Stormy Challenge by Stephanie James, Jayne Ann Krentz Page A

follow? She knew what that look in his eyes had meant when she'd first seen it from across the room. Court was right. Alex Harlow was on the make tonight.
    "Good evening, Alex." Her voice was amazingly calm as she turned and leaned against the rail. He walked toward her, the black turtleneck and dark slacks helping him blend into the darkness around him. The heavy-lidded blue eyes found hers and held them as he advanced. There was a time, she reflected, when that look could have made her heart beat faster.
    "You're looking lovely tonight.," he said quietly, halting a couple of steps away. He said it the way he'd always said it, in a soft, seductive drawl that made it clear he knew when a woman had dressed for him. But she hadn't dressed for him tonight, Leya thought in silent amusement. She'd dressed for Court. The admission went almost unnoticed in the increasing excitement of the moment.
    "Thank you," she replied demurely. "And where is your wife?"
    "Haven't you heard?" Alex asked quietly. "We've split up."
    "I'm sorry to hear that, since the two of you went to such an effort to get together."
    If he caught the thread of sarcasm in her words, Alex didn't acknowledge it.
    "Everyone makes mistakes, Leya." There was a slight pause. "I tried calling you earlier this week. There was no answer."
    "I've been away for a few days," she replied, her arms stretched out on either side of her, resting on the cold metal railing as she lounged backward. The drink was clasped in the fingers of her right hand, half-empty.
    "With him?"
    "Him?" she questioned, eyes gleaming up at Alex's sardonically curved mouth.
    "That man you came with tonight. From what I could see he appears to think he owns you."
    "Does he?" she smiled.
    "Don't be sarcastic, honey," Alex advised almost gently. "It isn't like you."
    Leya's smile broadened. "Oh, I don't know about that. There are some who say I'm a natural shrew."
    "Then they don't know you, do they?" he countered, stretching out his hand to stroke the side of her jaw with caressing fingers.
    "Perhaps it's you who doesn't know me," she suggested, resisting the urge to pull her head away from his touch. God! Was it only a year ago she would have been thrilled?
    "I know you," he stated with confidence, letting his fingers slip down further to tilt her chin. "I know you very well."
    "Why did you try to call me this week, Alex?"
    "Can't you guess?"
    "Maybe. But I'd rather be sure," Leya whispered with a hint of invitation she knew he'd pick up immediately.
    "When I first met you, Monica was the only thing on my mind."
    "And I was a means to get to her?"
    "Yes, I'm afraid so," he admitted in a tone that said he clearly expected her to forgive the deception. "It was only later that I realized what I'd thrown away in my efforts to win the wrong woman."
    "Really?" Leya whispered skeptically. "When did you make that discovery?"
    "You have gotten hard, Leya. Was it because of me? Because of what I did to you?"
    She wanted to laugh and barely restrained the outburst. If he honestly thought she was acting uncharacteristically now, then it could only mean he'd never learned much about her true nature a year ago. But whose fault was that, she asked herself honestly. Hadn't she always been on her best behavior around Alex? She'd never fought with him, never given him the sharp edge of her tongue. Never, she suddenly realized, pushed the relationship to the point where they would have had to discover which of them was the stronger.

    "Please don't feel guilty about my current attitude," she replied serenely, "I assure you I come by it naturally. You needn't take the blame for having turned me into a bitter woman. You might be interested to know that I'm really not bitter at all," she added, reflectively.
    "Not even a little?" he pressed, bringing his face close to hers so that his mouth hovered an inch above her own. "I hurt you, Leya, didn't I? But I can make up for all that."
    "How?" she asked simply, making no effort to