Page 55 of Bride By Committee

“Actually, Iwould have told you at lunch that very first day, but lunch never happened because Dad’s signing ran long. Then there was the incident on the elevator and you said all those things about the book. When Sunny and my father found out how you felt, they asked me to wait until you’d read the damn thing and realized it wasn’t some sort of love manual like you thought.”

She pulled back slightly. “What in the world are you talking about?”

He took a deep breath. “Screw it. Next time I’m listening to my instincts and the hell with tact.” He cupped her face, tilting her chin so she could see his expression in the soft glow of the city lights. She’d witnessed that fierce determination before. It had gleamed in his eyes right before he’d ripped into her cousin. “The truth is, Iwrote The Principles of Love, not my father.”

ChapterTen

Principle 10: Trust your instincts

and take a chance…

If you think the person might be right for you,

go for it. Don’t let fear or hesitation

come between you and truelove.

It took a full minute for Harry’s words to sink in. The instant they had, Madison fought free of his arms. “You wrote the book,” she echoed.

“Yes.”

She retreated, the distancing part physical and part emotional. Hugging the sheet close, she regarded him warily. “Then why is your father taking credit for it?”

“I asked him to.”

“I don’t understand.”

He crossed the room and grabbed a pair of jeans from the dresser. “I’m an economist, Madison. Ideal with facts and figures. Who the hell is going to give credence to a book about romantic rules written by a financial analyst?” He thrust his legs into the jeans and yanked them over his hips. “Nor am I a salesman. Ican’t sit around a bookstore and spend my day smiling and shaking hands. Aside from the fact that I’d go insane, Ihave a business to run. Abusiness I spent years building.”

“But your father can sit around in your place, is that it?”

“He loves meeting people. He’s a born socializer. And he believes in my book.”

“Don’t you?”

He shrugged. “Sure. Ijust don’t think it deserves all the attention it’s gotten. To be honest, it started as something to take my mind off work. Thoughts I’d jot down when I was flying from one part of the country to the other. When I finally ran out of ideas, Ie-mailed the whole mess to Dad. Ithought he’d get a chuckle out of his sensible son writing a book about the principles of love. Instead he organized what I’d written into manuscript form and sent it off to an agent. Ididn’t even find out what he’d done until he slapped the contract on my desk. So I guess you could say he co-authored the book. He certainly expended more time and effort on it than I did.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth right away?”

“And when would that have been?” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, Iremember. Ishould have said something when you first got on the elevator and were in the middle of trashing my book. That would have been the perfect opportunity to confess the truth, right?”

His sarcasm stung. “I can’t help it if I didn’t like what you’d written.”

“Didn’t like it?” he repeated in a dangerous voice. “Didn’t like it? ‘Total twaddle. Bilge, drivel, malarkey, not to mention poppycock.’ Those were your exact words, Madison, after you’d read… what? Awhole three pages? That didn’t exactly inspire me to confess the truth.”

She started to plant her hands on her hips, only remembering the sheet at the last possible minute. Wrapping the length around herself several times, she tossed the trailing end over one shoulder. No doubt she looked like a bedraggled mummy, but that couldn’t be helped. It was better than having the sheet—not to mention her dignity—puddled on the floor around her ankles. “I’m sorry if I offended you, but I can’t be the only person in the universe who doesn’t like the idea of some sex manual telling me how to get a man into my bed.”

“Why should you when telling him ‘I want a night of mindless sex’ works so well?”

“Oh!” She glared at him. “That is so low.”

“About as low as calling my book a sex manual. For the last time, they’re just simple principles on how to forge strong male-female relationships, not a how-to instruction book.” Anger glittered in his eyes and he paced in front of her. He hadn’t bothered to fasten his jeans and they gaped threateningly with each stride. “If you’d taken more than two minutes to read the damn thing, you’d know that. But you made up your mind before you even cracked the cover, didn’t you?”

She lifted her chin. “My mistake. Maybe if I had read it I’d have recognized your principles in action. Iassume that’s what the past few weeks have been about? Putting your theory to the test? Or am I the sequel?”

It was the wrong thing to say. For a minute she thought he’d explode, his temper as close to the edge as she’d ever seen it. But his control proved phenomenal. “Honey, so far our relationship doesn’t live up to the original, let alone a sequel.” He waited for that to impact before continuing. “Let’s get on with it, Madison.”

“What do you mean?”

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