Eye of the Beholder

coat, pale cream shirt, and matching trousers. "I'm on my way back to Phoenix ."
    Alexa eyed him grimly. "You've got a heck of a nerve showing up on my doorstep after pulling that stunt with Dancing Satyr. "
    He winced. "I know, I know. I hoped that if I gave you a day to cool off you'd be a little more open-minded—"
    "Open-minded? About a fake in my beautiful collection?"
    "I had to make an executive decision."
    "You sneaked that statue into the west wing hoping I wouldn't notice it, didn't you?"
    "Try to understand. I simply could not pretend it didn't exist. Trask demanded to see every item listed in the catalog of the collection."
    There's was no point beating up on Edward, Alexa thought. For better or worse, the damage had been done. And she had managed to hide the statue before any of the art crowd had seen it. Her future was still reasonably secure. She could afford to let bygones be bygones.
    "Forget it." She gave him a wry smile. "Other than Dancing Satyr, things went well. Thanks, Edward. I know you took a chance on me, and I appreciate it."
    "Think nothing of it." Edward turned a delicate shade of pink. "I am enormously grateful to you. This was an important client, and I wanted to be sure Avalon Resorts got the best. I knew I could depend on your eye. Besides, I owed you for saving me from getting scammed by McClelland."
    "We're even now."
    "If everything goes well with the reviews, I'll call you again," Edward promised. "I've got other clients, corporate and private, who want to add to their early-twentieth-century collections."
    "You know where to find me." On impulse, Alexa stepped forward and gave him a quick hug. When she moved back she was surprised to see the concern in his eyes.
    "Alexa, my dear, I hesitate to say this, but given our long-standing professional association and what I feel has become an ever-deepening friendship—"
    "Just say it, Edward."
    "Very well, I'll come straight out with it. I heard that you were seen at the country club last night."
    "So?"
    Edward cleared his throat. "According to the rumor, you were with Trask."
    "You know, Edward, for a man who swears he does not want to know too much about a client, you always seem to be first with the latest gossip."
    "Actually, I believe I was at the end of a rather long line of people who got this bit of information. To be blunt, the rumors are all over town."
    "Everyone is talking about the fact that I had dinner with Trask? Must be a slow news day here in Avalon."
    "Not just dinner," Edward said very deliberately. "The word is that there was some sort of unpleasant scene in the parking lot afterward. And then you went back to the hotel with Trask and left dressed only in a spa robe."
    Alexa drew herself up and looked down her nose. "A couple of muggers accosted us and smashed the windows of Trask's Jeep. And then Guthrie appeared. Some unpleasantries were exchanged. As for the bath robe, we took a late-night swim. That's all there is to your rumors."
    "Damn." Edward grimaced. "I knew I shouldn't have started this conversation. It's really none of my business."
    "No, it's not."
    "Still, you are a friend and I am indebted to you." Edward hesitated. "I don't suppose it would do me any good to warn you to keep a safe distance from this particular client?"
    Alexa remembered her late-night caller. "Safe?"
    "I must be honest, my dear. You're a charming, interesting, attractive woman."
    "Why, Edward, you'll make my head spin."
    "It's the truth. If I were so inclined in that direction, I'd have asked you out myself long ago."
    Alexa grinned. "But you're not so inclined, and Roger would be insanely jealous."
    "Yes." Edward braced himself. "Back to my point. I've heard enough of the local gossip to know that any personal interest Trask shows in you must be viewed as highly suspect."
    Wild woman surged to the fore without warning. "Oh, yeah? How about any personal interest I show in him?"
    Edward looked deeply distressed. "I beg your pardon?"
    "You're afraid Trask may be trying to use me. But has it occurred to you and everyone else that I might have my own sneaky reasons for dating him?"
    Edward blinked a couple of times, assimilating that concept. "No. To be frank, it hadn't occurred to me."
    "Look, I appreciate your concern. But I lost my girlish naïveté and innocent trust in my fellow human beings in the McClelland affair."
    Edward grimaced. "Well, yes, I suppose you did."
    "I'm well aware that Trask may have asked me out for reasons