Bedroom Eyes

“Mr. Dane,” she shouted, “I want to remind you. I make the rules! This is a business deal. We’re not going for an Academy Award. All you have to do is help me convince my employer that you’re my fiancé. Once he believes that—” they moved alongside a small truck “—we’ll quietly break our engagement and you can hit the road.”

“I’d think about that, buddy,” the man in the truck yelled out his window. “She’s a babe!”

Mitchell laughed, gave the driver a thumbs-up, and watched him move past. “I’m thinking he’s right, Annie,” he said, getting into the role. “Even a stranger knows we’re a match.” It surprised him to know how much fun he was having. And the thought of her in a sarong was an idea so appealing that he could almost feel his toes in the hot sand. She looked too calm. He’d just shake her up a bit. “Why wait six months? Let’s elope right now.”

“Ohhhh!” The man was impossible. Deliberately, she tapped the brakes and threw Mitchell forward. “Now fasten your safety belt and pay attention.”

“Okay. Okay.” He moved over and clamped the belt into place. “We wait until I’ve completed my assignment and then run off to the South Seas. I’ll take you to a real luau and take your photograph on the beach at sundown.”

“You really are a photographer?”

“I am.”

“Then why are you modeling for Bettina?”

He could tell her the truth, but he was enjoying the fantasy. “As a favor. She’s a very convincing woman. I could never refuse her anything.”

“I know,” Anne agreed. “When I went to her office I was all set to turn around and leave, but she wouldn’t let me. Tell me about your work. What kind of pictures do you take?”

“Anything from calendar art to the rain forest,” he said. “Whatever strikes my fancy. Did you like Hawaii, Anne?”

“No. It was beautiful…but it was too expensive. I’m afraid I spent most of my time in the hotel.”

He laughed. “Figures. Any other woman going to Hawaii would wear her skimpiest bikini and hit the beaches or the pool where she could soak up the sun and attract men.”

“I told you, I have sensitive skin, and I wasn’t interested in attracting men.” What she couldn’t tell him was that she had expected Phillip to accompany her. It was to have been their honeymoon. She lost Phillip and her job, then found out their trip was nonrefundable. Hawaii was the loneliest place she’d ever been.

“Annie, you don’t really expect me to believe that a gorgeous woman like you was in her room counting her money. I can see right now I’m going to have to teach you how lovers act. I’ll bet you didn’t even buy a sarong.”