She didn’t get it. Why was he lavishing all this attention on her, now that he knew the truth? Why had he kept so silent about what Jenny had told him? Was he planning to set her up to take a tremendous fall? If that was it, it was a pretty diabolical plan; one she couldn’t imagine Harlan resorting to.

She was still trying to puzzle it out when he came up behind her, spanned her waist with his hands, brushed aside her hair and planted a kiss on her nape.

“I see it got here,” he said, sounding extremely pleased with himself.

“Just a few minutes ago,” she said, unable to take her eyes off the lavish display. She couldn’t quite decide whether to be awed or appalled. She settled for adding, “The flowers are beautiful.”

He released her, stepped in front of her, then examined her face intently. Apparently her expression gave her away. He frowned.

“Too much?” he inquired.

“It’s not that...exactly,” she said, not wanting to trample on the sentiment behind the overdone gesture. She’d discovered long ago that men required all the positive reinforcement possible, if a woman expected flowers and candy not just for special occasions, but as impulsive gifts for no reason at all. This wasn’t a habit she wanted to break, just to modify. And this was an improvement over that first floral excess he’d brought to the house.

She gestured helplessly at the arrangement’s takeover of her desk top. “Where am I supposed to work?”

He nodded. “Definitely a problem.” He settled an innocent look on her. “So, take the day off.”

She couldn’t help laughing at his mischievous expression and at the outrageous suggestion. “Was that why you sent such a huge bouquet, so I wouldn’t be able to work?”

“Actually, no, but I’m a man who can think on his feet. I could see your dilemma right off and came up with what I consider to be the perfect solution—play hooky.”

She studied him suspiciously. “Seems a little convenient to me that you turned up here just in time to make a suggestion like that.”

“You’ve obviously been hanging around with too many criminals. You lack trust.”

Janet perched on the only available corner of her desk and studied him intently. “Okay. If—and that’s a very big if—I were to take you up on your suggestion, what exactly do you have in mind?”

“Lunch,” he said at once.

“It’s barely nine-fifteen in the morning.”

“In Dallas.”

She stared at him and tried to keep her mouth from gaping. “You want to go all the way to Dallas for lunch? Isn’t that a little extravagant?”

He had a ready answer for that, too, apparently. “We could shop,” he said without so much as a hesitation.

“For?”