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Chance raised a hand, warding off their criticism. “I wasn’t. But at the time, I—” At the time he’d been afraid she wouldn’t come, and he’d wanted her with him. “I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  The two women exchanged glances, then Sophie spoke. “Tracker says you’re nuts about her.”

  Chance pinned his friend with a look.

  “Hey,” Tracker said with a shrug. “I only calls ’em as I sees ’em.”

  “Don’t look at me,” Lucas said. “My advice is to plead the Fifth.”

  Chance glanced back at the two women. “Works for me.”

  Then to his surprise Mac and Sophie smiled at him.

  “Since you are clearly nuts about her, we’ve decided to help you dig yourself out of the hole you’re in,” Sophie said.

  Mac slid out of the banquette. “Go. Talk to her.”

  Chance felt his stomach plummet as he followed Mac out of the banquette. Natalie was here. His intention had been to spend the night working out a strategy for what he knew he wanted to do. Maybe he’d call her in the morning. Or send her flowers and then drop in on her at work. Or…

  Hell, it was the one time in his life that he dearly needed a plan, and he had no choice but to play it by ear.

  “WELL, WHAT ARE YOU going to do about it?” Rory asked as she swirled her olive around in her drink and then popped it into her mouth.

  “Do?” Natalie asked.

  “Yes.” Sierra reach over to pat her hand. “You always have a plan.”

  Natalie took a sip of her martini, then studied her two sisters over the rim of the glass.

  She’d just told them everything that had happened since she’d left Sophie’s party with Chance, and they were looking a lot less worried than they’d been when she first sat down at the table.

  “Right,” Rory said around a mouthful of stuffed mushroom. “It sounds like you had a wonderful adventure down in Florida. But you’re going to have to do something about Chance.”

  “No.” Natalie shook her head. “I’ve had my adventure and I’ve had my fling. My plan is to go back to being Natalie Gibbs. Period.”

  “You’re crazy about him,” Sierra said in her quiet, certain voice.

  “I’m…” The not stuck in her throat. Because Sierra was right. No one else in the world had ever made her feel the way Chance Mitchell had. She was very much afraid that she was in love with him. “I’m a mess,” she finally admitted.

  “Have one of these shrimp.” Rory shoved the plate toward her.

  Natalie shook her head, but she did take another sip of her drink. “He’s walked out on me twice now.”

  “Yes, he has,” Sierra said.

  “The jerk,” Rory said.

  “I’ll drink to that,” Natalie murmured and did. For the first time since she’d walked off the plane a week ago, she didn’t feel quite so numb. Perhaps it was the martini. Or maybe it was the little flame of anger that had flickered to life inside of her.

  “He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with,” Sierra said.

  “No,” Natalie agreed. He didn’t.

  “You’ve always been the one with courage. Harry was right when he called you his warrior. I’ve never once known you to walk away from anything,” Sierra added.

  Natalie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re trying that psychology stuff on me.”

  “She’s trying the truth,” Rory said.

  “The way I see it, it all boils down to one question—do you want this man?” Sierra asked.

  Natalie thought of all that had happened between them down in Florida. It hadn’t just been about great sex. Finally, Natalie drew in a deep breath. “Yes, I want him.”

  “Then take a risk,” Sierra said.

  “And use your talents,” Rory added.

  Natalie glanced at her watch. Technically, she was still on vacation. So there wouldn’t be any trouble getting a few days off. Either Tracker or Lucas Wainwright should know where Chance could be contacted in London. And while she was finding out that information, she’d have time to plan.

  “I’ve got to go,” she said as she rose from her chair.

  “Speak of the devil,” Rory said.

  Natalie felt the prickle of awareness at the same moment Rory spoke the words. Then turning, she felt that quick leap of her heart that only Chance could cause.

  He was moving quickly through the crowd on the stairs. How long had he been in town?

  How had he known she was here?

  The moment that his eyes met hers, she felt it right down to her toes. I’m not ready for this.

  That was the one solid thought that managed to tumble into her mind as she walked to meet him in the center of the dance floor. Couples moved around them. Natalie could see that he looked tired—as if he hadn’t slept in a week. That made her feel just a little bit better.

  For a moment, neither of them spoke.

  Then Chance said, “Natalie,” and reached for her.

  She took a quick step backward and folded her arms in front of her chest. “Why? Why didn’t you tell me that you knew I wasn’t Rachel Cade?”

  He frowned. “Don’t you think I asked myself that a hundred times? I should have. I know that. But once we were down in Florida, I told myself that it would be safer if I didn’t.”

  “Safer?” Her brows shot up and she began to tap her foot.

  “Okay. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid at first that you wouldn’t come with me and, later, that you wouldn’t stay.”

  “So it was the job all along.”

  “No.”

  She saw the anger flash into his eyes, felt it in the way he grabbed her arms. But she planted two hands on his chest and held her ground.

  “You were the one who masqueraded as Rachel Cade. Why did you put on the damn disguise in the first place?”

  She lifted her chin. “Because you walked away from Natalie Gibbs.”

  “I didn’t. I had a job.”

  She poked a finger into his chest. “You didn’t leave a note. You didn’t call for three months.”

  He held up his hands, palms out. “Okay. I plead insanity. But I’m not walking away this time.”

  In a move so quick that she couldn’t prevent it, Chance pulled her onto her toes and kissed her.

  As his taste, his heat, streamed through her, Natalie felt as if she were coming home. It would have been so easy to sink into that feeling, into him. But not yet. She hooked a foot around his ankle and gave him one good shove that sent him to the floor.

  Couples scattered, and she heard a burst of applause. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tracker and Sophie on the side of the dance floor. Mac and Lucas stood behind them grinning.

  “You go, girl!” Rory shouted.

  “Trust in your talents,” Sierra called, the laughter clear in her voice.

  Natalie kept her eyes on Chance as he shot her a grin. It nearly melted her, but she wasn’t through with him. Not yet. Planting her hands on her hips, she said, “You’re a jerk.”

  “Okay. I plead guilty to that one.”

  There was another burst of applause from the crowd.

  Chance held out his hand. “Help me up?”

  Her brows shot up again. “Do I look like I have the word Sucker written on my forehead?”

  CHANCE THREW BACK his head and laughed. This was his Natalie all right. He got up off the floor and faced her. “God, I’ve missed you. I liked Rachel. I’ve always had this thing for blondes.”

  “Really?” Her foot began to tap again.

  Chance began to warm to his theme. “And Calli was really sexy. I had a real thing going for her.”

  “Yeah. I got that feeling.”

  She was softening. He was almost sure that he’d seen her lips twitch.

  “But I missed you.”

  He waited a beat, and when she said nothing, he decided for the first time in his life to risk everything. “I have another proposition for you.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her foot tapped faster. “If you think
—”

  He raised a hand to stop her. “I thought we might go behind those potted trees over there—for old times’ sake?”

  “Forget it.”

  Oh, his Nat was back all right. He might have even begun to enjoy himself, if it weren’t for the fear that had tied itself into a tight knot in his stomach. If he blew this— No, he wasn’t going to blow it. He couldn’t.

  “Okay. I’ll do it right here.” He pulled the small box out of his pocket. Then he got to his knees and opened it.

  “A ring? You brought me a ring?”

  There was such astonishment on her face, in her voice, that a quick sliver of panic raced up his spine. Was he pushing her too fast? “Yeah. It doesn’t have to be an engagement ring. It could just be a—”

  Words slipped away as she dropped to her knees in front of him.

  “Looks like an engagement ring to me,” she said, meeting his eyes. “But if you’re having second thoughts…”

  “No.” Chance met her eyes steadily and saw what he needed to see. “No second thoughts.

  How about you?”

  She gave him a shaky smile. “Just about a thousand or so. I didn’t plan on this.” She drew in a breath and let it out.

  He smiled at her. “Me either. But I’m good at improvising. So are you.”

  She looked down at the ring again. It was a big step, a huge one. And there wasn’t a plan in the world that she could come up with to deal with it. But as Chance put his hands on her shoulders, she thought she could hear a voice telling her, “You can do it, Nat.”

  And then she heard Chance’s voice. “I love you, Nat.”

  She met his eyes then and smiled. “I love you, too. So I guess we’ll just have to make it up as we go along.”

  He kissed her then, and though she vaguely thought applause and shouts had broken out around them, the one thing that she was sure of was Chance.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6324-0

  THE PROPOSITION

  Copyright © 2005 by Carolyn Hanlon.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 16