took a deep breath. "I'm not visiting."
"Your partner's place?"
She shook her head.
He looked skeptical. "I get it," he said. "This is where you do your cooking."
"Wrong again." She glanced at her watch. "Ten seconds, Jake, and then I'm calling the police. You're not welcome here."
"You're not planning to stay here all night, are you?"
She lifted her chin. "So what if I am?"
"This is a lousy neighborhood. It probably gets lousier after dark."
"This is a terrific neighborhood," she shot back. "Too bad it isn't fancy enough for your nouveau riche tastes."
#
An alternate universe, that's what it was. The real Megan McLean wouldn't say something like that.
"Since when did you become a populist?" Jake remembered the girl who thought anything south of Palm Beach was swampland fit only for gators and rednecks. He released his hold on her. "You must be counting the minutes until you can run home."
"Go away," she said, poking her finger into his chest. The look in her eyes was fierce. "Why don't you go back to Australia and chase kangaroos?"
"Come with me to Australia," he said, ignoring the way her hands were clenched into fists. "Let me show you where I grew up."
"I don't give a damn where you grew up." She shoved him in the general direction of the street. "I just want you to leave."
"Sign the contract with Tropicale and I'll leave."
"I'd rather be dead."
"Don't push me," he growled. "Now let's go back to your place and straighten this whole thing out."
"This is my place."
"You can do better than that."
"Damn you. I am telling the truth." The fire in her eyes was softened by unshed tears.
"You live here?"
"I live here."
"What about the house in Palm Beach?" Her father's pink palace where the beautiful princess lived in splendor.
"There is no house in Palm Beach."
"You sold it?"
"The bank and two mortgage companies relieved me of that particular burden."
"You're telling me your father's insurance didn't cover it?"
She looked as if she'd rather walk across a bed of hot coals than answer his questions. "There was no insurance, Jake." She met his eyes. "No insurance. No stocks. No bonds. Nothing."
"With all his money?" Jake tried to fathom her expression. "Look, I was no fan of your father's, but he wasn't that old. He probably didn't think--"
"You don't get it, do you?" she asked, her voice rising. "My father didn't just die, Jake. He killed himself. He walked straight out into the ocean and he never came back." She looked away for a moment. "And he didn't give a damn if I died right along with him." Darrin McLean had gambled away his assets on slow horses and fast women, and when it all became too much he took the easy--and permanent--way out.
His gut burned with rage. "That son of a bitch threw you to the wolves."
She didn't deny it. She didn't do anything at all, except meet his gaze head on. For the first time he understood the shadow of vulnerability he'd seen in her eyes. It hadn't been his imagination. It had been real. All too real.
"I don't want you living like this," he said. "I can help you to--"
"I don't need your charity and I don't particularly want your company." Her voice shook with anger. "Now if you'll excuse me, I was on my way out."
"We're not finished."
"Oh yes, we are."
"I fucked up," he said. "I admit it. I should've told you right up front that I owned the company."
"Get out of my way," she said. "I don't want to see your face ever again."
"Grow up, Meggie." His temper flared. "If you'd stop running and start listening, we might be able to work this out."
"Work what out? There's nothing to work out." She shoved him again, harder this time. "You mean nothing to me, Jake. All you are is a mistake I'd rather forget."
He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her body up against his.
"Jake, if you--"
"Shut up." His mouth slanted across hers hungrily. Her lips parted in surprise. He took full advantage of her moment of weakness as his hands cupped the heavy fullness of her breasts.
"I despise you," she said, breaking the kiss. "Only a bastard would take advantage of the situation."
"Only a fool would let it pass."
"Go ahead," she said, taunting him. "Show me what a big man you are. There's nothing I can do to stop you."
"You're right," he said. "If I wanted to take you right here in your front yard, there's not one damn thing you could do to stop