“If I'd grown up here,I'd have had headless ghosts for playmates and kept my room in a tower."Alan maneuvered around one of the winding curves that only added to the atmosphere. The sea was close enough so its scent and sound drifted in the open windows. "There aren't any ghosts, though my father periodically threatened to import a few bloodthirsty ones from Scotland." With his lips just curved, he sent Shelby a quick sidelong look. "He keeps his office in a tower room.”

“I'm told my father cemented a number of profitable deals in this room." Alan eased down beside her.Shelby opened her eyes to slits. "I imagine he did.By the time he was through, he could've reduced most normally built men to puddbles." Idly the trailed a fingertip down Alan's thigh. "Do you ever use saunas for vital government intrigue, Senator?""I'm inclined to think of other things in small hot rooms." Bending,he brushed his lips over her bare shoudler-the touch of a tongue,the quick pressure of teeth. "Vital,certainly, but more personal.""Mmm." Shelby tilted her head as he trailed his lips closer to her throat. "How personal?""Highly confidential.”

“My kin would sooner have a badger in their house than a Campbell."Alan saw his mother open hermouth and shook his head to silence her. He not only knew Shelby could hold her own but wanted to see her do it."Most MacGregors were comfortable enough with badgers in the parlor.""Barbarians!" Daniel sucked in his breath. "The Campbells were barbarians, each and every one of them."Shelby tilted her head as if to study him from a new angle. "The MacGregors have a reputation for being sore losers."Instantly Daniel's face went nearly as red as his hair. "Losers? Hah! There's never been a Campbell born who could stand up to a MacGregor in a fair fight. Backstabbers.""We'll have Rob Roy's biography again in a minute," Shelby heard Caine mutter. "You don't have a drink, Dad," he said, hoping to distract him. "Shelby?""Yes." She shifted her gaze to him, noting he was doing his best to maintain sobriety. "Scotch," she told him, with a quick irrepressible wink. "Straight up.If the MacGregors had been wiser," she continued without missing a beat, "perhaps they wouldn't have lost their land and their kilts and the name.Kings," she went on mildly as Daniel began to huff and puff, "have a habit of getting testy when someone's trying to overthrow them.""Kings!" Daniel exploded. "An English king, by God! No true Scotsman needed an English king to tell him how to live on his land."Shelby's lips curved as Caine handed her a glass. "That's a truth I can drink to.""Hah!" Daniel lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow before he thumped it onto the table at his side. Cocking a brow,Shelby eyed the Scotch in her glass,then proceeded to follow Daniel's example.For a moment,he frowned at the empty glass beside his. Slowly,with the room deadly silent,he shifted his gaze back to Shelby.His eyes were fierce, hers insolent. Heaving himself out of his chair, he towered over here, a great bear of a man with fiery hair.She put both hands on her hips, a willow-slim woman with curls equally dramtic. Alan wished fleetingly he could paint.Daniel's laugh, when he threw back his head and let it loose,was rich and loud and long. "Aye,by God,here's a lass!"Shelby found herself swept off her feet in a crushing hug that held welcome.”

“Do you play tennis, Senator?""Now and then," he said with a ghost of a smile. He didn't add he'd lettered i the sport at Harvard."I'd imagine chess would be your game-plotting,long-term strategy."His smile remained enigmatic as he reached for his wine. "We'll have to have a game."Shelby's low laugh drifted over him. "I believe we already have."His hand brushed lightly over hers. "Want a rematch?"Shelby gave him a look that made his blood spring hotly. "No.You might not outmaneuver me a second time.”

“Can I tell you something without it going to your head?" Shelby murmured as she ran her fingers down his chest, over his ribs."Probably not." His voice had thickened from the pleasure of being touched. "I'm reasily flattered.""In my workroom..." Shelby pressed her lips to his chest and felt his heartbeat thud faster against them. "When I messed up your shirt and you took it off to rinse it? I turned around and saw you-I wanted to get my hands on you like this." She ran her palms up,then down again to where his waist narrowed. "Just like this,I nearly did."Alan felt his blood start to pound-in his head, his heart,his loins. "I wouldn't have put up much of a fight.""If I'd decided to have you, Senator," she murmured on a sultry laugh, "you wouldn't have had a chance.""Is that so?"Shelby ran her tongue down his rib cage. "Mmm," she said when she heard the small, quick intake of breath. "Just so.A MacGregor will always buckle under to a Campbell."Alan started to form a retort, then her fingers skimmed his thigh. As a politician, he knew the value of a debate-but sometimes they didn't require words.She could have the floor first.”

“Come inside."Shelby tilted her head just enough to rest it briefly on his shoulder as they walked to the door. "I'm relying on your word that I'll walk out again in one piece at the end of the weekend."He only grinned. "I told you my stand on playing the mediator.""Thanks a lot." She glanced up at the door, noting the heavy brass crest that served as a door knocker. The MacGregor lion stared coolly at her with its Gaelic motto over its crowned head. "Your father isn't one to hide his light under a bushel,is he?""Let's just say he has a strong sense of family pride." Alan lifted the knocker, then let it fall heavily against the thick door. Shelby imagined the sound would vibrate into every nook and cranny in the house. "The Clan MacGregor," Alan began in a low rolling burr, "is one of the few permitted to use the crown in their crest.Good blood. Strong stock.”

“Carpool,my foot. But it's still not a date,MacGregor. What we'll call this is a...a civilized transit agreement. That sounds bureaucratic enough.I like your car," she added, patting the hood of his Mercedes. "Very sedate."Alan opened the trunk and set the box inside. He glanced back up at Shelby as he closed it. "You have an interesting way of insulting someone."She laughed,that free smoke-edged laugh as she went to him. "Dammit, Alan, I like you." Throwing her arms around his neck, she gave him a friendly hug that sent jolts of need careening through him. "I really like you," she added, tilting back her head with a smile that lit her whole face with a sense of fun. "I could probably have said that to a dozen other men who'd never have realized I was insulting them.""So." His hands settled at her hips. "I get points for perception.”