Ravi drew his finger along her hip. She couldn't tell if it was a love note or a dress this time.

"I happened to catch a couple of clips from an interview a certain publishing powerhouse gave to Forbes just today."

"Anybody I know?"

"Beautiful. Gutsy. You might have heard of her."

Sora feigned ignorance, opting to stretch her gloriously exerted muscles. "Maybe."

He huffed, his eyes glimmering in amuse. He traced the sinew of her thigh. "It was heady stuff. There wasn't an ounce of fear to be found. She was forthright, knowledgeable; she was personable. Not even Anthony Himura could help falling in love with a woman like that."

He's complimenting Anthony just to compliment me. Imogen's right. My man's got it bad. Sora grinned up him.

"It's funny you should mention interviews since someone emailed me a very entertaining read from Vogue Italy. Something called 'Splendour in Silk.'" Sora wrinkled her nose. "It sounds better in Italian." Most things do. "It's something to do with a world-class designer in love."

"Designers fall in love every day, that's when we thrive."

"You made me a white dress."

"I made my client a white dress that flattered you."

"It was organza."

"It was ivory chiffon, the research assistant got that wrong. The red dress was after that." He trailed butterfly kisses up the inside of her wrist. "That was a dress made in love. It was supposed to put into words the things I didn't know how yet. Every stitch was a stanza in itself."

"You'd already poured your heart out to me."

"I shared my pain and that was part of it. Sharing your future is a different challenge."

Sora rubbed her foot along his shin. He trailed his finger up her bare ribcage.

She squirmed. "Why are you so determined to tickle me?"

"I enjoy seeing you laugh."

"I can't seem to find anything funny lately. My life's become one long, endless board meeting bout dividends and profit margins."

"Has the Board been giving you trouble?"

"Tracy dropped in. The Board isn't thrilled, but they agree that we've comported ourselves with an appropriate amount of discretion so far. Not to mention that our relationship hasn't impacted Himura's bottom line. We're reporting record profits thanks to the revenue brought in by the poetry contest. They wish us the best."

"But?"

"I have a PR problem."

"Sounds serious. Is this PR problem handsome and talented?"

"Devastatingly so, and expensive to boot."

"I'm sorry, I never wanted to cause a problem for you."

"I'm no innocent victim here, I knew what I signed on for. I may have a spy out for my job, but I won't let them win if I can help it. Sam and I are convening a war room. If I go down, it'll be fighting. I'm just trying to figure out where my limits are. When do I give in? How much of my soul am I willing to sell to keep the corner office?"

"If you want to succeed in the corporate world, you've gotta play the game. Business is a full-contact sport."

"It's possible I'm not meant to succeed. These die are loaded. This company is full of Himura loyalists."

"If you're so sure you're not cut out for this, quit. Let the ship sink under Anthony and get out."

"What was it all about if I quit? I'll have gotten out of this marriage with 1.5% of stock I can't use and a house that's too big. What did I really gain?"

"You got to be free and that's gotta be something."

"It freed me to find you."

"I was always there to be found, you had to find yourself and that ineluctable grit you have that I love."

"Speaking of grit, I have a plan to deal with my PR problem and it requires the assistance of a certain gorgeous designer."

"Who, Imogen?"

She slapped his arm. "No, you! I want to show the world that being in love has strengthened my devotion to what matters to me in life."

"So what, you want me to design a business suit that says 'drop dead gorgeous but approachable, serious yet playful'?"

"I want you to be present when I debut the new literary magazine. I won't hide you behind the potted plants to keep the rival press from asking questions I don't feel like answering. I want to say that I'm in love with you and that's okay."

"There are people who won't think it's okay. I was married to your sister more than once, she had an affair with your husband. The headlines write themselves, how ready are you to wake up to that?"

"We've been in the news forever, as you well know. The readership of Vogue Italia knew you loved me months before we kissed."

"They knew before I admitted it to myself. This magnificent woman who'd always been in my life was suddenly the only woman I could see and I didn't know why; years and years spent in the grasp of love and I couldn't figure it out."

"How did you know? I don't know how I figured us out."

"It was a gradual process. Knowing you as yourself outside of your connection to Hana was the first step. To know you is to love you and I think I began to know you when I walked into your office at Himura that day. You were in your element there, self-possessed, resilient, brazen as hell; the perfect package. I was drawn like a magnet. We had chemistry."

"We had fireworks," she rebutted.

"Prophetic under the circumstances." The fourth of July wasn't long behind them and somebody was setting off leftover bottle rockets over the water.

"I didn't know what I felt when you held me. I was relieved to be believed by someone who mattered and to have my recollections trusted after they'd been repeatedly questioned. It was coming home when I hadn't realized I'd gone anywhere," he said, all sincerity. "I want to share that. People have questions, we have answers. Let's put the industry's concerns to bed."

"The press doesn't scare me, they can't hurt me at this point. I'm happy to do whatever it is you want to do it if it helps you get back to work. Name the time and place, and I'm there."

"You're kind of amazing."

"I'm kind out of my mind in love with you. Comes with the territory."

"When I was looking up directions to your condo, I had a crazy idea that doesn't seem so crazy anymore."

"You, crazy? You're the soul of pragmatism."

"Not where you're concerned. When I'm with you, I dwell in the spontaneous."

"Don't keep me in suspense."

Sora stood on her tiptoes to put her arms around his neck.

"I think we should go sailing."

"What made you think of sailing?"

"The wide open air, the water, the setting; what wouldn't make me think of sailing?"

"Have you caught a case of wanderlust?"

"The lust half is right." Her appreciative leer was well-received. "There's a boat in Cabrillo Marina that has your name on the slip."

"How might you have come by this information?"

"I might have put it there in a fit of uninhibited affection for you."

"I like the sound of that. You and me and the open sea. Let's run away together."

Sora held on tight. "Don't get too excited, it's a hired yacht. She's all ours until noon tomorrow."

"Just until noon?"

"Just until noon, and then we have go back to being responsible adults."

"Ugh, responsibility." He kissed her chin. "So much to do when I just want to spend the night with you in my arms." He kissed her nose, grinned at her breathless laugh. "Hmm, we'd better not waste another minute."

Sora stretched welcomingly, only to yelp when he poked her in the ribs.

"What are we waiting for, let's get to sea."

"Are you looking forward to the view that much?"

He canted his head to kiss her collarbone. "Nah, this one's better, but nobody said I couldn't have both."

If it took them an hour longer to get there, who would know?