Return To Rose Cottage: The Laws of Attraction

She’d dried her tawny hair into waves that fell to her shoulders. Her skin was clear and free of makeup, except for the faintest pink gloss on her lips. Even with all the suntan lotion she’d lathered on while they were on the water, her color was heightened to a healthy pink glow. She looked a thousand-percent better than the pale, shaken woman he’d met the day before.

“How’s it coming out here?” she asked.

“Just about finished. Have you figured out how to cook them?”

“Rest easy,” she said. “My sister has coached me through it. We probably won’t die of food poisoning.” She regarded him with apparent amusement. “By the way, why are there four bakery boxes on the kitchen table?”

He shrugged. “I couldn’t make up my mind what you’d like best.”

“So you bought out the place?”

“Pretty much—at least everything chocolate,” he admitted. “You don’t have to eat it all.”

“But I probably will,” she admitted with a sigh. “Chocolate is what gets me through stress.”

“And you’re stressed now?” he asked.

She hesitated, then regarded him with surprise. “Not right this second, no.”

He grinned. “I told you there were advantages to a day in a rowboat.”

“Apparently so. I haven’t thought about work all day long. That’s like some sort of miracle.”

“Then let’s keep that track record intact and get dinner on the table.”

Ashley nodded at once. “Good plan. If I start to bring up anything work-related over dinner, cut me off.”

Josh wasn’t sure he’d be able to agree to that indefinitely, but he could for tonight. “No work. Got it.”

In the kitchen, they worked side-by-side. He made the salad while she fried the fish. When the plates were ready, they sat at the kitchen table and Ashley lifted a glass of wine in a toast.

“To relaxation,” she said.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” Josh added.

“Even if it can’t last forever,” she said, looking just a little sad.

“Hey, that borders on mentioning work,” he scolded. “Maybe we need to have a penalty.”

Competitive woman that she was, Ashley immediately seized on the idea, just as he’d known she would.

“Such as?” she asked at once.

“We each have a pot and put in a dollar for every infraction. We’re on the honor system. We have to put the money in even if the other person isn’t around. At the end of the week, the one with the fewest violations gets all the money.” He grinned. “And gets treated to dinner by the loser.”

She considered the scheme thoughtfully, as if weighing her odds of winning. “I can do that,” she said finally.

Josh doubted it, but he lifted his glass. “To relaxation,” he toasted one more time.

They’d no sooner taken a sip than his cell phone rang. He could have sworn he’d left it turned off on his dresser, but apparently it had been stuck in the pocket of his jacket.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” Ashley asked.

He debated the wisdom of it, then finally reached for his jacket and grabbed it out of the pocket. “Yes?”

“Have you lost your mind, Madison?”

“Mr. Williams,” he said, barely containing a sigh.

“I’ve spoken to Stephanie,” his boss said. “She tells me the two of you have called off your engagement.”

Josh barely clung to his temper. “We were never engaged, sir.”

“Semantics. We all knew you were headed in that direction.”

“You were the only one who really believed that,” Josh corrected. “Fortunately Stephanie and I realized before it was too late that it would be a mistake. Look, sir, this isn’t really a good time. Perhaps we can discuss this later.”

“Now’s good for me,” Creighton Williams insisted. “You realize what this is going to do to your future here at Brevard, Williams and Davenport, don’t you?”

“I assume it’s over. If so, that’s fine.”

His ready acceptance of the end of his career clearly caught his boss off guard. “Now let’s not be hasty, Madison. You’re a good lawyer. This might get you off that fast track, but I don’t want to lose you over this. Besides, Stephanie made it clear she’d be furious if I fired you. We’ll work something out when you get back.”

“That’s very generous of you, sir, but I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

“What the devil are you saying?”

He finally risked a look at Ashley and noted that she was listening avidly to every word. “I’m saying that I’m on vacation. We’ll discuss it another time. Thanks for calling. I mean that, sir. It was very gracious of you.”

He shut the phone off completely and barely resisted the urge to toss it out the back door. He waited for the litany of questions to begin.

“Go ahead, ask,” he said finally.

She grinned. “That was about work, right?”

He nodded, uncertain where she was going. It didn’t seem to be in the direction he’d expected.

Ashley held up a slip of paper with little marks on it. “I counted half a dozen references to work, minimum. That’s six dollars in your pot, please.”

Josh fought a laugh. “You counted that conversation in our bet?”

“Of course. We had a deal. We sealed it with a toast before the phone rang.”

“Oh, brother, you must be hell on wheels in a courtroom.”

She grinned. “That’s another one. Seven dollars.”

He frowned at her. “Dammit, I was referring to your work, not mine.”