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wait.” His golden-brown eyes glinted with amusement, then deliberately perused her with a long, sensuous look. “I look forward to making you wait. And beg.”
    “Mr. Kirliss.” At the image, Taylor clenched her teeth on the surge of desire. “I won’t leave this office if you’re going to talk to me that way.”
    He glanced around the office, looking interested. “An office always presents many interesting opportunities for games, though I’m surprised you’re willing to take that risk already. Still, whatever you wish, M.”
    Taylor folded her arms and glared. Kirliss laughed, tossing his head back with it.
    “Shall we?” He gestured toward the doors. “I made reservations for noon and I’d hate to lose them.”
    She hesitated.
    “You’re not going to chicken out now, are you?”
    “You think you’re something.” Taylor grabbed her purse. “But I am hardly afraid of you.” She headed out the doors, letting him follow. “We’re off, Steve.”
    “I sent the newest data to your BlackBerry, Ms. Hamilton,” Steve replied. “Mr. Kirliss, always a pleasure to see you.”
    The men shook hands and Taylor walked with Kirliss to the elevators.
    “He’s a good assistant,” Kirliss commented. “Sharp.”
    “The best I’ve ever had. He’s been with me for three years now and I’m going to have to promote him before long. Which means training someone new.”
    “I have something at Jaguar that might be perfect for him.” Kirliss looked thoughtful. “What are you paying him now?”
    “Don’t you dare poach my assistant!” Taylor laughed. Then she caught herself, surprised that she’d fallen into the pattern of banter they’d enjoyed these last months.
    They rode down in the elevator in silence. Taylor practiced her speech.
    “I thought we’d walk—it’s great weather today.” Kirliss took her elbow to guide her in the right direction. “So, how are you planning to break up with me?”
    “I don’t have to break up with you,” she returned, “as we don’t have a relationship.”
    “Everybody has relationships. It’s just a matter of determining what kind.”
    “Well, then I’m determined that you and I will have a business relationship.”
    “Negotiations are always fun. I look forward to hearing your business plan. And presenting my own counteroffer.”
    Taylor pressed her lips together. How could every damn thing this man said sound sexual?
    They sat at a table on the deck overlooking the harbor. Taylor enviously noted that some of the other women were enjoying golden wine in full-bellied glasses, but she opted for iced tea. She didn’t need the afternoon sleepies—or to let down her guard with Kirliss, who ordered a café Americano.
    Taylor opened her mouth to begin her speech, then bit down on it when he reached into his jacket and withdrew a rose to lay on her plate. Extraordinarily large and perfect, the rose’s pristine white petals were tinged scarlet at the edges, as if they’d been dipped in blood. She brushed the velvety texture with tentative fingertips, oddly moved by the gesture.
    “‘For even the love that is purest and sweetest has a kiss of desire on the lips,’” Kirliss quoted in a husky voice.
    She looked up to find him observing her with inscrutable brown eyes. She raised her eyebrows, deliberately arch. “Love poetry? And here I thought this was about sex.”
    “That too. Desire is about both, don’t you think? O’Reilly thought so.”
    Taylor gazed at his intent expression, feeling off balance again.
    “What I think,” she said in a crisp tone, deliberately setting the rose aside and starting her speech, “is that you and I are business associates. A sexual…dalliance is not appropriate.”
    “None of the good stuff is,” he agreed in an easy tone. “But when your life is all about the job, like it is for you and I, we have to find ways to work around that.”
    “I’m not interested.”
    “The hell you aren’t. You’re just afraid of the