Jinxed!

decided that Fairfax won’t be offering you a lease renewal after Constant Cravings’ lease expires three months from now.”

For several long seconds she could only stare at him in shock. Then she said, slowly, in a voice that sounded as if it came from far away, “You’re evicting me?”

“No, we’re simply not offering you another lease.”

A plethora of feelings bombarded her, all fighting for attention-disbelief, confusion, hurt, anger-but anger was the one that broke through first. Fighting to keep her voice calm, she asked, “Can you please explain why?”

“After his site visit, Greg doesn’t feel the store is a good match for the complex.”

“A good match?” She pushed off the wall and clenched her hands. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means he doesn’t like the image you’ve projected with your sexy window displays and product names.”

“So he’s evicting me?”

“Not offering you a new lease is not the same as evicting you.” He dragged a hand through his hair, an impatient gesture matched by his tone and the flicker in his eyes. “This has been an issue since you came here, Lacey.”

“Not for me. But obviously for you and Greg Mathers. He has no grounds not to offer me another lease.”

“He doesn’t need any. And even if he did, as far as he’s concerned, the sexy nature of your window displays violates your lease agreement.”

“Those window displays have generated a lot of income,” she fumed.

“No one is arguing that. But the bottom line is he wants something in that space that is more in keeping with the image he and the investors want Fairfax to project.”

She stared at him, frozen with an incomprehensible mixture of disbelief, anger, and numbness. “So that’s it? All my hard work, all my dreams, all my time and energy dedicated to making my store something special, something different, is all gone?” She huffed out a short, bitter breath, then narrowed her eyes. “You seem very calm. I take it you agree with this decision?”

He said nothing for several long seconds, during which time Lacey’s heart pounded, each beat feeling as if it broke off another piece. Finally he said, “I can’t deny that I see Greg’s point. I tried to tell you, many times, to tone it down, yet you refused to listen. But I did try to talk him out of this.”

Anger exploded in her. “Well, that was damn big of you.”

It was clear he was getting angry, too. “Listen, I can’t deny that I think Constant Cravings would fare better in a different location.”

She felt as if he’d shot her. “I see. And you obviously told Greg that. Thanks for the support.”

“I supported you-”

“Sure as hell doesn’t seem like it, seeing as how I’ve been evicted.”

His eyes flashed. “For the last time, you weren’t evicted.”

“Right. I just won’t have a store three months from now. Well, consider your job done. Your boss wanted you to tell me and you have.” She reached down and grabbed her purse, which had slid to the floor when he’d carried her to the wall. “Nice timing, by the way, getting in a last quickie before imparting your news.”

His face darkened, and he reached her in two steps, then grasped her shoulders. “That had nothing to do with it.”

She jerked away from him and retreated several paces. “Of course not. The sex was personal. What you told me was just business.”

Relief relaxed his tense expression. “Exactly.”

He moved toward her, but she backed up and held out her hand to stop him. “Don’t touch me. The last time you touched me was just that-the last time.”

He halted as if he’d hit a wall, then dragged his hands down his face. “Lacey, I understand you’re upset-”

“Upset is an understatement.”

“I can see that. But we have the entire weekend to discuss this.”

“There’s nothing to discuss. Your boss wants me out, you agree with him and you’ve given me the boot-without so much as the courtesy to talk about the situation with me. Even if there was nothing more than business between us, that would ‘upset’ me. Given our personal relationship, it not only upsets me, it really hurts.” Her voice quavered on the last word and she pressed her lips together, hard, fighting to hold back the tidal wave of emotion bearing down on her.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. You must know that.”

“I’m afraid I don’t. My first impression of you was that you were one of the soulless clones who only thought about business. I wish I’d listened to that first impression. As for this weekend? Not going to happen. We’re through.”

“Lacey…” He raked his hands through his hair. “You don’t mean that. You can’t just walk away like this.”

She raised her chin and looked into his eyes. “I mean it. And, yes, I can just walk away.”

Turning on her heel, she strode to the door, opened it, then left without a backward glance.

She forced herself to concentrate on her anger, on the deep sense of betrayal she felt, until she made it home. But the instant her apartment door was closed and locked behind her, a wrenching sob broke free. She sank to the floor and listened to her heart shatter.

10

EVAN SPENT THE WEEK IN San Francisco trying to convince himself that the gut-wrenching sense of loss clenching his insides was relief-or bad seafood-but by the time Friday rolled around he couldn’t lie to himself any longer.

He’d done his job, followed the rules. And lost Lacey.

Lacey, who made him laugh. Who could turn him on with a mere look. Who could talk about any topic under the sun. Who could make the most mundane activity interesting and fun. Who appealed to both his body and mind in a way no other woman ever had. Whose wicked sense of fun and “stop and smell the roses” personality had prodded him to take a good, long look at himself and at the way he was living his life. And when he’d done so, he hadn’t particularly liked what he’d seen.

While he didn’t think he’d turned into one of the soulless clones she’d described, he’d absolutely been headed in that direction. Thanks to her, he’d reversed that trend. And he had never been as happy as during the month they’d been together. She was the first woman he’d known in a very long time whom he enjoyed as much out of bed as in bed. He’d thought he’d been in love a couple of times, but what he’d felt for those other women paled to insignificance when compared to the feelings Lacey inspired.

He’d known he was a goner the first time he’d seen her with Sasha. Watching a laughing, carefree Lacey splash in the surf with his zany dog, getting covered with salt water and sand, it had hit him like a sucker punch to the heart. He loved her. Loved her sense of fun, her lively personality, her intelligence. The way she cared for her store and customers. If he had to describe her in one word, it would be vivid. She made everything around her more colorful, more alive. Including him.

He’d debated whether or not to confess he loved her, not wanting to scare her off given the short amount of time they’d dated. He’d finally decided to tell her during their weekend in San Francisco. But then Greg had called, and all hell had broken loose.

He couldn’t deny that on some level he agreed with Greg. Constant Cravings, with its sensual window displays and products, definitely bucked the image of the other stores in the Fairfax complex, a fact that had been a bone of contention between him and Lacey from the moment she’d opened her doors.

But he also didn’t like Greg’s assessment and subsequent decision. When his boss had initially told him he wanted Constant Cravings out of Fairfax, Evan had tried to dissuade him, presenting him with facts and figures to prove the store was performing well. He’d also promised to talk to Lacey about toning down the displays, figuring that if she knew her lease renewal was at risk, she’d finally listen.

But Greg didn’t want any part of it. Bottom line for Greg was that his nephew wanted to open a Java Heaven-a coffee franchise quickly catching up to Starbucks in terms of popularity-in Fairfax. When Evan had protested that the