Their turn to approach the busy reception desk put an end to their provocative sparring, by which time Genie's delicious defiance had begun to give way to a churning nervousness. Phoenix was attracted to her, she realized as she stood there next to him. She could feel the heat beneath his bruising fingertips, had heard the ruthlessly sexual intent behind his declaration that he had plans for her.          Suddenly she knew what those plans were. He wanted her, not just as his receptionist, but as his lover too. As his mistress. Genie should have been outraged by the prospect of such an indecent proposal. Instead, she was terrified of what her answer would be, if and when he made that proposal.          Phoenix was given two sets of keys to their room and a uniformed porter carried their luggage ahead of them along to the ele

          The bathroom door opened and Phoenix walked out, naked except for a large fluffy cream towel looped casually around his waist. His black hair was still wet from the shower, and a few wayward locks fell carelessly on his high forehead. The dark curls in the center of his chest were also still damp, tight little swirls of glistening hair which screamed out to have a woman's fingers slide sensually through them.           Genie did her best not to stare, her heart sinking all the while. Whitney would definitely take a second glance. She was taking more than two herself. “Was that the telephone just now?” he asked abruptly.           She swallowed and lifted her eyes back to his face, praying that nothing showed in her expression or demeanor to betray her X-rated thoughts. “No,” she lied fairly smoothly.

        She stared up at him, troubled by the emotion racing through her, hating the time Phoenix was taking in surveying his old flame. While his face remained fairly impassive, Genie thought she glimpsed a contraction around his mouth and a darkening in his eyes as he watched the woman. By the time he turned back to face them, Genie found that she was holding her breath and her heart was in flames.“You're right, Ann,” he drawled, in a bored tone. “She looks better, but I doubt she's changed in other ways. Let's go and get ourselves a drink. My throat's as dry as the Sahara Desert.”          Taking Genie's arm, he urged her forward, forcing his friends to move on. Genie gave him a quick look, but there was nothing for her to see now. Clearly, Phoenix was a master at hiding his feelings once he put his mind to it. ‘Did he still want Whitney Webster? Had he taken one loo

          As it turned out, Henry did ask her to join them for dinner, but, luckily for everybody, Whitney had to decline. Apparently, her hubby was joining her for dinner, and they were expected to sit with the other lecturers. Genie almost felt disappointed that she wouldn't have the opportunity to sharpen her claws on the woman. Ann, however, didn’t feel the same.'Don't you ever, ever ask that bitch to join us anywhere, Henry Mackie! Ever again!” she hissed as soon as Whitney was away from them.          Henry chuckled, then leaned over to give his wife a kiss on the lips.“I simply adore you when you're jealous.”“You have such a sharp mind, sweetie! How you can be fooled by that maneater is beyond me!”“Babe, I thought she was very charming,” Henry huffed.“Yeah, like a cobra ready to attack!&

          She wanted to scream at him not to be so stupid or so blind. There were so many women in this world worth loving, but Whitney Webster wasn’t one of them. But Genie could see that Phoenix's mind and heart were closed to love. He was an embittered man who had come here seeking some kind of vengeance for Whitney's betrayal of his love.          It worried Genie that Phoenix might still get lost in that love again, that this clever, wicked woman might somehow crash his heart as she already did in the past. Her beauty and her womanly wiles were incredible, everyone could see that. Not many men would stand a chance against her, once she set her sights on them.          Breakfast ended in a tense silence, Genie got up from the table, glad to leave Phoenix and be alone for a while in her room. She sat down on the side of the b