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line of thought.
    Now he knew why the young Martin family had
children so close in age. On this sagging mattress, which forced
their bodies into intimate contact, a man and woman who loved one
another would be drawn naturally into frequent lovemaking. Even
with this ice princess with whom he had nothing in common, his mind
and body cried out for their coupling.
    He had no idea why she so resented him. It
was more than their differences in business theory, because she had
hated him at their first meeting two months ago. He racked his
brain for a possible reason, but nothing came to him.
    Maybe she just resented his buying the shares
lost through her father's gambling. Why hold him responsible for
her father’s stupidity? From all accounts, Walter Tucker was
charming and glib but an absolute loser in all the ways that
counted.
    Grayson skirted the issue, but made it clear
he hadn’t approved of his late son-in-law's management of Marvel,
his ostentatious lifestyle, or his choice of Holly’s stepmother.
So, why had Grayson stayed in the background? Buying into what had
previously been solely a family-owned business left Trent an
outsider with insufficient information.
    If only Walter Tucker had stopped ranting
long enough that day to listen to him...but why even go there? He
would figure it all out eventually, but so far hadn't discovered
how all the pieces fit. Trying to unravel the puzzle, Trent drifted
softly to sleep.
    ***
    The pirate returned to Holly's dreams. They
were in the cabin of his ship, snug together in his bunk. This time
his caresses inflamed her beyond her wildest imagination. Her
fingers traced the line of the scar on his chest, her lips trailed
kisses along the jagged ridge.
    His mouth scorched a path down her neck and
across her shoulders. Strong hands pushed her bra aside. Warm lips
found her breast and his tongue laved her rigid nipple. The
calluses of his fingers scintillated her skin as they moved to the
elastic of her panties. His hand slid gently inside to touch
her—
    Her eyes flew open. "Hey! Stop it right now."
Holly pounded Trent on his shoulders. "Get off me."
    "Ow! What? Dammitall." He rolled onto his
back and lay with an arm across his eyes and knees bent. His chest
heaved.
    "You better have been asleep, mister, or you
have some explaining to do." Her heart pounded in her chest until
surely he heard it. Good heavens, she’d dreamed about him. Who had
he been dreaming of?
    "Damn, Holly. Couldn't you just have tapped
me on the shoulder? Did you have to pound me awake?"
    She wondered if he had started the caresses
or if she had. "I had to stop you in a hurry. You were...you were
about to...you know."
    He lowered his arm and raised himself to his
elbow. "What? Have sex? Make love? Get it on? Do the nasty? Rock
and roll? Just what do the people in your set call it?"
    She jerked the cover to her chin.
"My set ? And what do you mean
by that?"
    "Oh, come off it, Princess. I mean the
country club set, the hoi
poloi , the lucky stiffs born with silver spoons in
their mouths, the ritzy crowd you run with."
    "If you'll remember, you are the one who bought my
father's shares of our family company. I guess that makes us in the
same set , as you put it."
Never in a million years, buster. They would never be compatible in
any setting other than a boardroom. Even then they totally
disagreed.
    He shook his head and lay back, his words
echoing her thoughts. "Oh, no, I will never be one of your set. If
I owned a dozen companies like Marvel I would still be just the
poor schmuck who worked his way up, or the mean corporate raider
who snatched a prize away from the local good ol'e boys. I still
wouldn't belong."
    Holly turned her back to him and
punched her pillow. "Oh, I think a dozen companies might get you in
there."
    Exhaling a deep breath, he turned and spooned
himself to her once again.
    She gasped as his rigid arousal touched the
cushion of her hips. “Hmph, men. Here we are freezing to death and
you’re