“I have absolutely no intention of making love to you.”

“Good, because I have no intention of making love to you, either,” Natalie said.

Jonah’s kiss came hard and fast, and she moaned with delight. Pushing her down against the leather bench, he began working at the buttons of her blouse as he continued to kiss her.

She pulled his knit shirt from the waistband of his slacks and ran her hands up underneath to feel the play of muscles across his broad back. To touch him was heaven. To be touched by him was…unbelievable. She gasped as he unfastened her bra and cupped her breast. It was the right touch, the one she’d waited for, dreamed of… She saw stars. She heard bells.

Or rather one bell, which was ringing rather persistently.

He lifted his mouth from hers. “Lunch,” he said raggedly. “If we…” He paused to take a deep breath. “If we don’t go on deck, they’re liable to come down after us.”

“Oh,” she whispered. “I’d forgotten about the media circus surrounding this date. Do you think the TV crews are still out there?”

“It’s very likely,” Jonah answered. “And unless you want the world to know that you haven’t been making love with your $33,000 man, I’d suggest we get dressed.”

Single, Sexy…and Sold!
Vicki Lewis Thompson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For Audrey and Dan,

who will live happily ever after.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

Prologue

THE PUPPY HADN’T worked out, either.

Natalie’s breath frosted the air as she stood beside the lake in Central Park and played out the leash while Bobo searched for the perfect place to squat. Not far away a camera crew from WOR-TV was taking scenic shots, probably to use on the evening weather report. Natalie watched them for a minute before returning her attention to the puppy.

Damn, he was cute—jet-black except for a white spot on his tummy where he loved to be scratched. She’d been sure his floppy ears, stubby legs and soulful eyes would captivate her mother. But Bobo hadn’t rated any more attention than the herb garden, the laptop computer, the aromatherapy unit or the home gym Natalie had hauled up to her mother’s apartment. Six months after her husband’s death, Alice LeBlanc did nothing but work thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles and cry. It broke Natalie’s heart.

But having Bobo helped ease the pain. He’d chewed her favorite loafers and stained the Oriental carpet beside her bed, but one look into his baby brown eyes and she forgave him anything. During the cab ride home from Wall Street every afternoon she pictured his wriggling, joyful welcome and was almost glad her mother hadn’t wanted him.

Almost. She needed to solve this problem with Alice, who refused to see either a doctor or a counselor. Gazing over the tops of the leafless trees, Natalie picked out her own lit apartment windows and her mother’s two stories above that. There had to be a way to coax her mother out of this depression, if she could just think of what—

“Bobo!” She made a grab for the leash, but the puppy’s unexpected leap for freedom yanked it right out of her hand. “Bobo, no!”

Leash trailing, he bounded toward the lake, intent on playing with a pair of mallards pecking a hole in the ice.

“Bobo, come back!” She ran after him, but he was already skidding across the slick surface in pursuit of the ducks. Then, with a sickening crack, he fell through.

“Bobo!” She started after him just as his head bobbed to the surface. He’d never be able to climb out again. The ice was too thin.

A strong hand gripped her arm, pulling her back. “I’ll get him.”

She looked into the warm brown eyes of a stranger. “But—”

“I’m a firefighter. Rescues are my job.”

She glanced down at the letters on his sweatshirt—FDNY.

“Don’t worry,” he murmured. With a reassuring squeeze he released her arm and started out on the ice.

“He’s…he’s just a puppy!” she called after him.

“I know. He’ll be fine.”

Natalie clenched her hands under her chin. “It’s okay, Bobo! The nice man’s coming to get you! Keep swimming, baby!” Heart pounding, she watched the puppy struggling to keep his head above the icy water. Oh, God. He was so little.

“I’m coming, Bobo. Hang on, buddy.” The firefighter inched forward, testing the ice with every step. Finally he got to his hands and knees and crawled.

Natalie winced as she imagined how cold that would be on his bare hands and through the knees of his cotton jogging pants. He must have been out for a late-afternoon run when he saw Bobo fall in. She held her breath as he eased to his stomach and stretched out his arms to the puppy. Just a little more…a little…

Crunch. A portion of ice gave way beneath his shoulders as he made a grab for the dog. When his head and shoulders went underwater, Natalie started out on the ice.

“Wait, lady!” someone yelled. “He’s got him!”

She paused, just as powerful spotlights illuminated the area. In the same instant the firefighter came up with Bobo and rolled sideways to a solid patch of ice. Several people cheered, and Natalie looked around in amazement at the crowd that had gathered, including the TV crew. A camera was trained on the drenched man crawling back to the shore, a wiggling Bobo clutched under his arm.

Natalie wanted to hug the breath out of that fireman. As the terror receded she noticed he was darned cute, too. His job required him to be in shape, but she doubted the fire department required a square jaw and beautiful eyes.

When he reached a firmer patch of ice he staggered to his feet and blinked in the glare. Bobo squirmed in his arms, and he glanced down at the puppy. “I’m afraid we have an audience, sport.” Snuggling Bobo against his chest he walked carefully toward where Natalie stood with her arms outstretched, wiggling her fingers impatiently.

Gratitude put a lump in her throat. “How can I ever thank you?”

He gave her a crooked grin as he handed over Bobo. “You can call off the TV guys. What’s going on?”

She tucked the shivering puppy under her coat and gazed up at him. “I think they just happened to be in the area. Listen, I at least owe you dinner, or—”

His glance flicked past her. “There’s a reporter headed over here with a mike. I’m gonna disappear.”

“But—”

He backed away and pushed his wet hair off his forehead. “Call FDNY and ask for Jonah Hayes.”

“Sir!” The reporter hurried toward them.

Jonah turned and sprinted across the frozen ground.

1

JONAH WISHED the building would catch fire.

He’d never had such a horrible thought before, but it was all that would save him from walking out on the Grand Ballroom stage at the Waldorf in front of a thousand screaming women. He was to be auctioned off tonight.

Maybe a firefighter was a public servant, but this was more public than he’d ever intended to get. He’d rather be headed into a bad factory fire complete with hazardous waste. But the chief had said he could do this or turn in his badge. The reputation of FDNY was at stake, according to the department’s PR people, and the chief’s job was on the line if he didn’t make Jonah cooperate.

And all because a woman with tousled blond hair and big gray eyes had lost her grip on her puppy. Maybe if he hadn’t been wearing his FDNY sweatshirt he could have stayed anonymous, but WOR had hot-footed a clip over to the main office and he’d been identified in time for the evening news. After that, life as he’d known it had ceased to exist.

On stage the bidding ended for the poor bastard ahead of him, and Jonah’s throat went dry. Earlier in the evening he’d distracted himself by joking around with some of the other bachelors backstage, but as his turn grew nearer, he’d sought a spot alone to try to calm his nerves.

He reminded himself that the money was going to literacy. He’d fought a fire caused by someone who couldn’t read the directions that came with a toaster oven, so he knew literacy was an important cause. He’d begged the chief to let him donate a portion of his pay for the next million years instead of getting auctioned off tonight. The chief had said he wouldn’t make enough in a million years to equal the price he’d probably bring at this event. He was a local hero.

“And another six thousand dollars goes to literacy as our twenty-sixth bachelor walks out to meet the lucky lady who outbid the competition,” announced the female emcee.

Six thousand, Jonah thought. That was a pile of money. He wondered what sort of woman would pay that much for a fantasy date with a stranger. Even though it was for a good cause, she’d have to be very rich and a little bit nuts. Not his type.

“We have lots more of these highly eligible men to go, so dig deep, gals. Heart Books believes every man, woman and child should have the opportunity to read, and every woman in this room should have the opportunity to date a hunk. I promise you, that’s a mild description of the man who’s next on the auction block.”

Jonah winced. He’d never read a romance novel, but he’d never had anything against them. Until now. Murphy’s Law had been working overtime for the company to be planning its bachelor auction to celebrate fifty years of publishing at the exact moment when an editor had seen him on TV fishing a lady’s puppy out of the drink.

A cheer rose from the crowd, and he knew they must have flashed a still of that puppy scene on the giant screens positioned on either side of the stage.

“Although he needs no further introduction, let me add that this valiant and tenderhearted gentleman is twenty-nine years old, graduated from SUNY with a degree in sociology, stands six-two and weighs in at a hundred and eighty-three pounds dripping wet. His hobbies include basketball and sailing, and I’m told he plays a mean game of chess.”

Jonah grimaced at the sailing part. One of his buddies had a dinky little boat they took out once in a while, but Jonah didn’t consider himself much of a sailor. The chief had insisted he put it down on the questionnaire because it sounded sexy.

The emcee continued the buildup, tightening the noose. “As your program states, bachelor number twenty-seven comes with an afternoon sail on the Hudson followed by a breathtaking helicopter ride over the city at night. The couple will then be limoed to the Plaza, where dinner and two complimentary rooms will be provided, plus a gourmet breakfast. Let’s welcome the man who’s lit a fire under the entire female population of New York City, the man voted most wanted to carry us from a burning building, FDNY firefighter Jonah Hayes!”

The blood roared in Jonah’s ears as he forced himself to walk out on the stage. With luck he wouldn’t pass out, although unconsciousness might be a blessing. Fortunately the spotlights blinded him to the audience seated at linen-draped tables, but he couldn’t shut out the sound of their applause, the cheers or the whistling. It was a nightmare, and it was all the fault of that innocent-looking blonde he’d seen on so many afternoons in the park, walking her little black puppy.

Why couldn’t she have held on to the damn leash? Then he could have stopped during his jog some afternoon and spoken to her, as he’d planned to do. If she’d been friendly, they might have had a nice normal date. Meanwhile he’d still be living his own quiet life. He’d have been able to keep his old phone number and he wouldn’t be shopping for groceries at three in the morning to avoid being mobbed by women.

“And what’s the first bid for this modern-day Sir Galahad?” trilled the emcee into the microphone.

“Ten thousand!” called a woman from the balcony.

Jonah almost choked. The last guy had gone for six, and they were starting the bid for him at ten. Good God. Who did these women think he was?

“Twelve!” shouted someone from the main floor.

“Fifteen!”

“Seventeen!”

Jonah stood in total shock as the bidding grew frenzied, rising above the cost of a medium-priced car. What could an ordinary guy like him possibly do or say in a twenty-four-hour period that would make a woman feel satisfied with that kind of investment? He was doomed.

“Thirty thousand!”

Jonah closed his eyes. Unbelievable.

“Thirty-two!”

“I have thirty-two,” said the emcee, winking at him. “Do I hear thirty-three? Come on, ladies. People say the heroes in romance novels are too good to be true. Here’s living proof they’re not. Who’ll be the lucky woman to win New York’s favorite fireman?”

“Thirty-three!” came a bid from the back.

Jonah prayed that would be the end, and amazingly, it was. The emcee tried to coax more from the crowd, but apparently thirty-three thousand dollars was the limit. Some limit. He’d be spending a weekend with a very wealthy idiot.

An aide posted at the back of the room hurried forward with the winner’s name and handed it to the emcee.

The emcee read the information on the piece of paper and glanced up with a grin. “This is a moment right out of a romance novel, ladies, what people in the trade call a cute meet. Our lucky bidder is none other than the woman whose puppy Jonah saved from the freezing lake, Natalie LeBlanc!”

Oh, sure she was, Jonah thought. Women had been calling the station for weeks claiming to be Natalie LeBlanc. One had even said she was Natalie’s mother. He hadn’t dared return any of the calls. Then women had shown up at the station with their hair dyed blond and cut short, the way Natalie’s had looked on the TV clip. This was probably just another goofball looking for publicity.

The emcee motioned Jonah over to the mike and he went with great reluctance. She spoke into the mike. “Have you and Natalie communicated since that afternoon, Jonah?” She held it out to him.

He cleared his throat. “No. My life since then has been a little crazy.”

“Understandably so,” the emcee said. “I’m afraid that’s what you get for being such a great guy. You have our sincere gratitude, Jonah. If you’ll just follow Denise, she’ll escort you to Natalie. Let’s have a round of applause for firefighter Jonah Hayes. We’re all carrying a torch for you, gorgeous.”

Certain he was about to be the victim of some fatal attraction, Jonah allowed himself to be led off the stage and into the audience. Getting to the back of the room was no easy trick as guests left their tables to block his way. And of course, the damn TV camera preceded him, poking in his face whenever possible.

Denise was polite but firm as she eased him through the crowd. Jonah had never inhaled so much perfume in his life. Individually he might have liked many of these women. As a mob they were scary. They all wanted something—an autograph, a button off his coat, a kiss, a date, a date for their daughter. Soon the pockets of his tux coat bulged with slips of paper women had stuffed in as he went by.

As he glanced toward the back of the room, he noticed a blonde who’d done a better job than most at imitating the woman who’d lost her puppy. He looked closer. She was all decked out in a sparkly silver off-the-shoulder dress, but her hair was the way he remembered it, very light blond with a raggedy cut framing her face, making her look like a sexy urchin. As he continued toward the back of the room and got a better look, he was impressed with how much she looked like the real Natalie. It was probably the lousy lighting in the room.

She was definitely the highest bidder, because there was an empty chair pushed in next to hers at the table. His chair. But of course she wasn’t really Natalie. The real Natalie wouldn’t be here—not the woman who looked so cute playing with her dog, who had such expressive gray eyes, who had such an adorable turned-up nose. That person wouldn’t have been stupid enough to pay thirty-three thousand dollars to be with him. She wouldn’t bid on a guy like a rancher buying a prize bull to stand at stud. She wouldn’t—

“Jonah,” Denise said, “although you’ve met before, allow me to formally introduce you to the lady who submitted the winning bid, Natalie LeBlanc.”

She would.

NATALIE TRIED not to hyperventilate. She’d just cleaned out her retirement account, her nest egg, her hedge against turning into a bag lady, in the space of ten minutes. And her reward was approaching her table, much to the excitement of the women sitting with her.

“I can’t believe you did this,” her friend Barb said under her breath.

Natalie glanced briefly at her redheaded office partner. “I had to,” she muttered. Then she turned back to Jonah, her smile firmly in place. The money didn’t matter, she told herself while she tried to keep her teeth from chattering as adrenaline poured through her system.

What mattered was that her mother had seen the news clip of Jonah rescuing Bobo and had begun writing a romance novel with a firefighter as the hero. This particular firefighter, in fact. Her mother hadn’t been able to reach him to ask all her research questions, and heaven knows Natalie had tried. But when she had suggested contacting other firemen, Alice seemed to think only Jonah would do.

Natalie believed this novel-writing project would do the trick. Her mother had always fantasized about being an author, but marriage to a New York Times book critic had sapped her courage to try. Years ago Natalie had found the first chapter of a romance her mother had started to write then abandoned for fear her intellectual husband would make fun of her. Now Alice was free to follow her dream.

By the time Natalie heard about the bachelor auction and saw Jonah’s name on the list, she was desperate. But she had to tread carefully. Her mother’s budding idea was in a very tender stage, and if Jonah wasn’t the sort of man to treat it with respect, then Natalie had just wasted thirty-three thousand dollars. But she mustn’t think about that, or she’d run screaming from the ballroom. She’d take their weekend together to become acquainted with Jonah and find out if he was indeed the man her mother needed to bring this project to completion and end her long period of depression.

As Jonah was introduced to Natalie, he looked as if he’d seen a ghost, and not a very appealing one, either. That warmth she remembered in his brown eyes was gone. Well, he’d just been through a bit of an ordeal. A Lone Ranger type who’d run away after performing his heroic deed probably wasn’t crazy about standing on a stage and being auctioned off like hamburger on the hoof.

She’d do her best to put him at ease, which would take her mind off the enormous amount of money she’d just pledged to this charity event. In the past she’d been conservative with her own investments, but that strategy might have to change if she wanted to recoup some of what she’d spent tonight.

She smiled brightly at him. “It’s good to see you again, Jonah.”

“Are you crazy?” The words tumbled out as if he couldn’t stop them. “I’m not worth thirty-three grand!”

The other women at the table giggled and Natalie felt the heat climb to her cheeks. She glanced significantly toward the television camera trained on both of them. “Why don’t we discuss that later? After the commotion dies down.”

He followed the direction of her glance. “Good idea.” He pulled out his chair and sat down.

A female reporter shoved a microphone toward them. “Would you comment on how it feels being reunited after that dramatic rescue in January?”

“I’m pleased to be able to thank Jonah in person for saving my dog,” Natalie said.

“Thirty-three thousand is a heck of a lot of gratitude,” the reporter said. “Do I sense a budding romance between you two?”

“Absolutely not,” Jonah said. “We both believe in the cause of literacy, and this is a good way to support it. Now, I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, but I heard backstage that the guy who’s up next is the love child of Elvis and Marilyn.”

“You know, I heard that rumor, too.” Natalie kept her expression serious.

The reporter snatched up a program from the table and consulted it. “The guy’s only listed as a member of the Heart Books’ sales force.”

Jonah shrugged. “You should hear his version of Love Me Tender. But it’s up to you. I could be wrong.”

The reporter sighed. “And you could be right. I’ve been in this business long enough to know truth is stranger than fiction. Thanks for your time.” She signaled to her cameraman and started toward the front of the ballroom.

Jonah glanced at Natalie. “Thanks for the help.”

“You’re welcome.” Natalie could tell he’d relaxed some, because as tightly as he was wedged in next to her, she could feel his tense muscles loosen as he leaned back in the chair. He had the most muscled body she’d been wedged against in some time, and to her surprise she liked it. She hadn’t thought muscles mattered to her, but Jonah’s physique was a definite turn-on.

Her mother should make sure to describe his muscles in the book, Natalie thought. In fact, she wondered if her mother had enough experience to imagine a love scene with a guy like this. Natalie’s father had looked more like Woody Allen than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Natalie had been reading a few of the romances Heart Books published, and the men weren’t built like Woody Allen. They were built like…Jonah.

“Is that guy really Elvis and Marilyn’s kid?” asked one of the women at the table.

Jonah’s expression remained serious. “You never know.”

“You were just trying to get rid of the reporter, weren’t you?” asked another. “I’ve been watching you. You don’t like the spotlight, do you?”

“Not much.”

“That’s why you’d be so perfect for my Janice.” A third woman whipped a picture out of her wallet and shoved it across the table. “Her phone number’s on the back. She’s a wonderful—”

“You know,” Barb said, “I’ll bet Natalie and Jonah need to get a few things settled. Why don’t we excuse them a moment so they can do that?”

“Well, of course.” The woman edged the picture closer to Jonah. “But if you’d just take that with you.”

“I’ll be glad to. You must be very proud of her.” Jonah took the picture and put it in his pocket.

“Oh, I am.”

“We’ll just slip out to the lobby for a minute.” Jonah extricated himself from the close quarters and helped Natalie with her chair.

“You won’t be back,” said the woman who’d given him the picture. “I saw the way you skedaddled out of the park when they tried to interview you after the puppy rescue. I admire modesty in a man. Just don’t lose that picture.”

“I won’t.”

Natalie was beginning to understand what a huge problem she’d created for this guy when she lost her grip on Bobo’s leash. He might not be inclined to do her or her mother any favors, and she wouldn’t blame him. But she had to give it the old college try. She leaned down as she passed Barb’s chair. “Thanks for being my buddy tonight.”

Barb glanced up at her. “Got cab fare, toots?”

Natalie grinned. “Yeah, but I might have to start taking the bus. See you tomorrow at the office.”

Once out of the ballroom, Jonah made a beeline for the coat check. “We can talk this out in a cab, and if you want to come back, I’ll have the cab drop you. But I’m outta here.”

“I understand.” She hurried to keep up with his long strides.

“Oh, I doubt it, Natalie.”

Maybe she didn’t, Natalie thought as even the coat-check attendant fussed over Jonah. Finally they made it to the street and into a cab.

Jonah turned to her. “Where to?”

“Your place is fine.”

“Whoa. My place is not fine. You get me for the weekend of your choice, but between now and then we won’t be seeing each other socially.”

She bristled. “That isn’t what I meant. I only meant we can take the cab to your place, talk on the way, and then I’ll take the same cab to my place after I drop you off.”

“And what if I don’t want you to know where I live?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! What do you think I’m going to do, stalk you?”

He turned to face her. “I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re going to do. I can’t even comprehend a woman plunking down thirty-three thousand dollars to spend the weekend with Mel Gibson, let alone yours truly. Therefore I have to figure that you’re a few bricks short of a load. No telling what’s up with you.”

“I wasn’t the only one! Someone bid thirty-two thousand, and before that someone bid thirty-one, and before that…well, that was me at thirty thousand, but what about the others? Are they all crazy, too?”

“Totally. And it seems to be going around. I saved a puppy, for God’s sake! You’d think I’d just deflected a comet that would have wiped out all of civilization. It’s insane the way women have reacted.”

She gazed at him in astonishment. He truly didn’t know how appealing he’d looked staggering out of the lake with Bobo in his arms. He didn’t understand that a single act had branded him as selfless, brave, sensitive and strong, besides being easy on the eyes. Maybe he didn’t realize how women everywhere longed for that combination in a man and went a little berserk when they found it.

From his perspective, she was a weirdo with far too much money for her own good. If she put herself in his place, she might have had the same thoughts. If a guy had this much attention lavished on him and hadn’t started believing his own press, he had to be something special. He might be exactly what she needed for her mother. But first she had to get him to trust her.

“Okay,” she said. “I was only trying to save you cab fare by paying for the entire ride myself. If you would rather, we can go to my place first and then you can take the cab to wherever you live. I’ll pay for my leg, but you’ll have to pay for yours.”

“You’ve already paid thousands of dollars to be with me. You don’t have to pick up my cab fare.” He gave her a wry grin. “At least let a guy hang on to his pride.”

Oh, you’ve hung on to more than your pride, Jonah, she thought. But she didn’t speak the compliment aloud. Thinking that she was a predatory female, he would only misinterpret it. Instead she gave the driver her address and the cab pulled into traffic.

2

JONAH THOUGHT the guys at the station would get a laugh out of this one. A beautiful, rich woman had just paid thirty-three thousand dollars for the pleasure of his company and had even hinted that she’d be willing to go up to his apartment tonight. And he, being such a genius, had rejected her subtle suggestion.

The guys already thought he was nuts for turning aside all the offers that had come his way since the puppy episode, but they might look at things differently if they were walking in his size twelves. Having one or two women flirt with you was one thing. Being mobbed was something else completely.

In the past few weeks he’d become gun-shy. He expected every woman he met to make a move on him. Yet Natalie sat on her side of the cab and there was nothing predatory in her expression at all. She looked just the way he remembered her from the park, except fancier with her white fur coat, which made her look like a princess in a winter carnival.

He supposed the coat was real fur and the sparkling gems in the necklace around her slender throat were real diamonds. He’d never dated anyone who lived on Central Park West. For some reason, he hadn’t thought she lived there, even if it was perfectly logical that she would since he saw her walking her dog in Central Park every afternoon. He’d wanted to believe she came from another part of town just as he did, because the area was so beautiful.

Her scent tantalized him, and for a moment he imagined what this cab ride would be like if they’d become friends in the park and decided to go out together. He’d be sitting a hell of a lot closer than he was now, that’s for sure. Despite everything, he still got a charge looking into those wide gray eyes of hers. Her mouth intrigued him, too. He liked the fact that she used a pale lipstick that barely looked as if she had on any at all.

Considering all the money she’d paid, she probably wouldn’t object if he slid over and tasted those pale pink lips. The idea appealed to him more than a little. But he didn’t really want to go down that road, not anymore. Any woman desperate enough to spend thirty-three thousand dollars for a date had something very wrong with her. He might not see it at first, because he’d be blinded by sex, but then one night an ice pick would appear in her hand, just like with Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. And Sharon was also a beautiful blonde, he reminded himself.

“Are you free this coming weekend?” she asked.

He jumped. “This weekend?”

“We have to pick a time to use the package, and unless you have a problem with this weekend, we may as well do it then.”

Damn, she was eager. She might look poised and serene sitting over there in her icy white fur, but she wasn’t wasting any time getting with the program. But he’d have chaperons around the whole time, so he should be relatively safe. Someone else was going to sail the expensive yacht down the Hudson, thank God, and someone else would fly the helicopter. After that they’d be at the Plaza with lots of other people. He just had to be sure she didn’t somehow get his room key.

“I guess this coming weekend would be okay.” Actually, the chief’s words had been “Take whatever time off you need.” It was a bone he was throwing Jonah’s way in exchange for making his existence a living hell.

“You think I’m absolutely insane, don’t you?” she asked.

He wondered if telling a crazy person that they were crazy was a bad idea. “It’s crossed my mind.”

“I don’t blame you.” She smiled. “I would think the same thing in your position.”

He was fascinated by her mouth. What a terrific smile she had. What a kissable mouth. He’d never made love to someone who’d gone around the bend. Maybe it would be fantastic…until they killed you or cut off something important.

“You probably won’t believe this,” she continued, “but I’m a perfectly normal woman. I’ve been wanting to tell you how grateful I am that you saved Bobo, but I couldn’t reach you. When I read about this auction, it seemed like the perfect gesture.”

“You could have sent flowers to the station, like six hundred or so other women did.”

She started to laugh. “You got six hundred bouquets?”

“About. Maybe more like six-fifty. After all the guys took them home to their wives, mothers and sweethearts, we still had some left, so we made deliveries to the nursing homes. Except I couldn’t go.”

“Why not?”

“I did the first time, but the sweet little ladies wouldn’t let me leave, and they started to cry when I finally made my way toward the door. It was too horrible. I couldn’t put myself through it again.”

She shook her head, her eyes filled with sympathy. “Bobo and I really caused a big problem for you, didn’t we?”

“You have no idea. But the whole thing was beginning to die down. People don’t stay interested forever. Then along comes this bachelor auction. Now I’m afraid it will all start up again.”

“What can I do to help?”

He almost believed she wanted to help him. Without realizing it he’d moved closer to her, drawn by her laughter and apparent understanding. “Just tell me what you want,” he said, gazing into her eyes.

“To get to know you,” she murmured in a husky voice.

When she talked in that intimate tone of voice, he couldn’t help watching her mouth and wondering what it would be like to touch those pink lips. “You paid all that money just to get to know me?”

“I had no choice. You were unreachable.”

“I know.” But she was very reachable right now, and touching her coat was like stroking a kitten. “Lots of women pretended to be you.”

“They did?”

He slid his hand back and forth along the collar of her coat. “They tried to copy your special look.”

Her mouth tipped up to his and her lips parted ever so slightly. “I don’t have a special look.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I’m just an ordinary girl.”

“I don’t think so.” He couldn’t stand it. He had to brush his mouth against hers, just once. Her lips were like velvet. He came back a second time to make sure they were really that soft. They were even softer, coaxing him to stay. He cradled the back of her head and got serious. Perfect.

Fleetingly he thought that this was probably how Sharon Stone got Michael Douglas to cooperate. Then he stopped thinking as she opened to him and his body tightened a little more with each slow exploration of his tongue. He slid his hand down the nape of her neck beneath her coat collar and stroked her warm skin. Images of running his hands all over her body played in his mind until he was short of breath and straining the fly of his tux pants.

The cabdriver cleared his throat.

Jonah released Natalie with a start. The taxi was no longer running, not that he would have noticed. He’d forgotten they were in a cab. He’d forgotten that this was the woman who had bid an enormous amount of money to chain herself to his side for the weekend. He’d forgotten she probably carried an ice pick in her garter.

Her gaze was unfocused and dreamy. “That was…very nice.”

“At the going rate, that was probably about a five-hundred-dollar kiss.”

Her dreaminess evaporated and she frowned. “Could you do me a favor and forget about the money?”

“Not likely.”

“Well, I’d appreciate it if you’d try.” She opened the cab door and glanced over at him. “Want to come up and see Bobo? He’s grown quite a bit since that afternoon at the park.”

Lust warred with reason as he gazed longingly at her tempting mouth. “Better not.”

“Suit yourself. See you this weekend.” She handed the driver some money and got out of the cab. Then she leaned down and peeked in at Jonah. “Sure you won’t change your mind? I make a mean cup of cappuccino.”

He wanted in the worst way to go with her, because he thought they stood a good chance of making more than cappuccino if he did. But then who knew what would happen after that? Despite what she said, she was no ordinary girl. And apartments had kitchens, and kitchens had knives. “Thanks, but I have to report in early tomorrow morning,” he said.

“Okay.” With a last dazzling smile, she closed the door and walked up to the apartment entrance where a uniformed doorman tipped his hat and opened the door for her.

“Where to?” the cabbie asked.

Jonah gave him his considerably less impressive address. The cabbie blew out a breath and shook his head, obviously mystified by Jonah’s stupidity. Reflecting on that kiss as the cab pulled away, Jonah felt pretty stupid, himself. Maybe some things were worth taking a chance for.

NATALIE HAD JUST TAKEN Bobo for his early-morning walk and was putting water in the coffeepot when someone pounded on her door. The dog raced into the foyer, barking with excitement. Natalie hurried after him and looked through the peephole into the hall to make sure it was her mother standing on the other side of the door.

Sure enough, an elongated version of Alice LeBlanc was tapping a copy of the New York Times against her palm. She must have charged down in the elevator immediately after reading about Natalie’s bid because she still wore her pink chenille bathrobe, and her gray-streaked hair looked as if it had been styled with an electric mixer. Her reading glasses were perched on the end of her nose.

Natalie unlocked the door and opened it. “Well, good—”

“What on earth have you done? Are you crazy? Hello, Bobo.” Her mother marched past both daughter and dog and whirled to face them. “Thirty-three thousand dollars? What did you do, clean out your IRA?”

“Yep.” Natalie made a production out of relocking the door to get her racing heart under control before she met her mother’s gaze. Every time she thought of her empty retirement fund she pictured an old age spent at the Salvation Army.

“Are you insane?” Her mother peered over the top of her glasses. “Please tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Natalie lied, knowing the truth would fill her mother with guilt. “I’ve been fantasizing about that guy, just like every other woman in New York, and I couldn’t get through to him, either.”

“Yes, but isn’t this a bit extreme?”

“Extreme situations call for extreme measures. I have more reason to be smitten than the women who only saw him on TV. I interacted with him up close and personal, and I…fell a little bit in love during that episode at the lake, if you must know. I realize love at first sight is considered naive, but when I turned and looked into his eyes for the first time, it was…amazing.” Not amazing enough to spend her retirement money on, but he definitely had a way about him. That mesmerizing gaze of his had made her forget herself for a moment in the cab last night.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Her mother tossed aside the paper and came over to enfold Natalie in her arms while Bobo scampered around them in delight. “Of course I believe in love at first sight, but it usually doesn’t cost thirty-three thousand dollars. What must Jonah think of a woman who would do something like this?”

Natalie hugged her back, grateful that this auction business seemed to be distracting her mother from her grief. That alone was worth the money. “Jonah thinks I’m crazy,” Natalie said.

Her mother held her firmly by the shoulders, exactly the way she’d done when Natalie was eight years old and in big trouble. “That’s not a very good beginning.”

“I know.” As she considered beginnings, Natalie thought about the kiss last night in the cab. Nice as it had been, it probably wasn’t a very good beginning, either. She’d bid on Jonah to get his cooperation to help her mother. Kissing him was liable to distract her from her goal.

“Does he realize you sacrificed your old-age fund to get a date with him?”

Natalie wished her mother would stop bringing up a subject that made her queasy. She responded with a confident smile. “I’m a stockbroker, Mom. With a few well-chosen investments, I can start making the money back in no time. I’ll just use a more aggressive approach for a while.” If only she felt as sure of that as she sounded. She headed for the kitchen. “I need to feed Bobo. Want some coffee?”

Alice followed her. “So if Jonah doesn’t know you threw away your retirement account—”

“I didn’t throw it away.” Natalie poured dog food into Bobo’s bowl and scooped some coffee beans into the hand grinder. “Heart Books staged the auction to benefit literacy, and that’s a very good cause.”

Alice waited for the noise of the grinding to stop. “You don’t have to tell me that, after being married to a literary critic for thirty years.”

“I guess not.” Natalie held her breath, wondering if the reference to her late husband would send Alice into a bout of weeping. It had happened plenty of times before.

“Still, I doubt Heart Books or the literacy movement expected anyone to surrender their nest egg in the name of a good cause,” her mother finished calmly.

Natalie relaxed. Apparently this fascinating new subject of the bachelor auction had claimed her mother’s full attention. “I’d hoped the bidding for Jonah wouldn’t go that high, but Mom, you should have seen those women. They went bonkers for him.”

Alice perched on a stool at the breakfast bar. “And so you went super-bonkers. Does he think you have this kind of money to throw around?”

“Probably.” She started the coffee brewing. “He also knows I live here, and I didn’t bother to explain about Great-Uncle Jerome and all that rent-control stuff.”

“Oh, boy. So he thinks the way everyone else does—that we’re rolling in it.”

“Actually he thinks I’m rolling in it. He doesn’t know you live in this building. And I’d rather have him think I’m rich than to have him know I spent my savings on him. Then he’d really question my sanity. Toast?”

Alice nodded. “Thanks.” She tapped her finger against her mouth and frowned. “So,” she said at last, “you need to get him to fall in love with you, even though he thinks you’re some spoiled rich woman who buys a boy toy when she gets bored.”

“I guess that’s about the size of it.” Or at least the version she wanted her mother to believe.

Her mother smiled. “That should be easy. Just be yourself. You’re not a spoiled rich girl, and that will become obvious the longer he’s with you. And once he’s truly in love with you, you can tell him the truth.”

“The truth?” Natalie was losing sight of what that was, exactly.

“That you have no retirement fund and are, in fact, a financial liability. That should arouse his protective instincts considering he put you in this sorry mess because he’s such an Adonis. So that should be that. Happily ever after.”

“That was more or less my plan.” Except that Jonah didn’t have to fall madly in love with her. He only had to like her enough to go along with her mother’s project.

“You know, this would make a neat plot twist in my novel,” her mother said. “A bachelor auction. I hadn’t even thought of it, but I could probably work it in.”

Natalie concentrated on buttering the toast so her mother wouldn’t notice her smile of triumph. “Maybe so.”

“And if you win him over, which I have no doubt you can do because your motives are pure, I might even be able to interview him and clear up a few details in my book.”

Natalie kept buttering. She wasn’t so sure about pure motives, but she believed they were noble ones, at any rate. “We’ll see, Mom. I can’t promise anything, but we’ll see.”

“I’m still shocked about the money, though. You’ve been contributing to your retirement account since you graduated from college, and I was always impressed with your foresight.”

Natalie looked at her, glad she could finally say something honest for a change. “What’s more important, financial security or connecting with those you love?”

“You know my answer. But it’s a good thing your father isn’t around to hear about this. He’d hit the ceiling. I’m sure he would never have understood such youthful impetuosity.”

“But you do?”

Her mother studied her with fondness in her blue eyes. “Of course I do. Why do you suppose I’ve decided to write a romance?”

A TOTAL OF FOUR GUYS from the station contributed to Jonah’s wardrobe for the weekend. The sailing date wouldn’t be a problem, clotheswise, but Jonah wasn’t accustomed to being limoed to the Plaza and treated as an honored guest there. Stewart came up with a dinner jacket, Herm produced a silk tie, Billy happened to have a good leather belt in Jonah’s size and Cal loaned Jonah his topcoat, the same one Jonah had worn over the rented tux for the bachelor auction.

There was much debate among the firefighters as to whether Jonah should buy new underwear for the occasion. No matter how many times Jonah declared that he wasn’t going to engage in any activities in which underwear would be a factor, the men still insisted he should be prepared. Red was the favored color, and there were also some helpful suggestions about birth control and bedroom technique.

Jonah hadn’t felt so fussed over since his senior prom, and he remembered not liking that much, either. Even his parents had called from Buffalo to see if he needed anything for his big date. He almost told them that a well-trained bodyguard would be a good idea.

It amazed him that everyone seemed to think it was perfectly understandable that a lady had spent thirty-three thousand for a date with him. His mother said that amount was about what a date with him was worth, because he was a real prize. Apparently she never considered that the lady in question might be totally wacko.

As Jonah packed his small suitcase on Saturday morning, he deliberately left out the red underwear Herm had presented him with. The glow-in-the-dark condoms definitely weren’t going. As long as he didn’t pack birth control, he wouldn’t be tempted to get carried away, and after that kiss he’d shared with Natalie, he knew that getting carried away was a possibility.

On the cab ride to the pier, he thought some more about that kiss. To be honest with himself, he’d thought about being with Natalie more than he should have. He’d been eager for Saturday to arrive so that he could see her again. Not that he would kiss her again. You didn’t kiss a woman like Natalie when you were going to spend the weekend with her unless you were willing to go where that kiss would inevitably lead.

He became aroused just thinking of where it could lead. Okay, so he was willing. More than willing. But he didn’t believe in making love to a woman for a temporary thrill, he told himself sternly. That’s all it could be with someone like Natalie, whose life and priorities were so different from his. And he had to keep in mind that she was nuts.

That would be difficult, he thought as he climbed from the cab and saw her leaning against the railing of the sleek yacht. She lifted her face to the warmth of the sun, and it shone on her wind-tossed blond hair. Someone had ordered up a perfect spring day for this sail and Natalie had responded by wearing all white. Her slacks, blouse and the sweatshirt she’d knotted by the sleeves around her shoulders gave her an almost virginal look. She seemed to glow as she stood on the polished wooden deck.

He remembered how irresistible she’d been when he was with her in the cab and that kissing her had seemed like the only option. Damned if he didn’t want to kiss her again, and the day was just beginning.

“Sir?”

“Hmm?” Jonah snapped out of his daze and glanced at a guy in khakis and a shirt with Satin Doll embroidered on the breast pocket.

“My name is Eric. Welcome aboard the Satin Doll. Would you like me to take your luggage?”

“Sure. Thanks.” Jonah handed him the small suitcase and crossed the gangplank.

Natalie turned to him and waved. “Isn’t this glorious?”

“Beautiful day.” He swallowed. Even her voice tempted him. He had no idea how he’d manage to keep his hands off her for the next twenty-four hours. Taking a deep breath and adjusting his sunglasses, he walked toward the bow of the boat.

Just as he reached Natalie, a woman also wearing the yacht’s name on her shirt approached them. “Welcome to the Satin Doll. My name’s Suzanne. What can I get each of you to drink?”

“Champagne!” announced Natalie with a big grin.

Jonah shrugged. Her enthusiasm was contagious. “Why not?”

“I’ll be right back,” Suzanne said, and left.

Natalie looked like a kid at a carnival. “This is so exciting. Do you suppose they’ll let us take the wheel?”

He leaned his forearms against the mahogany railing. He did his best to appear relaxed, although his heart was hammering from being this close to her. “I don’t know. This is a pretty fancy boat.”

“Yeah, but your hobby is sailing. You could convince them to let you, don’t you think?”

He turned more fully toward her. Time for her to start realizing he wasn’t the superhero she thought he was. That might keep both of them from making fools of themselves this weekend. “My chief made me put that down on the form, but I really don’t know much about sailing. A guy from the station has a little boat and he’s taken me out a few times, but I’m not qualified to sail a beauty like this.”

She gazed up at him, her smile serene, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses. “If they gave an award for the most modest man in America, I’ll bet you’d win, hands down.”

“I’m not modest, I’m truthful. I hope you haven’t bought into all the hype about me, because if you did, you’re going to be sadly disappointed in the next twenty-four hours.”

Her smile wavered just the tiniest bit. “I hope not,” she murmured.

He almost groaned aloud. She did have high expectations for this date, after all. She probably expected some combination of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. He was in big trouble.

“There they are! On the Satin Doll!”

With a fresh feeling of dread, Jonah turned toward the dock, and sure enough, a television van had pulled up and a camera crew was piling out.

“Let’s go below,” he said, grabbing Natalie’s arm.

“At least until we get out on the river,” she agreed as the yacht moved away from the mooring slip. She started down the steps into the cabin.

“I don’t think leaving the dock’s going to help.” Jonah glanced back at the camera crew as they boarded a motor launch. “Dammit, I was hoping this wouldn’t happen. Why can’t they leave me alone?”

Natalie looked over her shoulder at him. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“No! I’m nothing special.”

When they reached the bottom of the steps, she took off her sunglasses and gazed at him. “I think you’re wrong.”

“Ah, there you are.” Suzanne emerged from the galley and handed them each a champagne flute. Then she returned with the rest of the bottle nestled into an ice bucket and a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries. “Let me know if I can get you anything else.” She set the bucket and tray on a table anchored in front of a leather banquette. “Lunch will be served on deck in a half hour. Listen for the bell. And enjoy!” She climbed the steps to the deck, leaving them alone.

Natalie raised her glass and touched the rim to his. “To friendship.”

Jonah looked into her eyes and wondered if her motivations were that simple. Somehow he doubted it.

3

SHE REALLY DID NEED a friend, Natalie thought as she looked into Jonah’s eyes. A friend who would help her mother reenter the world of the living. And she specifically needed Jonah to be that friend.

But just as it had been that night in the cab, friendship was being nudged aside by something a little more exciting. She really couldn’t let that happen, at least not until she’d talked to him about her mother’s book.

Jonah handed her his drink. “If you’ll hold this a minute, I’ll go topside and see if the TV motor launch is still after us.”

“Sure.” Their fingers touched as she took his glass. Yep, the chemistry was strong between them. Watching him bound up the steps to the deck made her go all warm and tight inside. She would just have to ignore the feeling and concentrate on becoming Jonah’s good buddy instead. Maybe they could play chess.

Putting both champagne flutes on the table, she poked around the cabin but didn’t turn up a chess-board. Finally she gave up. Untying the sleeves of her sweatshirt, she hung it on an ornate hook by the door before sliding onto the leather banquette and nestling among the pillows tossed there.

The gentle rocking motion of the boat coaxed her to lean back, put her feet up and relax. After all, she should try to enjoy herself a little, considering she’d sacrificed her retirement account to be here. She’d ordered the champagne in hopes it would make her forget about the money. And here she was not even drinking it.

She picked up her drink and helped herself to a chocolate-covered strawberry. This wasn’t half-bad, she thought, biting through the chocolate into sweet red pulp. If she could forget how much this weekend was costing her, maybe she’d enjoy being pampered for a change.

As a young and inexperienced woman in the stock market, she’d had to hustle the past few years to keep her head above water. Even with her rent held lower than the other tenants’ because of an old agreement made by her great-uncle, she still didn’t have lots of cash for luxuries left over at the end of each month. Lately she’d been spending all her spare money and energy trying to lift her mother’s depression.

At least that was working. Whenever Alice wasn’t wrestling the bachelor-auction theme into her manuscript, she was brainstorming ways for Natalie to make a good impression on Jonah this weekend. The white outfit had been Alice’s idea. The illusion of purity always fascinated a man, she’d said.

Meanwhile, Natalie struggled to keep her two roles straight. In her mother’s presence she had to pretend to be crazy in love with Jonah, but in Jonah’s presence she had to squelch any sexual feelings, or risk compromising her mission. Her brain was tired from the effort, come to think of it. She ought to have another strawberry.

She closed her eyes and took a bite. When the juice spurted out, she tried to catch the runoff with her tongue before it dribbled down her chin. She missed. Damn. She should have been more careful. Her illusion of purity was probably compromised. Opening her eyes, she glanced down at the front of her blouse. A red dot marked the exact position of her left nipple. She grabbed a napkin and started dabbing at it, which only spread the stain and made her nipple pucker under the soft material.

A soft sound drew her attention to the stairs, and she realized Jonah had been standing there for several seconds. Even across the distance separating them, she could feel the heat in his gaze. Unfortunately her body was responding to that heat. This buddy plan wasn’t working too well.

He cleared his throat and walked over to sit on the opposite end of the banquette. He picked up his champagne glass and drained it before he spoke. “The launch is still keeping up with us. The captain says there’s not much he can do about it, as long as they don’t come close enough to be any kind of navigational danger.”

“So what do you think we should do?” It came out sounding much more suggestive than she’d meant it to. She couldn’t help it if being nervous made her voice husky. And she was definitely a wee bit nervous being alone with him. The look he’d given her a minute ago hadn’t worn off yet, either.

He put down his glass and turned, his glance dropping to the red spot on her blouse, then moving back to her face. “I think you’d better tell me what you expect for your thirty-three thousand.”

“I—I don’t know what you mean.”

“Then I’ll be more clear. Do you expect that before this weekend is over I’ll make love to you?”

The idea sent a thrill of reaction through her system. “Of course not! What sort of woman do you think I am?”

“Damned if I know!” He scooted across the banquette and leaned toward her. “And if you don’t want sex, I have no earthly idea what you do expect for your thirty-three grand, lady. It’s making me nervous.”

Her chin came up. “All I expect is a fun weekend.”

He leaned closer, obviously ready for a fight. “And what, may I ask, is your definition of fun?”

She got right in his face, irritated with his automatic assumptions about her. “Probably the same as yours, buster.” Even if she was mad at him, he smelled nice. And she’d never noticed that freckle high on his cheekbone, or the way his lashes curled.

“I doubt it.” His eyes darkened. “I can just imagine what sort of wild, exotic experience you’d consider worth all that money.”

“Oh, can you?” She thought maybe his imagination was affecting his breathing, because it wasn’t much steadier than hers.

He drifted closer still, and his voice took on a husky tone. “We might as well settle the main issue right now.”

“I’m all for that.” She loved watching his mouth, and the dimple that flashed in his cheek when he talked.

“I have…absolutely…no intention…of making love to you.”

“That’s good, because I have absolutely…no intention…of making love to you…either.”

His kiss came hard and fast, but not fast enough to suit her. She wanted to be gobbled up, consumed by the fire. He plunged his tongue deep, and she moaned with delight. This was good, very good. Pushing her down against the leather bench, he began working at the buttons of her blouse as he continued to kiss her breathless.

She pulled his knit shirt from the waistband of his slacks and ran her hands up underneath to feel the play of muscles across his broad back. To touch him was heaven. And to be touched was…unbelievable. She gasped as he unfastened her bra and cupped her breast in his supple fingers. It was the right touch, the one she’d waited for, dreamed of, thought might be an illusion.

Bells rang. Or rather, one bell rang, quite persistently.

He lifted his mouth from hers.

Slowly she opened her eyes to gaze up at him.

“Lunch,” he murmured.

She struggled to speak. “Let’s…skip it.”

“If we…” He paused to take a deep breath. “If we don’t go up, they’re liable to come down after us.”

“Oh.”

He stroked his thumb across her nipple. “I meant what I said.”

“Okay.” Her eyes fluttered closed as she absorbed the ecstasy of that gentle caress. “About what?”

“I’m not going to make love to you.”

She clenched her jaw. She’d gone and forgotten her mission again. This was going to be a tougher assignment than she’d thought. “That’s good, because I’m not going to make love to you, either.”

“You’re not?” He sounded disappointed.

She opened her eyes and strengthened her resolve. “Nope.”

“Is that reverse psychology?”

“It’s the truth.”

“So no matter how I coaxed you, you’d say no.”

“That’s right.” Scooting out from under him, she sat up and reached behind her back to refasten her bra.

He cleared his throat. “Well, then we both understand each other.”

“I think we do.” She glanced down at the stain on her blouse. It should be put to soak or it might be permanent, and this was a good blouse.

“I’m glad we cleared the air and settled everything.”

“Me, too.” She’d just take the blouse off and rinse it, she decided.

“And I think it’s—what are you doing?”

“Taking off my blouse. What does it look like?”

“Natalie, please don’t do that.”

“I need to put it in some water to soak or it will be ruined.” Carrying the blouse, she walked back to the galley.

“How do you expect me to stick to my decision if you’re going to parade around practically naked?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m sticking to mine. But if it bothers you so much, why don’t you bring me my sweatshirt?”

“Okay.”

She found a little liquid soap and rubbed it vigorously into the spot.

“Here’s your sweatshirt.”

She glanced up and noticed his gaze riveted on her cleavage.

He shoved the sweatshirt at her. “Please.”

She dried her hands on a nearby towel and took the sweatshirt. “Thanks.” Then she pulled it over her head and fluffed her hair with her fingers.

He leaned in the doorway of the galley, watching her. “I like your hair.”

“Me, too. Just wash, dry and go.”

He nodded, as if he approved of that approach. “Why are you worried about the blouse? Couldn’t you just buy another one?”

“I don’t operate that way. I like this blouse, and I might not find another one exactly like it, so I’d rather take care of this one and make sure I have it for a while.”

He gazed at her, his expression speculative. “You don’t talk like rich women usually talk. Or the way I imagine they would.”

“Maybe you’re stereotyping.”

“Maybe I am.” He pushed away from the doorjamb. “Let’s go up on deck and have some lunch.”

“The TV people may still be hanging around.”

He shrugged those broad shoulders. “Then they’ll get boring footage of two people eating.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Besides, she had to get out of this cozy little cabin. She headed for the stairs. “Maybe the best way to get rid of them is to go up there and demonstrate there’s nothing going on between us.”

“Yeah, right.”

Something in his tone made her glance back at him.

He looked defensive. “Okay, I think it’s stupid that you paid all that money to spend time with me, but I have to admit it’s kind of a turn-on, too.”

“No, really?” She gave him an exaggerated look of surprise and breezed past him up the stairs.

LUNCH WAS SOMETHING right out of the movies, Jonah thought, and he was sitting across from a starlet in casual clothes and dark glasses. To complete the illusion, they had a camera crew keeping pace with the Satin Doll.

“Just ignore them,” Natalie said. She picked up a jumbo shrimp and dipped it in cocktail sauce.

“I guess you’re right.” He thanked Suzanne, who’d just refilled his champagne flute. Then he spread a cracker with warm Brie. “Why should we ruin a great meal like this worrying about being on Candid Camera?” Natalie looked terrific, he thought. The breeze ruffled her short hair and brought a pink blush to her cheeks.

Or maybe the blush had something to do with that scene in the cabin. God, she was hot. Apparently she was as turned on by this bizarre situation as he was. Maybe that was her motivation in the first place, to buy a guy for the weekend and tease him to death. She could be into power.

If so, she was on a roll. Watching her dip another plump shrimp in cocktail sauce and nibble her way to the tail was giving him an erection.

“Do you have a job?” he asked. Mundane conversation might keep his mind off sex.

“Of course.” She wiped her fingers on her napkin. “I’m a stockbroker.”

“You must be pretty good at it.”

“I do okay.” She peeled a leaf from her steamed artichoke and dipped it in melted butter. “How about you? I know all firefighters don’t do the same job. What’s your specialty?”

He struggled to remember her question as she raked the meat off the artichoke leaf with her even white teeth. Either all the food was designed to be sensuous or he was becoming obsessed. “I’m the forcible-entry man.”

“Really?” Her mouth turned up at the corners. “That sounds very macho.”

“It’s not.”

“Of course you wouldn’t think so, Mr. Modest.” She glanced over his shoulder. “I hate to tell you this, but there’s another motorboat on the other side of us, and somebody’s got a video camera pointed in our direction. They’re probably just tourists who think we’re famous.”

“Or they work for a tabloid.” Jonah didn’t bother to turn around. No use letting them have a good shot of his face. “Don’t you think this is getting out of hand?”

“Yeah, but what can we do about it?” She reached for another jumbo shrimp. “At least they’re not making much noise.”

A helicopter headed their way.

“Guess again,” Jonah shouted as the helicopter swooped overhead, turned and made another pass.

Natalie glanced up at the helicopter as she chewed her shrimp. “Unbelievable,” she said as she swallowed and glanced back at him. Then her eyes widened and she started to gasp for air.

Jonah’s chair crashed to the deck as he leaped around the table and pulled her out of her seat. Circling her in his arms, he clasped his hands under her breastbone and applied quick upward pressure. Her sunglasses flew off and the piece of shrimp that had lodged in her windpipe sailed across the table and landed on the deck.

Suzanne and Eric hurried toward them.

“Is she okay?” Eric asked.

“I think she’ll be fine in a minute.” Jonah supported Natalie gently as she took several long, shaky breaths.

“Wow. I’ve never seen anybody react that quick.” Suzanne picked up Natalie’s sunglasses. “No wonder you’re a hero.”

“I’m definitely not a hero,” Jonah said. “Anybody would have—”

“Not true,” Natalie said, her voice slightly hoarse as she extricated herself and turned to him. “Not just anybody would have saved my dog, either.” She cleared her throat and gave him a tremulous smile. “First my dog, now me. It seems I owe you a great deal, Jonah.” A warm light shone in her eyes.

“You don’t owe me a thing.” But as he looked in her eyes, he wondered what form her gratitude might take, and if he’d be strong enough to refuse it.

IN THE FACE OF Jonah’s heroic and sexy persona, Natalie struggled to keep sight of her original goal. She needed to get her mother’s request on the table soon, before she accidentally forgot herself again and ended up in his arms. But she hadn’t figured out exactly how to broach the subject. She still wasn’t sure Jonah would cooperate, especially if he thought he’d be identified somehow as the hero of the novel.

To give herself time to think, she suggested they spend the rest of the afternoon on deck, and Jonah readily agreed. That helped some, until Jonah got his chance to take the wheel. Natalie watched him grin with pleasure as he guided the sleek craft up the river, and she began to ache something fierce. Keeping her distance wasn’t the easiest job she’d ever had.

Except for the helicopter that continued to dog their progress and the boats cruising alongside the yacht, the day was perfect. The sky looked as if someone had scrubbed it that morning before turning on the sunlight, and the wind blew enough to fill the sails without blasting the passengers off the deck. The new green of spring covered the hillsides along the river, and Natalie had a moment’s daydream of sailing the boat all the way to Lake Champlain, alone with Jonah.

But that wasn’t her goal, so she had to be glad they had chaperons galore. They kept the conversation light. As they passed Sleepy Hollow they compared notes on how much the Headless Horseman had scared them as kids. That led to a discussion of childhood, and she found out he was the oldest of four and an Eagle Scout. He learned that she was an only child who had never made it past Brownies.

At one point she slipped in the information that her father had died six months earlier, and the look of sympathy in his eyes made her want to snuggle in his arms, but she didn’t. Besides, the cameras still rolled, and she’d begun to resent them almost as much as Jonah did.

On the trip back, they took turns going below and changing into their dinner clothes. Jonah went first, and the whole time he was belowdecks Natalie imagined him undressing. No matter how she tried to distract herself, she pictured what he’d look like without his shirt, without his pants, without a stitch on that glorious body.

Jonah’s transformation to dinner jacket and tie made her catch her breath.

“Am I okay?” he asked as he joined her on deck.

She looked him up and down. “More than okay,” she said with a smile.

But when it was her turn to appear in her red cocktail dress, she was a bundle of nerves. She never remembered caring so much how a man reacted to her outfit. Twilight had arrived by the time she stepped out on deck, and Jonah stood at the railing gazing at the jeweled skyline of the city slipping by. He must have heard the click of her heels, because he turned as she started toward him.

He didn’t say a word as he held out his hand. She should have ignored his gesture. Touching him was a dangerous occupation, even with chaperons around preparing the yacht for docking. When she placed her hand in his firm grip, she looked into his eyes and her heartbeat quickened. There was no mistaking the message in his eyes, no matter what he had promised her or himself. He wanted her.

“Do I look okay?” There was that husky nervousness again.

“Okay doesn’t even come close to describing how you look,” he said, drawing her over beside him as he returned his attention to the sparkle of lights. He stared at the skyline as his hand tightened over hers. “If you planned to seduce me this weekend, you’re doing a hell of a job.”

“Believe me, I didn’t plan to do that.”

He glanced down at her. “Then I guess you’re just a natural.”

She looked away from his compelling gaze and swallowed. As she focused on the lights of Manhattan, she prayed she’d be able to keep her wits about her for just a few hours more. Soon she’d find the right moment to tell him about her mother’s book. Soon.

4

AN IVORY STRETCH LIMO sat at the dock, apparently waiting for them. So was another television van and a crowd of women holding signs proclaiming their love of Jonah. He winced. “Looks like we won’t be sneaking over to the heliport.”

Natalie pulled her white furry coat closer against the evening chill. “Nope, but once we’re in that chopper, we should be okay. It’ll just be the pilot and us, high above this nonsense. I have to admit it gets old fast.”

Jonah glanced at her, wondering just how much she’d like to ditch this public performance. He was forming some ideas about how they might do that. “It’ll be a zoo again once we hit the Plaza.”

“I suppose.” Natalie sighed as Eric lowered the gangplank of the Satin Doll. “When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a movie star. But if this is what it’s like, I’m glad it turned out I couldn’t act.”

Suzanne approached them. “Thank you for sailing with us,” she said.

“It was great,” Jonah said. “Thanks for letting me take the wheel for a while. She handles like a dream.”

“You’re welcome.” Suzanne hesitated. “Could I—would you give me your autograph, Jonah? It’s for my daughter,” she said quickly, pulling a piece of paper and a pen from her slacks pocket. “Her name’s Gretchen, and she just got a little black puppy. She named him Bobo, and she would be thrilled if—”

“Sure.” Jonah took the pen and paper before the moment dragged on any longer. He wrote a quick note to Gretchen and handed everything back to Suzanne. “And please tell Gretchen that you met me and I’m not seven feet tall, and I don’t leap tall buildings in a single bound.”

Suzanne smiled. “I was planning to tell her you’re a great guy, just as wonderful as she imagines you are.”

A flush worked its way up from his neck. “Uh, thanks. Well, I guess we’d better get going. Ready, Natalie?”

She glanced at him, a twinkle in her gray eyes. “Are you certain you can’t fly? It would sure come in handy right now to be able to go right over the heads of all those people on the dock.”

“Very funny.” He glanced at Eric, who had a grip on their overnight cases and seemed ready to run interference for them. “Say, Eric, where were you figuring on stashing those?” he asked.

“In the trunk of the limo,” Eric said. “Would you rather have them up with you?”

“I just want to keep this operation simple,” Jonah said. “So let’s not bother with the trunk. Just heave them in and we’ll jump in right afterward.”

“Got it.”

Jonah took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go.” He wrapped a protective arm around Natalie’s shoulders and lowered his head against the glare from the lights as they stepped off the gangplank. “We’re not stopping.”

“Right.”

Holding her tight against him, he shouldered his way through the crowd behind Eric, ignoring the camera lenses, microphones and shouted questions. Ahead of him the uniformed limo driver opened the passenger door. Eric put the overnight cases inside and jumped back just as Jonah shoved Natalie in.

“Get in and drive!” Jonah shouted to the chauffeur, who seemed to think he had to hold the door for Jonah, too. Jonah leaped in and wrestled the door shut as someone tried to keep him from closing it. At last the locks clicked into place and he sagged with relief as the car edged away from the crowd.

“Are you okay?” Natalie sat in the far corner, looking small and vulnerable, her eyes wide.

“I’m okay.” He didn’t see any obvious scrapes or bruises on her delicate skin. “Are you?”

“Physically. But it sure messes with your head, being part of a mob scene like that, doesn’t it?”

Jonah closed his eyes and leaned back against the plush upholstery. “Yep.” He took a deep breath. “You know what’s the worst part?”

“What?”

He kept his eyes closed and willed his tense muscles to relax. “I was raised to be polite, to respond to people with courtesy when they approached me. I can’t do that anymore, because now everyone wants something.”

“I…guess they do.”

“And then I see some of the looks on the faces of those women, and my heart goes out to them. They need someone to speak a kind word to them, to smile, to ask them how they’re doing. And I don’t dare.”

He felt a light touch on his arm and opened his eyes.

Natalie had scooted over next to him and rested her hand on the sleeve of his sport coat. “That’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard anyone say.”

God, she was beautiful, especially when she got that soft look in her eyes. The leather seat reminded him of the one down in the cabin of the boat, which reminded him of what she’d felt like beneath him. He wanted her in his arms again, wanted to kiss her and touch her the way he had this morning. “I wasn’t trying to be sweet. I just—”

“You just can’t help it,” she said. “You’re a decent human being, and so you just can’t help being such a nice guy.”

He sat up straighter and smiled at her. “Don’t push it. I wasn’t having such sweet thoughts about you just now.”

Her cheeks grew rosy and she glanced down at his sleeve. Slowly she removed her hand. “You know, I’m not so different from all those women you’ve been trying to stay away from.”

“You mean aside from the fact that you’re twenty times better-looking than any of them, and probably twenty times richer, and you’ve promised not to go to bed with me under any circumstance? Other than that, yeah, I guess you’re just like them.”

The blush on her cheeks deepened and she glanced away. “I am. I want something, just like they do.”

Aha. He’d been afraid from the beginning that she had an agenda. He’d hoped to be wrong, but apparently not. He wondered if it was something kinky, or illegal, or kinky and illegal. She looked innocent enough, but he’d only spent a few hours with her. How could he claim to know whether that innocence was a cover-up for all sorts of weird cravings? And damned if the idea didn’t excite him. Even straight arrows could be tempted.

As his imagination worked overtime, his question came out sounding gruffer than he’d meant it to. “What do you want?”

She glanced at him uncertainly. “Maybe this isn’t the time to discuss it.”

“That wild, huh?”

“No, it’s just—”

“Just what?” he asked softly, his heart pounding. He should have guessed that a woman with her looks and her money had become bored with traditional sex. She probably didn’t want to go to bed with him because she was saving him for something far more elaborate than a simple roll in the hay. When he’d asked if she expected him to make love to her this weekend, she’d probably laughed to herself at his conventional ideas.

The limo slid to a stop and the engine stopped.

“We can talk about it later,” she said. “Maybe after the helicopter ride.”

He was more aroused than he cared to admit, and a little afraid he wasn’t up to whatever she had in mind. “Remember you’re not dealing with some swinging playboy.”

“That’s why you’re so perfect for this.” She smiled at him. “You’re even an Eagle Scout.” The limo driver opened her door and she stepped outside.

So that was her agenda, he thought. She planned to corrupt an Eagle Scout.

NATALIE HAD LOST HER NERVE, but as she strapped herself into the helicopter seat she decided everything had worked out for the best. They wouldn’t have had enough time to discuss her mother’s book before the helicopter ride, and doing it during the ride was totally impossible. She sat in front, next to the pilot, with Jonah directly behind her. They’d dodged the usual crowd to get to the helicopter, but once through the gate they’d been protected by a wire fence that cordoned off the landing pad.

She’d never been in a helicopter before, and her stomach tickled with excitement as she looked down through the bubble of glass that curved under her feet. Once again she reminded herself to soak up this experience—after all, she’d paid for it. The whirling blades made a lot of noise, but the pilot handed each of them a headset which provided symphony music that pretty much drowned out the heavy thumping of the rotors.

The helicopter lifted off and her stomach lurched as the ground fell away beneath her. The pilot swung the chopper out over the river, its dark surface a mirror of color and light. They glided downriver past the harbor, heading straight for the Statue of Liberty’s torch. Natalie’s heart pounded with anticipation as they grew closer, and closer still, until she felt as if she could touch the great lady’s cheek.

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