No. The problem was, she was starting to like him. The man himself. His sense of humor, his sense of right and wrong, his work ethic, the way he treated his subordinates. Everyone in the company seemed to adore him and as much as she’d fought it, she found herself teetering dangerously close to that slippery slope. And adoration was not, repeat, not listed on her business plan.

And even if she did adore him-which she didn’t-Adam Duke was the last person on earth she would ever get involved with. Not that he’d asked her out or anything. He never would. She was his employee and he was probably too damn conscientious to ever cross that line. And that was fine, too. She’d heard enough office gossip to know that she wasn’t his type at all. Meaning, she wasn’t a supermodel, tall and thin and beautiful-if vapid. Nor was she the type to fall into bed with a man just because he took her out to dinner.

She fumed as she slammed shut another file drawer. Even if he did ask her out to that fancy dinner, she would say no. Because Adam Duke was the enemy.

“Remember, Trish?” she muttered fiercely under her breath. “That’s why you’re here. The man is the enemy. Try to stay on track, would you?”

“Good morning, Trish,” Adam said.

Okay, she might’ve let out the eensiest little squeal, but she applauded herself for not jumping more than six inches at the sound of his voice. Why did he continue to sneak up on her?

“Good morning,” she whispered hoarsely, trying to catch her breath.

“You’re trying to make me look bad, aren’t you?” he said, gazing at her through narrowed eyes.

“What? Me? No.” She glanced around quickly. The file drawers were closed. There were no incriminating notes on her desk. How had he grasped the true reason why she was here?

He laughed and every last synapse in her nervous system stood up and did the cha-cha-cha. Who needed coffee when Adam Duke was in the room?

She cleared her throat and moved to her desk. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I thought I’d be the first one in the office,” he explained. “But you’ve beat me to it every day this week and here you are again, already settled in and hard at work.”

“Oh.” She was such a moron. “Right.” She tried to breathe evenly as she fiddled with the staple remover and almost gouged her thumb. “Um, well, I do like to get an early start on things.”

“Great,” he said with a wink and a crooked smile. “I like that, too.”

She resisted the urge to check her pulse. She looked away, tried to swallow, but her throat was dry as dust.

“Everything okay this morning?” Adam asked.

“Uh, yes.”

“Any calls?”

“No, sir.”

“Sir?” He grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

She shook her head. There was that teasing sense of humor again. And that, combined with a winning smile, was surely the most attractive quality in any man. Well, a perfectly shaped rear end helped, and Adam Duke had that going for him, too.

“Are you ready to go over the opening-night arrangements?” she asked as Adam turned toward his office.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Grab your notes and come in.”

Trish squelched the thought that her notepad wasn’t the only thing she wanted to grab. As she followed him into his office, she took it all in: the perfect butt, the wide shoulders, his masculine scent, his powerful stride. The man exuded strength, charisma and incredible sex appeal, and his ethics had the appearance of being honorable. So what was she doing here? Besides tormenting herself, of course? Lust, forbidden and sweet, roiled inside her and she almost groaned. How could she be so stupid as to be falling for him?

She really should’ve quit yesterday.


Adam ignored the now-familiar tightness pulling at his groin and sat down behind the heavy mahogany desk. By now, he should’ve been used to this ridiculous lust and the physical manifestation it produced in him every time he walked into the office and feasted his eyes on the deliciously curvaceous Trish James.

Physical manifestation? He rolled his eyes in disgust. Why not call it a hard-on and be done with it? But hey, wouldn’t his brothers be proud that he was using his words?

Despite the physical…whatever, Adam had to admit he got a kick out of seeing Trish every morning. She was adorable without even trying to be, and it was easy and fun to spook her. You’d think she was up to no good, the way she startled so easily.

His chuckle got lost somewhere in his chest as he watched her plant herself in the chair opposite him and cross her legs. She was wearing a dress today and it was just as he’d suspected: her legs were world class. Smooth, shapely and lightly tanned, they were accentuated by three-inch heels that made Adam wish they were all she was wearing. He would start at her ankles, kissing and licking his way up to-

“Before we go over my notes,” Trish began, “there’s a letter you should probably read.” She pulled a piece of correspondence from his inbox and handed it to him. “It looks important.”

Adam raised his eyebrows when he saw the law firm letterhead and was scowling by the time he finished reading the contents.

He grabbed the phone and hit the speed-dial number of the contractor on-site at Fantasy Mountain. Holding up one finger to let Trish know this wouldn’t take long, he waited for his call to be put through. He and his brothers hired Bob Paxton Construction for all their projects because Bob was simply the best in the business. And the Duke brothers only worked with the best.

Ten minutes later, Adam hung up the phone.

“I take it the news is bad?” Trish asked.

He glanced over, noticed her look of concern and realized that he was grateful she was so in tune with him and his business. It felt good to have someone on his side. Almost instantly, he brushed that odd feeling away and stood to pace.

“Yeah, it’s bad news,” he said, walking across the room to the coffeepot. He poured himself a cup and held the pot out to Trish.

“No, thanks,” she said, still wearing that look of consternation. “Did someone get hurt at Fantasy Mountain?”

“No,” Adam said immediately. “You read the letter, right?”

“Yes,” she said, making a face. “But the legalese made my eyes cross.”

“I know what you mean.” Adam chuckled and sat back down at his desk. “But I assure you, nobody was hurt.”

“Then what happened? Can you discuss it?”

“Yeah. The ADA guidelines weren’t followed for the parking structures.” He set the coffee mug on the corner of his desk.

“ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act?”

“Right,” Adam said, impressed that Trish had heard of the federal act. He’d had to explain it more than once to Cheryl when she’d first started working for him. “We make every effort to comply with the ADA, not only because we don’t want to get sued, but also, more importantly, because we want everyone to be able to enjoy the experience our resorts have to offer. It’s a no-brainer. But somehow, the subcontractor who built the parking structure didn’t comply with the guidelines.”

“The guidelines tell you how many spaces you need for handicapped parking and that sort of thing?”

“Right,” Adam said, pleased once again that she was aware of the issues involved. “It’s a lot more complicated than that, though, right down to the angles of curbs and degrees of slope, the width of sidewalks, the height of sinks in the bathrooms. I could bore you to tears with all the details. But the bottom line is, the crew building the parking lot screwed up.”

“How did this lawyer find out about it?” she asked, pointing to the letter.

“Good question,” Adam said, taking another sip of coffee. “There are organizations that make it their business to check out new facilities like hotels, shopping centers, public spaces, to make sure that the ADA guidelines are followed to the letter. That way, they can assure their members that they’ll have access to all areas.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

“Yes, it is,” he said, and ordinarily he had no trouble with the inspections. Because the Dukes had never had a problem. Until now. “So now we’ve got to get it fixed before the resort opens.”

“Can it be done that fast?”

“That’s what the phone call was for. Bob’s already on it. In fact, he’s more furious than I am. He’ll get the subcontractor back there to clean up their mess. I want them to start as soon as possible, but before anything can happen, this lawyer wants to survey the site with us and point out everything that’s wrong.”

She gave him an understanding smile. “You don’t like lawyers.”

“They’re a necessary evil,” Adam said, shrugging. Then he grinned. “Besides, my lawyers can beat up anyone else’s lawyers any day.”

Trish laughed. “I’m sure they can.”

As pleased as he was to have made Trish laugh, he quickly sobered. “I don’t want to make light of this situation. I grew up with plenty of handicapped kids in the orphanage, so I know the problems they face.”

Whoa, where had that come from?

He rushed to change the subject even as Trish’s eyes widened in sympathy. “So while this problem is stupid and annoying, it’s not irreparable.”

She nodded slowly, but didn’t say anything, and Adam knew that if he could’ve kicked himself, he would have. He’d never made a slip like that before. What was he doing, talking about the orphanage to someone outside of his own family? It was none of the world’s business what his life had been like before Sally Duke had intervened. Sure, reporters had dug out the truth in the past, but he preferred never to discuss it at all.

“We’ll need the jet,” he said abruptly.

She blinked. “We have a jet?”

He simply nodded, then punched up his calendar on the computer. “Yeah, we’ve got a jet. I’ll need you to call and book it for Wednesday morning.”