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“I don’t think so.”
“You want to keep that hand, pal, you’ll move it.”
“Ah, there she is. For a moment, I thought you’d been replaced by a droid. It gave me a bad start.”
“I bet you think that’s funny.”
“I think I’ve hurt your feelings, and I’m sorry.” He brushed his lips over her forehead even as he flipped desperately through his mental calendar. “Have I forgotten an occasion?”
“No. No.” She stepped back. “No,” she said again, and felt ridiculous. “I just wanted to do something for you. To give you something. And you can just stop looking at me like I’ve fried a few circuits. You think you’re the only one who can put this kind of deal together? Well, you’re right. You are. I nearly stunned myself with my own weapon a half a dozen times tonight just to put myself out of my misery. Oh fuck it.”
She picked up her glass again, stalked to the wide, curved window.
Roarke winced and began the delicate task of extracting his feet from his mouth. “It’s lovely, Eve. And so are you.”
“Oh, don’t start with me.”
“Eve—”
“Just because I don’t do this kind of thing, because I don’t take the time—hell because I don’t think of it, doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I do.” She spun around, and he wouldn’t have described the look on her face as particularly loving. She’d gone back to fury. “You’re the one who’s always doing the things, saying the words. Giving…” She fumbled a moment. “Just giving. I wanted to give something back.”
She was beautiful. Hurt and angry, passionate and pissed, she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen. “You steal my breath,” he murmured.
“I’ve got this whole love of a lifetime thing in my head. Murder, betrayal, rage.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Never mind.” She paused, took a deep breath. “The last couple of days people have said things that keep sticking in my brain. Would you jump in front of a maxibus for me?”
“Absolutely. They don’t go very fast.”
She laughed, relieving him considerably. “That’s what I said. Oh hell, I messed this up. I knew I would.”
“No, I took care of that.” He moved to her, took her hand. “Do you love me enough to give me another chance at this?”
“Maybe.”
“Darling Eve.” He lifted her hand to his lips. “What you’ve done here means a great deal to me. You, you mean everything to me.”
“See how you do that. Slick as spit.”
He trailed his fingers over the curve of her shoulder. “I like the dress.”
It was a good thing, she thought, he hadn’t seen her frozen panic when she’d opened her closet. “I thought it would work.”
“It does. Very well.” He picked up her glass, then his own. “Let’s try this again. Thank you.”
“Yeah, well, I’d say it was nothing, but that would be a big, fat lie. Just tell me this one thing. Why do you have a million plates?”
“I’m sure that’s an exaggeration.”
“Not by much.”
“Well, you never know who might be coming to dinner, do you?”
“Including the entire population of New Zealand.” She sipped champagne. “Now, I’m behind schedule.”
“Have we a schedule?”
