he looked down at the pile of naked, steaming noodles. "what is it?"

"linguini. i was going to make a red sauce for it, but for some reason i changed my mind this morning. i'm going to make a nice green pesto sauce instead."

much later that evening verity did something she hadn't done since her affair with jonas had fully blossomed. she left jonas and her father playing chess in her father's cabin, grabbed her terrycloth robe, and headed for the peace and solitude of the empty spa. both men were concentrating so hard on their game that they barely noticed her departure.

the blue and white tiled room was empty, as it always was at this time of night. verity left most of the lights off, turning on only the few she needed to find her way to her favorite pool. she stripped off her jeans and blouse and slid nude into the pool.

when she was submerged to her neck, verity leaned back and contemplated the recent chain of events.

she had found a lover, discovered a rather useless psychic talent, and become friends with a famous artist, all in the space of a few short weeks. the quiet, orderly lifestyle she had painstakingly created for herself in the past few years had been severely altered.

the question was, how much of it would last and for how long? the psychic talent was connected to the lover who would undoubtedly go away one of these days, and the famous artist was on the point of giving up her brilliant career. compared to everything else going on around verity, her restaurant business looked stable.

verity decided not to dwell on the psychic connection she shared with jonas. it was too disturbing, too fraught with unanswerable questions. tonight she preferred to deal with hard facts.

the first hard fact that came to mind involved herself. she closed her eyes and wondered if she really was turning into a shrew. that led to the question of how long any man would hang around such a woman.

it was easier to wonder about that than about how long a man would hang around a woman who was causing his weird psychic ability to get stronger and more weird.

"you are not, by any chance, sitting naked in that pool because you knew i'd be along after a while, are you?"

jonas's indulgent voice, sounding unabashedly hopeful, took verity by surprise. her eyes snapped open. instantly she was violently aware of her nudity. considering all the nights she had spent with jonas, her flushed reaction was ridiculous. with any luck he would attribute the pinkness in her cheeks to the heat of the mineral water.

"i thought you were playing chess with dad," verity said quickly.

"i was playing chess with him until he won. my mind was wandering. we've scheduled a rematch for tomorrow night. i went looking for you and discovered you were not tied up in a red bow and waiting in bed for me." jonas came to a halt at the edge of the pool and began unfastening the buttons of his blue work shirt with lazy intent.

"when have you ever found me wearing a red bow and waiting in bed for you?"

his grin was wickedly knowing. "never, but a man can fantasize, can't he?" his eyes moved over her body, most of it quite visible in the crystal-clear water. "don't worry, finding you this way is just as good."

verity stirred and glanced toward the entrance of the spa room. "what if laura shows up again the way she did the last time we were here together?"

"i doubt she'll be terribly surprised at what she finds." jonas tossed his shirt aside. his long fingers went to work unbuttoning his jeans.

verity watched, half-mesmerized by the sexy sight of jonas undressing. he took his time about it, revealing his strong shoulders and flat stomach first. the hair on his chest seemed to offer an open invitation for her fingers to scamper through it. when he stepped out of his jeans he was already partially aroused.

verity cleared her throat. "are you practicing to be a striptease artist?"

he slanted her a laconic smile and moved into the water. "i don't believe in teasing you, little tyrant.

what you see is what you get." he spread his arms out along the edge of the pool and leaned back, savoring the hot water. "damn, this feels good."

verity held her breath for a few seconds and then rushed into the question that was hovering in her mind: "do you really think i'm a petty tyrant?"

"little, not petty. there is nothing petty about you, honey. but there are a few little things i could mention."

he half-opened one eye, obviously prepared to turn the conversation into sexy channels.

"jonas, i'm serious," verity said urgently. "you think i'm a shrew, don't you?"

"it's part of your charm," he assured her blandly.

verity got angry. "no, it's not part of my charm. you're always pointing it out and making rude remarks about it. and now there's this other thing about your talent getting more bothersome. let's face it, jonas, i'm not your kind of woman."

"oh, hell." he closed his eye again. "i get the feeling someone is spoiling for a fight tonight, and it's not me."

"i'm not looking for a fight. i just want to clarify a few things."

"such as?"

"such as why you're hanging around."

"i'm hanging around because i need the job and i have discovered that sleeping with you is like sleeping with a cactus. once a man gets past the thorns, the fruit is very sweet."

"if that's supposed to thrill me, you're in for a surprise. i don't like being compared to a cactus," verity muttered, feeling put upon. she was prepared for an intense, in-depth, thoroughgoing discussion of their relationship, but jonas was in a bantering mood.

he put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her against his side. "hey, what is this?" he asked gently.

"we're supposed to be relaxing after a long, hard day."

"i'd like us to be honest with each other, jonas. you find me a shrew and a tyrant. you say i'm sarcastic. i don't pay well. furthermore, we're complete opposites in a lot of ways. we don't even share similar nutritional habits. there is nothing between us but sex and your weird psychic talent."

"i've got news for you, honey. that's a lot to have between us. more than i've ever had with any other woman." he lifted his dark lashes again and examined her intense expression. "and it's more than you've ever had with any other man."

verity leaned back against his arm. "maybe we're just using each other. you need me to explore your psychic abilities and i need you to give me a taste of what passion is all about."

"even if that's all there is to this relationship of ours," jonas said roughly, "it's enough for now. verity, you're going to drive yourself nuts if you dwell on this too much. just relax and go with the flow."