Hidden Riches

last place you should be is alone with him, at his house.”
    “If he’s involved,” she countered, “the last place he’d want anything to happen would be his own house. Especially when I tell him I called my parents to check in and told them I’d be having dinner with him.”
    “It’s a stupid idea.”
    “It isn’t. It will give me more time to cultivate him. He likes me,” she added, and walked over to the closet. She’d brought a little black dress along, and had paired it with a glittery bolero jacket in red and gold stripes. Holding them in front of her, she turned to the mirror. “He doesn’t like the idea of me spending the evening alone in LA while I’m upset.”
    Jed watched the sequins glimmer through narrowed eyes. “Did he come on to you?”
    Dora paused in the act of unbuttoning her suit jacket. “Are you jealous, Skimmerhorn?” The laugh bubbled out, quick and delighted. “Isn’t that cute?”
    “I am not jealous.” He’d never been jealous of a woman in his life. Never. He wasn’t about to admit it now. “I asked you a simple question, and I’d like an answer.”
    She took off the jacket, revealing the creamy lace and silk of the camisole beneath. “You’re going to put yourself in the awkward position of making me tell you I love you again. We wouldn’t want that, would we?”
    When his stomach clenched, he swore under his breath, grabbed another cigarette. “Maybe I’m fed up with watching you deck yourself out for another man.”
    “That’s what I’m here for, isn’t it? To meet him, gain his sympathy and confidence and to find out everything I can.” With her head tilted to the side, she studied Jed’s set face. “Would you feel better if I told you I didn’t have any intention of sleeping with him?”
    “Yeah, I’ll rest easy now.” He blew out a frustrated stream of smoke. “I don’t like you going in there alone. I don’t have enough on him, and I don’t like it.”
    “You’ll have more when I get back, won’t you?” She walked over to hang up the jacket. He crossed the room so quietly she jumped when his hands touched her shoulders.
    “I’m not used to being the one who waits.”
    She arranged the jacket meticulously on the hanger. “I guess I can understand that.”
    “I never had anyone to worry about before. I don’t like it.”
    “I can understand that, too.” She unzipped her skirt and clipped it neatly on another hanger. “I’ll be fine.”
    “Sure you will.” He lowered his cheek to the back of her head. “Dora . . .” What could he say? he wondered. Nothing that was churning inside him seemed right. “I’ll miss you tonight. I guess I’ve gotten used to having you around.”
    Wonderfully touched, she smiled and lifted a hand to cover one of his. “You’re such a sentimental slob, Skimmerhorn. It’s always hearts and flowers with you.”
    “Is that what you want?” He turned her to face him. “Is that what you’re looking for?”
    Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes as she brushed her knuckles over his cheek. “I’ve got a heart, thanks, and I can buy flowers anytime I like.” To comfort him, she nuzzled her lips to his. “I’ve also got an hour before I have to get ready. Why don’t you take me to bed?”
    It would have been a pleasure, and a relief, but both pleasure and relief would have to wait. “We’ve got work to do, Conroy. Put on your robe, and we’ll go over the ground rules for your dinner.”
    Huffing, she stepped back. “I’m standing here in little more than a lace garter belt and you’re telling me to put on a robe?”
    “That’s right.”
    “You have gotten used to me,” she muttered.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
    D ora stepped off the curb and into a white Mercedes limo at precisely seven-thirty. There was a single white rosebud laid across the seat, and a Beethoven sonata playing softly on the stereo. A bottle of champagne was iced beside a crystal bowl of beluga.
    Brushing the rose petals across her cheek, she looked up toward the window where she knew Jed would be watching.
    Too bad, she mused as the car pulled smoothly away. It appeared that she did need hearts and flowers, and was unlikely to receive them from the man who mattered most.
    Because she was looking back she noticed a man in a gray suit slip into a dark sedan and cruise out into traffic behind them.
    Dora closed her eyes, slipped out of her shoes to runher bare feet luxuriously over the plush carpet and put all