LITMIR.BIZ

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eyes had darkened. Alexis thought he might even be drooling. He nodded and swallowed.

      Deliberately breaking the mood, she sat back and threw up her hands. “It never lasts. And then you’re stuck with what’s left. And you look around and think, ‘Ick. I can’t live with that. What was I thinking?’ And then you realize you weren’t thinking. You were seduced by the sizzle. This time, I evaluated the rest of the man first. And he’s some man.” She gave Dylan her best seductive smile. “I’ll fire up the sizzle later. And you know I can.”

      For a moment, she would have sworn that she had him, then he said, “Better make sure you’ve got some good wood.”

      “Don’t be crude.”

      “Hey, I’m just saying that if you want little sizzlers, you’re going to have to build the campfire with something.”

      “And explain to me why you care about my campfire?”

      He reached toward her and she thought he was going to touch her. She just stopped herself from flinching as he tapped the contract before her. “I want to know if successful career women selling themselves as high-priced wives is the new trend.”

      “You’re being deliberately insulting.”

      He eyed her speculatively. “I might be trying to shake you up and see if all your cylinders are firing.”

      “Do you ever use plain English?”

      “I thought the statement about selling yourself as a high-priced wife was pretty plain.”

      “I look on it as protecting my future and the future of my children.”

      “I’m listening.”

      He was. And Alexis wanted to explain. “I want children and the thing is, a woman risks a lot careerwise these days. As soon as she’s visibly pregnant, she loses her edge. If she becomes angry, it’s hormones. Sad? Hormones. Aggressive? Hormones. So it’s ‘let’s not put too much pressure on the little mother.’ Give her the routine cases. Don’t let her start long-term litigation, because she’ll be taking maternity leave. And from then on, she’s on the mommy track, because she can’t work the long hours she has been because children get sick and she’ll have child-care problems. And guilt. Let’s not forget the guilt. I have seen it happen over and over again. For some reason, men don’t have these problems. He takes time off to meet with the kid’s teacher and he’s a caring and involved father. She takes time off and she’s allowing her children to interfere with her work. I don’t want to have to choose between my children and my career, so I’ll take time off in the beginning and go back to work when they’re older. The beauty of it is that I’ll pick up right where I left off. That’s what it says in the contract. My lovely, lovely contract. So don’t talk to me about throwing away my career. I’m preserving it.”

      Dylan regarded her for a moment, then moved closer on the table until he was sitting right next to her, and then he stared at her some more.

      She didn’t want him staring at her and she didn’t want him sitting next to her. He was too close. He made her too aware of him as a man, a man that, in spite of herself, she still wanted. After all this time, it wasn’t fair that her body would betray her this way.

      Alexis looked down at her copy of the prenuptial agreement, flinching when Dylan nudged her chin upward with his knuckles. “You’re not in love with him.”

      “How could you possibly know how I feel?”

      His voice deepened. “Because I remember how you look when you think you’re in love.”

      What a low blow. She had been in love. She’d thought Dylan was The One. “Someone once told me that there’re all kinds of love and not all of them come with a ring. This time, I get the ring.”

      YEAH, HE’DSAIDTHAT, TOO. Had actually used it again, it was such a good line. But she was missing the point. Dylan indicated the contract. “That’s not a ring. It’s a noose.”

      “I’m well aware of your feelings on marriage.”

      He gave a huge mock sigh. “Alexis, Alexis, Alexis.”

      “What?”

      “This isn’t the same. Back then, we’d both worked very hard. And we were going to be working very hard. In different cities. Remember? You were staying in Austin and I was going to Houston.” An awful thought occurred to him. “You didn’t go with the Swinehart firm because it’s in—”

      “Of course not.” She spoke with ego-deflating scorn.

      “Marriage was impossible then. Neither of us was ready—” he hadn’t been ready “—and I figured you knew it. But you got serious all of a sudden.” Maybe he’d been naive, but he’d thought they could keep in touch as they began their careers. After all, it was what they’d worked for. What they’d talked about. What they’d wanted. Serious life commitments could come later.

      “It wasn’t all of a sudden,” she snapped. “I was expecting something entirely different that afternoon. I thought you were going to propose.”

      He’d long suspected as much. “I’m sorry. Truly I am. But if we’d stayed together then, we wouldn’t be together now. Not with both of us having the kind of careers we’ve had.”

      She didn’t say anything and it irked him. “Marriage would have held you back. You know it’s true. Come on. Admit it.”

      “Maybe it would have held you back.”

      He just shook his head.

      Crossing her arms over her chest, Alexis looked to the side. “You’re right. Happy now?”

      He wasn’t. He wasn’t at all. Not because of the wrong timing for the two of them, but because his conscience was telling him she was making a big mistake now and he should stop her. Funny, he never remembered his conscience being this loud before. However, it still made a valid point. Marriage to him wasn’t right for her then, and marriage to Vincent wasn’t right for her now.

      “Anyway, every relationship I’ve had since has fallen apart. So instead of basing a relationship solely on mutual attraction and hoping that everything else works out, Vincent and I are basing our marriage on affection, compatibility, respect and shared goals and interests. If we find passion, great. But passion fades. At least I know we’ve got something solid left.”

      “Yeah. Over a hundred thousand solids each year.”

      She gave him that blank look she was so good at. “You’re flirting with an ethics violation.”

      They both knew he’d gone way beyond flirting. He tried for a lighter tone. “I thought I was flirting with you.”

      “Your technique needs work.” She checked her watch. “Where are they? I’m supposed to meet with the hotel wedding coordinator.”

      “Do you mind me asking what the hurry is?”

      “I mind you asking on principle. But the truth is that I wanted to get married here and they had a last-minute cancellation. I could have the booking if I agreed to use all the bride’s choices. There’re too many dripping pearls and way too much netting, but other than tweaking the menu and canceling the karaoke machine, I can live with lilac and white.”

      So. Alexis was using someone else’s wedding to marry Vincent. Could she be more unsentimental? Yes, Dylan did wish more of his clients thought with their heads instead of their hearts, but Alexis had carried it to the ultimate extreme.

      “But can you live with this?” He picked up the contract and flipped through it. Folding it open to a section he’d hoped her lawyer would have flagged,he set the document in front of her.

      She didn’t even glance down. “We’re not supposed to be negotiating the contract without my lawyer present.”

      “We’re not negotiating. But due to the time constraints,

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