Page 7 of Mr. Dangerous

"Absolutely nothing really happened," I said, careful to keep my tone neutral. "We were on the swim team together. We hung out at meets and practices when he wasn't busy charmingsomeoneelse."

"That's always been your officialstory..."

"It's the truestory."

"All that one-on-one time with Rob..." Alice trailed offsuggestively.

"And forty-oddteammates,yes."

"And he never once even tried to kiss you? I heard he kissed a lot ofgirls."

"Yep." I said. "That's why I wasn't interested. Stillaren't."

"You can't be serious." Alice rummaged through her purse and pulled out a Snickers bar. Then a second. “Dinner?”

“Thanks. You’re always prepared. You’d probably even be able to handle a guy like Rob who just throws me off-balance.”

Clearly, I needed a rush of sugar because I hadn’t meant to let that slip to my sister. That was brutally honest. I took a deep, cleansing breath, except that the air back here smelled like a mix of the ocean, decaying greens, and wetcardboard.

“Oh, sweetie.” Alice shook her head. “You should stop trying so hard. Just let Robhappen.”

“Excuseme?”

“You two have always liked each other. Relax, have some fun, he’s only here for amonth.”

“I can’t have fun with RobertDelaney.”

Her lips quirked up. “I think you could have a lot of fun with RobertDelaney.”

I would have protested, but Alice changed the subject abruptly. "Is Rob going to donate to thefundraiser?"

"I doubt it. He doesn't know anythingaboutit."

"You told him all about how you're a crazy cat lady–I wouldn't have led with that, by the way–-and didn't bother to tell the millionaire that a lousy thousand dollars would make a huge difference to yourightnow?"

"A lousy thousand dollars," I repeated. "Anyway, it would make a difference to thekittens."Notme.

"Right. Which is why should ask him. Everyone likeskittens."

"I don't want to be that kind of person. The kind of person who uses an in with someone who's well-off. It might be the-scrubbing-their-floors kind of in, butstill."

"You mean you don't want to ask rich people for donations?" Alice asked. "I think you might have a short run as a charity organizer. That's kind ofthejob."

"I'm making extra chauffeuring Rob," I said. "It should be a huge help with the fundraiser costs. He wants me to do this overnight trip with him toBoston."

"Uh huh," Alice saidknowingly.

"He can't drive, Alice. He's going to visithisdad."

"Sure, he can't drive. Whatever. I think that Navy SEAL wants you tohimself."

"Sure, me and his dad. That sounds like a romantic trip. Anyway, as long as I make what I expect the next two weeks, I won't need Rob's charity." I began to tick fundraiser costs off on my fingers, sinking back into the mental math I’d been working outallday.

Alice shook her head. "I think that no matter what, you need to face yourfears."

"Of asking formoney?"

"No," Alice said. "Of RobertDelaney."

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