Kate, tell us you're joking. Seducing Jesse will only get you hurt in the process.

To: Julia Boudreaux Chloe Sinclair From: Katherine Bloom Subject: Unfortunate incident Let's just say that I experienced a moment of sheer insanity, brought on, I have to believe, by a Sex and the City video marathon combined with too many cosmos. Okay, so I had only one-not even a whole one. But still. I thought I would surprise him with tea and photos. I wasn't thinking seduce in the traditional sense. I was thinking seduce him with the past. I know, I know, I really shouldn't think.

Kate To: Katherine Bloom Chloe Sinclair From: Julia Boudreaux Subject: Sex 101 Clearly you haven't a clue how to seduce a man. Though if you are going to learn, promise me that you will not practice on Jesse.

xo, j p.s. Love you anyway, sweetie.

Three.

Jesse woke up on Sunday morning, and it took him a second to remember where he was. At Katie's. In El Paso.

It felt good to be home.

Gwen was gone, sent back to Florida on the first plane out yesterday morning. After Katie left the cottage, Gwen had seemed determined to make him forget everyone but her. Though each time she had kissed him, he had thought of Katie with her tea and photos, and Katie sitting in Bobby's Place looking sexy as hell. Both images unsettled him.

No question that Katie and sexy as hell didn't belong together-at least they didn't belong together in his mind.

When he had walked into Bobby's, he had seen her instantly. He still couldn't believe his reaction, hot and intense. He had wanted to get closer. Wanted to inhale her fragrance, run his fingers over the curve of her breast.

It had been the same during the television segment.

She had been such a surprise, a mix of sultry and innocent, those sexy lips of hers parting on an exhaled breath when he had brushed his ringer over the tomato. It had taken a second for him to regain his control. He had been glad as hell when the producer had screamed loud enough in her earpiece that he heard.

From his first memory of Katie, it was as if they were bound together. When they were young, Katie would sneak into his bed when she was afraid or when her mother was in a particularly bad spot-any of those times she felt her world would crumble.

"You're my hero," she always whispered as she fell asleep at his side.

He had grown up feeling the need to protect her, to keep her safe from people who might hurt her. But when he was eighteen, the year she turned fourteen, all of that had changed-she had changed, leaving her pudgy little girl's body behind.

By then he already knew more about sex than he should have-a line of older women had been eager to teach him all they thought he should know. And when suddenly he saw little Katie as sexy, he had wanted to touch her as those women had touched him.

But old habits of needing to protect Katie had deep roots. Staying away from her had truly been the only heroic thing he had done in his life, because he knew, as well as he knew his own name, that ultimately, eventually, if he gave in and touched her, he would hurt her. He wasn't the sort of man to settle down with a single woman. He lived on the edge, and he liked it that way. But Katie deserved more than a casual affair.

Since then, he had made a point of keeping her at arm's length. He stayed away, had stayed away for years, only coming back now because he needed distance from the press.

As much as he didn't want to be around Katie, who was playing havoc with his mind, he also didn't want to stay in a hotel where people stared and wanted autographs. Coming to his childhood home had seemed like a good idea. But he had forgotten that home wasn't his anymore now that Derek had married Suzanne. When Julia had suggested the guest cottage, it had seemed the best solution. Besides, he didn't intend to stay that long. A few more days, maybe a week, then he was out of here-his head cleared and ready to play.

Rolling out from underneath the flowery guesthouse comforter, so different from the king-sized bed and tailored bedcoverings he had in his Florida condo, he walked naked across the room. He pulled on a pair of shorts, then went to the tiny kitchen and made the worst cup of coffee he'd ever tasted. But at least it was hot.

The weather was beautiful when he walked outside into the early morning painter's sky. It wasn't until he stretched, his hand running down his bare chest, that he saw Katie standing just beyond the cottage, her hair wild, dirt smudging her face. She stood frozen, staring at him, her eyes wide, as she held a bucket of gardening tools in her hand.

Kate tried to get her brain to function, with little success.

He was gorgeous.

Like a god.

Better than Adonis.

Despite every good intention, despite the fact that she had learned firsthand that he was a ladies' man of the worst kind-more than once!-her gaze drifted low over his sculpted chest, following the thin path of hair that disappeared beneath the waistband of his shorts. She imagined where the path led.

Bad Kate.

A strange squeak sounded in her throat, and she nearly dropped her bucket of tools.

He took another sip of his coffee before a smile cracked his face. "Morning, sweetheart."

She raised a brow. "I believe sweetheart belongs to the woman from the other night. Your publicist.

Gwen. Glad to know you don't mind mixing business with pleasure."

Jesse chuckled, a rumbling sound of easy confidence.

"What's the point of working if you can't have fun while you're at it?" He winked.

She reached down and grabbed a second bucket filled with potting soil. "I've got to go," she said with

a shake of her head, then started for the workroom.

But Jesse stopped her. His hand on her arm startled her and her breath caught. He stared at her, yet again seeming confused by what he saw.

"What?" she asked self-consciously.

He studied her, and after a second he smiled, though all he said was, "Let me help you with the buckets."

She raised her chin. "I don't need your help."

He laughed out loud as he set his cup on the window ledge. "I don't doubt it." He took the buckets

anyway.

She watched him as he headed for her back door, watched the way he moved with the sleek grace of an

athlete. She was staring so intently, so mesmerized- damn it-that she was surprised when someone called out from the back gate.

"There you are!"

She whirled to find Parker Hammond.

"Parker!" she yelped, guilt ticking through her at her errant thoughts. "What are you doing here?"

The man answered with a confident smile as he pushed through the gate. "Good morning to you, too."

He held a large bouquet of light pink peonies and white roses. Seeing him standing in the sunshine, Kate

couldn't deny how handsome he was, though a complete contrast to Jesse. Parker was everything light, with his sandy blond hair and green eyes, while Jesse was dark and brooding, sensuality seeping through him. The boy next door versus the boy who was every parent's nightmare.

When Parker saw Jesse, he blinked in surprise before his smile returned.

"I heard you were on Kate's show," Parker said with good humor as he came forward to shake Jesse's hand. "I wish I hadn't missed it. But it's great to see you now."

"It's great to see you, too, but you didn't need to bring flowers," Jesse joked with a grin.

Jesse and Parker had been good friends in junior high school, falling out of touch during high school when Jesse had started getting wild.

Parker laughed. "As a matter of fact, I didn't. I brought them for Kate." Parker turned to her. "I'm sorry I missed the first segment of Getting Real. But I hope these will make up for it. I heard the show was a hit."

"You are so sweet," she said faintly.

"I remembered that you love peonies. I've been calling all weekend, but you haven't been home."

"You brought flowers for Katie?" Jesse asked, interrupting, glancing back and forth between them.

"Yes, I did." Parker's sunny smile was wonderful and sexy at the same time. No question he was a

catch. As tall as Jesse. As well defined. But where Jesse was the bad boy of golf, Parker had continued in his path of respectability and was now a responsible and successful businessman. He was everything she wanted in a man.

"We've been going out," Parker explained, his fond expression twisting something inside her. "Didn't she tell you?"

Jesse skewered her with a hard gaze. "No, she failed to mention that she was dating one of my friends." They hadn't been dating steadily, but often enough that Parker would think it perfectly fine to come over this morning and bring her flowers. She knew he wanted a commitment from her, and she knew that she was insane not to give it to him, but something held her back.

Parker glanced at her. For the first time, he seemed to consider the situation. Jesse Chapman, notorious ladies' man, standing in her backyard without a shirt. Kate could see the realization dawning on his face.

"Are you staying here?" he asked Jesse.

"I am."

Parker looked to Kate for verification.

"He is," she confirmed, doing her best not to look guilty.

"Well, of course," he said finally. "You're old friends, grew up next door to each other. It makes sense."

Makes sense might have been a stretch, but she was grateful he didn't make an issue of it.

Quickly, before his mind could go any further, she said, "Would you like to come in for some coffee?"

Parker focused, then looked at her soil-trimmed hands clutching the flowers. "Actually, another reason

I came by was to see if you'd like to join my parents and me for brunch."

She could feel Jesse staring at them.

"Jesse, if you'll set the tools in the workroom, that would be great." Then she guided Parker back to the

front drive.

"Jesse, let's get together for lunch while you're in town," he called back.

Jesse didn't answer, though she could feel his hot, piercing gaze on her back as she fled.

Once they got to Parker's car, she tried to think of something to say. He looked at her oddly. "Are you

okay?" he asked.

She thought of possible answers.

No.

Definitely not.

I wish.

But decided on an "I'm fine" instead. "I've been putting a lot of hours in at work, so I've been busy."

His expression softened. "I've missed you these last few days. I really would love for you to join us for

brunch."