She reached out and took his hand in hers. The moment she did, Alec felt his blood warm and his pulse leap. Slowly, she drew her fingers over his palm, stroking it gently. He tried to concentrate on the task at hand, but Alec found himself fascinated by the sensations her touch evoked.
As she stared at his palm, he took the chance to examine her more closely. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. His eyes fixed on her mouth, and he imagined kissing her. She’d taste like some sweet, exotic fruit, strangely addictive, yet unfamiliar to him.
“What would you like to know?” she murmured, glancing up.
“Let’s start with your name,” Alec said. The words came out before he realized what he was saying. In truth, that was the only question he wanted answered at the moment.
Another smile curled the corners of her mouth and Alec’s regret evaporated. “It’s Sabina.”
“Like the Audrey Hepburn movie?”
“But without the R. Sabina, not Sabrina. Sabina Amanar.”
“Sabina,” he repeated.
“What’s your name?”
“You’re the psychic. Why don’t you tell me?”
She stared down at his palm and continued to run her fingertips over his skin. “Your name makes no difference. It won’t change your future.”
Alec winced inwardly. If she knew his last name was Harnett, it would definitely change his prospects for dinner with the lovely Sabina. “What do you see there?”
“You work very hard. Even now, your thoughts are occupied with matters of money and power. But there is one problem that weighs heavily on your mind. There is something you want, something you…” She paused as if to carefully choose her words. “Covet, but it will not come easily. You are tempted to use trickery to obtain this thing, but that will not bring it to you.”
Alec shifted uneasily. She could be talking about anything from the new Jag he’d been looking at to his next real estate deal to her grandmother’s building. But then again, she might actually be talking about his desire to yank her into his arms and kiss her. Either way, he didn’t like that she was able to see through him so easily. “Can you be more specific?”
She frowned, then drew in a sharp breath, as if what she saw surprised her. “There-there is family involved. And a decision made many years ago.” Sabina placed his hand on the table, then drew back. “That’s all I see,” she said softly. “You should come back when Ruta is here. She’s much better than I am.”
“I think you’re doing a fine job. So what do you advise I do?” He reached out and took her hand, turning his palm up again. “Tell me.”
“Be honest,” she said, not bothering to look down. “Say what you mean and mean what you say.”
“Have dinner with me,” he countered.
Sabina gasped. “What?”
“You told me to be honest. We were going to have coffee tomorrow morning. Let’s have dinner tonight instead.”
“I hardly know you,” Sabina said with a coy smile.
Alec knew she’d accept the invitation. The attraction between them was obviously mutual. “You’re psychic.” He grabbed her hand and placed her fingertips on his temple. “Just read my mind and you’ll know everything you need to know. I’m a good guy, right?”
“Yes, I suspect you are. But I still don’t know anything about you.”
Alec stood. “My name is Alec. Alec Har-” He paused, then cleared his throat. Now was not the time to reveal all. “Harper. I’ll pick you up this evening in front of the shop. Seven, if that’s all right.”
“I really think we should start with-”
“You read my palm, Sabina. You must know that I don’t take no for an answer.” Alec pushed back from the table and walked to the door. “See you this evening.”
When he reached the street, he turned back and looked through the glass-paned door to find Sabina staring at him, an odd frown on her face. Alec gave her a little wave, then stepped to the curb to hail a cab. But when the cab pulled up, he hesitated, then pulled open the passenger-side door. “Can you wait a few seconds?”
The cabbie nodded and Alec strode back inside the shop. She was standing where he’d left her, toying with her necklace as she had earlier. Without hesitation, Alec reached around her waist and drew her up against his body. A moment later, he lost himself in the taste of her mouth. A tiny cry of surprise slipped from her throat, but then she softened in his arms and returned the kiss, her tongue gently teasing at his.
Alec could have stood there for the rest of the day, kissing her, letting the waves of desire wash over him. But there would be time for that later. He drew away and smiled. “I’m not sure why I did that,” he whispered. “But if you figure it out, let me know.”
With that, he turned and walked out of the shop. As he hopped into the cab, Alec chuckled to himself. So maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to mix business with pleasure. Besides, from the very moment had Sabina touched him, all thoughts of business had disappeared from his head. Right now, he had one task at hand-romancing Sabina Amanar. And that would be nothing but pleasure.
CHAPTER TWO
“HOW DO I LOOK?”
Sabina stood in the center of the shop and twirled around once. Chloe Kincaid watched her from behind the counter, a lollipop stuck in her mouth. Asking Chloe was probably not the best choice considering that the twenty-two-year-old graduate student preferred to dress like a vampire. Her lips were painted a bright red and her pink-streaked black hair stuck up in unruly shocks.
“What are you going for?” Chloe asked.
She smoothed her hands over the embroidered blue silk. “Sexy, but not too sexy. Interesting. Maybe a little aloof, but approachable. Mysterious?”
Chloe stared at her a long moment, her head tipped to the side. “I’m not sure a dress can do all that. Maybe you ought to try therapy.”
Sabina was well used to Chloe’s arid sense of humor. “Well, do I at least look pretty?”
She shrugged. “Yeah.”
Sabina’s spirits lifted. She’d designed the dress herself out of a piece of vintage silk she’d found in a store in SoHo. Body-skimming and sleeveless, with a fitted waist and skirt, the dress was Asian in influence, with a bit of Village bohemian tossed in. And the deep sapphire color was perfect. “Maybe I should wear something a bit more conservative. I have a little black cocktail dress that-”
“You are a goddess,” Chloe replied flatly, turning back to the magazine she was reading. “I do like the necklace.”
Sabina reached up, surprised to find that she still wore the love charm her grandmother had given her. She carefully tucked it beneath the mandarin collar of the dress.
“I’ve got one of those, too,” Chloe said, holding up a clay amulet nearly identical to Sabina’s. “Your grandmother gave it to me for Christmas last year, and since then my sex life has been fantastic.”
“Really?” Sabina asked. “Then you think it works?”
Chloe nodded as she blew a bubble with her gum. The bubble popped and she smiled. “Oh, yeah. Ruta knows what she’s doing. I’ve had more boys than I can handle.”
Sabina admired her grandmother’s abilities, but she had never placed much faith in the magic that Ruta practiced. Sabina had learned that telling someone’s fortune was more about reading their behaviors and attitudes, about drawing conclusions from carefully asked questions, than actually seeing into the future. As for charms, how could a simple clay disk wield any mystical power over a man?
But since she’d put the necklace on that morning, her social life had improved by leaps and bounds. She had a date with a devastatingly handsome man. “I’d settle for just one. A really good one.”