From the Heart

wouldn’t be an easy man to get close to. Kasey wasn’t at all certain she wanted to.
    Standing, she unbuckled her trousers and headed for the bath. What she wanted was to put her education and her experience to work on his book. She wanted to see the information she gave him utilized in the best possible manner. What she wanted, she thought and turned the hot water on full, was a bath. The hours on the plane, preceded by a week of lecturing in New York, had left her as close to exhaustion as she ever came. Thinking of Jordan Taylor would simply have to wait.
    Tomorrow, she thought as she lowered herself into the tub, would be here soon enough.

2
    T he sun glittered over the pool’s surface as Jordan completed his tenth lap. He cut through the water with strong, sure strokes. When he swam, he didn’t think but simply let his body take over. As a novelist, he found his mind too often crowded with characters, with places. With words. He started off the day by clearing it with something physical.
    That morning there had been one more character intruding into his brain. Kathleen Wyatt. He had found her fascinating. He wasn’t at all certain he wanted to be fascinated by a collaborator. His work was important to him, and the novel he was currently working on might be the most important in his career. He thought perhaps it would have been better if Kathleen Wyatt had been closer to the woman of his imagination. The reality of her was entirely too unsettling.
    As he reached the pool edge and made to turn for another lap, a movement caught his attention. Jordan glanced up to see a vague face surrounded by red-gold curls.
    “Hi.”
    Shaking water from his eyes, Jordan narrowed them against the sun. He focused on his collaborator. Kasey sat cross-legged at the pool’s edge. Her cutoffs and T-shirt exposed skin still pale from October in New York. Her eyes were bright with amusement as she smiled at him. Entirely too unsettling, he thought again.
    “Good morning, Miss Wyatt. You’re up early.”
    “I suppose I haven’t adjusted to the time change.” Her voice, he realized all at once, wasn’t eastern but had the slightest hint of the south. “I went for a run.”
    “A run?” he repeated, distracted from trying to place the vague accent.
    “Yes, I’m into running.” She lifted her face and studied the perfect sky. “Actually, I was into running before it was something to get into. Even though I resent being part of a trend, I can’t stop. Do you swim every morning?”
    “Whenever I can.”
    “Maybe I’ll try that instead. Swimming uses more muscles, and you don’t sweat.”
    “I never thought about it quite that way.” After pulling himself from the water, he reached for a towel.
    Kasey watched as he briskly rubbed his hair. His body, glistening with droplets of water, was lean and hard and brown. There were ropings of muscles in his arms and shoulders. The hair on his chest was blond, like the lighter streaks on his head that the sun had bleached. The brief suit clung to his hips. Kasey discovered she had been right about the athletic body beneath the conservative suit. She felt a flutter of desire and ignored it. This was not a man to become involved with, and now was not the time.
    “Swimming’s certainly kept you in shape,” she observed.
    He paused for a moment. “Thank you, Miss Wyatt.” He shook his head and picked up a short terry robe.
    Kasey stood in one swift, fluid motion. Her head was level with his chin. “Would you like to get started after breakfast? If you’ve something else to do, I can just go over your outline and notes myself.”
    “No, I’d like very much to get started. The idea of picking your brain becomes more intriguing by the minute.”
    “Really?” Her smile flashed over her face. “I hope you won’t be disappointed, Jordan. I’m going to call you Jordan now. We’d have gotten to it sooner or later.”
    He nodded in agreement. “Do I call you Kathleen?”
    “I certainly hope not.” She grinned. “No one else does.”
    It took him a moment to understand. “Kasey, then.”
    He was looking at her again in that deep, searching mannerthat left her slightly disconcerted. Jordan watched a frown come and go in her eyes.
    “Can we eat?” she demanded. It would be simpler, she decided, if they got down to more practical matters. “I’ve been hungry for hours.”
     
    Kasey and Jordan closed themselves in the study immediately after breakfast. The room was