I do not like being surprised in my bathtub. Neither do I like being threatened.”
Alex lifted her chin and smiled sweetly. “I wasn’t threatening you, D’Alesio, I was making promises. You can count on the fact that you’ll never film my father’s work now.”
The hand that held hers tightened until she felt her bones would crack, but the man towering a little bit too close to her smiled.
“Blackmail, Dr. Randall?”
“Fact, D’Alesio.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. But let’s not worry about filming right now, shall we? We have to find your father.”
Alex arched a brow and wished that he weren’t quite so tall and that she weren’t clad in flimsy silks. “If you’re not worrying about your precious film, D’Alesio, what are you worrying about?”
“A man,” he replied coolly. “A friend—a brilliant scientist. But mostly, Dr. Randall, a man. A human being.”
Alex lowered her head and pulled her hand from his grasp. She turned and walked away from him, wondering how it was possible to so despise a person and still admire him. And still feel that he was exceptionally attractive. More than attractive—magnetic. She had never met a man before whom she had wanted so much to touch, simply because of an element of sexuality so strong that it appealed to something that was physical, beyond emotion. She had known desire, but that had been understandable. She had been in love. She certainly wasn’t in love with D’Alesio. And of all the men in the world for her to discover she found irresistible on a primitive level …
In her present state of confusion, it was more than she could handle. She had even felt it when she had thought him a wild desert kidnapper; now, seeing him as he really was, it only grew stronger.
“All right.” His voice snapped out once again like that of a drill master. “What then?”
“What then?”
“What happened then? What did you do? Did you look for Jim? Or did you just sit around in your hotel room waiting to pounce upon me in the bathtub?”
“You son of—”
“Un-unh, Doctor! Not productive. I want to know everything that happened after the phone call until we met.”
“You already know!” Alex flared with renewed fury. “All right, D’Alesio, you want to know everything? I flew to Paris the next morning. Transferred flights and arrived in Cairo. I waited for Jim for almost four hours. Then I went to the Hilton. I gave everyone I could the third degree. No one knew for sure when they had seen him last. I called the police; they said he wasn’t missing long enough to be a ‘missing person.’ I called you—a true effort in futility. I went to the museum. I called every professor my dad might know, thinking he might have gotten in touch with someone. I combed the tourist attractions and shops. I heard you’d gone down the Nile; I followed. You came back up the Nile. I followed. And then—as you know—I was tossed bodily out of your hotel room. I flew here—and was bodily attacked.” Her voice kept rising as she spoke. Repeating all that had happened made her temper flame like a brushfire.
“Alex,” D’Alesio said quietly, impressed despite himself with the loyalty and dogged determination of this particular powder puff. “If we’re going to solve anything, we’re going to have to call a truce.”
She turned back to him. “A truce? You’re crazy.”
He laughed, and she felt as if she were even touched by the husky sound of his voice. “Truce, Doctor. We can hardly get anywhere when you’re being hostile and uncooperative.”
“Mr. D’Alesio, I can hardly help feeling hostile.”
He stared at her, hands on hips, then suddenly laughed again. “Would it make you feel any better if I let you clobber me?”
She should, of course, say no. She had always hated violence, considering skirmishes beneath her. But she found she couldn’t simply decline dignity. It would make her—childishly perhaps, but truthfully—happier to just give
Alex lifted her chin and smiled sweetly. “I wasn’t threatening you, D’Alesio, I was making promises. You can count on the fact that you’ll never film my father’s work now.”
The hand that held hers tightened until she felt her bones would crack, but the man towering a little bit too close to her smiled.
“Blackmail, Dr. Randall?”
“Fact, D’Alesio.”
“I wouldn’t count on that. But let’s not worry about filming right now, shall we? We have to find your father.”
Alex arched a brow and wished that he weren’t quite so tall and that she weren’t clad in flimsy silks. “If you’re not worrying about your precious film, D’Alesio, what are you worrying about?”
“A man,” he replied coolly. “A friend—a brilliant scientist. But mostly, Dr. Randall, a man. A human being.”
Alex lowered her head and pulled her hand from his grasp. She turned and walked away from him, wondering how it was possible to so despise a person and still admire him. And still feel that he was exceptionally attractive. More than attractive—magnetic. She had never met a man before whom she had wanted so much to touch, simply because of an element of sexuality so strong that it appealed to something that was physical, beyond emotion. She had known desire, but that had been understandable. She had been in love. She certainly wasn’t in love with D’Alesio. And of all the men in the world for her to discover she found irresistible on a primitive level …
In her present state of confusion, it was more than she could handle. She had even felt it when she had thought him a wild desert kidnapper; now, seeing him as he really was, it only grew stronger.
“All right.” His voice snapped out once again like that of a drill master. “What then?”
“What then?”
“What happened then? What did you do? Did you look for Jim? Or did you just sit around in your hotel room waiting to pounce upon me in the bathtub?”
“You son of—”
“Un-unh, Doctor! Not productive. I want to know everything that happened after the phone call until we met.”
“You already know!” Alex flared with renewed fury. “All right, D’Alesio, you want to know everything? I flew to Paris the next morning. Transferred flights and arrived in Cairo. I waited for Jim for almost four hours. Then I went to the Hilton. I gave everyone I could the third degree. No one knew for sure when they had seen him last. I called the police; they said he wasn’t missing long enough to be a ‘missing person.’ I called you—a true effort in futility. I went to the museum. I called every professor my dad might know, thinking he might have gotten in touch with someone. I combed the tourist attractions and shops. I heard you’d gone down the Nile; I followed. You came back up the Nile. I followed. And then—as you know—I was tossed bodily out of your hotel room. I flew here—and was bodily attacked.” Her voice kept rising as she spoke. Repeating all that had happened made her temper flame like a brushfire.
“Alex,” D’Alesio said quietly, impressed despite himself with the loyalty and dogged determination of this particular powder puff. “If we’re going to solve anything, we’re going to have to call a truce.”
She turned back to him. “A truce? You’re crazy.”
He laughed, and she felt as if she were even touched by the husky sound of his voice. “Truce, Doctor. We can hardly get anywhere when you’re being hostile and uncooperative.”
“Mr. D’Alesio, I can hardly help feeling hostile.”
He stared at her, hands on hips, then suddenly laughed again. “Would it make you feel any better if I let you clobber me?”
She should, of course, say no. She had always hated violence, considering skirmishes beneath her. But she found she couldn’t simply decline dignity. It would make her—childishly perhaps, but truthfully—happier to just give
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