposite of the men you"ve dated in the past.I hope you"re not getting in over your head." " You"re jumping to conclusions," Raine said flatly. Despite her need to give Sarah a reasonable explanation for Mac"s continuedpresence, she didn"t want to give her friend the idea that there wa.s.something romantic going on between her and Mac, either. though she"dwelcome the possibility, he"d made his feelings clear. And havingSarah blurt out something embarra.s.sing in front of him would be evenmore humiliating. " Now it all makes sense,"
Sarah said wisely. " No wonder he was so dam protective of you when we were talking downstairs.
He was afraid I was going to whisk you away from him today.
When I mentioned kidnapping you and running up to the coast, he positively glowered at me.
" " Sarah," Raine laid in exasperation. ~" The real reason Mac is hereis " "Sarah"s already guessed the reason, honey. No need to pretend."
Mac was lounging in the doorway of the office.
It was dear he"d heard at least part of the conversation.
"You"re going to make me think you"re ashamed of me."
"I don"t-- I"m not" -- stammered Raine.
"Good."
His voice was satisfied male animal, and so was the smile on his
lips.
He sauntered toward them and bent to press an intimate kiss against Raine"s astonished mouth.
Raising his head, he dropped an arm around her shoulders and addressed
Sarah.
"You"re right, Sarah. If Raine is done working for the day, I"m goingto claim the rest of her time for myself. Hope you don"t mind."Sarah was eyeing the two of them speculatively."Not at all. If you can distract Raine from the craziness in her life lately, more power to you."Raine smiled weakly and slipped out from beneath his arm."I"m going to walk Sarah out to her car. I"ll be right back."Outside, Sarah sent her an amused glance."No need to ask what you"ve been up to lately! He seems pretty possessive already."
"We"ve... we"re really just getting to know each other,"
Raine answered lamely, mentally cursing Mac for the earlier scene.
"You don"t have to explain things to me."
Sarah laughed as she got into the car.
"I"m just glad things are looking up for you, for a change."
Her face grew sober.
"They are looking up, aren"t they, Raine? You haven"t gotten any more
of those letters, have you?"
"As a matter of fact" -- Raine took a deep breath "--I got another yesterday."
" "Oh, no!"
Sarah exclaimed in concern.
"Are you okay? It didn"t upset you, I hope."
"I"m fine."
"Well, if you want me to come out and stay with you, just give me a
call, Raine. Anytime. I don"t like the thought of you here all byyourself, new security system or not."
Sarah frowned.
"Or may he you should come to my place for a while. You know I"ve got plenty of room."
"I"m going to stay put. But thanks for the offer."
"Raine..."
Sarah hesitated, visibly uncomfortable.
Then she sighed and said, "Are you sure you?e going to be able to get
ready for your show on time?
What I mean is, maybe you should think about postponing it. Heavens, no one would blame you with all that"s happened to you lately."
"No."
Raine"s voice was determined.
"I"ll be ready in time for the show, and I"m not going to let these
letters disrupt my life."
Sarah still looked unconvinced.
"At least promise me you"ll call if you need anything, all right?"
Agreeing with a smile, Raine gave her friend another hug before Sarah
slipped into the car and roared away.
Raine"s shoulders slumped.
She wasn"t cut out for this kind of subterfuge, and the pretense had taken more out of her than she"d realized.
Of course, Mac"s little act hadn"t helped.
When he"d dropped that kiss on her mouth, her knees had very nearly given out.
Straightening, she turned to the house.
There was a curious pain in knowing how easily he could slip into the role of lover.
Especially in light of how stringently he"d been resisting just such a
role since the night they"d made love.
At least, she"d made love.