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them. That wasn’t what she wanted. It was the project she was interested in—not the man.
    Behind them, machines rumbled into life. King stepped toward her again, then stopped.
    “What exactly are you doing, Ms. Smith?” He took another step forward, backing her up against the rock near her cooking table. “Is it me you’re challenging?”
    “No! I mean, yes. I suppose.” His directness caught her off-guard. She swallowed hard and licked her upper lip, staring at his clean-shaven face as if she hadn’t spent half the night seeing it in her dreams.
    “Fine,” he said. “Let’s deal with the problem. The springs are mine, and you want them, right?”
    “Uh … yes. That’s about it. I mean, not me, personally. I just want to make certain that they’re not destroyed.”
    She was wearing a bra beneath her tank top, henoted, but his gaze still kept straying to the rise and fall of her breasts. He could tell that she didn’t like his getting too close to her. Cornering her would be a mistake. She didn’t give an inch as he glared at her. He’d have to hand it to her. She was tough.
    “Ms. Smith … Kaylyn, I realize that you think you’re doing the right thing, but this isn’t going to work. This project is important to me and my company. My brothers and I have worked for a long time to develop it. And even if I wanted to, there is nothing I can do to protect the springs. The Golf and Tennis Club and the retirement community around it will be good for your town. Don’t you understand what it means?”
    “I do understand, but you can build your project someplace else. Pretty Springs and Lizard Rock have been here for over two hundred thousand years, and there’s no way I’m going to let you destroy them.”
    “You can’t stop me, Kaylyn.” He was so close to her, he could feel the warmth of her breath on his neck. “The law is on my side.”
    “Maybe, but as you said yesterday, possession is nine tenths of the law, and right now I’m in possession.”
    “Why is this place so important to you? Tell the truth.”
    “I’m human being, King Vandergriff, and I care about all the people who benefit from these waters. Is that so hard for you to understand?”
    She was human, all right, he thought. He could see her full breasts heaving in her anger. He wanted to feel her against him, feel her nipples harden and rub against his bare chest as they had the previous day. He wanted to cup her bottom in his hands and pull her tight against his body.
    He took a long look at the rocky circle around the springs, then returned his gaze to the woman still holding the coffee cup she’d offered him. He could have her evicted again, end up back on the news, and eventually in court. But sometime in the dawn hours he’d decided that drawing attention to any of her protests would be playing into her hands. No, there had to be another way.
    “All right, Kaylyn.” He reached out and took the cup from her, then placed it on the folding metal table. “You’re obviously trying to get to me. You’re in possession of my springs. Fine. You can stay. But there’re some rules of occupation.”
    “Rules?” What was the man up to? she wondered. The way he was looking at her was unsettling. He’d said she could stay. That’s what she intended, but there was an intense determination about him, an intenseness she didn’t like. “What rules?”
    “First you wear more clothes.”
    “What?”
    “It’s hard enough for me to keep my men working without this kind of distraction.”
    “That’s your problem, sport. What I wear is my own business. These clothes are perfectly conservative.”
    “All right, lady, but I think you ought to know that every one of these men is married and has a family. If they lose their jobs because they hang around here gawking at you, you’re going to be responsible for some of those human beings you care so much about going hungry.”
    “Are you sure it’s the men you’re worried