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eaten.
    “If this was worry, I’d hate to see him mad,” she snapped, then closed her eyes as the room tilted.
    “You’re right,” Jesse said. “And Tommy is going to apologize. Aren’t you, Tommy?” He turned and glared at his manager.
    If he hadn’t turned, he might have caught her. As it was, he only heard the thump when she hit the floor. The sight of her lying sprawled at his feet with her hair spilling across his boots made him sick.
    He dropped to his knees, his fingers frantically searching her wrists for a pulse. Fear for a woman he didn’t even know nearly overwhelmed him. Then he leaned back on his bootheels and sighed with relief as he discovered her lifeblood ran strong beneath his fingertips.
    Her face was pale and cool. She had thick lashes, several shades darker than the honey-colored hair falling through his palms. Her lower lip trembled and she moaned. Her stomach growled. It was then that he remembered the Lifesavers. It hurt him to think of her hunger when he had so much to share and hadn’t offered.
    “Here,” Tommy said quickly as he knelt, “let me help.”
    “No!” Jesse said softly. He scooped her up in his arms and stood. For one long moment he stared at her face. “I’ll do it,” he finally said. “I promised.”

    Her eyes opened slowly, and with the movement came memory. Jesse grimaced as he watched her expression turn generic. He’d never met a woman who kept everything inside herself as Diamond Houston did. He had no idea how to deal with her, so he waited for her to make the first move.
    “I never faint,” she said, and swung her long legs off the edge of the sofa, wincing as another wave of dizziness overwhelmed her.
    “So I see,” he said. “I realize we didn’t share any personal information with each other. I hope this is not a sign of things to come—like babies, for instance?”
    She flushed angrily. “I’m not pregnant, I’m hungry.”
    It was Jesse’s turn to flush. “I’m sorry I gave my cook the week off,” he said. “But when backed against the wall, I can manage a pretty fair omelet. Come with me?” He held out his hand.
    She stared at the hand, then up at the man. “Seems to me you’re about as far back as a man can get and still walk, mister,” she said, and then smiled. She reached toward him. Their hands touched and then clasped. Jesse pulled.
    Then they were inches apart, staring nearly eye to eye. She inhaled slowly, and Jesse tried not to look at the way her breasts moved beneath her shirt as she breathed. Once again, he felt himself losing touch with reality. What was there about her that fascinated him so? She was prickly as hell and as close to a man-hater as he’d ever seen.
    “Well done,” she said.
    “What?” He kept losing his place with this woman.
    Diamond smiled and walked past him toward the kitchen and the alluring scent of coffee. “I like my eggs well done.”
    “Oh.” There was nothing left to say. Jesse followed.
    She looked around the area suspiciously, noting that the blood on the floor was missing, as was the man who’d shed it.
    “I sent him to Nashville,” Jesse said. “I explained the situation, as I should have done before we ever arrived. The misunderstanding was my fault, the rudeness was his. When you see him again, he will apologize.”
    She nodded and poured herself a cup of coffee, inhaling appreciatively before taking the first long sip. “Who is he?”
    Jesse grinned. “He’s my manager—and the man who’s going to make you a star.”
    She turned and stared at him, the cup halfway to her lips. And then she grinned. Just once, and only from the left corner of her mouth. “Does he know that?” she asked.
    “He does now, in spades,” Jesse said. “Now quit worrying about the small stuff. Sit! You’re about to eat food fit for a king.”
    “You don’t have to fuss,” she said. “I could do this myself if you’d—”
    “No!” Jesse pointed at the table. She took her coffee with