Up Close and Personal. Maureen Child

important to you? Why do you care what my secrets are?”

      A long moment of silence stretched out until all she heard was Beast’s gentle breathing and the tap of rain at the window. Just as she decided he wasn’t going to answer her at all, he spoke.

      “Because I want what’s mine, Laura Page.”

      “But I’m not yours.”

      “You were,” he reminded her, “and if those secrets still belong to me, I’ll have them before we’re done.”

      He left her then, quietly closing the door behind him.

      Laura dropped onto the edge of the bed, finally giving in to the weakness in her knees. She lifted one hand to her mouth and swore she could still feel the buzz of his kiss sliding through her.

      Then she sighed.

      He hadn’t returned her key.

      Three

      Laura got a late start the next morning.

      While Georgia was out dealing with business at the post office, Laura stayed home to wait for the locksmith. Once all of the locks had been changed, she felt safe enough to leave Beast at home and go into the office.

      Of course, her eyes were gritty from lack of sleep and her temper was more than a little on edge. And it was all Ronan’s fault.

      This wasn’t right, she told herself as she unlocked the real estate office and flipped the sign on the door to ‘open’. She was supposed to be free of Ronan. Getting on with her life. Getting him out of her system.

      The phone rang and she snatched at it gratefully. “Brand New Page Realty,” she said, plastering a smile she didn’t feel onto her face.

      “You’re late today,” Ronan answered.

      “Had to wait for a locksmith,” she told him, with just a bit of satisfaction. “Oh, feel free to throw that key away now.”

      He chuckled. “Think I’ll be keeping it in the way of a souvenir.”

      “You want keepsakes now?” she asked, sitting at her desk and riffling through the stack of mail. Bill. Bill. Bill. She sighed, tossed them to the desktop and leaned back in her chair.

      Through the front window, the only signs of yesterday’s storm were the puddles in the street and the soaked piles of leaves that had been torn from trees. Thanks to the rain, the sky was a brilliant blue and the cold wind that rushed in off the ocean was drying everything out quickly.

      “It wasn’t so long ago that you were telling me we were through,” she reminded him.

      “Times change,” he countered and as he spoke, a long, black car pulled up in front of her shop.

      Laura watched the driver of the car get out and she shook her head as she met Ronan’s gaze through the window. He was holding his cell phone to his ear and grinning at her.

      “You know, it’s illegal to drive in California while holding your phone.”

      “Ah, but I’m a dangerous man who likes a risk.”

      He really was dangerous. To her peace of mind if nothing else. But damned if she’d let him know it. She’d spent hours during a long sleepless night berating herself for giving in to that kiss. No way was she going to slip up again.

      Ronan was like any other bad habit.

      The only way to quit was cold turkey.

      “What are you doing here?”

      He walked around his car, pushed open the door and a bell overhead jangled to announce him. Only then did he shut off his phone and tuck it into a pocket of his black slacks. “Giving you another chance to show me how much you want me.”

      “God, you’re an impossibly arrogant man.”

      “If you think that’s insulting, you’d be wrong.” He walked farther into the room. “I do wonder though, why you’re so on edge around me. Didn’t used to be.”

      “Times change,” she shot back, throwing his own words at him as she set the phone back into its cradle.

      “I like a woman with a temper,” he said. “Call it a flaw.”

      “The very notion that you’re willing to admit to a flaw might ordinarily be a cause for celebration—”

      He smiled as if everything she said amused him, and it probably did. That smile of his, along with the accent that seemed to ripple over her skin like a caress was a formidable weapon to a man who already had too many at his disposal.

      “You’ve left Beast at home then?” He glanced around the office then back to her.

      “He’s fine. And he knows I’ll be back.”

      “Whereas, he wept and pined for me in my absence?” he asked.

      Frowning, she shuffled the bills into a neat pile all while keeping one wary eye on him. “Ronan, why are you here?”

      “To tell you I’ll be gone a few days.”

      In spite of everything, she felt a ping of disappointment. Stupid. She should be glad he was leaving again. “So you’re proving my point about Beast. You’re gone more than you’re home.”

      “I would have taken him with me this time,” he told her.

      “Beast on a plane?”

      “Did I mention anything about a plane?”

      “No,” she had to admit.

      “Aren’t you going to ask where I’m going?”

      “No again,” she told him, though she was dying to know. Was he off to protect someone else? Putting himself in danger again? Or just rushing to get away from her again?

      “I’ll tell you anyway. I’m off to the training grounds where our newest guards are taking their final tests.”

      He had told her about the bodyguard training all of his employees had to take and pass before coming to work for him. She knew it was out in the desert somewhere, though he had kept the exact location a secret. Security reasons, he had told her, and she remembered being hurt that he didn’t trust her enough to be specific.

      Seemed he still didn’t.

      Laura glanced out the window to the busy street beyond, wishing someone—anyone—would come inside desperate to find a house. She couldn’t count on Georgia showing up, because she was at the post office with a stack of packages to mail and that could take either minutes or hours, depending.

      Taking a breath, Laura resigned herself to being alone with Ronan no matter how hard it was. All she had to do was not think about that kiss. Better that she remember that he had walked away from her once already.

      “So why are you telling me this?” she asked, deliberately keeping a distance from him.

      “To give you a chance to miss me, of course.”

      She blinked at him. “What?”

      Ronan smiled easily and leaned against the corner of her desk. Crossing his arms in front of him, he looked her up and down and then met her eyes again. “I want you to think of me while I’m gone.”

      “Why would I do that?” she demanded, though a part of her knew she would be doing just what he wanted her to. The real question was why he wanted her to. “You were gone for six weeks, and I didn’t miss you.”

      “Liar.” His eyes flashed knowingly.

      “I didn’t miss you before, and I won’t now, either,” she said and hoped she sounded more sure than she felt. “Why would I? You’re the one who broke things off between us, Ronan.”

      “Aye, I did at that, and I’m thinking