“Anywhere but here,” she said, leaning against her desk like a corporate vamp. “I told you before that I’m not working with you.”
He picked up his briefcase and came forward. As self-assured as ever, he pulled up a chair and sat down, studying the apple.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Checking for worms.”
She smiled in spite of herself. “I’m not that evil.”
He lifted his gaze, and her smile fell. Why did he have to look at her like that? So sly, so sexy. She could almost feel his rain-slicked, dream-induced skin.
“All women are evil. And beautiful and clever in their own way,” he said. “I enjoy females.”
“So I’ve heard.” She walked around to the other side of her desk and sank into her leather chair, hoping to appear more powerful than she felt.
“You’re holding my dating record against me?” he asked.
“You mean your scorecard? Let’s face it, Mr. Kingman. You’re a player. You drive a fast, ferocious, racy red Corvette, keep company with bimbos and then notch your bedpost after each insensitive conquest.”
He gave her a level stare. “Nice try, but that’s not quite accurate. You see, I have a brass bed, and the metal is a little hard to notch.”
Gina steeled her nerves. She had a brass bed, too. The one he’d invaded. “You indulged in an affair with a movie star twice your age.”
Something flashed in his eyes. Pain? Anger? Male pride? She couldn’t be sure.
“Aren’t you going to defend yourself?” she asked, confused by his silence.
Suddenly Flint Kingman, the confident, carefree spin doctor, was impossible to read.
Two
Gina waited for him to respond, but he just sat there, staring at her.
“Well?” she asked, unnerved by those unwavering eyes.
Finally he blinked, sending sparks of amber shooting through his irises. “What do you want me to say? I was only twenty-two at the time.”
Which meant what? That he’d actually been in love? Or that he’d been too young and too wild to control his sexual urges?
“How are you going to polish Baronessa’s reputation when your own reputation isn’t exactly glowing?” she asked, refusing to let it go. Flint had been a virile twenty-two-year-old, and Tara had been a dazzling role model for forty-three-year-olds everywhere, proving women could be desirable at any age. But their relationship still bothered Gina.
He squared his shoulders. “I’m more than qualified to pull Baronessa out of this mess.”
“And so am I.” Even if she had been the one who’d unwittingly dragged Baronessa into it.
“Really?” He placed his briefcase on his lap and opened it, and with the flick of his wrists he scattered a stack of supermarket tabloids across Gina’s desk.
The headlines hit her square in the chest.
Mysterious Curse Destroys Ice Cream Empire.
Mafia Mayhem in Boston. Will the Sicilian-Born Barones Survive?
Passion Fruit Versus Passion Death. Who Tried to Murder an Innocent Man?
“I’ve read these,” she said. “And they’re filled with lies. That curse is nonsense. My family isn’t connected to the mob. And the man who suffered an allergic reaction to the peppers recovered with no ill effects.”
“Maybe so, but just stating the facts isn’t enough. What’s your plan to counter the negative press, Miss Barone? This is some pretty heavy-duty stuff.”
She shoved the tabloids aside, and her ulcer sprang to life, her stomach acids eating a hole right through her, creating a familiar pain.
“I intend to hold a contest,” she said. “Something that will get the public involved.”
“Like what? Name That Curse?”
Smart-ass, she thought, narrowing her eyes at him. “More like create a new gelato flavor. Baronessa will invite the public to come up with a flavor to replace passionfruit. The winner of the contest and the new flavor will get lots of press, plenty of positive media attention.”
He sat quietly, mulling over her idea. Finally he said, “That’s a great marketing tool, but it’s too soon for a contest. First we need something juicier. A bigger scandal, something that will make the press forget all about that pepper fiasco.”
“And I suppose you’ve already cooked up the perfect scandal.”
He smoothed his hair, a gesture she’d seen more than once. But he did have that rebellious strand, the Elvis lock that repeatedly fell forward.
“Truthfully,” he admitted, “I haven’t zeroed in on the perfect scandal, but when I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
“I don’t like the idea,” she told him. “All we’ll be doing is replacing one set of lies for another. That doesn’t cut it for me.”
“Too bad. It’s the way to go. Believe me, I’ve worked this angle before.” He reached for one of the tabloids. “So what’s the deal on this curse?”
Gina pressed against the pain, the gnawing, burning sensation in her stomach. “Aren’t you supposed to know all of this already?”
“I want to hear it in your words. I want your take on the curse.”
“I already told you, it’s nonsense.” She rose and walked to the bar. Not because she was a gracious hostess, but because she needed to coat the burn. “Would you like something to drink?” she asked.
He shook his head, and she poured herself a glass of milk. “It does a body good,” she said, when he eyed the white liquid curiously.
He roamed his gaze over her, sweeping her curves with masculine appreciation. “So I see.”
Her pulse shot up her arm. Don’t flirt with me, she thought. Don’t look at me with those bedroom eyes.
But he did. He watched her. Closely. They way he’d watched her in that dream, just seconds before she’d undressed him.
Neither spoke. They stared at each other, caught in one those awkward, sexually stirring moments.
Finally, he broke eye contact, and she brought the milk to her lips. The thick, creamy drink slid down her throat.
“The curse,” Flint reminded her, his voice a little too rough.
Gina took her seat, struggling for composure. This felt like a curse, she thought. This impossible attraction.
“It started with my grandfather,” she said. “He jilted a girl who’d wanted to marry him, and on Valentine’s Day, he eloped with my grandmother instead. So the other girl put a curse on my grandparents and their descendants. She vowed that misery would strike on their anniversary, marking Valentine’s Day a holiday of disaster.”
“Then why did you schedule the passionfruit tasting on February fourteenth?” he asked. “That seems a little risky to me.”
“Because I was determined to prove that curse wrong. Besides, a flavor called passionfruit made a nice Valentine’s Day promotion.” She drank some more milk. “Or it should have.”
He gathered the tabloids and put them into his briefcase. “You lied to me, Miss Barone. You don’t think the curse is nonsense. You believe in it now.”
Steeped in guilt, she defended herself. “I’m not a superstitious woman, but I should have been more cautious. Some unfortunate things have happened to my family on