Secret Admirer: Secret Kisses / Hidden Hearts / Dream Marriage

Much to her surprise, it lay on her desk on top of the clutter she’d shaken out of her briefcase.

Crossing her arms, she shook her head in confusion. Then she opened the file to make sure all the papers were inside it, and even though they were, she felt vague little prickles of alarm.

She could have sworn it hadn’t been there before Matthew Harper had come in to see her.

The River Walk was idyllic. The brown serpentine river sparkled, and sunlight shone through the cypress trees. Jane and Mindy were sitting in a shady spot under a red-and-white umbrella beside the water. There were enough tourists on the old limestone walkways so that Jane and Mindy had people to watch, but their riverside French restaurant wasn’t too crowded. Not like a happening Saturday night when all the restaurants, shops and clubs were jammed.

“I hate to cut this short, but I really do have to get back to the office,” Jane said. “I have an important presentation.”

“First we have to light your candles on your chocolate birthday cake so you can make a wish.”

For a birthday that had started off all wrong and had been filled with unsettling surprises, Jane couldn’t remember when she’d had more fun. Why was that? she wondered.

As Mindy struck a match to light her candles, Jane closed her eyes.

“Think of something you truly truly want, and your wish will come true,” Mindy said softly.

Jane tried to concentrate on the position of director of market research but drew a blank. Instead she conjured a broad-shouldered hunky giant with a sculpted mouth and black-lashed, green eyes, who was wearing a red tie with even hotter pink flamingos flapping all over it.

She squeezed her eyes tighter and tried to focus on the job she wanted. Matt’s image was as stubborn as the man himself and refused to budge.

“Are you thinking of something you really want yet?” Mindy quizzed hopefully.

“No!” she snapped and mentally stuck out her tongue at the vision of Matt.

“Mind if I sit down?” murmured a deep, familiar baritone.

Her eyes flew open, and there he was—as if she’d truly conjured him. Mom would love this.

“I certainly do mind. I was trying to make a wish before my candles go out.”

He sat down anyway and closed his eyes. A look of fiendish bliss transformed his dark, rugged features. His eyes opened. He leaned forward and blew out her candles.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“I made a wish for you on your birthday.” He began plucking candles out of the cake and licking chocolate icing off their bottoms.

“You can’t do that.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a done deal, darlin’.” He licked another candle. “Besides, you were blocked and I was feeling creative. When are you going to realize we’re a team?”

“No, we’re not.”

“We could be—if you’d let it happen.”

“What did you wish for?” she asked him, to change the subject.

“I can’t say, or it won’t come true.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t make my wish.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Mindy said, watching them both far too intently.

“How did you find us?” Jane asked. “No—don’t tell me. Mother?”

He grinned. “She called me again.”

“What if I don’t want your wish to come true?”

“Then it won’t.” He signaled the waiter and ordered a piece of cake just like hers.

The cake was thick rich chocolate and sinfully delicious. Being a cook, she was wondering about the exact ingredients as she ate it, while he simply savored his. He began taking a bite of his cake every time she took a nibble from hers. He watched her, and she watched him. Soon she forgot all about cooking. When she ran her tongue across her upper lip, he did the same. There was a rhythm to it. The river flowed by, tourists laughed and chattered, and the chocolate melted on her tongue just as his ripe kisses had.

“Dark, oozy chocolate’s my favorite flavor,” he said.

“Mine too,” she whispered.

“At least there’s something we enjoy together.” He moved his face nearer hers so that he could whisper. “Besides kissing.”

When she felt his warm breath against her cheek, she jumped away from him. Still, it had been a long time since she’d enjoyed anything more than eating chocolate cake while staring into his sparkling green eyes.

“You’re dangerous,” she said, patting her mouth with her napkin.

“I certainly hope so,” he replied.

Chapter 5

“Mother—please!”

The fragrance of Matt’s flowers were cloyingly sweet. Jane wished she could ignore them. If only she had windows she could open.

If only her mother hadn’t called.

“Mother, I can’t deal with this!” Jane closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “I’ve got a meeting with my boss in two minutes, so listen to me! Please, quit calling him!”

“If she offers you the job, refuse it. Tell her Matt would be better.”

“This kind of help I don’t need.”

“A smart woman is smart enough to let her man win—at least until she’s got him hooked.”

“Do you ever read anything that’s been written this century? Your ideas are medieval.”

“No, your generation is impossible. There aren’t going to be any grandbabies. We’re going to be extinct.”

“Mother!”

“But the cards explicitly recommended—”