Renaissance Man by Unknown

man. He had a facility for discovering rare editions.“
    „And when they were not to be discovered, he manufactured them!“ Alina grinned. „He died in the thirties, didn’t
    he?“
    „Thirty-seven, I believe.“
    „Where did the scout find the Tennyson forgery?“
    „A private collection in Arizona. He wants us to handle it On a commission basis, of course. I think I have a couple
    of possible buyers in mind….“ His fingers drummed momentarily on the huge desk as he considered the possibilities.
    „Yes, I think I’ll start with Miller. He’s been after me for another forgery.“
    Alina watched her partner reach for his phone again, and then she quietly went back to her work, wondering what
    Jared was doing now. Had he reached Palm Springs yet? Was he thinking of her?
    Her mouth twisted wryly. It was ridiculous. She was acting like a love-struck young girl instead of a reasonably
    sophisticated woman of thirty who knew all about marriage and the falseness of men. What she hadn’t learned from
    her own experiences, she’d learned from Battista. Hadn’t she?
    The carefully annotated bibliography of the works of an eighteenth-century author blurred in front of her eyes as
    she thought of the man who had so reluctantly left her bed this morning. He was different She knew it in the deepest
    part of her being. No man could hold a woman as he’d held her, look at her the way Jared looked at her, unless there
    was far more to his need for her than the physical satisfaction of a night in bed.
    But the thing which still amazed her most about last night was her own response. It had been easy to avoid
    becoming involved in a string of affairs since her marriage. She’d taken no risks because there had been no real
    temptations.
    She’d treated men very much the way Battista had treated them. She had enjoyed their company and attention,
    flattered them intellectually, entertained them, and made it absolutely clear she had no interest in marriage. In essence,
    she decided honestly, she’d treated them rather like pleasant toys. They thrived on it And none of them had ever been
    in a position to betray her since she’d been divorced.
    She’d been lucky, Alina supposed, in the one serious betrayal she had experienced. Her ex-husband had given her
    a relatively cheap lesson on the subject Her pride had been hurt, along with her confidence in her personal judgment
    She’d felt like a fool, but she hadn’t been wounded deep in her heart The emotions she’d had for her husband weren’t
    strong enough or binding enough to allow that, thank God. He hadn’t, she realized much later, been the great love of
    her life.
    But if Jared were to do such a thing to her… No! She wouldn’t think of that Jared was an intent, sincere, and utterly
    honest man. She knew it! Her flowering emotions toward him were safe. It was strange after all this time to be seriously
    thinking of one man and one man only.
    And what was he thinking of her? She bit her lip, remembering one of his statements that first night when he’d
    shown up at her party. „Who.“ he’d asked her, „said anything about marriage?“
    But he’d told her he’d come to claim his lady. His remark on marriage must have been a natural male defense
    against her ranting at him.
    For that matter, she asked herself grimly, what was she doing thinking about marriage? She’d never wanted to
    remarry. Life was too pleasant, too well organized, and she was much too involved with her work and her socializing to
    want to change.
    She was supposed to be modern and sophisticated. What was the matter with her that she found herself thinking
    in terms of marriage after one night in bed with a man!
    But last night hadn’t been just a casual fling and she knew it. Alina would never have been tempted by a casual
    fling. She had gone to bed with Jared Troy because he had woven a kind of magic around her. A magic she would
    never have dreamed existed. And once he’d made her his,