CHAPTER 5

AS SERENA unlocked her office Monday morning, she realized she was in serious need of a plan B. When she’d gone to dinner with David Friday evening, her game plan had been simply to resist him. Resist those gorgeous blue eyes and the way they focused on her when she was talking, resist his sexy grins and sexier kisses, resist her own body’s insistence that no man would ever make her burn like this again…Of course, not even twenty-four hours after he’d hit town, he’d been undressing her on her kitchen floor.

So much for the “resist” approach.

She sorted through the weekend mail that had been left in her box, but she kept seeing David’s face instead of the four-color brochure for a new company specializing in novelty ice sculptures. Plan B began to take shape—a buffer. She needed help, and she wasn’t above drafting some for the lunch she and David had scheduled for today.

When he’d taken her home Saturday, no closer to finding an apartment than he had been that morning, she’d had excuses ready for why she couldn’t spend Sunday with him, too, but he hadn’t asked. Instead, he’d only wanted to know if she could spare a lunch hour to say goodbye on Monday before he left town early Tuesday. That had sounded safely platonic.

But after spending all yesterday regretting that she hadn’t invited David in to finish what they’d started Saturday morning…Safe? Platonic? Hadn’t she ever heard the term nooner?

Oh, yeah. No way was she going to lunch alone with him.

Five minutes later, Natalie Harris, the answer to Serena’s problem, sashayed in the door, with a defiant look-at-me-I-don’t-need-a-man bounce in her step.

Serena had witnessed Natalie post-breakup before. First came the grieving, which had probably included a crying jag and a DVD weekend full of rented tearjerkers. This was followed by her confident-woman, I’d-rather-be-single-anyway, denial. Then came the brunette’s man-killer rebound stage, in which she decided she did want men…as long as she could love ’em and leave ’em.

After all that, there was usually a two-week period of actual emotional stability before she met her new future boyfriend and the cycle started over from the top (single-minded infatuation and practicing how his surname would sound hyphenated with hers).

“Hey.” Natalie dropped a leopard-print handbag on her desk. It went well with her black short-sleeved sweater dress and the leopard-print scarf she’d tied sarong-style at her waist. “Have a nice weekend?”

“Not bad.” Serena stood in the doorway of her office. “What about you? How’re you holding up?”

“Great.” The receptionist was fairly convincing as she measured out coffee for the machine they kept in the corner. “I was finished crying by Friday night and took myself out shopping Saturday. Got a new purse.”

“I noticed. Pretty spiffy.”

“And some fabulous clothes on sale. They look great on me. Men will just have to watch me walk by and eat their hearts out.” Natalie tossed her head in a disdainful gesture, rippling her long dark hair. “Because I am not going down that path again. What do I need a guy for?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Serena said in the expected show of solidarity.

“That’s right.” Natalie lifted the empty coffeepot in salute. “We are women. We are strong.”

Well, they were women.

And maybe Natalie was strong.

But Serena and her fragile willpower made eggshells look indestructible.

“What’s wrong?” Natalie asked, her hazel eyes narrowing as she studied her employer. “This is about Patrick, isn’t it? The shock has worn off and you’ve finally realized you’re alone. Oh, doll, you shoulda called me over the weekend. We could’ve shopped together.”

Patrick? Serena laughed weakly. He hadn’t even crossed her mind in the last twenty-four hours. “No, I’m over him. Really.”

The fact that the breakup had left such a minimal impression on her was probably significant. Was it possible she’d been over him even when she was with him? She bit her lip, wondering guiltily if part of the sculptor’s appeal had been the added barrier between her and David after their one-night stand.

No, that was ridiculous. Patrick had been an artist with admirable vision, someone who shared common pastimes and sensibilities with Serena and her circle of friends. Besides, she and David had already had the barrier of a thousand miles between them. She didn’t have to stoop to using someone as a human shield.

“Hey, Natalie, what are your lunch plans today?”

* * *

SERENA SAT in the back seat of the sleek yellow convertible, trying not to be miffed at her own ingenuity. After David’s initial moment of surprise in her private office when she’d asked if Natalie could join them for lunch, he’d agreed with a knowing smile.

So infuriatingly knowing that she’d blurted, “And it’s not because I don’t want to be alone with you, either!”

His grin had widened. “Did I say that?”

“You remember I mentioned her recent breakup? Well, I didn’t want to leave her here all by herself when she could be out with us, trying to have fun again. I’m, um, worried about her.”

David had glanced over his shoulder through the window that looked into the main reception area, where Natalie smiled and flirted with the UPS man. “Yeah, she looks devastated. We should probably take away her shoelaces, and that sharp letter opener, too. Just to be safe.”

Fine. So she’d been transparent. So both Natalie and David had remarked on Serena closing down the office just so the three of them could eat together. She was more interested in self-preservation than convincing subterfuge, Serena told herself as they drove toward the Caribbean place David had suggested.

With her stomach at full occupancy with knots and butterflies, Serena hadn’t cared one way or the other where they went for lunch. Natalie had easily agreed to the restaurant, as well, not that she was likely to be that hungry since she’d been devouring David with her eyes. Actually, Serena thought, fidgeting as Natalie laughed appreciatively at David’s tale of lost luggage when he’d come home for Christmas, her assistant seemed to be accelerating through her normal grief process with record-breaking speed. She’d been ogling David with prurient interest since he walked into Inventive Events twenty minutes ago. Not that Serena blamed her—what red-blooded woman with working eyesight wouldn’t look at him that way?—but David was not a candidate for rebound sex.

And I’m not jealous, I’m feeling protective of a good friend. He would appreciate her looking out for him. Absolutely. Nothing men hated more than being used for recreational no-strings nookie by curvy femme fatales.

“Argh.”

“Did you say something?” Natalie called over her shoulder. Once Natalie had found her alligator hair clip in her purse to hold her long hair back, they’d agreed it was too beautiful a day to leave the top up, and the resulting wind was loud enough that Serena could mutter whatever she liked back there without being heard.

So she stuck to denial. “Nope.”

In the rearview mirror, David’s eyes, sky-blue and seriously amused, met hers. He hadn’t stopped grinning since Serena’s white lie in the parking lot, when she’d claimed Natalie got queasy if she didn’t ride up front. Normally, her friend was more intuitive about backing Serena up. Today, Natalie had looked startled by Serena’s announcement, then winked at David. “She must have me confused with someone else. Some of my best memories took place in the back seats of cars.”

Serena’s muscles had tensed with unwanted possessiveness even as she’d tried to tell herself life would be simpler if Natalie diverted David’s attention.

He’d proven difficult to distract, however, and had merely smiled at Natalie’s remark. “I know what you mean—there’s a couch I feel the same way about.” His gaze had flicked to Serena’s, and she’d wanted to kiss him. Desperately.

Which, of course, was why it was such a good thing Natalie had agreed to join them.

An hour later, however, Serena was having a difficult time maintaining her goodwill. While Serena sat at the table and contemplated drowning herself in her black bean soup—not that her companions would even notice, much less offer mouth-to-mouth—David and Natalie carried on an animated discussion about fishing. Ick. Serena, vegetarian and soft-hearted wuss, couldn’t get too revved about a sport that involved a living creature gasping its last breath as it flopped around in front of her. But Natalie had spent lots of time on her dad’s boat, and David had grown up on the coast.

Well, hell. Serena had never needed Patrick as a buffer. She could’ve just introduced David to Natalie sooner.

Deep down, she knew her crankiness had nothing to do with lures (the kind being discussed or the ones Natalie was sending David’s way with her hazel eyes). Serena was grouchy because she’d barely slept all weekend, because David would be leaving in the morning, and because her body was tense with repressed sexual need. Typically speaking, she wasn’t a big believer in repression.

So why aren’t you going for it, nitwit? He was ready, willing and able the other morning.

Hell, she’d been more than ready herself. She’d been hot and needy, shattering at his touch so quickly it had verged on embarrassing. Just the memory of it made her mouth go dry. He made her feel like no one else ever had, which was ironic, really. Because if he’d been anyone else, other than David Grant of the esteemed Savannah Grants, they might have had a chance.

Every year she saw David, he was another rung up the corporate ladder and looking more conservative, though, granted, few men had ever made conservative seem so sexy. He worked long hours and had endless stories about corporate dinners or business travel. They were entertaining, but mostly because she enjoyed laughing at some of the absurdities of that lifestyle. It certainly wasn’t one she wanted for herself, even by extension.

Sure, she’d taken business classes—possibly some freak genetic coding she’d inherited—but she’d used the background to start her own company, doing what she wanted in order to maintain creative control and not slave for a bunch of suits. She worked hard, but she left the office behind when she went home for the day. Her father had constantly been worried about impressing his superiors, wanting his wife to dress more “appropriately” at a business dinner, spending Saturdays on a yacht with the regional vice president instead of using his visitation rights to see the daughter he’d been quick to dismiss—unless she’d done something he could brag about or the bank was sponsoring a father-daughter event.

Though Serena had a higher opinion of David than to think ever losing custody of a child would come as a relief to him, she also knew how important his family’s opinion was to him. How determined he was to prove himself equal to previous Grants. The man came from a family of senators, for crying out loud! Serena, who had been halfheartedly raised by her mother and neighbors who helped look after her during her teenage years so she didn’t miss classes during any of Tricia’s walkabouts, once filled in as the nude art model for a friend’s class. Not exactly the image of the corporate significant other. Considering how James and Meredith viewed her choices, she could just imagine how the Grants would look at her.

“Serena?”

The sound of David’s voice jolted her from contemplating her cold soup. “Huh?”

“We figured we’d lost you,” Natalie said, staring at her boss with a perplexed expression before turning back to David. “See, this is what I mean. She insists she’s over him, but anyone can see she’s totally preoccupied.”

“You do seem unusually pensive.” David brushed his fingers over the back of Serena’s hand, and so many fizzing embers shot through her she felt like a human sparkler. “Miss Patrick?”

“No.” As difficult as it was to meet David’s eyes, she had no other choice. It was imperative that he knew no other man had been on her mind when he’d been touching her, kissing her, setting her on fire, bringing her to or—“If you two would excuse me, I’m just not feeling myself. I think I’m gonna splash a little water on my face or something. Maybe I’m getting one of those spring colds.”

“That could be it,” David said, his completely unconvinced grin making her want to throw a little water in his face.

David watched his best friend flee the table, sighing to himself and wondering how long it would take her just to be honest about what she wanted—him. Arrogant, perhaps, but true.

Good thing he was a patient man.

“She’s got it bad for you,” Natalie mused, startling him with her observation.

He jerked his gaze back toward the smiling brunette, unsure how to handle the situation. He doubted the woman would’ve been flirting so blatantly if Serena had shared intimate details with her. And if Serena hadn’t, then it probably wasn’t his place…though he wouldn’t mind an ally.

“What makes you say that?” he asked carefully.

Natalie rolled her twinkling eyes. “Oh, please. She’s been about as convincing in her disinterest as you’ve been in your interest of me.”

He hadn’t gone so far as feigning attraction, not wanting to lead Natalie on, but it had occurred to him that a little friendly conversation with the woman might help his cause.

“I’ve genuinely enjoyed talking to you,” he said sheepishly.

“Well, who wouldn’t? But I gather you’d enjoy…other things with her more. You’ve told her how you feel?”

Told her? He’d shown her, in some of the most explicit ways imaginable. For all the good it had done him. He hadn’t seen Serena this stubborn since an environmental rights protest in college, when he’d wound up having to bail her out of jail. He’d given her hell about it for days.

Natalie chuckled. “Well, I see now why she never seemed that upset about Patrick’s defection. Any woman with half a brain would rather have you.”

“Too bad Serena doesn’t share that opinion.”

“Oh, yes she does. I’m not sure why she isn’t acting on it. I have to admit, cute as you are, most of my comments today were just to needle her, to make sure I wasn’t misreading her. I’ve never seen her like this.” Natalie picked up the dessert menu, adding, “Normally, if Serena has a thought or emotion, she goes with it.”

That would be Tricia’s influence, he guessed. Since he and Serena had grown close after she’d moved away from home, he’d never met either of her parents, but over the years he’d pieced together a pretty clear picture. Tricia “Embrace Life” Donavan was the one who threw herself into every undertaking wholeheartedly—sometimes to the exclusion of what was going on around her—whether it was her daughter’s art project for school, an angry divorce or a sudden yen to visit the Grand Canyon. He gathered she’d been an exciting mother, but not the most stable guardian. Then there was Serena’s father, James, who, until last year, hadn’t seemed to have much post-divorce contact with his daughter, except for the instances when he’d taken time to express mild disapproval over something.

There was really no part of Serena’s upbringing to which David could relate. His parents might not be given to the same outpourings as Serena’s mother, but in their own conservative way, they loved each other and their children. On the occasions Serena had mentioned her parents’ divorce, her offhand comments had made David want to knock James’s and Tricia’s heads together. It sounded as though Tricia had been caught up in her own melodrama, dragging Serena into the bitter divorce with little regard for its effect on her daughter, and James hadn’t been able to separate his growing censure for his wife from his child.

David sighed, realizing that Serena’s wariness stemmed from far more than their respective financial backgrounds. If he hadn’t been so blinded by his own lust, that would have occurred to him sooner. But her parents’ past had nothing to do with here and now—a point that would be easier to make if the woman he was trying to convince would stop hiding behind other people and in public rest rooms.