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library often took more than forty hours a week, her schedule was flexible. "No. It won't be a problem."

    Aunt Emmaline's reaction to Phoebe's return to the charity reception was unqualified relief. It turned to absolute dismay when Phoebe told her she was flying to North Carolina with Rand in the morning.
    "You cannot seriously be considering spending three days with that man."
    No, she was going to spend the week with him, but she didn't say that to her great-aunt. Instead she reached out and squeezed the older woman's hand. "I love you, Aunt Emmaline, but I've got to live my own life, and the key here is live.
    When I'm with Rand I don't feel like an extra person in the world."
    The older woman's pale blue gaze softened. "Darling, I always wanted you."
    But her parents hadn't and Carter hadn't. Rand did, even if it was temporary. "I know, but please try to understand."
    "I don't want you hurt."
    "I would hurt more if I didn't go." She didn't deny that pain might eventually come; she couldn't.
    It was all too likely.

    Rand chose that moment to join them. He handed Phoebe the keys to his car.
    "Take my car and go pack what you need for the trip. I'll hold the fort here while you're gone. Just buzz my cell when you're out front."
    She took the keys, avoiding her aunt's eyes.
    "My niece is not one of your flighty fancy pieces."
    She had to give him credit. Rand didn't even crack a smile at her aunt's old-fashioned terminology. He simply inclined his head, his expression grave. "No, ma'am. She's special."
    Phoebe's heart contracted at the words, but she didn't read too much into them. Rand was trying to smooth the way with her aunt for her, and she appreciated it. He could have just blabbed out their deal and shocked Aunt Emmaline into heart failure.
    He walked her to the hotel foyer.
    "Aunt Emmaline took that better than I expected."
    "We've been friends for years. I don't think the deepening of that friendship comes as a total shock."
    It certainly wouldn't for her aunt, who knew Phoebe's feelings for Rand.
    She nodded and turned to leave, but he stayed her with a hand on her wrist.
    "It's just sex. You know that? I'm not taking you to bed just to get the deed to the island. I want you, but it's physical. I don't have anything left to give when it comes to love and happily ever after. Got it?"
    Just knowing it wasn't all part of a business deal was a huge relief. She hadn't expected him to admit undying love. "I've got it."
    He leaned over and kissed her. "Good. I'll see you in a while."
    "Yes."
    His lips claimed hers again, hard and brief. "Until then."
    Her hand came up to cover her mouth, as if she could hold the kiss to her lips with the press of her fingers. What did a woman pack for a week with Rand Alexander?

    C h a p t e r F i v e

    R and waited outside the hotel with all the impatience of a horny teen. He wanted sex with Phoebe until he was aching with it. He'd spent the last couple of years sublimating his desire for her. Now that he'd allowed it to surface completely, it had become a force of hurricane proportions. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to a one-week affair. Could seven days and nights be enough to sate the hunger she generated in him?
    He doubted it, but the risk of letting the relationship go longer than that was too great to even contemplate.
    Not making love with her was no longer an option he could live with. He wanted her too much, and he'd be dead and in the ground before he let his half brother have another chance at hurting Phoebe.
    Which said what for the emotional detachment so necessary to his own peace of mind?
    Rand was glaring and looked about as approachable as a grizzly bear woken from his nap when Phoebe pulled his Jaguar next to the curb in front of the hotel.
    She clicked the unlock button and was mildly surprised when he slid into the passenger seat without protest.
    "Have you got everything?"
    "Yes." She'd even stopped at the twenty-four-hour drugstore and bought a box of condoms.