Priceless(50)

Melanie chuckled. “Is that what you think?”

“It’s the truth,” Beth insisted.

“I’m sure he thinks it is,” Melanie said agreeably. “And I know it’s what you want to believe, but I just caught a glimpse of the way he looks at you. The man is head-over-heels in love with you.”

“Mack? Don’t be ridiculous.” Beth retorted. “In lust, maybe.”

“With the Carlton men, it’s sometimes the same thing. I’m not talking about the casual kind of lust-at-first-sight business. I’m talking about the can’t-keep-his-hands-off-you lust that doesn’t quit and gets more intense with every day that passes.”

Beth was embarrassed by Melanie’s frankness and by her ability to see the desire that Beth had been trying very hard to conceal all night. Even when Mack had been at his most exasperating, all she’d been able to think about was his earlier promise to take her home tonight and drive her a little crazy. When she’d announced her intention to return to work, she’d half expected never to make it there.

“Are you denying that that’s what is going on with you two?” Melanie asked.

“I really don’t think we should be discussing this,” Beth said, uncomfortable not only with the topic, but with Melanie’s accurate assessment of the situation.

“I’ve embarrassed you, haven’t I? I’m sorry,” Melanie apologized. “It’s just that I’ve been down this road, and I can see all the signs. When the Carlton men finally fall, they fall hard. If you ever decide you do want to talk about it, give me a call.” She pulled a Carlton Industries business card from her purse and jotted a number on the back. “There. Now you have my number at the office and at home. I mean it, Beth. The only way for us to hold our own when the Carlton steamroller gets into high gear is to stick together. I know I’d have been happy to have the moral support when I was in the same place you’re in now.”

Beth laughed. “Yes, I can see how that might help,” she said, tucking the card into her pocket. She could also imagine being friends with this open, energetic woman who saw the Carltons so clearly. It had been years and years since she’d had a woman friend to confide in, years since she’d had anything to confide, for that matter.

Before either of them could say more, Destiny, Richard and Mack came back with the drinks and dessert.

During the toast, Mack’s gaze caught Beth’s, and she felt herself responding to the barely banked heat in his eyes. Okay, she admitted, her hand trembling slightly, she was a little bit past being in lust herself.

But in love with the region’s consummate playboy? No way. She simply couldn’t allow it to happen.



Mack rolled over and stared down into Beth’s face. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful with her cheeks still flushed from sex, her skin still glowing with a soft sheen of perspiration. He wondered if he’d ever get his fill of moments like this.

“Do you intend to spend the night watching me sleep?” she murmured.

“I didn’t think you’d catch me. I thought you were actually asleep, rather than playing possum,” Mack said, daring to reach out and tuck a curl behind her ear now that he knew he wouldn’t be waking her. He let his fingers linger against her petal-soft skin.

“Faking it,” she teased. “You wore me out. I needed a breather.”

Mack laughed. “If anyone needs a breather, it should be me. I thought I was going to follow you back to work and leave you there, then go home and spend a quiet night all alone in my own bed. I still have a lot of recovering to do from the last night we spent together. It’s a good thing I’m not in training any more. The coaches would have a lot to say about me being this wiped out.”

“Ha!” she muttered. “You knew exactly where we were heading the instant we left your aunt’s. In fact, you were leading the way.”

He grinned. “Well, I was hopeful,” he admitted. “I kept watching in my rearview mirror to see if you were going to turn off and head straight for the hospital, after all.”

“I thought about it,” Beth said. “Then I thought about this. It was no contest.”

“Glad to know you find me more fascinating than your paperwork,” he groused.

She regarded him with an impish expression. “Definitely better than paperwork, though my research might give you a run for your money.”

“Want to tell me about what you’re working on?” he asked, realizing that he truly did want to understand every single thing that was important to her. He couldn’t recall another time when he’d cared about anything more than the moment, when it came to a woman who was in his bed.