An image of Tricia flashed through his mind-Tricia with her sultry blue eyes, come-hither smile and promises of love. Annoyed that he'd allowed his former fiancée to enter his thoughts at all, he firmly pushed aside the memory, relieved that it now only brought irritation rather than the gut-twisting sense of betrayal it once had. But it was hard not to have thoughts of her sneak into his mind whenever Jilly Taylor was around, raising his "Danger Approaching!" radar, since Jilly and Tricia were so clearly cast from the same mold. Oh, they didn't look anything alike-Tricia was blond and petite and favored more feminine styles in contrast to Jilly's dark coloring and tailored suits. But they were both smart and talented-and very, very ambitious. Just the sort of coworker who should come with a warning sign tattooed on their forehead.

He narrowed his eyes, watching Jilly pause to exchange a brief word with someone. Then she walked toward him once again, her head down as she studied the papers she held. Even from a distance, Matt could see that her lips were pursed in concentration, and that her brows were bunched in a frown. She walked with a brisk, no-nonsense stride, her black, slim rectangular-frame glasses perched on her nose.

Yes, she was the epitome of professional competence, and as much as he hated to admit it, she was immensely talented. She'd started working at the agency the year before him, and they were both on the fast track to promotion. But after I land ARC, you'll be left in the dust, Jilly.

Something that felt suspiciously like his conscience pricked him, but he firmly swatted the feeling aside. It was every man for himself in this business.

As Jillian neared Debra's desk, she glanced up from her papers. Her gaze zeroed in on him, and her steps slowed. Her expression remained coolly professional, but he'd caught that flash in her eyes, the one clearly indicating she wasn't thrilled to see him. He bit back a smile at that slight ruffling of her always-in-place feathers. Some perverse part of him enjoyed rocking her boat, though she had never lost her cool around him. What would it take to really break through that professional veneer and get her fired up and out of sorts?

He'd expected her to march right on by, but she surprised him by stopping. Matt inhaled and caught a whiff of the elusive scent he'd noticed the first time he'd sat next to her in the conference room. As always, Jillian Taylor smelled fresh and clean-like clothes that had dried outdoors in the spring sunshine. Since it was winter, it couldn't be her clothing that smelled that way. Must be something they used at her dry cleaners. Either that or the Ice Princess had discovered a fragrance called Clean Laundry, which he highly doubted.

"Debra, Matt," she murmured in a voice that somehow managed to sound both smooth and a bit husky, as though she'd just slipped from between silk bedsheets. She looked at him over the top edge of her glasses. "Nice job with the Heavenly Chocolate account. Very clever, fresh and hip."

He searched for a sign of insincerity in her expression or voice, but found none. Man, she was good. "Thank you. It was a 'sweet' deal."

Her lips didn't so much as twitch. "Of course, I would have given you a run for your money if I hadn't been laid low with the flu."

"I know you would have. But I still would have been the one to bring in the account."

"I'm sure you like to tell yourself that."

He smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better."

She smiled back. "I'm sure you like to tell yourself that as well. How are you doing on the Fabulous Feline Food account?"

"Fantastic. But you know me-I'm a creative magnet. I'm like catnip."

"Hmmm. I think I feel a hairball coming up." She turned to Debra, effectively dismissing him as if she were the Queen of England and he a lowly footman. "Is Adam in?"

Debra nodded. "He's expecting you."

With a nod at both of them, she strode down the corridor, then knocked on Adam's door. Seconds later she disappeared into the office, closing the door behind her.

Matt's competitive and suspicious instincts kicked into gear. What sort of meeting were the two of them having?

"Well, now I understand," Debra said, pulling his attention back.

He looked at her, and the speculation gleaming in her eyes made him nervous. "Understand what?"

"Why you haven't picked up on any of the signals I've sent your way. Your receptors are all clogged up." Her gaze shifted pointedly toward the door where Jilly had just disappeared. "I saw those sparks between you."

An incredulous laugh escaped him. "You couldn't be more wrong."

She hiked a skeptical brow. "I know sparks when I see them."

"Well, if you saw sparks, they definitely weren't those kind of sparks. More like sparks of annoyance."

"Doesn't matter," Debra said, with a knowing gleam in her eye. "Any kind of sparks can start a fire."


* * *

At seven-thirty that evening, Jilly plopped down into a booth across from Kate Montgomery at their favorite Chinatown eatery for their standing Thursday night dinner "date," a weekly tradition since their college graduation six years earlier. Jilly slapped her hands on the Formica table and shot her best friend a broad grin. Kate worked at a law firm on Park Avenue and specialized in tax law. Jilly loved her in spite of the fact that she was gorgeous, brilliant and savvy. Indeed, clad in what Jilly suspected was most likely an Armani suit, her pale blond hair falling softly about her shoulders, Kate reminded Jilly of a young Grace Kelly.

"Looks like you had a good day," Kate remarked with an answering smile as Jilly slipped her overcoat from her shoulders.

"You have no idea. I have a chance to bring in a huge new client for Maxximum."

"Sounds exciting," Kate said, passing her a plastic-coated menu. "Who's the potential client?"

"ARC Software, to promote their new operating system that's going to be installed in all WellCraft computers." Adrenaline surged just saying the words.

Kate looked properly impressed. "That is huge. Landing something like that would cement your position at Maxximum."

"Exactly. There's a promotion, bonus and perks attached." Finally-the financial and career security she'd been striving for. "My boss, Adam, has arranged for me to spend time with ARC's CEO this weekend at-guess where?"

"Hmm… obviously somewhere good. Maui?"

Jilly laughed. "Not quite that good. Chateau Fontaine."

"Oohh. I'm green with envy. Ben and I spent a weekend there last summer and we loved it."

Jilly noted how Kate's eyes lit up when she mentioned her fiancé. "I'm hoping I'll have enough down time to squeeze in a facial."

"Oh, yeah, I'm feeling your pain," Kate said with dry humor. "I just hate it when I have to schmooze clients at Chateau Fontaine. When are you going?"

"Tomorrow after work. I won't be back until Monday night. As much as I hate to cut our 'date' short, I need to go home right after dinner. I only have tonight to prepare some sort of presentation. Doesn't give me much time to be brilliant."

"That's fine. I have some briefs to go over for a meeting tomorrow."

The waiter arrived, and they gave their selections-a no-brainer as they ordered the same thing every week.

"So, what else is going on?" Kate asked. "How's your social life?"

"You mean besides my weekly date with you? Nonexistent. What about you?" Her gaze flicked down to the two-carat sparkler adorning Kate's left hand. "Judging from that neon glow emanating from you, things are going well with Ben."

"Things are going very well with Ben. The wedding plans are progressing nicely. I highly recommend falling in love."

"Of course you do. That's because you managed to find the last decent, honest, financially secure, emotionally stable, unmarried, heterosexual man in New York."

"I found him because I was looking."

"Actually, you weren't looking at all. As I recall, you were totally focused on your career."

"I was only ninety percent focused on my career," Kate corrected, shifting into lawyer mode. "I kept ten percent of myself open to dating and searching for Mr. Right. Unlike you. You are one hundred percent work, one hundred percent of the time."

"That's not true. I've jumped on the relationship bandwagon more times than I care to remember. And I've fallen off that wagon every time-with varying degrees of injuries."

"Uh-huh. And when's the last time you took that leap?" Kate asked, moving in for the kill.

"Okay, okay, it's been a while." Yeah, like nine months, three weeks and seventeen days. "But I can sum up my lack of interest in two words: Aaron Winston."

"That was months ago. And just because your last boyfriend turned out to have major control issues, doesn't mean that would happen with your next boyfriend."

"Sure, Aaron was the last one, but what about his predecessors Carl, Mike, Kevin, Rob… the list goes on. It seems as if every man I date has control issues. It's like I'm this big magnet-" she spread her arms to demonstrate "-that only attracts men who want to smother, change and control me. Well, that type and gay men. Unfortunately neither one works for me." When Kate appeared about to argue, Jilly plunged on, "Look, I'll admit I'm paranoid, but given my track record with men can you blame me?"

Kate heaved out a sigh. "I suppose not."

"Believe me, I'd love to have the sort of relationship that you share with Ben."

"And if the right guy came along…?"

"I'd grab him like that." She snapped her fingers. "But I'm not holding my breath for Mr. Fabulous to walk by. And besides, I'm way too busy at work to spend time looking for this fictitious man."