Ten minutes later the three of them sat around the dining room table, eating the feast Julia had prepared.

They started with an assortment of cheeses matched with a complementary taste. Blue cheese served with walnuts, Gouda served with dried plums, farmers cheese served with dried apricots, all to be eaten on homer" a de cranberry walnut bread. Next came salad, followed by rack of lamb, rosemary potatoes, and wilted spinach.

Sonja looked at Julia and smiled shyly. "This is so sweet of you," she said.

Julia was moved by the woman's emotion. "Thank you."

"I mean, who would have thought to pair cheeses with dried fruit and serve it on a fancy bread. I've

never seen so much food."

"You really have outdone yourself," Ben added with a quirk of a grin.

"Well," Julia said, smiling pointedly at Ben, "I spent most of the day worried. Some people eat when

they're worried. Others drink or exercise. I cook."

"You must have been incredibly worried," Sonja remarked, awed at the meal.

Julia dismissed the comment. "So tell me, Sonja, what movies have you been to lately?"

That's all it took.

Soon Ben and Sonja were talking about the latest action-packed thriller, laughing over some

implausibility.

Julia stood abruptly. "I'm not feeling so well. Could you excuse me?"

Sonja looked pleased.

Ben looked pissed.

Julia bolted before Ben could grab her hand and make her stay.

Once she had made it to the relative safety of her room, she decided to spend what she hoped would be

hours by getting ready for the next day of taping the show. Rocco was so primal it was wonderful. But she worried that he would never get it right. And she wasn't sure if all her carefully written-out notes were going to help him or not.

But all thoughts about the show fled when she heard the front door open, then close. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that only a matter of minutes, maybe twenty, had passed since she left the table.

She flew out of her room, careened toward the dining room, and found it empty.

"Ben?! Sonja?"

"In here."

She launched into the kitchen. Ben stood at the counter with the chocolate creme pie she had made, eating right out of the pan. Sonja was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" Julia blurted out.

He turned around, a tiny smudge of whipped cream on his lip. She felt an instant jab of desire to wipe it off. Heck, who was she kidding? She wanted to kiss it off.

"What did you do to run her off so fast?"

He took another big bite of pie and chomped with exaggerated pleasure.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. "You probably grabbed her by the hair and threatened to drag her into

your cave."

He raised a brow. With good reason, she conceded. In fact, she wasn't sure exactly why she was so upset- unless it was because deep down she was relieved.

"I didn't do anything," he said, then took another bite. "Plus, you might have warned me that she's a

talker. Good God, she's worse than you."

She marched over and yanked the spoon-not even a fork!-out of his hand. "Don't try to change the subject. Tell me why she left so soon."

Unfazed and clearly unrepentant, he retrieved another spoon from the cutlery drawer and unabashedly

scooped up another bite. "God, this is good pie."

"Do you have the ability to carry on an intelligent conversation?"

"Sure, if it's a conversation worth having."

"This conversation is worth having! Why did Sonja walk out on your date?"

"Not a date, cupcake."

"I told you I was fixing you up!"

"I don't need you or anyone fixing me up with a date."

He was right, and she knew she had been out of her mind-and desperate-when she had put her plan

into action. But she still felt horrible for Sonja.

"You didn't hurt her feelings, did you?" She moaned. "What was I thinking? This is all my fault."

"A truer statement you have never spoken." Then he grinned.

Julia groaned. "Okay, give it to me straight. How bad was it?"

"It wasn't bad. I told her the truth."

"What truth is that?"

He took one last bite of pie, then didn't answer her until he was finished. Finally he set the spoon and

the pie aside and turned to her. When he looked at her, there was so much intense sensuality in his eyes that she sucked in her breath.

"I told her that it was unfair to date her," he said, his tone serious.

"Why?"

"Because the only woman I want is you."

Julia's world tilted on its axis and her head spun. "What?"

He leaned back against the tile counter and grinned. "I had pretty much the same reaction, too."

She muttered her indignation.

"But yes, I want you," he continued. "I want you in my bed, underneath me, dressed in nothing more than those damn stiletto heels that I haven't seen in weeks. I want the real Julia, and I want her badly."

"That Julia is gone," she stated primly.

"That's where you're wrong. She's in there, just waiting to get out. And I'm willing to wait."

He reached out and brushed his thumb over her lips. She couldn't help the shiver that raced through her.

"You don't play fair," she managed.

"That's the thing, Julia. I don't play games. I want to sleep with you. No question about it." He

straightened and kissed her forehead, his body brushing against hers.

Then he walked out of the kitchen, leaving Julia stunned and bewildered and desperately concerned that all her good intentions were on the verge of flying out the window.

To: Katherine Bloom From: Julia Boudreaux Subject: Houston...

... we have a problem. Ben wants me. Me. Me can't want me!

Julia Scarlet Boudreaux To: Julia Boudreaux From: Katherine Bloom Subject: re: Houston...

Ben and you? Wow. That's some high-octane stuff. But you have bigger concerns right now.

Folly has been asking about you again.

Kate

Katherine C. Bloom News Anchor, KTEX TV, West Texas

To: Julia Boudreaux From: Andrew Folly

Sincerely, Andrew Folly Station Manager, KTEX TV, West Texas To: Katherine Bloom From: Julia Boudreaux Subject: Great As predicted, Folly is showing his network roots. He said he wants big sweeping shots of El Paso in my intro. Like Trump! Like I have the kind of money Trump has! How am I going to get sweeping shots of El Paso?!

xo, j To: Julia Boudreaux From: Katherine Bloom Subject: An idea