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his steps, taking the brochures from her outstretched hand. Praying she didn’t regret this, she took a breath for courage and said, “I can’t have lunch with you, but I could free up my schedule for this evening. We could talk about this party you suddenly want to have then.”
    The eyes staring into hers filled with a curious intensity. “Dinner?” he asked.
    She pushed her chair out and stood. “That would be too much like a date.”
    There was a good reason for that, Parker thought. “What else did you have in mind?”
    â€œDo you own a bike?”
    â€œA motorcycle?”
    She shook her head. “A bicycle.”
    â€œNot since I was thirteen.”
    â€œThat’s what I thought. You probably don’t have a pair of in-line skates in the back of your closet, either. Something tells me you get your exercise playing racquetball or walking on a treadmill. I prefer more spontaneous activities.”
    Parker had the strangest urge to defend himself.
    â€œMaybe we could go for a walk,” she said.
    â€œYou want to take a walk?”
    She smiled. “That sounds lovely. Thanks, I’d love to.”
    Parker shook his head. She thought she was so smart. That was okay. He happened to like smart women. “I’ll stop by around seven.”
    â€œYou can if you want to, but I won’t be back until seven-thirty.” She was grinning openly now.
    â€œSeven-thirty, it is.”
    â€œOh, and Parker? I have one small stipulation.”
    Of course she did.
    â€œYou can’t try to arm wrestle me into using my influence to change my mother’s mind about going public with her engagement to Ryan.”
    Parker took a frank and admiring look at her. Her hair was down today, her dress a creamy beige that seemed to blend in with her surroundings. She had a great body, but he was beginning to realize that in front of him stood a woman who preferred to be recognized for having a great mind.
    â€œIf we arm wrestle,” he said, his gaze delving hers, “it’ll be to determine how far we go.”
    Leaving her to mull that over, he strode loftily out the door.

Three
    â€œL ook, Parker, there’s a paddleboat.”
    Parker glanced at the contraption moored to the edge of the boardwalk that lined the San Antonio River. Yes, he supposed the apparatus floating on two plastic pontoons was in the paddleboat category. Why Hannah was hurrying toward it was beyond him. “Where are you going?”
    She slowed down as she glanced over her shoulder, but he noticed she didn’t stop completely. “I heard they were going to try these out again along with the newer, motor-powered ones they’ve been using these past several years. Let’s take a boat ride. Hurry, before someone else beats us to it.”
    Following her around a table of women who were lingering over desserts and iced teas along Paseo del Rio, or River Walk, a dining and shopping district in downtown San Antonio, Parker wondered if he was the only one who noticed that people weren’t exactly lining up to ride the leg-powered devices. He figured there was a good reason for that. It required energy, something that Hannah hadn’t run out of since they’d set off on their “little” walk an hour and a half ago.
    It turned out he and Hannah had two entirely different approaches to walking. He’d expected a leisurely stroll down Smith Street, and had assumed that taking a walk involved walking. Hannah took flight. He’d planned to find a quiet table in a coffeehouse somewhere. Hannah hadinformed him that she didn’t drink coffee. It was the caffeine. It was bad for a person. When he got home, Parker was going to have to alert the press. If he had enough energy left to make it home.
    She had more energy than she could contain.
    She’d met him at the door wearing an airy brown skirt that rode low at the waist and stopped a few inches above her