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have no troubleat all in balloons. It was like being rocked in a cradle. How long have I been asleep?”
    “All afternoon.” O’Brien reached for a wicker picnic hamper beside the burners. “It’s almost sundown, or I would have let you sleep longer. I didn’t want you to miss the sunset. It’s fairly spectacular up here.” He passed her a foil-wrapped sandwich and poured coffee from a thermos into a paper cup. “Cream?”
    She shook her head and took the warm cup eagerly into her cold hands. The temperature had begun to drop as evening approached, and even in her jacket, she was beginning to feel the difference. The coffee was hot, strong, and rich, and she leaned back against the side of the gondola and sighed with contentment.
    She munched happily on the ham and cheese sandwich he handed her and asked, “Did you finish your puzzle?”
    He shook his head. “Not yet. But I think I’ve found the key.” He shrugged. “Once you’ve done that, it’s all downhill. I’ll have it completely deciphered by tomorrow.” He took a sip of coffee. “Most of the challenge is over after you’vefound the key.” In the fading light his eyes were oddly weary. Weary and a little lonely.
    Kelly felt a shiver run through her, and she dropped her eyes to the cup in her hand. “That’s too bad,” she said with forced lightness. “You’ll just have to find something else to amuse you, won’t you?” She noticed that he had not taken a sandwich himself. “You’re not eating. Aren’t you hungry?”
    He shook his head. “I had a sandwich earlier while you were sleeping.” His blue eyes were twinkling now. “I felt the need of something to occupy my attention while I was watching you wriggle and thrash about. Did you know that you make the sexiest little grunts imaginable while you’re sleeping?”
    She fixed a baleful eye on him. “Is that a kind way of telling me that I snore?” she asked, as she took the last bite of sandwich and crumpled the foil into a silver ball. “It’s very rude to watch someone when they’re sleeping.”
    He grinned. “I didn’t say that you snored. It’s more like a satisfied little purr. I found it very erotic.” He drained his cup and crushed it idly.“But you’re quite right. I shouldn’t have invaded your privacy when you were at your most defenseless.” He smiled again. “Suppose that I promise to return the favor at the earliest opportunity?”
    Kelly’s lips curved in a reluctant smile. “You’re completely impossible, Nick O’Brien,” she said, shaking her head reprovingly. “You must be really bored to bother using that lethal charm on me. I know that I’m the only woman available, but I’m certainly no Maria Dominguez.”
    A frown darkened his face, and he impatiently tossed his crushed cup back into the hamper. “You seem to be obsessed with the thought of that woman,” he said curtly. “I told you she wasn’t important.”
    “I’m very well aware of that,” Kelly said quietly. “But then I doubt that any woman is important to you for very long.” She finished the last of her coffee and carefully set the cup on the floor beside her. “I’d be a fool not to realize that after compiling a dossier on you that would have made Casanova blush.”
    “Damn your dossier!” O’Brien said with suddenroughness. He closed the hamper with a sharp snap and pushed it aside. “That has nothing to do with us!”
    “No?” Kelly raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps I find the idea of being a statistic in your little black book a trifle distasteful, Nick. I don’t think my ego would permit it.”
    O’Brien’s lips twisted cynically. “No, I can see that you’d have a problem. I’d forgotten you’re used to having your lovers dancing on your string. You like to be the one who loves them and leaves them.”
    “That’s not true,” Kelly protested hotly. “You may have time for those cute little games, but I certainly don’t. I happen to be quite serious about my