Page 26 of Mr. Scandalous

Alec smiled, remembering. “You mean besides sexy and gorgeous?”

“Besides that”

“She’s straightforward. I like that about her. Sassy, but steady, you know. I mean here she is owning her own business in NYC and she can’t be older than twenty-five.” Alec paused. “In a way, some of her mannerisms remind me of Kylie.” He was referring to his second youngest sister, the actuary who longed to fall in love but was too scared to date. The sister who’d been most deeply affected by their father’s death.

“How so?”

“I have a feeling Eden’s a worry wart like Kylie, but that doesn’t really jibe with owning her own business, an entrepreneur has to be a risk-taker.”

“Ah,” Randy said. “Now it comes out. That’s why you’re so taken with her.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s a paradox, interesting and complex and you, my friend, are attracted to the unusual, conflicting and attention-grabbing.”

Hmm. Good point.

He literally burned with the need to know more about Eden Montgomery. A fretful entrepreneur was loaded with intriguing conflicts. No wonder he worried her.

And then Alec had his answer. He knew exactly what he was going to send Eden as an apology for his graceless gaffe and see if maybe, just maybe, he could change her mind about him.

* * *

Stymied. Stumped. Stuck.

Glumly, Eden stared at an empty wicker basket and the vast array of sensual accoutrements spread out on the worktable, her mind a complete blank.

It had been four days since her lunch with Alec, four miserable days in which she hadn’t come up with a single creative idea. She’d also been unable to stop obsessing about what had happened.

Over and over, she relived the thwarted date, replaying her brazen kiss, his offer of no-strings-attached sex and her refusal.

She’d wanted to accept his offer, more than anything in the world, but in truth, the arc of sexual awareness between them was more dangerous than a downed power line in the middle of Broadway at rush hour. That sense of danger both thrilled and scared her.

What woman in her right mind would actively court emotional electrocution?

Then again, what a way to go.

Eden sighed. She wanted him, yet she feared his potent zap. She was also dismayed to discover that the burst of creativity she’d experienced while brainstorming Randy and Jill’s basket with Alec completely deserted her once she returned to the boutique.

Why was she inspired only she was around him? What was it about him that freed her mind when nothing else could?

To prove she didn’t need him to come up with innovative ideas, Eden had spent the weekend watching R-rated movies, doing internet searching and even attending a sexually militant avant-garde art show, all to no avail. She hadn’t once gotten turned on.

Face it. The downed power line is your muse.

Yipes. Muses were such fickle creatures.

“Mail call.” Ashley, wearing a camouflage-green tutu, T-shirt, tights and a black beret, entered the back room, where Eden sat perched on a tall stool.

“What are you wearing today? Guerrilla chic meets Parisian cafe?”

“Ha-ha.” Ashley stuck out her studded tongue. She carried an armful of envelopes and dumped them on the table next to a vase of feathers. “You’ve been quite bitchy since things didn’t work out with the hot rich guy.”

“You’re right I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on you.” Eden reached for the mail and sorted through it.

“Oh,” Ashley said. “I almost forgot.” She reached in her pocket and drew out a small brown-paper package. “This came from Alec.”

“What?” Eden leaned across the table and ripped the box from her assistant’s hand.

---