The Gallaghers of Ardmore Trilogy

the order of the day around here.”
    Now, she thought, and wondered if a body could die of sheer happiness.
    “It is beautiful, and full of charm and drama. But there are other places in the world, Darcy.”
    She frowned, puzzled, then almost instantly smiled again. Of course, he thought he needed to prepare her,to explain how he had to travel for his work before he asked her to go with him.
    “I’ve always wanted to see those other places.” She could ease the path for him. Another give-and-take, she thought, nearly giddy, in a relationship. “To go and see and do. Just recently I came to realize that wanting that doesn’t mean I don’t love and appreciate what I have here. Wanting to go just means coming back.”
    “You can see all those other places.” He drew her away, his hands on her shoulders, his gaze intent.
    She had the sudden thought that here, now, finally, she was going to be offered her heart’s desire. And the only man she’d ever loved would propose to her when her hair was wet and her face naked.
    Damn.
    The foolishness of it made her laugh and reach for him. He loved her just as she was, and that was a wonder. “Oh, Trevor.”
    “It’ll be work, but exciting work. Satisfying, fulfilling. Lucrative.”
    “Of course, but I . . .” The romantic haze parted, much as the fog over the sea, and let the last part of his statement swim clearly into her mind. “Lucrative?”
    “Very. The sooner you sign, the sooner we can get started on the groundwork. But you have to take the step, Darcy, make the decision.”
    “The step.” She touched a hand to her temple as if dizzy, then turned away. How could she take any step when she had no balance, she thought. She had no balance at all. Who would, after being struck by such a blow?
    It was the contract he spoke of, not love, not marriage, but business. Sweet God, what a fool she was, what romantic fantasies she’d woven and how completely she’d stripped herself of defenses.
    And the worst of it was, he didn’t even know.
    “We’ve come here, is it, to talk of contracts?”
    Step one, he thought. Get her signed, sturdily connected to him. He’d show her the world, and all the things she wanted. Once she had a taste of them, he’d offer her a feast. Anything and everything she’d ever wanted.
    “I want you to have what you’re looking for. I want to be a part of getting it for you. Celtic Records will nurture you, and build your career. I intend to see to it personally. See to you.”
    “The package.” She tried to swallow the bitterness, but it stuck in her throat when she looked back at him. All she’d ever wanted was standing right here, with his hair blowing in the breeze and his eyes too cool for her to reach out and touch him.
    “That’s how Nigel put it. So you’ll see, personally, to the package?”
    “And keep you happy. I can promise that.”
    Cold now, she angled her head. “How much do you judge it takes to keep me happy?”
    “To start, on signing?” He named a figure that would have taken her breath away if she hadn’t felt so cold, so bloody cold. Instead, she met the offer with a cynical lift of her brow.
    “And how much of that, may I ask, is for the talent, and how much is because I’m sleeping with you?”
    His eyes fired quickly, and went hard as stone. “I don’t pay women to sleep with me. That’s insulting to both of us.”
    “You’re right.” Finally, the pain ate through the ice and made her weak. “I’m sorry for that, it was badly put. Others will say it, though. Nigel warned me of that.”
    He hadn’t thought of it. It only showed how tangled up he was in her that he hadn’t thought of it. “You’ll know better. What else matters?”
    She walked away from him, back to Maude’s grave, but found no comfort in the flowers or the magic or the dead. “It’s easier for you, Trevor. You have the armor of your position, and your power and your name. I’ll come into this without any of that.”
    “Is that what’s stopping you?” He went to her, turned her back. “Are you afraid of words spoken by jealous idiots? You’re stronger than that, Darcy.”
    “Not afraid, no, but aware.”
    “The business is separate from our private life.” But he was merging them, knew it. “You have a gift, and I can help you use it. What’s between us otherwise is no one’s concern but our own.”
    “And if what’s between us begins to fade, if one or the other of us should decide it’s time to