Alex reached down and snagged Maya's fingers, pulling her up from the chair. “Show me the rest of the store while this guy finishes up.”Olivia chuckled and settled herself into the empty chair. “He’s just afraid of hin being next.”“You’re absolutely right.”Alex led her away from the crowd. With an instinctive motion, he stopped in a shadowed corner by a sign entitled RELATIONSHIPS. Heguided her so her back pressed against the bookshelf, then dropped her hand. Alex shifted his feet and cursed under his breath at his sudden uneasiness. He hadn’t planned what to say, just knew he had to break the tension between them before he got crazy and dragged her into his bed.Somehow, he needed to bring the relationship back to friendship. Back to older brother/younger sister camaraderie. Even if it killed him.“I want to talk to you.”A slight smile twitched those bee-stung lips. “Okay.”“About us.”“Okay.”“I don’t think we should go to bed with each other.”She threw back her head and laugh

Alex shut the door behind him and fell into the leather chair. He stared at his drawing board and curled his hands into tight fists to stop the itch. He wanted to create. He envisioned materials such as limestone and brick, withflowing images of glass and sleek curves. The pictures danced behind his closed lids at night, and here he was, owner of Dreamscape Enterprises, and stuck most of the day in board meetings.He cursed under his breath. Okay, so the board members aggravated him, with the pencil-pushing tactics and money-grubbing ideas. Most of them opposed the waterfront contract, believing the company would go bankrupt if he took the job and couldn’t deliver. The board was right. He had a simple solution.Don’t fail.Michael’s party was Saturday night and he still hadn’t secured a business meeting. Hyoshi Komo hadn’t called either. Stuck at square one, the only thing to do was wait for the man to make his move, and count down the hours to the party. Maybe Michael was waiting to

His laughter echoed through the kitchen. The chill settled around her as he walked away. Maya held her breath as he started up the stairs, but the dogs were still quiet.She raced into the living room, put on the baseball game, pumped up the volume, and went into the back room to check on the canines.The afghan was torn to shreds. She pried it out of the black lab’s teeth and stuck it in the bottom desk drawer. The paper was already dirty, so she cleaned up, spread freshnewsprint down, and laid some down over the couch and chair for extra insurance. She refilled the water bowls and figured they’d all have to go out again in another hour before bedtime.She shut the door, sped into the kitchen, and finished dinner while shouting loud comments to her players.Alex came down for his dinner and quickly went back upstairs.Exhausted from her trickery, she vowed from now on to be honest with the shelter. She managed to sneak the dogs out in small groups for the rest of the evening.When t

Alex turned and headed toward the door, disarmed the alarm, and let his hand pause on the knob.“You okay?”She shuddered but managed to speak. “Yes.”He opened the door to a uniformed cop whose anticipation for trouble changed to suspicion. Alex’s drugged eyes and obvious arousal must have seemed suspicious, because the cop peeked down the hall to the robed woman and crowd of dogs about her feet. He holstered the weapon. “Sir, you reported a break-in.”Alex wondered if this moment was about to challenge his most embarrassing. He pushed a hand through his mussed hair and grabbed forhis usual, logical sequence of thought. “Right. I’m sorry, officer, there’s been a mistake. Please come in.”He knew if he didn’t let him in it would look suspicious. The cop took the scene in with a glance and seemed to note the woman appeared willing and the dogs weren’t trying to protect her from a maniac. He tipped his head.“Ma’am.”She swallowed hard. “Officer. Sorry about this.” As if she knew Alex

“Alex.” Her eyes burned but her tone was chilly. “It’s good to see you.”He nodded. “What’s going on?”“I need some advice. I got a contract offer for Lace Cosmetics.”“That’s a huge account, Diana. Congratulations. What’s the problem?”She leaned in. The expensive scent of Chanel drifted in the air. “It’s a two-year deal but I’d need to relocate to California.” Emerald eyes widened with the perfect amount of innocence and desire. “This is my home. And I hate Baywatch mentality. I’ve always been a die-hard New Yorker. Like you.”A warning bell clanged somewhere in his brain. “You need to decide this for yourself. It’s over between us. I’m married.”“We had something real. I think you got spooked and jumped at the first female you could control.”He shook his head with a twinge of sadness. “I’m sorry, that’s not true. I have to go.”“Wait!” One moment she stood a few inches away, the next she was squished against his chest with her arms looped around his neck and her hips seriously gri