"Spike likes you."

Mad grinned and settled herself on her side. Her eyes twinkled. "Oh, God, I really like him. He's got such a terrific edge to him...you know, that slightly dangerous thing. Too bad he's so shy."

Shy? Spike wasn't shy, he was enthralled. "I don't think that's why he's quiet."

"You know, it's too bad we don't need a cook. The rest of the boys would get a kick out of him. He'd fit right in with us."

Alex shook his head ruefully. How could she be so clueless?

"Mad, you're missing my point. He likes you. He's attracted to you."

She stared at him for a moment, the merry grin leaving her face. Then she slashed her hand through the air. "Yeah, whatever."

Mad turned on her back. Shut him out.

"Mind if I ask you something?" he said.

"Anything, Captain."

"It's personal."

"So."

"Do you like men?"

She looked over her shoulder at him and laughed. "All my friends are men, I work with men, I live with men. Of course I like them."

"I mean, sexually."

"Oh." Her eyes shifted away from his. "I-ah, I don't know. I've never had one before."

He smiled. "Don't feel awkward about it, for God's sake."

"Well, I guess I figure I'm a little unusual."

"You aren't. And I sure as hell don't care that you're a lesbian."

Her eyes shot back to his. She cleared her throat. Good Lord, was Mad Dog Maguire blushing?

"Captain, I'm not-I don't like women like that."

Alex frowned. "So if you've never been with a man and you're not a lesbian, what-"

"I'm a virgin, okay? I'm a professional athlete who's one of the best navigators in our sport who just happens to have never had sex. It's no big deal, you know." She grimaced and put her hands to her face. "God, are we really having this conversation? 'Cause I kind of hope this is a bad dream."

Alex could only stare at her.

"Stop staring at me, Captain."

"Sorry, it's just...a little bit of a surprise, that's all."

"Yeah, well, I'm not contagious or anything. You can't catch inexperience from me," she muttered.

"Jeez, Mad. I just figured...I mean, you're so comfortable with your body, so confident in yourself-"

"And you think I can't be all that and a virgin, too?"

"You're absolutely right."

"Look, just don't tell the boys. I don't have anything to hide, but there's no need to broadcast this kind of private stuff."

"It's no one's business but yours, Mad."

She laughed a little. "Thanks, Captain. Guess we're even, aren't we? One secret for another."

"Yeah. We're even," he murmured.

Alex eased onto his back, thinking of the other reason why he'd been so distracted over dinner. His one-time-only vow had been on the verge of disintegration the moment Cassandra had kissed him with such delicate inquiry. When he'd left her room, his body had been humming with sex. So much so, he'd had to wait a little before he could rejoin the party. It was either that or show off an obscenely prominent erection.

Never had his self-control been so fallible than with Cassandra.

Chapter Seventeen.

Cass woke up the next morning and couldn't get out of bed. She was queasy and feverish and teetering on the brink of a decision she wished she didn't have to entertain. Even in the hypothetical.

She glanced at the clock to see what time it was, saw the congealed soup Alex had left on the bedside table and barely made it to the bathroom in time.

When she got back, a quick phone call to her office in New York was all it took. Jay Dobbs-Whyte, one of their younger associates, was going to come up and relieve her from the White Caps renovation.

She'd never had to leave in the middle of a project for personal reasons before. Ever. Once she started something, she finished it.

But after last night she needed some time to herself. She wasn't concentrating at the site. Her health was suffering. And even if she forced herself to work, she was going to be next to useless if her stomach wouldn't let her get out of the bathroom.

Jay was going to drive up from the city tomorrow. She would take him through the house and then she would leave. All she had to do was tell Frankie and Joy. Which was going to kill her.

But she couldn't go on like this.

Cass got up, took a shower and was dismayed to learn that Frankie and Joy and their husbands had left already. She called their cell phones, got voice mail and left messages to the effect that she was turning the project over to a trusted colleague because she had health issues. She urged them to call her so she could explain the situation in greater detail.

Such detail not to include how she felt about Alex.

While she drove over to White Caps, she braced herself for seeing the shop. And she did a good job not dwelling on it as she went by, though she couldn't help looking at the glossy black Viper nestled up tight to the barn. The thing looked like part of a car ad in a magazine, so sleek and flashy against all the pristine snow.

Parking the Range Rover in her usual space, she got out and heard the men talking.

"Hey, boss!" Ted called over to her. "Glad you're here. We got a problem with the upstairs bath."

Getting swept up in the work actually helped, and except for a revulsion to lunch, she kept herself together. When three o'clock rolled around, she told the men what to expect from Jay and was touched as they seemed sorry she was leaving. After the crew had pulled out, she went back to Gray's and headed straight for her tub.

Her body was achy, and she ran the water as hot as she could make it. Sinking into the claw-footed thing of beauty made her moan with relief. Muscles that had been screaming tight all day long relaxed in a rush as she sank into the warmth. When there was a knock on her bedroom door, she was frustrated by the interruption.

"Cass? It's Libby, may I come in?"

"Sure, let me get out of the tub."

Except her body wanted to stay right where it was so negotiating her way free of the bath was a project. As she drew on a terry-cloth bathrobe, she couldn't wait to get back in.

Walking through her room, she had a wonderful feeling of dislocation, as if she were floating, a buoy in calm water.

"Hi, Libby," she murmured as she opened the door.

"I just wanted-" The woman frowned. "Are you okay? You look awfully pale."

"I feel fine." Cass swayed, that gentle, billowing sensation surging throughout her body. "I feel...lovely."

Then she fainted.

Alex and Spike left the nursing home together, and both of them were quiet as they got into the Honda. Actually, neither of them had said much since they'd left the shop about an hour before.

"You want to get something to eat?" Spike asked.

"Sure."

"Silver Diner?"

"Yeah." Alex stretched his arms, feeling the burn in his pecs. "I could use a blue-plate special or two after that workout we had this morning. You were a hard driver."

Spike shrugged and started the car. "No more than you were."

"Or Mad."

"Yeah, she's, ah, strong." Spike eased the Honda out of their parking spot. "How long is she staying?"

"She's left."

Spike's head jerked, as if he'd wanted to flip the thing around and had fought the impulse. "When?"

"After we finished this morning."

"Oh. Cool."

They were on the other side of town, closing in on the diner, when the man cleared his throat.

"Can I ask you something about her?"

Alex looked over. "Yeah, sure."

"Is it true that she's some kind of heiress or something? I mean, that's what Gray said."

"Val-U-Mart Supermarkets."

Spike whistled under his breath. "Wow."

"She's really down-to-earth, though. Viper notwithstanding." Alex frowned. God, Spike was so tense, he was about to snap the steering wheel right off the damn drive shaft. "Hey, buddy, what-"

"Listen, Lex, about heading to Blue Mountain Lake. I'd like to drive you. You free tomorrow?"

Nice evasive maneuver, Alex thought. And since he didn't appreciate it when people crawled up into his business, he let the subject stay changed.

Even though where their conversation had landed was an awkward spot for him. He wasn't sure why he'd even put the idea of the trip out there. He knew he wasn't going to end up building boats, for God's sake. He'd promised Mad he was coming back. He wanted to come back.

He was about to tell Spike to forget it when his neck started tingling. He reached up and rubbed the damn thing.

What the hell, he thought. It didn't hurt to just go up and talk to the guys. Conversation didn't mean anything.

He glanced at Spike. "Tomorrow's good for me. Thanks."

His cell phone went off.

When he shut the thing, his hands were shaking. "Cassandra passed out. Take us to Doc John's. Right now."

As Cass sat on an exam table in a flimsy little cotton gown, she felt as though she was in good hands. Doc John was in his fifties and looked like the kind of person you'd want to have on the other end of a stethoscope. He was as calm and steady as a mountain. About the size of one, too, with his woodsman's build. His clinic was housed in an old Victorian, and Cass was pretty sure she was being examined in what had once been a sitting parlor.

He smiled as he wrote down her weight and temperature.

"Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" he asked.

The question shocked her. "Uh, no."

"Have you been intimate with anyone lately?" Evidently, the blush that hit her face answered his question. "Maybe I'll just take some blood so we can rule it out, okay? I'll also check some other things. Thyroid and liver functions, iron levels, that kind of stuff."

"Fine with me. But I'm telling you, I'm not pregnant. My husband and I tried for years."

"Did you ever get a fertility assessment done?"

"No need to. He fathered two children with his first wife. It was me."