Once he had felt the first licks of flame beneath the girl’s innocence. Had the woman learned to burn, or had she frozen solid?
He was surprised at how much he wanted to know the answer.
Just as the recorded message was ending, the real voice broke in—and he felt it like a caress across raw nerves.
“Hello?” A taste of smoke and velvet beneath cool satin.
His body stirred, and Dev nearly hung up.
“Hello?” Irritation edged at sleep.
“Sleeping late again, princess?”
“It’s not—” She gasped. “Oh, no—” Her voice took on a note of horror. “Dev, it’s nine o’clock.”
“I noticed.” He sat down on the bed, enjoying the sense of advantage. “Not much of an early riser, are you? I guess that’s easy when you don’t have to work for a living.”
“Dev, I don’t usually…”
He could almost feel ashamed at the distress he heard. This wasn’t much of a way to get their picnic started, and it sure as hell was no way to pave the path for Boone and Maddie.
“It doesn’t matter.” He tamped down his irritation, running fingers through his hair. “I owe you an apology. I got out of Dallas too late last night, and you didn’t answer when I called. I’m sorry if I’m catching you too early.”
“It’s not too early,” she responded. “I’m not a late sleeper. I just—”
“Does this give you enough time to get ready?”
“Three hours? I could be ready in thirty minutes,” she sniffed.
“No woman can get ready in thirty minutes. I know. I have sisters.”
“Want to bet?”
He blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“Would you care to make a wager, Mr. Marlowe?”
Damn, but he could almost get a kick out of that snotty princess-to-peasant tone—except that he was tired of being the peasant. But this Lacey intrigued him. He decided to push her further.
“Are we talking thirty minutes from the time I hang up the phone?”
“I…”
He heard the note of panic in her voice. “Shall we synchronize our watches?”
“Dev, I— Maybe I was a little hasty.”
“Ah. I knew it. My sisters always have to change clothes fourteen times. And then there’s all that makeup and the hair and junk. Don’t worry, I understand.”
He should pull the receiver away from his ear before he got frostbite. He could feel ice forming now.
“Fine. Thirty minutes from the time we hang up. But that will make our picnic rather early.”
“Hey, nine o’clock is like noon to me. Some of us working stiffs have to get up early.”
Ice turned to steel, encased in velvet. “So how much shall we wager?”
The challenge was irresistible. And damn it, he was surprised by this Lacey. Maybe the doe wasn’t so fragile after all.
“Not how much. When.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you lose, we have a real date.”
He heard a faint gasp, but she recovered quickly. “And if I win?”
Dev smiled. “Then you get to pick where we go.”
Lacey laughed, and it was the first warm spring shower washing over a heart chilled by winter. “You always dared too much, Dev. Always pushed the limits.”
Yeah. And lost big, thanks to your father.
The past rose up between them and the warmth of the moment slipped away. Dev was surprised that he wasn’t ready to let it go. “So does that mean you agree?”
Silence sang out over the line.
“Dev, do you think this is wise?”
The girl who had dared to meet him in defiance of her father warred with the princess who knew her place.
And his.
“Probably not. Your father wouldn’t like it at all.”
“My father has nothing to do with this.”
Keep telling yourself that, princess. “Forget the bet. I’ll pick you up at noon.” He prepared to hang up.
Frost coated a clear challenge. “I’ll be ready in thirty minutes, Dev.”
He shook his head, not sure whether to marvel or curse. She wasn’t a shy sixteen-year-old anymore.
“You’re on.”
Lacey threw the third change of clothes on her bed. What did one wear to have a picnic with a man who’d betrayed you? She fumbled in her purse for the roll of antacids.
Why had she agreed to this? What was she thinking, to have let him manipulate her into this picnic—much less to bet with him, for heavens’ sake? She never lost her temper, but somehow he had pushed her too far with that smug certainty, with all his assumptions.
She stood for a moment, hands on hips, and reached for her usual aplomb. Casual, Lacey. Pick something casual so he’ll know you don’t care.