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  Disappointment overshadowed his already dark mood as he placed both glasses on the table and began making his way through the crowd. From the moment his beeper went off at seven-thirty this morning, the whole day had gone wrong. What did Nicky think she was doing?

  “Hello, there. Enjoying the party?” he asked, as he approached Nicky’s side.

  “Oh, Matt,” she said breezily. “Do you know Edward Unwinn, the man of the hour?”

  He didn’t change his expression, but simply nodded at the familiar face. Ed and Matt had gone to the same private school, and they’d even gotten along fairly well. Strange how things could change. Now Matt just wanted to deny ever knowing him.

  Ed cleared his throat as he eyed Matt, then glanced away, obviously embarrassed to be caught flirting with his girlfriend.

  Matt frowned. “Excuse us for a moment,” he said, trying to remain calm. He took Nicky’s hand and led her through the throngs of people until they were well outside the front entrance. Seeing there were still people sauntering up the walk to the house, he led her around the corner, all the time feeling an odd and inexplicable pang of jealousy grip his heart.

  “I see you’re in a pleasant mood,” she said. “Where are you taking me? I presume it isn’t to kiss me like you did last night?”

  Without a word, he pulled her around the back of the house and into the shadows.

  “What is it? Why won’t you talk to me?”

  But he couldn’t talk to her, neither did he want to hear her explanations for what she’d just done.

  “Matt—”

  He pressed his lips against hers, stopping her words. Sinking his tongue into her mouth, he twined his arms around her, holding her firmly in his grasp. He kept kissing her until at last she reciprocated. He felt her arms wrap around his neck as his tongue delved harder, deeper into her mouth. When he broke the kiss at last, it was to catch his breath and push her up against the brick wall.

  Hidden by the shadow of the house, he hoisted her legs up on either side of his waist, grasping her bare thighs tightly in his hands. And as he continued kissing her, not allowing her a reprieve from the assault of his mouth, he realized that never in his life had he made love like this.

  Never had sex like this, he corrected, as he pulled up her skirt around her hips. She flailed her limbs in protest and tried to break lose from his kiss. At last, his mouth left hers and both of them gasped for air.

  “Is this why you forced me out here?” she asked angrily, still trying to free herself from his grasp. “To do this to me?” Her grip tightened on his shoulders and she pressed her nails into his shirt as if she were trying to shake some sense into him.

  But he wasn’t in the mood to reason. Instead, he worked her panties partway down her splayed legs.

  “Is this really what you want, Matt?”

  “Yes,” he managed to say between clenched teeth as he pushed her back flush against the wall once again. Then, holding her buttocks with one hand, he slipped his other hand between her legs and felt her. To his surprise, she was already wet for him. Or was it for Ed?

  He quickly opened his fly to release his erection. It instantly escaped the entrapment of his trousers and sprang out from his body at a forty-five degree angle.

  In an irrational outburst of rage and jealousy, and with her back still pushed up against the wall, he balanced her over him and lowered her onto his waiting phallus.

  She gasped, then bit down on her bottom lip to quiet herself as he let her sink down onto him. “Fine,” she breathed. “Take me then. Take what you want and then let me go.”

  He plunged once, twice more before the meaning of her words reached him. She knew what he was doing, she was more aware of his actions than he was. He was angry, he’d needed a release. But this wasn’t the right thing to do, even if she really had been flirting with Ed.

  Suddenly, he felt foolish. Ashamed. Pulling away from her, he dropped her gently to the ground. He zipped himself up and stood with his arms inert by his side, still breathing heavily.

  She reached down and pulled her panties back up. Then she glared at him in silence, for what seemed an eternity. “I know you’re annoyed and you’re taking it out on me,” she said slowly. “What I don’t understand is why.”

  Matt felt his anger flare once again. “You should have seen yourself in there,” he bit out, feeling the full force of his rage wash over him, suddenly glad to be relieved of it.

  “What? It bothered you that I was having a pleasant conversation with someone else?”

  “Not just someone else, with that…” He pointed toward the house but shook his head as the words failed him.

  “Rival?” She folded her arms in defense. “For your information, I was trying to help you out before you so rudely interrupted us.”

  “If you really wanted to help me, you could start by not flirting with the competition!” The words flew off his tongue in a single breath, a single release of pent-up emotion.

  He felt the impact of his accusation as Nicky took a step away, withdrawing from him. Part of him wanted to stop what was happening between them, but he couldn’t. It had been a terrible evening, and his ability to think straight or reason seemed to have gone out the window.

  “Flirting? Why would I flirt with a man who’s celebrating his own engagement?” she huffed, her eyes turning cold.

  “I’m sure I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter,” he grumbled, feeling defeated as he turned away from her. “You’re free now to do whatever you please.”

  Nicky was silent for a long moment, her arms folded defensively across her chest. “What do you mean by that?” she asked evenly.

  Squaring his shoulders, he looked up at the night sky. All he saw was a starless void of darkness, it seemed to mirror how he was feeling. “I just spoke with Cromwell. The company’s as good as lost. He’s threatening to bury us. No matter what I do now, I’m going to lose control of Anderson Press, so there’s really no point in your signing any contract. Let Larry see what he can do with a lost cause.”

  He lowered his gaze back to her face. She was staring at him in disbelief, a film of tears covering her eyes. Something broke inside him as he realized what he’d just said, and what it meant to her. “Nicky, I—”

  But she shook her head, refusing to listen. “That wasn’t fair at all,” she said bitterly. “Whether you lose the company or not, I still care about you. But all you care about is business and profits and how to hang onto them. Well, you just lost one good investment right here!” She swiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand as she took another step away from him. “And don’t expect things to be any different tomorrow either, because they won’t be. I’m not a thing you can toss around like loose change. I’m human, remember? But maybe you don’t know what that means.”

  An ache started somewhere in his chest and expanded until it had encompassed his entire body as he watched her march around the corner and disappear into the house. The roar of partiers that escaped the open door contrasted all too sharply with his hopeless, lonely misery.

  He couldn’t let her just walk away like that, and yet, he couldn’t follow her into that house full of merrymakers. He wouldn’t know what to say to her even if he could find her.

  As he turned the corner and glanced up to the house that was alive with celebration, he realized he’d lost not only the company, his financial security, and his future prospects, but even more tragically, he’d just forfeited the one woman who could love him without all of those things. Was it too late? Would she hear him out once she calmed down?

  For the first time in his life, he didn’t have a plan of action. He didn’t even have one measly idea of what he could possibly do to earn her forgiveness for the things he’d just said. Shaking his head, he turned and walked back to his car. He was completely washed up, and just in time for his thirty-third birthday.

  * * * * *

  Nicky stood in the foyer and inhaled as deep a breath as her lungs could hold before ste
pping back into the crowded room. Her mind was whirling with a dozen thoughts at once, each one more painful than the last as the reality of what had just happened became plain. After a glorious night of fireworks and passion, it was all over. Now all she felt like doing was curling up in a corner somewhere and crying like a lost child.

  But instead she forced herself to think practically. There’d be lots of time later for self-pity. First she had to find a telephone in this grandiose place so she could call a cab. There was no way she could bring herself to run after Matt and ask for a ride home. And home was definitely where she was going—alone.

  Swallowing back a few new tears, she told herself to put on a smile so as not to draw attention to herself. She glanced around at the swelling crowd, her eyes settling on a cheerful-looking man who reminded her of Frank in his black-and-white butler’s uniform. Maybe she could ask him where to find a phone. But the man must have noticed her forlorn expression, because he didn’t give her a chance to speak. Swiftly handing her a glass of champagne from his tray, he advised her to enjoy herself. Then he waded on through the guests.

  “Nicky! You’ve come back.” She turned around to see Edward Unwinn fast approaching. Looking pleased with himself, he sidled up to her. “Too bad your fiancé was in such a bad mood. It’s a shame to ruin a good party.” He laughed, clinking his glass with hers. “Say, since you’re all alone now, want to go for a walk? I could use some fresh air.”

  Nicky blinked several times, wondering whether Matt could have been at least half-right about what he’d seen. She hadn’t been flirting with Ed, but perhaps he was flirting with her. It certainly seemed that way as she watched his gaze slide down toward her cleavage.

  “Forgive me for jumping to conclusions,” she said, “but isn’t this party to celebrate your engagement?”

  Edward shrugged and took another sip from his glass. “Sure. But that doesn’t mean I can’t talk to people, does it? Hey, Melissa!” he called, following a pretty blonde with his eyes, a woman who was definitely not his fiancée. “Excuse me, Nicky. It’s been nice meeting you. Melissa, wait up!”

  Nicky stood glued to the spot, thinking over his innocent response to her critical question. Perhaps he was innocent, but she couldn’t help wondering as she watched him hurry away. Edward wormed his way through the crowd until he finally caught the blonde woman’s attention. Sure enough, she saw him slip an arm around the woman’s waist as he led her to the back of the room.

  Well, it seemed Matt did have a point after all. Edward had definitely been flirting, though he’d been wrong to blame her. All she’d been trying to do was fish for a few details that could help him out. In her line of work, she’d learned that people often reveal a lot of personal information in casual conversations, especially when the listener happens to be a complete stranger. Unfortunately, tonight she hadn’t managed to discover anything that Matt didn’t already know.

  But as she watched Edward and the woman disappear through a side exit at the far end of the room, a thought occurred to her…

  Nicky put down her glass on a nearby table, then reached into her purse and felt around. Bingo! There it was. The tiny camera she used for her assignments had become a permanent fixture in her purse. She brushed through the milling guests to the same exit and slipped outside, surprised at the almost immediate silence of her surroundings.

  In front of her was the beginning of an extensive garden not unlike the one at Lindenfield, but with one added feature. There, in the midst of a profusion of shrubbery, trees, and flowerbeds, lay a blue- and white-tiled pool flooded with low spotlights.

  Keeping as low to the ground as possible, Nicky crept away from the door and into the greenery. A branch snapped underfoot, and she froze, hoping she hadn’t given away her position. She crouched and listened, but there was no sound or movement around her, just the dense darkness of the starless night.

  Then she received the clue she needed to get her bearings. A woman’s laughter reached her ears, telling her she still had a fair distance to go. With her camera ready, Nicky veered down one of the many rows of perfectly pruned hedges as tall as herself, not even daring to breathe. She moved like a cat approaching its prey, crouching low and moving quickly. She knew she had to act fast or lose her chance.

  That chance came even sooner than expected. Creeping along the dank ground, she caught sight of something white on the other side of the hedges. Edging closer, she realized what she was looking at were the tails of Edward’s tux. The fabric was almost glowing, reflecting light off the nearby water like a beacon. The couple was standing between the pool and where the foliage of the shrubs and trees began.

  Nicky clasped the camera tightly in her hands as the unmistakable sounds of mounting passion reached her ears. Realizing the pair were far too lost in each other to notice anything or anyone else, she stole a little more ground. Making her way through the branches of the large shrubs, she could see their entangled arms now, but she had to get even closer if she wanted to get a decent shot.

  Judging from her proximity, she’d have just one opportunity to get it right. Her only hope was to spring out of the bushes and snap the shutter. By the time she tried for a second or third shot, they’d no doubt be far apart and running for cover.

  Taking a silent breath, she dug in her heels and leapt with all her strength. Landing solidly just feet away from their kissing profiles, she aimed and squeezed the button on her mini camera, sending a flash of blinding light in the couple’s direction. Gasps were followed by screams and flying limbs as the two lost their balance on the slippery tiles and toppled headlong into the pool.

  Nicky aimed and shot again, this time catching them up to their necks in water, their flailing arms colliding in what looked like an embrace, but was really just an attempt to get their balance.

  Taking off back through the garden, she could see the screams and splashing had already brought the wayward lovers to the attention of the other guests. They were pouring from the back door by the dozens and heading towards the pool. But before they saw her, Nicky veered off through the trees. She pushed her way through some dense shrubbery until she surfaced on a moderately busy street.

  Hollering and waving her arms, she managed to flag down a passing taxi. Surprised at her good fortune when it stopped, she hauled herself inside with a deep sigh of satisfaction. She gave the address of Hidden Eye to the driver and then collapsed against the seat. At least the night wasn’t a total loss. Now, straight to the darkroom.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Matt groaned in response to the incessant knocking on his bedroom door. His head hurt, and that was just the start of his pains. He felt like he’d been run over by a truck. Over the course of the past week he’d fallen in love with a wonderful woman, then proceeded to lose her through his own stupidity. Then there was the newspaper—oh yes, he’d lost that too.

  Pulling the covers over his head, he closed his eyes again and tried to block out the knocking. The sun hadn’t even fully risen yet, he could tell by the dimness of his room. But that didn’t seem to bother Frank any. Not this morning. The man was obviously on a mission.

  Finally, when Matt could stand the ruckus no longer, he let loose with what little strength he could salvage from his aching body. “Whatever it is, Frank, it doesn’t matter. We’re all finished. Did you hear what I said? Finished!”

  But instead of silence, the door swung open wide and in strode his butler, his expression as calm as ever.

  “Frank, really. I told you…” Matt muttered as he sat up in bed, rubbing his aching forehead.

  A sudden waft of air caught his attention as Frank slapped down the morning edition of the Independent Courier onto the side of the bed. Then, without a word, the older man turned and left.

  Matt picked up the paper and focused on the headline splashed in bold letters across the top of the page.

  Newspaper Merger Broken by Love Affair

  He blinked again, expecting the mirage to disappear. It didn’t.
Taking up the whole upper half of the front page were two photos of Ed with his high-school sweetheart, Melissa Thompson. He skimmed through the report in wonder, drinking in the details. Laughter broke from his lungs with enough volume to fill his spacious bedroom.

  Incredible, he thought, shaking his head in happy disbelief. He remembered how in love Ed and Melissa were all the way through high school, and still were by the looks of things. Evidently Ed’s father had convinced him to marry against his will. Maybe Cromwell had done the same with his daughter. Probably by tempting both of them with money and other rewards.

  Just like he had done with Nicky…

  Nicky. Even before Frank gave him the newspaper, he’d been ready to beg for her forgiveness. In fact, he’d dreamed of it all night, his mind conjuring up nightmares that might very well come true, images of Nicky turning him away—forever.

  Throwing on some clothes as he went, Matt headed out the door of his room and down the long hallway toward the stairs. He had to get back to Boston as fast as he could. Of course, Nicky might not want to hear what he had to say, but it was still worth a try. They were worth a try. If only he could get her to see that.

  * * * * *

  After catching a few hours’ sleep, Nicky was back at work Sunday morning. She used her key to let herself into Smith’s private office, and was stunned to find her boss sitting there, his feet up on the desk. “What are you doing here on a Sunday?” she asked in amazement.

  Smith rubbed the back of his neck and brought his feet down to the floor. “I had a feeling you’d show up sooner or later,” he said with a sly smile. “I know there isn’t much work around here lately, but does that mean you’ve got to go out and find your own cases?” he asked, grabbing hold of the newspaper on his desk and holding it up for her to see.

  Nicky couldn’t help grinning. “How did you know?”

  “How did I know, she says! Come on, Nicky. Give this old PI some credit!” he grumbled, searching through his drawers. “First, Matthew Anderson comes in here wanting to see you, which nearly sent me through the roof. Then the two of you leave talking so loudly about a lunch date that the whole office can hear…” His words trailed off as he lowered his head to the bottom drawer.