“It’s disgusting. Our children shouldn’t have to look at that!”

“It’s art!”

“Please. If that’s art, then that parking meter over there is art.”

“Ladies! Move along now. I told you, I’ll take care of this.”

When the crowd had cleared, he walked to the front door of the gallery and pressed the buzzer. At first, there was no answer, but then the door opened a crack and Marisol looked out. She smiled sleepily, squinting against the light. “Hi,” she murmured. “What time is it?”

Ian glanced at his watch. “It’s a little past eight.”

She frowned. “In the morning?”

“Yeah,” Ian said. “Can I come in?”

Marisol brushed her hair back, then rubbed her eyes. “Sure.”

She stepped aside, then closed the door behind him. She was dressed in an oversize T-shirt that nearly reached her knees, hiding the tantalizing curves of her body. The shirt was covered with splotches of brightly colored paint. Her legs and feet were bare.

Ian found himself reacting the same way he had the first time he’d walked into her gallery. But he fought against the fantasies that tickled at his desire and focused on the business at hand. It wasn’t easy. Marisol wore her beauty with a careless disregard for the effect it had on those around her. On him. Even in a T-shirt, with streaks of paint on her chin and hands, she was the most gorgeous creature he’d ever seen.

Dragging his gaze away from her face, Ian noticed the huge canvas propped up against the pillars in the center of the shop, and the ladder set in front of it. Wide swathes of orange and purple paint depicted a huge naked ass. “Nice,” he murmured. “I’m glad to see you’re trying something new.”

“I was inspired,” she said with a coy smile.

He thought back to the night before, to the intimacies they’d enjoyed, the crazy rush of passion that had swept them both away. Had he inspired her? “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to change the window display. Today. It created a traffic jam on the street out front and that can’t happen.”

“You can’t make me change it,” Marisol said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and tipping her chin up defensively.

“Actually, now I can. It’s a hazard to drivers and pedestrians. I can ticket you and for every day you keep it that way, the fine will increase.”

Marisol gasped, then raked her hair out of her eyes. “You must be joking.”

“No,” Ian said. “I’m not. So, would you like me to write the ticket, or can I help you take those sculptures out of the window?”

She considered her options, glancing back and forth between him and the front window. Then, she sighed softly and held out her hand. “I’ll take the ticket,” she said.

“It’s fifty dollars.”

She glared at him, anger snapping in her dark brown eyes. “A small price to pay to maintain my artistic integrity.”

Ian reached into his back pocket and withdrew his citation book, then wrote Marisol Arantes up on a violation of village ordinance 612.3. When he was finished, he handed her the ticket. “You can pay me right now, if you’d like. We take cash, checks or credit cards. Of course, you’re still going to have to take the sculptures out of the window.”

“I have no intention of paying you or removing the sculptures.” She held the ticket under his nose then defiantly tore it into tiny pieces. They fluttered to the floor at his feet.

“All right,” Ian said with a shrug. “Then I guess I’ve done my job.”

“Too bad you can’t say the same for last night,” she muttered.

He stared at her, stung by the sarcastic challenge in her voice. “As I recall, that was a mutual decision.”

“Was it?” she said.

He cursed softly, then, only to prove his point, he yanked her against his body, the instinct to kiss her again completely overwhelming him. His mouth came down on hers and he ran his hands beneath the T-shirt until they circled her waist. To his surprise, she was completely naked beneath. His brain told him to stop, but then she moaned and pressed her body against his, surrendering to the kiss.

Her skin was as soft and smooth as silk, her limbs perfectly formed. The moment he touched her, Ian wanted more, craving the feeling of something new and different. He would never be satisfied until he touched every inch of her skin, explored every gentle curve and every warm pulse point.

As it had been the night before, all sense of reality and propriety seemed to vanish. He forgot the citation, her refusal to follow his request, the reason for his visit in the first place. Every thought was focused on her body, on her reaction to his touch. He became consumed with the need to possess her, whether it be with a kiss or a caress or something much more intimate. Ian really didn’t care. He wanted Marisol Arantes and whatever the consequences, he’d deal with them later.

Ian reached up and switched off his radio, then grabbed her waist and gently pulled her along to the worktable near the rear of the gallery. Without interrupting their kiss, he lifted her up on the table until she sat in front him. He drew back, then slowly pulled her T-shirt up and over her head.

The sight of her naked body took his breath away. He knew it would be perfect, but nothing had prepared him for the sheer beauty that she possessed. He reached for her breasts, cupping one in each hand and teasing at her nipples with his thumbs.

She watched him, her lips damp and slightly parted, her eyes half-closed. He ran his hands down her torso and over her hips, then reached behind her and shoved aside the papers and the tubes of paint scattered over the surface of the table. Gently, he pushed her back until she was lying in front of him.

He stepped between her legs, taking his time to explore her body with his hands and his lips. Marisol closed her eyes and surrendered to his touch, a smile curving the corners of her mouth. Ian wanted to strip off his own clothes and sink into her body. But he fought the temptation and instead, focused on pleasing Marisol.

He pressed a kiss to her belly, then moved lower, to the sweet spot between her legs. A tiny moan slipped from her throat as he ran his tongue along the soft folds of her labia. He parted her with his fingers then found her clitoris, gently caressing it with the tip of his tongue.

She arched against him, furrowing her fingers through his hair. He glanced up at her and saw the effect he was having, the flush of desire on her face, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Ian had always been generous to his partners in bed, but this was something different.

He wanted her complete surrender, to know that at any moment he could possess her and she could do nothing to stop herself. Marisol’s breath came in quick gasps, but Ian brought her along slowly, determined to prolong her pleasure.

And then, before he knew it, she was there, crying out as her body shuddered, grabbing the edge of the table with white-knuckled hands. Ian kissed the inside of each thigh, then took her hands and pulled her up. Gently, he smoothed the hair out of her eyes, tracing his fingers over the delicate arch of her eyebrow.

“Take me to bed,” she murmured.

“Where do you sleep?” he asked.

She pointed up. “I have an apartment above the gallery.”

Ian grabbed her T-shirt and tugged it over her head, then wrapped her legs around his waist and picked her up. He found the stairs behind the small kitchen. The apartment was sparsely furnished and filled with unpacked boxes. A rumpled bed stood in a corner below a bay window. He set Marisol on the mattress, then drew the covers up over her.

“Take your clothes off,” she said.

“I can’t,” Ian replied. He bent over and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I’m on duty.”

Marisol groaned. “No, no. Call your boss and tell him you won’t be in.”

Ian chuckled. “I am the boss. I have to set the example. But I’ll be back. Later.”

Marisol rolled to her side and pushed up on her elbow, giving him a seductive smile. “We have some unfinished business.”

He nodded, then bent over her and kissed her. “Pay that ticket, Miss Arantes, or the next time I see you, I’ll have to slap the cuffs on you and drag you down to the station.”

“I’ll look forward to that,” she teased.

Ian walked to the door, then looked back once before leaving. Marisol had already curled herself beneath the covers, her eyes closed. He shook his head. This was a helluva way to start his day.

A PERSISTENT RINGING woke her up from a delicious dream. Marisol rolled over in bed, brushing her hair out of her eyes. She stared at the clock for a long moment, then flopped back down into the pillow. Four o’clock. By the light shining through the windows, she could assume it was p.m., not a.m., and she hadn’t missed the Templetons’ party.

She hadn’t slept so well in ages and there was no question about what had relaxed her. She smiled as she reached for the phone, hoping that it might be Ian. Perhaps she could convince him to return and finish what he’d begun. Marisol put the phone to her ear, expecting to hear his deep voice. “Hello?”

“This is National Express. We have a delivery for Marisol Arantes.”

“That’s me,” she said, stifling a yawn. “From who?”

“It’s a rather large crate, ma’am and we need your signature. We’re out front.”

Frowning, Marisol sat up. “I’ll be right down.” She wasn’t expecting anything. All her paintings and sculptures had been shipped from New York last week and had arrived the day after she had. She grabbed a pair of paint-stained capris and tugged them on beneath the T-shirt.

When she opened the front door of the gallery, Marisol found a man waiting, dressed in the navy uniform of the delivery service. He handed her a clipboard and she signed her name, then he helped her slide the crate inside the door. As she dragged the crate across the floor, Marisol noticed that the sculptures she’d placed in the windows were now sitting in a tidy row along the wall.