With a sigh, she reminded herself that she’d ambushed him this morning so they could get past their weekend at the lake. The old adage of being careful what you wished for sprang to mind. She’d wanted people to know that Heath had signed with Perfect for You, and the word had spread. Now, if she lost him as a client, everyone would assume she hadn’t been good enough to keep him. Everything rested on how she handled herself this morning.

She passed through the empty dining room into the kitchen. The counters were clear, the stainless-steel European appliances looked unused. Only the dirty glass in the sink signaled human habitation. She was struck by the notion that Heath had a place to live, but he didn’t have a home.

She returned to the living room and gazed through the windows toward the street. A piece of the puzzle that made up the man she’d fallen in lust with settled into place. Because he was always on the move, she’d missed the fact that he was basically a loner. This unfurnished house brought his emotional isolation into focus.

He reappeared wearing gray slacks, a midnight blue shirt, and a patterned necktie, everything so perfectly pulled together he could have stepped out of a Barneys ad. He tossed his suit coat across the weight bench, set down the coffee she’d brought, and shot his cuffs. “I wasn’t ditching you. I needed some time to reassess, and I’m not apologizing for it.”

“Apology accepted.” His frown didn’t bode well, and she quickly shifted gears. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out better with Phoebe at the lake. Despite what you might think, I was rooting for you.”

“We had half a decent conversation.” He picked up the coffee.

“What happened to the other half?”

“I let her push my buttons.”

She’d have enjoyed hearing the details, but she needed to get rolling before he started looking at the watch peeking out from under his shirt cuff. “Okay, here’s the real reason I’m here—and if you’d called me back, I wouldn’t have had to bother you. I need to know if you said anything to anybody about you-know-who. If you did, I swear I’ll never speak to you again. I told you in the strictest confidence. Truly, I’d die of embarrassment.”

“Tell me you didn’t barge in here to talk about Dream Boy.”

She pretended to fidget with her ring, a turquoise Nana had bought in Santa Fe. “So do you think Dean might like me?”

“Gosh, I don’t know. Why don’t you wait till study hall and ask your girlfriends?”

She tried to appear offended. “I’m looking for the male perspective, that’s all.”

“Get it from Raoul.”

“We’re over. He was screwing around on me.”

“Like everybody in town didn’t already know that?”

Okay, they’d had their fun. She sank down on the edge of the weight bench. “I know you think Dean is too young for me…”

“Your age is only one item on a bullet list of calamities waiting to happen if you don’t get past this. And I haven’t seen Lover Boy, so your secret is safe. Are we done yet?”