"Is this from your office?"

"It was. Now it has a new home with a woman who appreciates its beauty."

"Didn't you?"

"Beauty should be shared."

I shift the painting so that I can prop it safely against the wall. And when I do, I see the faded label on the frame. "A Monet? This is a copy, right?"

"It's an original," he says. "If it's not, I'll be having some very stern words with Sotheby's."

"But ... but ..."

"It's a sunset," he says firmly, as if that should quell all my protests. "And it reminds me of you."

"Damien ..."

"And, of course, this gift isn't nearly as precious as the one you left for me in the limo." His eyes sparkle and his grin is devious. I feel a tug of heated pleasure between my thighs.

"Oh," I say.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a bit of white satin. Slowly, with his eyes never leaving mine, he lifts the panties to his face and breathes in deep. I see his eyes darken with l.u.s.t and feel a corresponding tug of longing between my thighs. I clutch the back of the chair to steady myself.

"They made the ride from the restaurant to my house much more enjoyable." His voice slides over me. I want to wrap myself inside it, but all I can do is shake my head.

"Please," I beg. "Please don't start."

For a moment, I think he's going to argue. Then he slips the panties back into his pocket. I swallow, thinking of them there, with him. I wonder if he'll ever give them back. I hope that he doesn't.

We lock eyes, and for a moment it's as if the air has been sucked out of the room. Then he moves toward me, and suddenly I can breathe again as the real world rushes back in around me.

I raise my hand to ward him off. "Damien, no."

"I a.s.sure you, Ms. Fairchild, your messages here and at my apartment have been well received." His expression tightens, but I see the humor around his eyes and relax a little.

"Oh. Good. That's good." I take a deep breath. "It's just that you look-"

"How?"

"A bit like the big bad wolf."

"And would that make you Little Red Riding Hood? I may want to devour you, Ms. Fairchild, but I promise you that I'm capable of controlling my urges. Most of the time, anyway."

"Of course. I'm sorry. You just make me ..."

"What?"

"Skittish," I admit.

"Do I? Interesting." He looks pleased by the thought. I frown, feeling exposed.

"Listen, thank you for the painting. It's amazing."

"But you can't accept such an extravagant gift?"

"h.e.l.l no. I love it." And I love that he wants me to have it. "I'm perfectly happy to keep it if you really want me to have it. Despite, well, you know ..."

I trail off, and he laughs. "Good. I was afraid that since you're in the habit of denying yourself things that you so obviously want ..."

Zing. Well, he definitely got me with that one.

"Actually, I was going to say that good manners would require me to offer you a drink." I smile sweetly. "But I'm not going to, since I'm hoping you'll leave."

"Because I make you skittish?"

"Pretty much," I confess.

"I see."

Apparently he doesn't, though, because he's still standing there in my apartment.

"Well?" I ask.

"Well, what?"

I sigh. "Well, are you going to go?"

His eyes widen with surprise. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you wanted me to. I thought you were speaking hypothetically."

Now it's my turn to laugh. And as I do, I realize I'm not feeling quite so skittish anymore. "I'm going to have a drink. Of course my bourbon's probably not up to your exacting standards. But if you'd like one anyway ..."

"So I can stay?" He looks very smug and self-satisfied. And s.e.xy as h.e.l.l.

"I guess you'll have to. We only have two highball gla.s.ses, and if you take the drink with you, Jamie will get p.i.s.sed off."

"Wouldn't want to disturb the subtle inner-workings of roommate relations. I accept your invitation."

"Straight up? Or over ice?"

"However you're having it is fine."

I fetch the bourbon from the living room and bring the bottle to the kitchen to pour. "It's a trade-off," I say when I pa.s.s him a gla.s.s with a few ounces of bourbon and two cubes of ice. "I like it slightly chilled, but if you savor it too long the ice melts and it gets watered down."

"Then we'll have to drink fast," he says, then tilts his gla.s.s and tosses it back.

"Sorry, dude. I've already done the wasted thing with you. I'm going to sip mine."

"A shame. You're entertaining when you're drunk." His hand slides into his pocket.

"No way. Don't even go there."

He smiles back at me, and it's a nice moment. Just me and Damien Stark kidding around in my kitchen. Who would've thought?

He pours himself another gla.s.s. "I do have one more reason for coming here tonight," he says. "I wanted to check on you, and I wanted to give you the painting. But there's something else, too. I have a proposition for you."

I let the words sink in, trying to a.n.a.lyze my feelings about them. Proposition. That could mean so many things. Something to do with C-Squared. With me. With me and Damien.

I swallow. The best course-the safest course-is to thank him for the present and tell him that I don't even want to hear this latest twist. And yet ...

And yet I want to. I'm playing with fire, and I know it.

But the sad truth is that part of me wants to get burned.

"I'm listening," I say, and then I toss my bourbon back, too. I'm not sure what it is that I'm trying to prove to him, but I meet his eyes with satisfaction.

"Another?" he asks dryly.

"Why the h.e.l.l not?"

He pours me the drink, then moves close to hand it to me. I stay rooted to the spot. I can feel his heat. I could reach out right then and run my hand over his chest. I could watch as my skin cracked and burned from the fire that is Damien Stark. I don't, but I have to clutch my gla.s.s hard against the impulse.

"I've scoured Los Angeles and Orange County. I've looked at the online collections of galleries all over the country. I haven't found what I'm looking for."

"For your new house. We're talking about the artwork you want to hang in the house you're building?" Of all the possibilities, this is not one that would have occurred to me.

"I've finally figured out what I want, and yet it doesn't exist. Not yet, anyway."

He's eyeing me with such deliberate intensity that I start to feel nervous under his gaze.

"I'm not really following you."

"As I said, I have a proposition. You."

"Ah. Um. I'm still not following you."

"I want a portrait. Of you. I want a nude."

My mouth opens, but I can't quite form words.

"The view is from behind. You're at the foot of a bed, facing a window that looks out over the ocean. Sheer curtains billow around you, caressing your skin. You stand at an angle, so we can see the swell of your breast, the barest hint of a nipple. But your face is turned away. Your ident.i.ty is a secret. It's known only to me. And, of course, to you."

His words crash over me like waves, their pull as strong as the tide. I feel the tug of them between my thighs, and the unmistakable wetness as well. I want this-to be on display, and not just for Damien's pleasure, but for all the world to see. Anonymous, and yet known. It's not the kind of thing a girl like me is supposed to want. It's wild and wanton and even though I know Damien would say that it's art and it's beautiful, there's no denying that it's a little bit naughty, too. The pretty princess up on display.

Except that's not who I am. And that's sure as h.e.l.l not what I am.

Damien is watching my face with the same intensity I saw in his boardroom. "Good," he says. "You're not discounting the idea outright. I want this, Nikki. I can already picture how it will look on my wall."

I don't look at him, but trail my fingertip over the countertop. "You think you know what you'd be getting, but you don't."

There's silence, and I peek up at him. He's taking me in, his eyes moving slowly over me. "Don't I?"

My breath hitches as he moves close, then reaches out to slowly stroke my cheek, his movements suggesting that I already am a work of art, fragile and beautiful and perfect.

The thought makes me flinch and I jerk away. "No," I say. "Not happening." I summon a teasing grin. "Maybe we should just find you a nice poster. Like the Hang in there, Baby kitten. That would be charming."

My weak attempt at humor doesn't even faze him. "Name your price, Ms. Fairchild. Tell me what you want."

"What I want?" What I want is to be like him. Strong and confident and capable.

But I'm not ready to reveal that much of myself. So I give him the standard line. "I want a family," I say. "I want a satisfying career." And with a tossback to my years of pageant training, I add the piece de resistance. "I want world peace."

His eyes seem to burn into me, cutting through all my bulls.h.i.t.

And then he's right there, his hands on my waist. He pulls me roughly toward him, and I tilt my head back to look into his eyes. What I see makes me shiver. Makes me want. I feel the flesh between my thighs throbbing. I remember the feel of his hand there, of his fingers inside me, and my muscles clench in need.

It's burning hotter and hotter, and I'm afraid I won't be able to turn back. More, I'm afraid I won't want to.

I keep my face motionless, thinking that I'm revealing nothing.

"I can give you what you want, Nikki," he says, and his voice is so gentle that I begin to think I've won. Maybe Damien does see what no one else does. Maybe he sees through my mask.

The thought both terrifies and excites me. Slowly, I shake my head, then manage an insolent smile. "Will you be orchestrating world peace today or later this month?"

"I'll pay you for the portrait," he says, his words seemingly a non sequitur. "I'll pay you. I'll pay the artist. I'll arrange a studio s.p.a.ce. You're a businesswoman, Nikki. Isn't that what you ultimately want? Your own business?"

I gape at him, too surprised that he knows this to respond. Who the h.e.l.l has he been talking to about me?

"This is a chance to kick-start your career."

I shake my head, ignoring the small knot inside me that is excited by his proposition. "I'm a businesswoman, not a model."

"You're my model. And everyone has a price."

"I don't."

"No?" He steps closer, his body full of challenge and confidence. "One million dollars, Ms. Fairchild. You get the cash, and I get you."

14.

One million dollars. The words surround me, tempt me, and it's that temptation that pushes me to react.