Amaryllis

'I strongly disagree with that statement,' she said softly.

Lucas glared at Hobart Batt. 'What the hell do you mean, how do I deal with anger? I get angry, that's how I deal with it. Damn it, how much longer is the stupid interview going to take?'

'I feel that people should communicate their emotions freely in a relationship,' Amaryllis said. Then she thought of all the taunts and name-calling she had endured as a child. 'But they should exercise self-control and restraint so as to avoid hurting the other person's feelings.'

'Food?' Lucas thought about it for approximately three seconds. 'I like home cooking best.' Home cooking presupposed a real home. 'I don't care what it is, just so it's cooked at home.'

'Food?' Amaryllis frowned in thought. 'It's all right to eat out in restaurants once in a while, but most of the family's meals should be prepared at home. The food we eat directly affects the various synergistically aligned systems of the body. The only way to assure a proper balance of fresh, nourishing fruits and vegetables in the diet is to do most of the cooking in the home.'

Mrs. Reeton smiled. 'How would you describe your attitude toward money, Amaryllis?'

Amaryllis heaved a small sigh of relief. This was an easy one. 'I believe that a household should have a disciplined, comprehensive budget. Every source of income and expense should be carefully monitored and recorded. A certain percent of the income should be put into savings every month. All the bills should be paid on time. There is no excuse for receiving past-due notices. Credit is to be avoided except for very rare, extremely large, and important purchases such as a house.'

'Let's move on to the topic of money.' Hobart chuckled. 'I'm sure that's an important subject for you, Mr. Trent. Any man who's made as much money as you have will no doubt have some definite opinions on the matter.'

Lucas thought about it. He had never set out to get rich. He had searched for jelly-ice because he was good at it and because it gave him an excuse to lose himself for days or weeks at a time in the jungle, where he could be alone with his maddening flashes of talent.

At first, the money had simply been a way to keep score. It paid for the next exploration trip. But somewhere along the line it had taken on a life of its own. He needed it to support the rapidly increasing number of people who depended on him. Icemen and their families looked to him for a livelihood. Contracts had to be filled. Young, enthusiastic syn-gineers kept asking for more research and exploration funding.

One day Lucas had looked around and realized that the entire economy of the Western Islands had become completely dependent on Lodestar Exploration. He had obligations.

The money had come with the package, but in and of itself, it had never meant very much. No amount of it would ever fill the void in his life after Amaryllis married another man.

'Easy come, easy go,' Lucas said.

Amaryllis felt utterly drained when she walked through her front door shortly before six. The interview had been an ordeal she hoped she never had to repeat. Every question had been an excruciatingly painful reminder that her affair with Lucas was doomed to be short-lived.

She kicked off her shoes and hung her jacket in the closet. With some vague notion of making a salad for dinner, she trailed listlessly down the short hall and went into the kitchen.

The first thing she saw when she opened the icerator was the bottle of green wine that she had put there that morning. It looked considerably more therapeutic than the lettuce beside it.

She removed the bottle and set it on the counter. It took a while to find the corkscrew. Lucas had stored it in the wrong drawer. It figured. He did not have her organized approach to housekeeping.

Well, she wouldn't have to worry about that sort of thing much longer, she thought as she went to work on the cork.

She poured a glass of wine and hoisted it in a silent toast to the scientific wonders of modern matchmaking techniques. The only way to go, she reminded herself as she took a swallow of the green wine.

She heard the front door open just as she prepared to take a second sip.

'Amaryllis?' Lucas sounded as if he had just come home from a very bad day at the office.

But he had not just come from the office.

Amaryllis poured a second glass of wine and carried it out of the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Lucas.

He closed the door of the hall closet and turned to look at her. The bleak expression in his eyes tore at her heart. Wordlessly, she held out the glass of wine.

He came toward her, took the glass from her hand, and downed half the contents in a single swallow.

'No need to look so forlorn.' Amaryllis summoned a shaky smile. 'As my boss said earlier today, it's just your whole future at stake.'

'Yeah. Right. My whole future.' Lucas put the glass down on a nearby shelf and reached for Amaryllis.

His arms closed around her with a fierce gentleness. She pressed her face against his shoulder and bugged him with all of her strength.

After a moment she opened her mind to a focus link and found him there, waiting for her on the psychic plane. She created a prism and Lucas poured energy through it in a glittering, chaotic pattern.

They stood there in the hall, holding each other for a very long time.

Monday afternoon Lucas had no sooner hung up the phone when his private line warbled again. He eyed the instrument with impatience. Perhaps it was time to get a new private number. Too many people seemed to have his present one.

'Trent here,' he growled into the phone.

'Lucas?' Amaryllis sounded startled. 'Is that you? Are you all right?'

'Sorry. I was just going to call you.'

'With a report from Mr. Stonebraker, I hope?'

'I haven't heard from Stonebraker.'

'Hah. I knew it. I thought he was supposed to be a real hotshot investigator. You said he could find just about anything.'

'Amaryllis, we just asked Stonebraker to find that damn file. It's only Monday. Give him a chance.'

'He could probably work a good deal more efficiently if he didn't keep weird hours.'

'I'll pass along your advice.' Lucas lounged back in his chair and gazed out the window. 'That's not what I was going to talk to you about.'

'So? What's up?'

'Dillon just called. He asked if he could have dinner with me tonight.'

'Maybe his folks have decided to let him go to work for Lodestar, after all,' Amaryllis suggested.

'I doubt it. Dillon probably wants some advice, and I don't know what the hell to tell him.'

'Just let him talk. From what you've told me, he views you as a substitute for his older brother.'

'You don't mind?'

'If you have dinner with Dillon? Of course not. I've got some things to catch up on at home, and I've been looking for an opportunity to start reading a new book I bought. Don't worry, I can entertain myself for one evening.'

'I'll call you when Dillon and I are finished. If it's not too late, maybe I could drop by your place.' Lucas rubbed the bridge of his nose. There were going to be so few nights together. He could not bear the thought of missing a single one.

'That will be fine,' Amaryllis said gently.

Something was wrong. The link was intensely personal, incredibly intimate. The essence of his masculinity was inescapable. It excited all her senses. It enveloped her, a flowing cape made of midnight colors.

His desire for her blazed through the prism in a near-blinding pattern of light. It was disturbing, erotic, and, Samantha suspected, probably quite dangerous.

It was not supposed to be this way, she thought as his mouth came down on hers. She had focused many times for many people. It had always been an impersonal connection, no different than shaking hands.

'Do not be afraid,' he whispered against her mouth. 'You create the prism. Without you I can do