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sensation of being attracted to a charming woman with a delightful
smile.
    “Good. You should probably take it easy today,” she said.
“Tomorrow is the start of the Spring Festival. You’ll want to see that for
sure.” She grinned. “I know you’ve traveled the world and all, but there’s
nothing quite like a Fool’s Gold festival.”
    “How fortunate that I’m here right now.”
    “Actually we have them all the time. That’s why we’re good at
them. But the Spring Festival is one of my favorites.”
    “Then it shall be my favorite as well.”
    She sipped from her mug. “You’re just so British.”
    “Is that a bad thing?”
    “No. But it might be a little bit dangerous. Because it’s, you
know, sexy.” The second she finished speaking, her eyes widened and she slapped
her free hand over her mouth. “I did not just say that,” she mumbled.
    “I’m afraid you did.” Now it was his turn to smile. “I find the
news quite excellent.”
    “You do?”
    “The queen would be very proud.”
    [line space]Alistair spent much of the morning reading in “the
garden” as he called it. From Paige’s perspective, he hung out in her backyard,
which was good. She could avoid him while keeping an eye on him at the same
time.
    As she tidied her bedroom and vacuumed the upstairs, she told
herself that her morning confession was not completely her fault. She hadn’t
been awake. No one could blame her for saying something stupid before her first
cup of coffee. Wasn’t there some kind of rule about that?
    A little before noon, she headed downstairs and walked
outside.
    “I have to work my shift at the fire station call desk,” she
told him. “ I’ll be back about 5:30. Will you be okay on your own?”
    His blue eyes crinkled with amusement. “I shall manage. I’ve
been crossing the street on my own for nearly a month now.”
    “Very funny. You know what I mean. You’ve been sick and in a
weakened condition.”
    “I’m feeling much less weak.”
    “Good to know.”
    She hesitated, as if there were more to say. As if he were
going to ask her to step closer and…and…And what? They weren’t involved. He was
some guy who’d gotten sick and she’d given him a place to stay. The fact that he
was a handsome viscount and a globe-trotting surgeon ministering to the world’s
unfortunates made him slightly more interesting, but so what? In a couple of
days, he would be going to stay with Simon and Montana. Sometime after that, he
was leaving the country for his next mission, or trip or whatever it was called.
She refused to be attracted to him or worse, fall for him. She might just be a
girl from Fool’s Gold, but she wasn’t an idiot.
    “See you tonight,” she said firmly. “Have a good
afternoon.”
    “You as well.”
    * * *
    Paige returned home right on time. She had wanted to
duck out early about five thousand times, but refused to let herself. She worked
her full shift, then stayed after a few minutes to chat with some of the
firefighters. Finally she left for the short walk back to her place.
    She let herself in the front door and called out. “Alistair?
I’m home.”
    There was no answer. She heard music coming from somewhere in
the back and followed the sound to the kitchen.
    Only that room was empty as well. She stepped out onto the back
porch and saw that the small table had been set for dinner. There was a
tablecloth, her mother’s good china and a bottle of wine. Alistair looked up
from the book he’d been reading.
    “Hello, Paige.”
    Two simple words spoken by a handsome man with a killer smile.
Her toes curled, her tummy danced and somewhere deep in her chest, she felt a
longing that made her ache in places she didn’t know she had.
    “Hello.”
    “How was your day?” he asked.
    “Good. Yours?”
    “Quiet. I’ve been reading about the town and its history. This
is a very interesting place. The Maá-zib women are impressive. Threatening but
impressive.”
    She laughed. “I’ve