“Now you’re talking.”

They moved outside the building to hail a cab. “I’m surely glad you’ve lived around here long enough to know your way around, Rainey,” her mother confided. “You love it, don’t you.”

“On the whole, yes. But the masses of people can be daunting at times. To live here permanently would require a lot of money if you craved isolation and privacy.”

“Luckily we have that for free in Grand Junction,” Craig said before letting out an ear-piercing whistle. It did the job. One of the taxis whizzing by came to a quick stop.

Rainey climbed in after her mother. Then Craig got inside and pulled the door closed after him.

She leaned forward to address the driver. “Whitehall Terminal, please.”

As the taxi started up again, Rainey noticed Payne Sterling and his attorney, both in sunglasses, leave the courthouse surrounded by a group of men all in business suits. They got in a limousine with tinted windows.

After the accident that had left his fiancée paralyzed, Rainey imagined he would always be well guarded. How horrible to be a target everywhere he went. She shuddered.

Her brother eyed her with concern. “Are you all right?”

“I’m thankful he didn’t press charges, but I still feel awful about what I did.”

“As the judge said, there was no evil intended. Chalk it up to one of your exciting experiences in the Big Apple. Someday you’ll look back and laugh about it.”

“I hope so.”

“Craig’s right, honey. I’m sure Mr. Sterling’s relief that neither you or Bonnie Wrigley was a stalker has caused him to forget about it already.”

“Even if that’s true, he has to live every moment of his life with the knowledge that his fiancée is in a wheelchair because of a demented woman who imagines herself in love with him.”

“That’s the downside of being a man with a name like Sterling, and a bank account that could fund the homeless forever.”

Rainey bowed her head. “Grace told me he already does that.”

“Does what?” her brother asked.

“He’s a philanthropist. According to her he has set up many charities including a foundation for the homeless. I know he does it for tax purposes, but I’m pretty sure she told me all those things to reassure me he’s compassionate too.”

“He seemed like a good man to me when I took him rafting down the river. No wonder he used the name Vince. It’s the only way he can have any anonymity.”

She buried her face in her hands. “I still can’t believe I picked him to paint.”

“I can,” her mother drawled. “So can all the millions of women who will mourn when he’s not on any more romance covers.”

“Mom-” Craig laughed. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“You’d have to be a woman to understand.”

“Is dad aware of your secret fantasy?” he teased.

“There are several things he’s better off not knowing.”

“Don’t tell me you read those romances too?”

“Rainey and I have been enjoying them for years. You were always too busy devouring your hunting and fishing magazines to notice.”

At this point Rainey couldn’t help chuckling. Her mother’s comments had managed to lighten her mood.

“It looks like we’ve arrived,” Craig muttered, sounding miffed by their mother’s confession.

On the whole Rainey found that men seemed uncomfortable by the thought of romance novels and heroes. It was very strange since statistics showed that men had fantasies about women on a daily basis.

Rainey lifted her head in time to see her brother pay the fare. They piled out of the taxi into a horde of people coming and going from the ferry. It happened to be the John F. Kennedy.

Craig pulled out his pocket camera and snapped a picture, then herded them toward the terminal for their tickets.

Being with her family until they left for the airport the next morning prevented Rainey from dwelling on the whole disturbing incident with Mr. Sterling. Her long talk into the night with Craig about his business plans had kept disturbing thoughts of him at bay.

But once she’d waved them off in a taxi headed for the airport, memories of him came rushing back with a vengeance.

To stem the tide, she straightened her apartment, did a wash and scoured the bathroom. When everything was neat and clean, she showered and dressed in cutoffs and a T-shirt. After going downstairs for her mail, she was ready to get back to her painting.

An hour later she’d finished the lace on the wedding gown. The cover for The Bride’s Not-So-White Secret was done.

She called the courier service to schedule a pickup for Monday morning. Now she could start on the next project for Global Greeting Cards which had come in the mail.

No sooner had she put the receiver back on the hook to get busy and her phone rang. She assumed it was Ken. He’d asked her to go to a jazz concert with him tonight in Greenwich Village and was probably calling to set up the time.

“Rainey Bennett Fine Art Studio.”

“Hello, Rainey.”

“Grace-” She clutched the receiver a little tighter for fear something else was wrong.

“Relax, my dear. All is well. Claud Finauer couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”

Relieved to hear that news, Rainey let go of the breath she’d been holding.

“For your information I had a call from Mr. Wallace a few minutes ago. If it’s convenient, someone will be coming by your apartment within the hour for your paintings of Mr. Sterling. I wanted to make certain you were home.”

“I’ll be here. Tell them to buzz me from the foyer so I can let them in. I’m on the third floor.”

“Good. I’ll call you next week. We’ll go out for lunch.”

“I’d like that.” Grace was a fascinating personality.

“So would I. Talk to you soon.”

The minute they clicked off, Rainey walked over to the paintings and removed them from the wall. After dusting the frames off, she placed them next to the door.

It was a wrench to have to give up the one for Manhattan Merger. Not that she couldn’t do another painting of him from memory. But it would be different the second time around because she’d seen him in person.

If she did do any new sketches, they would show a man embracing his wheelchair-bound fiancée. His eyes and rugged features would reveal intense suffering…

While she waited for the runner from Mr. Wallace’s law firm to arrive, Rainey opened the manilla envelope. It appeared she was to design a series of cards that said “Goodbye-Enjoy your trip!” in various languages.

Having lived in Italy, she reached for her sketch pad and began playing around with some ideas that immediately sprang to mind. Soon her hillside in Tuscany began to come alive like the pieces of a patchwork quilt.

She drew in one of those charming farmhouses with the tiled roof. No one could see inside it, but her imagination allowed her to dream of two people madly in love. They stood at one of the windows overlooking their own spot of heaven. Twilight revealed two bodies entwined.

As Rainey stared into space, she realized she’d been envisioning herself in Payne Sterling’s arms. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. She feared it wouldn’t be the last.

Disturbed by thoughts she had no right to entertain, she threw down her pencil and got up from the desk.

It was a good thing all physical evidence of him would be gone in a few minutes.

But not from her mind.

An overwhelming compulsion to look at him one more time drove her to the door of her apartment. She reached for her favorite painting.

The more she studied it, the more she realized the person who’d gone down the Colorado with her brother seeking adventure bore little resemblence to the man she’d faced in the courtroom.

Rainey finally put it back with the others.

How tragic to think the woman he’d fallen in love with could no longer run into his arms. Talk about cruel.

She tried to imagine herself in his fiancée’s place. How hard it must be for her to want to do everything for him, to share everything with him when she-

The buzzer sounded from the foyer, interrupting her tormented thoughts. She spoke through the intercom. When she’d ascertained it was the runner, she told him to come up.

A half minute later there was a rap on the door. She opened it expecting to see a college-age person. Her greeting stuck in her throat to find a huskily built man blocking her exit. He was in his late thirties and wore casual clothes.

“Ms. Bennett?”

“Yes?”

He looked beyond her to the apartment itself, as if he were casing the interior. Sensing something wasn’t right, she was about to close the door when another man came up behind him dressed in a business suit.

“I’ll take it from here, John.”

The second Rainey saw who it was, the breath rushed out of her lungs. Maybe she was hallucinating.

The all-seeing blue eyes of Payne Sterling seemed to take in every detail of her face and body before their gazes locked.

“I’m here for the artwork, Ms. Bennett, but I’d like to talk to you first.” His cultivated male voice permeated her bones. “May I come in?”

Rainey couldn’t believe this was happening. Thank heaven she’d done her housecleaning earlier that morning.

“Yes. Of course.”

Once he’d stepped inside and shut the door, he dominated her tiny studio apartment.

“Would you like to sit down?” Even to her own ears she sounded breathless.

His glance darted to the sketch on her desk. “I can see that I’ve interrupted your work, but I don’t plan to be here that long. I’ve come to ask a special favor of you.”

Rainey gulped. “If you’re worried about the other paintings, I’ll phone those authors who purchased them. When they hear what happened, they’ll send them back to me.”

He shook his dark head. “Forget them. My concern lies in making my niece and fiancée feel secure. They’re the ones who panicked when they saw my likeness on the cover.”

His hands went to his hips, underscoring his compelling masculinity. “I’d like them to meet the artist. Between you and me, I’m confident we’ll be able to dispel their fears that you’re a threat to me or anyone else.”

She was stunned by his request.

For one thing, she’d never imagined seeing him again. For another, it brought home the fact that she’d unwittingly terrorized two innocent people who loved him and needed reassurance.

No matter his reasons for asking this favor of her, somewhere in Rainey’s psyche she knew she should say no for her own self-preservation.

What was it she remembered about the cycle of temptation?

First you allowed the thought to enter your mind. Then you began to fantasize about it. From there you started making plans. Finally you found yourself acting on those plans.

The man she now knew as Payne Sterling had been in her thoughts for two years. Since court she’d entertained certain intimate fantasies about him. If she agreed to his request, it meant crossing that precarious line into the “making plans” phase.

What really shocked her was how much she wanted to make plans with him, even though it meant meeting his fiancée. Was she some kind of masochist?

Clinging to one last thread of common sense she said, “They’re welcome to come here to my studio.”

“It would be easier for my fiancée if I take you to them.”

Of course. The apartment didn’t have an elevator. What was the matter with her?

“I’d like to surprise them with good news,” he continued. “It’ll be the best medicine of all.”

But not for me Rainey’s heart cried. Help-what should she do?

“When were you thinking of us meeting?” She fought to keep the tremor out of her voice.

“As soon as possible. Perhaps this evening after we’ve both finished work for the day.”

This evening?

A shiver of excitement passed through her body.

“I see.” She bit her lip remembering it was Friday and she had a date with Ken.

“By your hesitation I assume you’re not free.”

His eyes held hers. She could sense his urgency and the accompanying disappointment.

“I-I’ll change my plans,” she stammered. “After the pain I’ve put you and your family through, it’s the least I can do.”

Ken would forgive her when she told him it was a legal matter. He above all people would understand.

The only person who didn’t feel right about the whole situation was Rainey. Not when her attraction to this man was so intense.

“Thank you, Ms. Bennett. Have you ever flown in a helicopter?”

Her pulse started to race. “Yes. My brother’s friend runs a helicopter service in Las Vegas. He’s flown me over the Grand Canyon several times.”

“Good. I’ll send the limo for you at four o’clock. We’ll leave from my office as soon as you arrive. Do you have plans for tomorrow?”