Just then he looked up. His frown disappeared and their gazes locked. Something warm and intimate passed between them, and Lacey’s insides turned to syrup, as they seemed to every time he looked at her. With his gaze steady on hers, he ended his call, then rose and walked toward her. He didn’t stop when he reached her. Instead he just lifted her up, then kept walking, his eyes burning with intensity, not halting until she was pressed against the wall.

His mouth descended on hers in a hot, hungry, demanding kiss that dragged a groan of want from her. She vaguely heard him push the door shut. But then all thought drained from her mind when he pressed his erection against her.

“I missed you,” he whispered against her lips.

“I missed you, too.”

“So that makes two of us.”

“That makes two of us,” she agreed. “Show me.” Her words ending on a groan when his hands plunged beneath her shirt and found her nipples. “Show me how much you missed me.”

And suddenly his hands, his mouth, were everywhere. As if he didn’t just want her, but craved her and couldn’t have her fast enough. Which was fine by her since she felt as if she’d explode if she didn’t feel his skin against hers.

Impatient fingers yanked at buttons while lips nipped and tongues tasted. With clothing hastily removed or simply shoved aside, he rolled on protection, then lifted her, impaling her on his erection. Lacey wrapped her legs tightly around his hips and held on, absorbing every hard, fast thrust. Her orgasm screamed through her, mindless throbs of pleasure that tore a cry from her throat. He thrust a final time, then she felt him shudder against her.

Feeling deliciously limp, Lacey’s legs slid down. Planting her feet and locking her knees, she leaned against the wall. “Wow,” she managed between ragged breaths. “I guess you did miss me.”

He cradled her face between his hands and gazed at her with an expression she couldn’t decipher. “I did.” Something flickered in his eyes. “We need to talk.”

Uh-oh. Her postcoital euphoria evaporated. In her experience, nothing good ever followed “we need to talk.” Especially when those words were said in such a serious voice. And accompanied by such a serious expression.

“Bad day?” she asked, hoping that whatever was wrong was merely business related, but the way he was looking at her gave her the sinking feeling it was more than that.

“Bad day,” he agreed in a tired voice.

She watched him adjust his clothing while she scooped up her pants and underwear from the floor and slipped them on. When they were both put back together, he said, “When you arrived, that call I was on, it was from Greg Mathers, my boss.”

The wave of relief that swamped Lacey loosened her knees and she rested her shoulders against the wall. Clearly whatever was wrong was business related. Nothing to do with them.

“What did he say?”

“There’s something he’s insisted I take care of. Immediately.”

Realization dawned. “I see. So we have to postpone leaving for San Francisco?”

“This has nothing to do with our trip to San Francisco, Lacey. It has to do with you. You and Constant Cravings.” He waved a hand toward his desk. “Would you like to sit down?”

Her instincts immediately went on red alert, at both his words and his suddenly businesslike demeanor and tone. “No, thanks, I prefer to stand.”

He nodded, then drew what appeared to be a bracing breath. “Greg made a visit to Fairfax last week, to evaluate the retail and office spaces. We’ve since had several meetings, and after careful consideration, it’s been decided that Fairfax won’t be offering you a lease renewal after Constant Cravings’ lease expires three months from now.”

For several long seconds she could only stare at him in shock. Then she said, slowly, in a voice that sounded as if it came from far away, “You’re evicting me?”

“No, we’re simply not offering you another lease.”

A plethora of feelings bombarded her, all fighting for attention-disbelief, confusion, hurt, anger-but anger was the one that broke through first. Fighting to keep her voice calm, she asked, “Can you please explain why?”

“After his site visit, Greg doesn’t feel the store is a good match for the complex.”

“A good match?” She pushed off the wall and clenched her hands. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means he doesn’t like the image you’ve projected with your sexy window displays and product names.”

“So he’s evicting me?”

“Not offering you a new lease is not the same as evicting you.” He dragged a hand through his hair, an impatient gesture matched by his tone and the flicker in his eyes. “This has been an issue since you came here, Lacey.”

“Not for me. But obviously for you and Greg Mathers. He has no grounds not to offer me another lease.”

“He doesn’t need any. And even if he did, as far as he’s concerned, the sexy nature of your window displays violates your lease agreement.”

“Those window displays have generated a lot of income,” she fumed.

“No one is arguing that. But the bottom line is he wants something in that space that is more in keeping with the image he and the investors want Fairfax to project.”

She stared at him, frozen with an incomprehensible mixture of disbelief, anger, and numbness. “So that’s it? All my hard work, all my dreams, all my time and energy dedicated to making my store something special, something different, is all gone?” She huffed out a short, bitter breath, then narrowed her eyes. “You seem very calm. I take it you agree with this decision?”

He said nothing for several long seconds, during which time Lacey’s heart pounded, each beat feeling as if it broke off another piece. Finally he said, “I can’t deny that I see Greg’s point. I tried to tell you, many times, to tone it down, yet you refused to listen. But I did try to talk him out of this.”

Anger exploded in her. “Well, that was damn big of you.”

It was clear he was getting angry, too. “Listen, I can’t deny that I think Constant Cravings would fare better in a different location.”

She felt as if he’d shot her. “I see. And you obviously told Greg that. Thanks for the support.”

“I supported you-”

“Sure as hell doesn’t seem like it, seeing as how I’ve been evicted.”

His eyes flashed. “For the last time, you weren’t evicted.”

“Right. I just won’t have a store three months from now. Well, consider your job done. Your boss wanted you to tell me and you have.” She reached down and grabbed her purse, which had slid to the floor when he’d carried her to the wall. “Nice timing, by the way, getting in a last quickie before imparting your news.”

His face darkened, and he reached her in two steps, then grasped her shoulders. “That had nothing to do with it.”

She jerked away from him and retreated several paces. “Of course not. The sex was personal. What you told me was just business.”

Relief relaxed his tense expression. “Exactly.”

He moved toward her, but she backed up and held out her hand to stop him. “Don’t touch me. The last time you touched me was just that-the last time.”

He halted as if he’d hit a wall, then dragged his hands down his face. “Lacey, I understand you’re upset-”

“Upset is an understatement.”

“I can see that. But we have the entire weekend to discuss this.”

“There’s nothing to discuss. Your boss wants me out, you agree with him and you’ve given me the boot-without so much as the courtesy to talk about the situation with me. Even if there was nothing more than business between us, that would ‘upset’ me. Given our personal relationship, it not only upsets me, it really hurts.” Her voice quavered on the last word and she pressed her lips together, hard, fighting to hold back the tidal wave of emotion bearing down on her.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. You must know that.”

“I’m afraid I don’t. My first impression of you was that you were one of the soulless clones who only thought about business. I wish I’d listened to that first impression. As for this weekend? Not going to happen. We’re through.”

“Lacey…” He raked his hands through his hair. “You don’t mean that. You can’t just walk away like this.”

She raised her chin and looked into his eyes. “I mean it. And, yes, I can just walk away.”

Turning on her heel, she strode to the door, opened it, then left without a backward glance.

She forced herself to concentrate on her anger, on the deep sense of betrayal she felt, until she made it home. But the instant her apartment door was closed and locked behind her, a wrenching sob broke free. She sank to the floor and listened to her heart shatter.

10

EVAN SPENT THE WEEK IN San Francisco trying to convince himself that the gut-wrenching sense of loss clenching his insides was relief-or bad seafood-but by the time Friday rolled around he couldn’t lie to himself any longer.

He’d done his job, followed the rules. And lost Lacey.

Lacey, who made him laugh. Who could turn him on with a mere look. Who could talk about any topic under the sun. Who could make the most mundane activity interesting and fun. Who appealed to both his body and mind in a way no other woman ever had. Whose wicked sense of fun and “stop and smell the roses” personality had prodded him to take a good, long look at himself and at the way he was living his life. And when he’d done so, he hadn’t particularly liked what he’d seen.

While he didn’t think he’d turned into one of the soulless clones she’d described, he’d absolutely been headed in that direction. Thanks to her, he’d reversed that trend. And he had never been as happy as during the month they’d been together. She was the first woman he’d known in a very long time whom he enjoyed as much out of bed as in bed. He’d thought he’d been in love a couple of times, but what he’d felt for those other women paled to insignificance when compared to the feelings Lacey inspired.