He said nothing for several long seconds, during which time Lacey’s heart pounded, each beat feeling as if it broke off another piece. Finally he said, “I can’t deny that I see Greg’s point. I tried to tell you, many times, to tone it down, yet you refused to listen. But I did try to talk him out of this.”

Anger exploded in her. “Well, that was damn big of you.”

It was clear he was getting angry, too. “Listen, I can’t deny that I think Constant Cravings would fare better in a different location.”

She felt as if he’d shot her. “I see. And you obviously told Greg that. Thanks for the support.”

“I supported you-”

“Sure as hell doesn’t seem like it, seeing as how I’ve been evicted.”

His eyes flashed. “For the last time, you weren’t evicted.”

“Right. I just won’t have a store three months from now. Well, consider your job done. Your boss wanted you to tell me and you have.” She reached down and grabbed her purse, which had slid to the floor when he’d carried her to the wall. “Nice timing, by the way, getting in a last quickie before imparting your news.”

His face darkened, and he reached her in two steps, then grasped her shoulders. “That had nothing to do with it.”

She jerked away from him and retreated several paces. “Of course not. The sex was personal. What you told me was just business.”

Relief relaxed his tense expression. “Exactly.”

He moved toward her, but she backed up and held out her hand to stop him. “Don’t touch me. The last time you touched me was just that-the last time.”

He halted as if he’d hit a wall, then dragged his hands down his face. “Lacey, I understand you’re upset-”

“Upset is an understatement.”

“I can see that. But we have the entire weekend to discuss this.”

“There’s nothing to discuss. Your boss wants me out, you agree with him and you’ve given me the boot-without so much as the courtesy to talk about the situation with me. Even if there was nothing more than business between us, that would ‘upset’ me. Given our personal relationship, it not only upsets me, it really hurts.” Her voice quavered on the last word and she pressed her lips together, hard, fighting to hold back the tidal wave of emotion bearing down on her.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. You must know that.”

“I’m afraid I don’t. My first impression of you was that you were one of the soulless clones who only thought about business. I wish I’d listened to that first impression. As for this weekend? Not going to happen. We’re through.”

“Lacey…” He raked his hands through his hair. “You don’t mean that. You can’t just walk away like this.”

She raised her chin and looked into his eyes. “I mean it. And, yes, I can just walk away.”

Turning on her heel, she strode to the door, opened it, then left without a backward glance.

She forced herself to concentrate on her anger, on the deep sense of betrayal she felt, until she made it home. But the instant her apartment door was closed and locked behind her, a wrenching sob broke free. She sank to the floor and listened to her heart shatter.

10

EVAN SPENT THE WEEK IN San Francisco trying to convince himself that the gut-wrenching sense of loss clenching his insides was relief-or bad seafood-but by the time Friday rolled around he couldn’t lie to himself any longer.

He’d done his job, followed the rules. And lost Lacey.

Lacey, who made him laugh. Who could turn him on with a mere look. Who could talk about any topic under the sun. Who could make the most mundane activity interesting and fun. Who appealed to both his body and mind in a way no other woman ever had. Whose wicked sense of fun and “stop and smell the roses” personality had prodded him to take a good, long look at himself and at the way he was living his life. And when he’d done so, he hadn’t particularly liked what he’d seen.

While he didn’t think he’d turned into one of the soulless clones she’d described, he’d absolutely been headed in that direction. Thanks to her, he’d reversed that trend. And he had never been as happy as during the month they’d been together. She was the first woman he’d known in a very long time whom he enjoyed as much out of bed as in bed. He’d thought he’d been in love a couple of times, but what he’d felt for those other women paled to insignificance when compared to the feelings Lacey inspired.

He’d known he was a goner the first time he’d seen her with Sasha. Watching a laughing, carefree Lacey splash in the surf with his zany dog, getting covered with salt water and sand, it had hit him like a sucker punch to the heart. He loved her. Loved her sense of fun, her lively personality, her intelligence. The way she cared for her store and customers. If he had to describe her in one word, it would be vivid. She made everything around her more colorful, more alive. Including him.

He’d debated whether or not to confess he loved her, not wanting to scare her off given the short amount of time they’d dated. He’d finally decided to tell her during their weekend in San Francisco. But then Greg had called, and all hell had broken loose.

He couldn’t deny that on some level he agreed with Greg. Constant Cravings, with its sensual window displays and products, definitely bucked the image of the other stores in the Fairfax complex, a fact that had been a bone of contention between him and Lacey from the moment she’d opened her doors.

But he also didn’t like Greg’s assessment and subsequent decision. When his boss had initially told him he wanted Constant Cravings out of Fairfax, Evan had tried to dissuade him, presenting him with facts and figures to prove the store was performing well. He’d also promised to talk to Lacey about toning down the displays, figuring that if she knew her lease renewal was at risk, she’d finally listen.

But Greg didn’t want any part of it. Bottom line for Greg was that his nephew wanted to open a Java Heaven-a coffee franchise quickly catching up to Starbucks in terms of popularity-in Fairfax. When Evan had protested that the complex was large enough to support two coffee places, Greg had flatly refused to listen. He simply didn’t want the competition Lacey’s shop would have offered. So Evan had been given no choice but to tell her.

And that had been that.

And now he felt as if there was a hollow space in his chest where his heart used to beat.

Over the past week he’d picked up the phone dozens of times to call her, but had resisted. He wanted to talk to her, but decided it was best to do so face-to-face. The fact that she hadn’t called him didn’t bode well, but he couldn’t let that stop him. He intended to go to Constant Cravings tomorrow and camp out on the doorstep if necessary until she’d talk to him.

Weary beyond belief, he pulled his car into his dark driveway, then entered his house. Leaving his laptop and briefcase in the foyer, he headed toward the kitchen. After twisting the top off a Heineken, he walked into the den. He’d just plopped into his favorite chair when the phone rang. His heart jumped with hope that it might be Lacey, but a glance at his caller I.D. indicated it was Paul.

He lifted the receiver. “What’s up?”

“So what’s the deal with Constant Cravings?”

His fingers tightened on the receiver. He hadn’t spoken to Paul all week. He hadn’t wanted to talk about Lacey, and he knew his friend would ask about her, as he always did. “What are you talking about?”

“The fact that it is no more, as if you didn’t know. I go out of town for a couple of days and come back to find my favorite coffee place closed down. Damn, I’m totally addicted to those cookies. So where’d Lacey go? And why didn’t you give me a heads-up?”

Evan’s every muscle tensed. “What do you mean ‘closed down’?”

Something in his voice must have clued Paul in because his friend said slowly, “You didn’t know?”

“No. Tell me.”

“I drove by my office on my way home from the airport to pick up some papers. Since Constant Cravings is usually open late on Friday nights, I decided to get a coffee. When I got there, the place was dark. No mannequins in the windows. Nothing. Just a note on the door saying that the store was permanently closed at this location.”

Evan squeezed his eyes shut, then blew out a heavy sigh. “Damn.”

“How come you didn’t know about this? What the hell is going on?”

He rubbed at the throbbing in his temple. “We broke up.” He gave Paul an abbreviated version of the previous Friday night’s events.

“So, she didn’t have to leave for three months, but she packed up and closed shop in less than a week?” Paul whistled through his teeth. “Wow. That is one seriously pissed off woman.”

Right. And clearly not one who would be receptive to seeing him.

“So what do you intend to do about it?” Paul asked.

“Do?” A humorless sound pushed past his lips. “She’s made it pretty clear she’s done with me.”

“Are you done with her?”

No. And the truth, the vehemence behind that single word in his head had him sitting up. No, damn it, he wasn’t done with her. Would never be done with her. “Not by a long shot.”

Paul’s chuckle drifted through the receiver. “Atta’ boy. You were silent for so long I was worried. You know she’s the best thing that ever happened to you, and that’s not a sentence I’d say to you lightly.”

“I know-on both counts.”

“So…what are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.”

EXACTLY THREE WEEKS TO THE day after she’d last spoken to Evan, Lacey sat in her apartment, listlessly channel surfing. She’d spent the day as she had all the previous days since closing the store-scouting for a new location to lease so Constant Cravings could rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix. Unfortunately, she hadn’t liked most of the places she’d seen. And the ones she had liked charged outrageous rent. Damn it, Fairfax had been perfect. If only-

She sliced off the useless thought, as she did dozens of times each day. There was no point dwelling on what-ifs.

Right. Just as there was no point in dwelling on thoughts of Evan. But no matter how many times she told herself that, it didn’t work. He filled every corner of her mind. Even after three weeks, her heart still felt…gone. How the hell long did it take to forget someone? Why couldn’t the brain and the heart come with a reset button? She didn’t know, but had the sinking fear that she’d never forget him. That her heart would never recover.

Well, she’d found a possible place today, and while it wasn’t perfect, it was acceptable. Barely. She couldn’t afford to remain out of business for months-that would eat up all her savings. She’d go out looking again tomorrow and hope something better turned up. Otherwise she’d have to settle for the one she’d seen today.

In the meantime there was reality TV and the extra cookies from the last party platter she’d made for the grand opening of a new hair salon. She looked down at the hair dryer-shaped cookie she’d dubbed Blow Job and, as happened at least one hundred times every day, an image of Evan rose in her mind, an image so vivid it was as if she could feel him. Taste him. And, right on cue, hot tears pooled in her eyes. Damn it, she needed to bake a batch of cookies in the form of a bright red stop sign-and then do it. Stop thinking about him. If only that were possible.

Her doorbell rang, indicating her Chinese food had arrived. She glanced down at herself and sighed. Hopefully she wouldn’t scare off the poor delivery guy. She was wearing the black satin robe with the pink hearts she’d loaned Evan from her mannequin. Probably it would be better if she burned the damn garment. Certainly it would be smarter for her not to wear it, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Paired with stand-on-end hair and no makeup, she looked like she should have crime-scene tape wrapped around her.

After grabbing some money from her wallet, she schlumped to the door and opened it. And stared. At Evan. At least she thought it was Evan. She blinked twice, and he was still there, so it had to be him and not some mirage born of her lovesick imagination.

He wore one of his perfect suits with a perfect shirt and perfect tie. His hair was perfectly smoothed and he held a perfectly beautiful single pale pink peony. He looked…perfect.

“Hi,” he said.

Her heart seemed to stall in her chest. She opened her mouth, meaning to say hello, but then she noticed the bag he held in his other hand. A bag bearing the name of her takeout place. “You’re not the Chinese food guy.”

“True. He arrived at the same time I did. I offered to deliver your meal.” He held out the bag. “Here you go.”