and for a second they flashed gold. The sight made a shiver run down her spine, both from anxiety and
something she hated to label as arousal.
“Who are you?” she asked when she finally got her mouth working properly. She supposed if he
planned to stand there and let her gape at him all night, he at least owed her an introduction. And if she
knew his name, he wouldn’t be a complete stranger anymore, and she wouldn’t feel so guilty about
staring.
“EricMalcolm.” He held out his hand and she took it hesitantly, expecting a handshake. When he
brought her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over her knuckles, she blinked in surprise. His palm was
warm and soft, and the fleeting touch of his lips against her skin had her drawing a sharp breath.
“And you are…?” he continued, her hand still firmly in his grip.
Think.She mentally knocked herself on the head, trying to get her brain to function.
“AnnElizabethHolmes.”
Stupid!No one called herAnnElizabeth . What was she thinking?
“Well,AnnElizabeth —”
“Ellie.”She smiled weakly. “Please. Call me Ellie. I hateAnnElizabeth .”
“Why?” He raised an eyebrow at her as he spoke.
“It’s boring.” Oh, yeah. Like Ellie is any better.
He frowned and studied her for a minute. “You don’t strike me as a boring woman.”
She had to laugh at that. “Stick around. I’ll prove you wrong in a matter of days.Maybe even hours.”
He nodded slowly, his eyes darkening almost imperceptibly. “I might just do that.”
“Oh, no, I didn’t mean…” She sighed, not willing to finish the thought. She felt a little like a moth drawn
to flame. His gaze sucked her in, entranced her, but if she got close enough, she’d be fried to a crisp. He
could do that to her—she had no doubts about it.
“I think you did.” He glanced at the pad in her lap, his head cocked to the side. Self-consciously she
brushed her hair back behind her ears again. He took full advantage of the moment, reaching over her
shoulder and lifting the pad off her lap before she even had time to react.
“Hey!Give that back!” She made a grab for her sketchpad, but he held tight with one hand as he leafed
through a couple of the pages with the other. He had to have noticed the sketches of him, but he didn’t
show any kind of a reaction.
“Why are you trying to hide this from me? Surely a woman as talented as you is used to showing off her
work?”
The subject matter, rather than the work as a whole, caused her the most distress. She didn’t need him
thinking she was some kind of obsessed mental case. Normal women didn’t go around drawing
pictures of complete strangers . Yeah. If she kept repeating that, she might actually start to believe it.
She shrugged, failing miserably at casual. “I have a few in a gallery downtown. This,” she yanked the
pad out of his hands and closed the cover, “is too raw to share. I make it a policy never to let anyone see
my work when it’s in the beginning stages.” Especially if the work was of a man who had no idea she’d
used him as an artist’s model.
“That’s too bad. It seems like such a waste to not share.”
His compliment caught her off guard. She didn’t know how to answer. “I guess I have doubts about
that. Most artists do.”
“Don’t doubt your talent. If you consider these sketches rough, I’d be very interested in taking a look at
some of your finished work.”
“Why?” she asked, incredulous. Suspicion rose in her. That was taking the whole flattery thing a little too
far.
“I’m redecorating my house, and I’m very interested inNew England artists.” He put his hands in his
pockets and leaned a hip against the back of the bench. Everything about his manner said “casual”, yet
she detected a faint…restlessness about him that practically screamed “ulterior motives”.
“Is that why you’re in town?To acquire art ?” She resisted the urge to tell him that the words “woman”
and “stupid” were not synonymous. When people wanted art, they went to the big galleries inNew York
City . They didn’t come toStoneHarbor . Sure, there were a couple of galleries downtown, but they were
mostly for the tourists who flocked to the town in late summer to invade the beaches.
He elegantly shrugged one shoulder, the casual façade firmly in place. “Artis one of the reasons for my
visit.”
Business, perhaps?He didn’t strike her as someone who traveled to the edge of nowhere for fun. She
waited for him to elaborate on his other reasons, but he didn’t. He just stood over her, his gaze boring