Revealed. Joanne Rock

innocence in her eyes as she declined sent warning bells clanging in his head.

      Greg ignored them.

      Jackie released his fingers, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she’d just shot him down harder than anyone else ever had.

      She scooped her tablecloth off the sidewalk and wrapped it around her.

      “But maybe we could see each other again?” she prompted, her throaty voice practically purring with feminine satisfaction.

      She wanted to see him again.

      His breath returned, clearing his head in time for him to form a response.

      “How about next weekend?” He had to be careful not to ask her out for tomorrow. As much as he wanted Jackie, he could not afford to let any woman twist his life around and make him forget his priorities. Not now when he finally had the world by the tail.

      Tail.

      His eyes dropped to Jackie’s feline accoutrements, amazed how his every thought already twined with images of her.

      “Sounds good.” She nodded, a small smile curling her perfect lips.

      He couldn’t be sure in the dim light, but he thought maybe she blushed.

      Digging in his wallet for his business cards, he thought maybe she was just an old-fashioned girl. He’d heard they still existed. Women who didn’t sleep with someone on the first date. Women who still blushed.

      Greg definitely approved. He just hadn’t pegged outrageous cat woman Jackie as one of those women.

      He scribbled down her number on the back of one card and gave her another one in case she needed to reach him.

      Who knew? Maybe she’d change her mind midweek and decide she couldn’t wait for the weekend.

      Fat chance.

      Greg had the feeling he’d lucked into meeting a woman who would be well worth a little time away from the office. A woman who wasn’t into playing games—despite the fact that she favored painting her nose pink and strutting through town wearing cat’s ears.

      “You’re okay from here then?” Greg asked, not wanting to lose gentlemanly points this late into their evening together.

      “I’m okay from here.” She backed toward her front steps, smiling.

      No repeat good-night kiss. Greg couldn’t help the surge of disappointment. He’d been hoping maybe there’d be one more kiss to seal the deal.

      Still, he wanted to roar with satisfaction that there would be more kisses, and who knew what else, in store. He had the feeling he’d have a hard time concentrating on his demo tape review tomorrow after the way she’d just set his veins on fire. But he only had a week to go to see her again.

      Until then, he planned to stock up on dessert wine.

      FROM THE SAFETY OF HER building’s well-lit foyer, Jackie tracked Greg’s progress down her street until she couldn’t see him anymore.

      She’d made a date with Mr. Corporate and she was feeling pretty damn giddy about it. The memory of his touch would taunt her until next weekend.

      She looked down at the business card in her hands, scarcely daring to believe her good luck. Flipping it over, she read the words printed there.

      Greg De Costa. General Manager.

      WBCI, Channel Twelve.

      The card wavered in her suddenly trembling hand.

      Oh no.

      Jackie watched her fledgling career crash and burn right before her eyes.

      Her bachelor party hero had turned out to be more than a ritzy member of Boston’s business elite. No, that would have been far too tame for her. She’d flashed her breasts at the man who held her professional future in his hands—the veritable god of the commercial jingle world, the Zeus of recording contracts in Boston.

      No wonder his name had sounded so familiar to her. Jackie had just mailed him a copy of her demo last week.

      Before she’d fawned all over him. Before she’d fallen out of her kitty costume and shown him more than any man had ever seen.

      Before she’d totally blown her credibility as a serious commercial talent.

      What was he going to think when he opened her application materials and discovered her name on a new demo? He was going to think what any man would think—that Jackie had gone out of her way to put herself in his path today. That she’d put on a show for him to help land a job.

      Maybe she hadn’t been so lucky tonight after all.

      Jackie squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she was going to have to do some serious tap dancing to maneuver her way around this disaster. But after failing at one career—her cherished dream of composing more complex music—Jackie refused to screw up another.

      Later, she’d figure how she could still land the voice-over slot without looking like she’d manipulated Greg.

      But first things first. She didn’t stand a shot in hell at that job if Greg unearthed her tape now. Before she did anything else, she needed to make a trip to WBCI to get her demo back.

      Good thing Jackie was used to turning heads and causing a commotion. She had the feeling she’d have to do a little of both if she wanted to straighten out this mess.