Witchcraft

Vegas."
    "Hoping to present his parents with a fait accompli?"
    "Umm," Kimberly said, nodding. "It didn't quite work out that way. The Marlands were infuriated and demanded an immediate divorce. I gather my father tried to resist at first but they worked on him, pointing out his responsibility to the family name and fortune, forcing him to consider where his true loyalties lay. And then they cut off the money. My parents were divorced shortly thereafter," Kimberly concluded dryly.
    "What happened when you were born?"
    "Absolutely nothing. There was no contact from the Marlands ."
    "You don't even bear your father's name?"
    "I refuse. I took my mother's." "Scott said your mother died a few years ago," Cavenaugh said gently. "She was killed in a car accident on an L.A. freeway," Kimberly explained bleakly. Cavenaugh was silent for a while as he thoughtfully munched toast. Kimberly decided he had abandoned the topic but a moment later he asked, "Why do the Marlands want to contact you now after all these years?" Kimberly allowed herself a savage little smile. "Because the noble son and heir, my father, never had any more children. He married well, mind you, but his wife proved unable to have children. My father was killed in a sailing accident a year after my mother died, according to those lawyers."
    Fleetingly she remembered the odd sensation of loss she'd had when she'd learned that the father she'd never known had died. "So now the Marlands have no one except you. "They don't have me," Kimberly said with cool finality. "As far as I'm concerned they made their bed twenty-eight years ago. Now they can sleep in it. They chose to wield all that family power and pressure then and they can damn well live with the results. I'll never forgive them for what they did to my mother."
    "That letter from their lawyers implies there would be a large settlement for you if you'll agree to a meeting with the Marlands ."
    "I don't need or want their money."
    "How about the sense of having family ties?"
    Cavenaugh pointed out. "You're ju st as alone now as your grandparents are."
    "I'm not a big fan of strong family ties," Kimberly told him wryly. "Not after what family ties did to my mother."
    "Is that why you're so intent on finding a man who's as free as you are?" Kimberly blinked. "Full marks for analysis. You've got it in one. If I ever decide to marry it will be to a man whose loyalty is one hundred percent with me. I won't share him with several generations of responsibility and clout and money."
    "And of course he must share this deep sense of nonverbal communication with you, too."
    "You find it humorous?" she asked coldly. "I think you're living in a fantasy world. You want a man who will materialize out of nowhere with no ties to anyone but you, and who will think the same way you do."
    "It's a pleasant enough fantasy," she returned negligently. "You might like the real world just as well," he suggested. "Not a chance."
    "Are you sure there won't come a time when you'll need a real flesh-and-blood man?"
    "Not on a permanent basis," she tossed back caustically. "Would you please pass the jam?"
    "Is that a way of telling me you want to change the topic?" He handed her the jar of strawberry jam. "I am continually amazed at your perceptive abilities," She gave him a brilliant smile. "I have a few other abilities, too, but you have so many built-in prejudices against men in my position that you're not going to give yourself a chance to test them, are you?"
    "If you're talking about the way you seemed to read my mind yesterday." He shook his head impatiently. "There was no telepathy involved yesterday. I just put a few facts together and realized it must be you calling the house. Since I had intended to drive over to the coast to see you soon, anyway, I decided to arrive sooner rather than later. No, Kim, I'm not referring to any supernatural abilities. I'm talking about more concrete ones. I'd like a chance to prove my ability to satisfy you in bed, for example." Kimberly drained her coffee in a single, hot swallow and set the cup down with a sharp clatter. "Don't hold your breath. If you think that I'll sleep with you in exchange for your offer of protection, you might as well leave now. I'll take care of myself." Cavenaugh's emerald eyes glittered with sudden proud fury. "When I decide to sleep with you, witch, it will be on my terms, not yours. And you can bet my terms won't include exchanging sex for protection. You're not