Winter Magic: 4 (The Hawks Mountain Series) by Elizabeth Sinclair Page B

“I’m still thinking about it. I’ve got several ideas, but I’m afraid I’ll need some time to work them out. Can I call you with them tomorrow?”
    Her enthusiasm infected him. He leaned forward, eagerly. “Tomorrow would be fine.” He couldn’t help grinning at her excitement and the fact that “his” kids might be a part of this.
    Andi stared at him for a moment, then stood and began rapidly gathering her things. “I think we’ve about covered everything, Mr. Prince. I’ll see what my staff can develop to carry through on a theme.”
    Reluctant to see her go, he started around the desk. A faint popping noise drew his gaze to the back of her head.
    “Oh!”
    Andi’s barrette had broken, and her hair fairly exploded around her face. Awestruck, he watched it settle in a golden blanket over her shoulders, then slowly slide down her chest to cover her breasts.
    Instantly, heat flashed through him, warming every part of his body. He had never seen anything so lovely, so subtle yet utterly arousing.
    Andi caught the pieces of the broken barrette as they fell from her hair. “Drat!” Sighing, she bundled her hair around her fingers. Holding it with one hand, she rummaged through her purse with the other. “I was sure I’d thrown another barrette in here.”
    As if in a trance, he stepped forward. As she rummaged through her purse, he captured her wrist. “No. Don’t put it back up. It’s too lovely to be confined. You should wear it down like this all the time.” Had that been his voice? As if it had burned him, he dropped her hand and stepped back. “I’m sorry. I had no right—”
    “No, it’s okay.” She too moved backwards, as if he posed some threat to her. “I can’t find the barrette anyway, and I only keep it up because  . . . ”
    How did she explain that she kept it up because she always felt uncomfortable with the attention it garnered when it was down? At least she always had. Now, she found herself basking in his compliment.
    What on earth was happening to her? She kept her eyes intentionally averted to her purse so she wouldn’t have to look at him, but it made her no less aware of Jonathan standing close enough for her to just walk into his arms. Andi didn’t understand what she was feeling, and she didn’t like it one little bit. No man had ever made her feel so out of control before, so vulnerable, so—
    She had to get out of here, now, before she did something else to embarrass both of them. But she gained little comfort from knowing that, once she walked out of this house, except for her theme ideas, Miranda would take over, and Andi’s part in helping the children would be over. Equally disturbing, however, was the fact she’d never see Jonathan Prince again.

Chapter 5
     
    ANDI ENTERED HER sister’s hospital room. The pale woman in the bed, sans makeup and designer clothes, a hospital bracelet her only jewelry, looked nothing like the glamorous sister Andi had come to accept over the years.
    Weakly, Miranda’s ashen face tight with pain, she raised herself on one elbow. “Well?”
    Flopping down in the only chair in the room, Andi slipped off the two torture devices squeezing her feet, then luxuriated in the soothing relief of the cold tiles against her aching toes.
    “Andi!” Though weak, Miranda’s tone was demanding. “What happened? Did everything go all right? Did I get the contract?”
    Andi laid her head back against the chair, hoping the headache she’d gotten after leaving Jonathan’s house would go away. But the smell of antiseptic made her stomach churn, and the pounding in her temples increased.
    “Yes, everything went all right, and yes, you got the contract. Nancy and your lawyer are going over it now.”
    “Yes!” Miranda punched the air, gasped, then grabbed her side and settled gingerly back against the pillows. “I can’t thank you enough. I owe you big time for this one.”
    Andi cast a disparaging side glance at her sister. “You bet