From the Heart

why it’s there. I’m not sure I want to know.
    Jordan looked over and caught her eye. “What are you thinking?”
    “Just working out a hypothetical problem,” she said, coloring. “Oh, look!” Over his shoulder she could see a school of dolphin. They leaped and dove and leaped again. “Aren’t they marvelous?” She uncurled herself to go to the stern. She balanced herself by putting her hand on his shoulder, then leaned further out. “If I were a mermaid, I’d swim with them.”
    “Do you believe in mermaids, Kasey?”
    “Of course.” She smiled at him now. “Don’t you?”
    “Is this the scientist asking the question?” He lifted a hand to her hip.
    “Next you’ll be telling me there’s no Santa Claus. For a writer, you have a faulty imagination.” She took a deep breath of sea air. She started to move aside, but he caught her arm. The boat listed a bit, and his fingers tightened to hold her steady. Keep it light, she told herself, trying not to respond to his touch. “You can think about it over lunch.”
    “Hungry?” He smiled and rose. His hands moved up her sides to rest on her shoulders.
    “I usually am. I’d like to see what Francois packed in that hamper.”
    “In a minute.” He lowered his mouth to taste hers.
    It was a different sort of kiss than they had shared the day before. His lips were still confident, but today they were gentle, slower. She could feel the heat from the sun, the ribbons of wind as they whipped around her. The scent of salt was in the air. Over their heads the sails flapped and billowed.
    She was losing herself again. This wasn’t what she wanted, this loss of power. Very carefully she drew herself out of his arms. “Jordan,” she began, then blew out a breath to steady herself. He was smiling at her, and the hands on her shoulders lightened to a caress. “You’re very pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” she observed.
    “As a matter of fact, I am.”
    He turned away and remained busy for some moments dropping sail. Kasey leaned against the rail without offering assistance. “Jordan, perhaps I’ve given you the wrong impression.” Her tone was lighter again, more at ease. “I told you I wasn’t a professional virgin. But I don’t go to bed with just anybody.”
    He didn’t even glance at her. “I’m not just anybody.”
    She tossed back her hair. “You don’t have an ego problem, do you?”
    “Not that I’ve noticed. Where did you get that ring you wear?”
    Kasey glanced down at her hand. “It was my mother’s. Why?”
    “Just curious.” He picked up the hamper. “Shall we see now what Francois has packed for us?”

3
    T he days were green and golden in the perpetual summer of Palm Springs. The sky was cloudless, the desert air dry and warm. To Kasey, the sameness was both inescapable and stifling. Routines were a necessary part of life which she characteristically rebelled against. The Taylor household moved smoothly—too smoothly. There were no curves to negotiate, no bumps. If anything could make Kasey nervous, it was a perfection of organization. The human condition included flaws. These Kasey understood and accepted. But flaws were scarce in the Taylor residence.
    She worked with Jordan daily, and though she was aware that her lack of regimentation frustrated him, she was confident he could find no fault with her information. Kasey knew her field. She learned more of him. He was an exacting, disciplined writer and a demanding, meticulous man. He was able to extrapolate precisely what he wanted from the flood of facts and theories she provided. And Kasey, a tough critic, grew to respect and admire his mind. It was simpler for her to focus on his intelligence and talent than to dwell on him as a man, an individual who both attracted and unsettled her. Kasey wasn’t accustomed to being unsettled.
    She wasn’t at all certain she liked him. They were opposites in many ways. He was pragmatic, she voluble. He was reserved, she extroverted. He ran on intellect, Kasey ran on emotion. Both, however, were used to being in control. Itdisturbed her that she was not able to master her attraction for him.
    Kasey would never have considered herself idealistic. Yet she had always thought that when she became deeply involved with a man, it would be with someone who would fit neatly into the packet of her requirements. He would be strong, intelligent, with a well of emotions she could easily tap. They would understand each other. She