When Gina had gone, he did an appreciative survey of Janet. Whatever her disinterest in food, she managed to have a perfectly rounded figure that could fill a man with lust. He dragged his attention away and stared at the ceiling in what was only a partially successful attempt to bring his hormones under control. The reaction only confirmed what he’d guessed earlier, that he couldn’t walk away from her.

“Everything okay?” she inquired with a half smile that was all too knowing.

He caught the undisguised mirth in her eyes. “Fine,” he lied. “How about you? You looked put-out when I turned up at your office a little while ago. Something on your mind?”

“Just your habit of appearing without notice and expecting me to drop everything to accompany you. Haven’t you ever heard of the telephone?”

“Sure, but it’s harder for you to turn me down face-to-face.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Watching you stammer around for excuses a few times.”

“I never stammer,” she retorted irritably. “Still, I can’t keep taking off at the drop of a hat, just because you get some whim to feed me.”

“You have a lot of work piled up?” he inquired doubtfully.

“That’s not the point.”

“Sure it is. No sense in you sitting around in your office pretending to be busy, when you could be having a nice meal with me.”

“What about a nice meal with my daughter?”

“Who’d cook?”

She frowned at him. “You really do have a rotten streak, Harlan Adams.”

“Just speaking the gospel truth. It’s not even hearsay. Don’t forget I saw the state of your kitchen that night and you never even dared to put that meal on the table. Makes me wonder how the two of you have survived this long. Must have been the takeout available from all those fancy New York restaurants.”

She looked a little like a chicken who’d had her feathers ruffled by that comment, but she kept her mouth clamped firmly shut. Harlan watched the temper flare in her eyes, then slowly diminish before she finally seized on another topic.

“Where did you go so early this morning?” she asked in a perfectly neutral tone.

He grinned. “So, you did miss me. I’m gratified to hear it.”

“I did not say I missed you. It was a simple question, Harlan. Just a little polite conversation, okay? If it’s some big secret, just say so.”

He got the impression he might be pushing her a little too hard with his teasing. He opted for giving her the truth, or at least a select portion of it. “I had some unexpected business to take care of.”

“I thought Cody took care of all the ranch’s business these days.”