RAYE MORGAN

      has spent almost two decades, while writing over fifty novels, searching for the answer to that elusive question: Just what is that special magic that happens when a man and a woman fall in love? Every time she thinks she has the answer, a new wrinkle pops up, necessitating another book! Meanwhile, after living in Holland, Guam, Japan and Washington, D.C., she currently makes her home in Southern California with her husband and two of her four boys.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter One

      “Here we go,” Shelley Sinclair whispered to the coworker sitting next to her in the plush seats of the auditorium.

      Jaye Martinez nodded and gave her a quick grin.

      Shelley took a deep breath, closed her eyes for luck, and opened the folded paper she’d been handed.

      Allman Industries, Team A Role exchangers: Rafe Allman and Shelley Sinclair

      She stared at the notation in dismay. No! Not Rafe Allman!

      Jaye glanced at her own paper, then leaned close to see Shelley’s. Her eyes widened and she whispered teasingly, “Whatever you do, don’t show fear. Men like that can sense it, like dogs, and they’ll rip you apart.”

      Still reeling from the horrifying partner she’d been given in the conference competition, Shelley didn’t get it right away.

      “What?” she said.

      Laughing, Jaye patted her arm. “I’m only kidding. Rafe Allman isn’t really that bad. In fact, he’s about the hunkiest boss in this part of Texas, so you ought to be able to put up with a little arrogance if that comes with the deal.”

      “Speak for yourself,” Shelley muttered, looking over to see who Jaye had drawn. Then she sighed, completely jealous and careless about showing it. “You got Mr. Tanner. He’s such a sweetie—you’ll have a great time with him.”

      Jaye nodded happily. “I’m already planning ways to wrap him around my little finger. I’ve got four whole days to convince him I’m the only woman in the world made just for him. What kind of odds will you give me?”

      Shelley managed a wistful smile, looking at her beautiful friend whose raven tresses were a direct contrast to her own long blond hair.

      “He’s a goner. No doubt about it.”

      Jaye put on an innocent look, making Shelley grin. Then she rose, joining the throngs of others leaving the auditorium. Shelley gathered her conference bag and the stack of handouts and followed her. As their crowd emptied into the foyer of the luxury hotel where the conference was being held, she caught sight of Rafe Allman and Jim Tanner waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp.

      She groaned—partly because she dreaded meeting up with her assigned partner, and partly because she hated the way her heart began to pound out a nervous rhythm at the prospect. Even so, the crush of people was slowing progress long enough for her to make a studied comparison of the two men.

      Jim Tanner was tall and blond with a twinkle in his eye and a face that looked ready to smile. Rafe Allman was a different sort entirely. Just as tall, his shoulders were square and broad giving him a look of strength Jim Tanner just didn’t have. His dark eyes had a searching look and his face seemed more ready to twist with cynicism than to smile.

      And still, he was devastatingly, head-turningly handsome. Countless women would have jumped at the chance to spend four days in close contact with the man.

      Unfortunately she wasn’t one of them. Maybe she’d known him too long—and knew enough to stay away. She’d always thought there was something wild in Rafe, like an animal that had been gentled, but never tamed.

      His head went back as he spotted the two women. He gave Jaye a welcoming smile, but that smile dimmed a bit as he made eye contact with Shelley. She lifted her chin. That was fine with her. They were going to have to work together, but that didn’t mean she was ready to let down any safeguards.

      Rafe was the de facto head of Allman Industries, a distribution center for local Texas wineries, even though his father was still the actual president of the company. And Rafe fulfilled the role of the man in charge with cool assurance.

      “Like lambs to the slaughter,” Jaye said under her breath just before they met the men.

      “Who? Us or them?” Shelley was afraid that she and Jaye had a slightly different perspective on the matter.

      “You missed the introductory address,” Jaye told the men as they met them, her tone accusing but also just this side of flirtatious. “You missed all the information about what we’re supposed to do.”

      “That’s what we have you lovely ladies here for,” Rafe said with a humorous gleam in his eye. “We’re counting on your legendary attention to detail.”

      “We’ll share the burden,” Shelley said lightly. “Next meeting, you two can attend, and Jaye and I will play hooky.”

      Rafe raised one silky dark eyebrow, looking surprised. Did he think she was being a bit presumptuous, considering he was the highest-ranking Allman Industries executive here and she was a lowly administrative assistant? Little did he know that situation was about to make a radical change. Her pulse was racing at the thought.

      Her gaze met his and caught for just a beat or two, and suddenly she knew it was more than her attitude he was aware of. He was thinking back to last New Year’s Eve when, for just a moment, the possibility of something romantic had sparked between them. It hadn’t lasted long, and they had both spent the rest of the year avoiding each other like the plague, despite the fact that they worked for the same company. But it was always there between them, every time they met.

      “We’ve got a table in the bar,” Jim Tanner was saying. “Come on and fill us in over drinks.”

      Jaye very happily took his arm and began teasing him about how surprised he was going to be when he found out what the theme of the contest was this year. That left Shelley and Rafe to walk stiffly side by side, each trying to ignore the other.

      The