Witchcraft

family by now. You told me that the Cavena ugh winery had been around for a long time so I imagine many of the workers have, too." Cavenaugh nodded slowly, emerald eyes appraising her features in the firelight. "You're right. There are certain demands in my situation. "Well," Kimberly pointed out thoughtfully, "at least you're at the top of the pile instead of at the bottom. If one is going to have to live with so many other people it's probably best to be the one in charge."
    "It has its moments," he agreed coolly. "But I get the feeling you wouldn't want to trade places with me." Kimberly gave a mock shudder. "Not for the world. I'm afraid I've grown very accustomed to the freedom of being alone."
    "But perhaps you wouldn't mind sharing your life with one other loner?" Kimberly hesitated. "What makes you say that?"
    "I've read the first two books in the Amy Solitaire series. Vicious Circle and Unfinished Business." She smiled slowly. "You surprise me. I wouldn't have thought they would appeal to you."
    "Being in the author's debt is bound to give me a certain curiosity about the author herself," Cavenaugh said sardonically. "Reading your books is a natural extension of that curiosity."
    "Did you learn anything?" she quipped, wishing he wouldn't bring up the subject of being in her debt. Yet if she were perfectly honest with herself his promise of repayment had been on her mind today. She had thought of it the moment she had seen the petals of the rose unfolding to reveal the needle. Kimberly could remember very clearly Darius Cavenaugh's last words to her two months ago. They had flickered in and out of her head along with his image all day long. I want your word of honor that if there is ever anything I can do to repay you, you will call me. Anytime, anywhere. Do you understand, Kimberly Sawyer? I'll come to you wherever you are. She'd understood the shattering intensity of his gaze two months ago. Understood that he meant every word. But it had never occurred to her then that she might actually call on him. In fact, a part of her had warned that it would be very dangerous to call on Darius Cavenaugh for repayment of the debt.
    That warning had caused her to hang up the phone repeatedly today. "I learned in Unfinished Business that Miss. Solitaire is quite capable of passion even while she's got her hands full trying to defeat a homicidal corporate executive. And since you didn't kill off her lover, Josh Valerian, at the end of the book I presume he's going to reappear in the next one?" Kimberly's mouth twisted in rueful humor as she finished her potato and put aside her plate. "I rather liked him."
    "So did Amy Solitaire."
    "Umm." Deliberately she kept her answer noncommittal.
    "Because he's so much like Amy herself? Another loner? You're going to make him your heroine's soul mate, aren't you? Two lovers united against the world, completely self-contained, independent and totally in tune with each other. They will live life on their own terms, having various and assorted adventures together, saving each other's necks occasionally. And they will not be bogged down with the demands and pressures of families, of real life."
    "A perfect relationship, don't you think?" Kimberly retorted, thrusting her jeaned legs out toward the fire and leaning back into her chair. "The way I see it Amy Solitaire and Josh Valerian will have a rare degree of mutual understanding. Two people who know each other so intimately that they're aware of what the other is thinking without having to put it into words."
    "Do you really believe that kind of perfect communication is possible between a man and a woman?" Cavenaugh asked quietly. "Why not?"
    "Men and women are fundamentally different, in case you haven't noticed. And I'm not talking about just the obvious biological differences. We.. well, we think differently." She slid him a sharp glance, wondering at the certainty in his words. "Perhaps in real life it's unrealistic to expect that kind of total understanding. But that's the great thing about being a writer of fiction, isn't it? I'm free to work out my fantasy of total intimacy with a member of the opposite sex to my own satisfaction." Cavenaugh's hard mouth lifted in mocking amusement. "You see? There's a good example of why there can't be perfect communication between a man and woman in real life. You say the words ' intimacy' and the first image that comes into my head is being in bed with you; having you completely nude and lost