Eye of the Beholder

Mac, it was your idea to claim that I was starting a private collection of McClelland forgeries. You never told me that I'd get labeled eccentric in the press."
    "It's all right to be called eccentric in the art world, dear," Harriet said airily. "There's a certain mystique involved."
    "Well, it's not okay in the business world," Trask growled. "Eccentric. Of all the—"
    "Relax." Alexa gently took the magazine from him, closed it, and handed it to a smiling Vivien. "Someday the McClelland forgeries are going to be worth five times what Icarus Ives's work is worth."
    Harriet beamed.
    Trask looked at Alexa, eyes gleaming. "Think so?"
    "Yep." She smiled complacently. "I'm an expert, remember?"
    "Well, as long as you're sure."
    "Think positive," she said. "You live in Avalon, remember? Thinking positive is the local motto."
    "Uh-huh."
    "Cheer up, the bottom line is that you've made a brilliant investment," she said.
    He smiled. A slow, sexy heat gleamed in his eyes. "Well, that's okay, then. You know me when it comes to the bottom line."
    He caught her hand, drew her to him, and led her away toward the assembled guests.
    Alexa smiled. "You know something? Back at the beginning I told myself that falling in love with you would be the most reckless act of my life."
    "Was it?"
    "No," she said. "It was a sure thing."
    "Funny you should say that." His fingers tightened around hers. "Back at the beginning I told myself I wouldn't get caught in the fantasy."
    "Did you?"
    "Yeah," he said, "but it turned out okay. Bottom line was that it wasn't a fantasy. It was real."