It Happened One Week (15 page)

He knew that Eve Deveraux would be happy to give him a job at the Park Avenue Whitfield Palace. But, although it would allow him to be with Amanda, Dane was honest enough with himself to admit that there was no way he could return to the rat race of the city.

During his last years at Whitfield, he’d become driven and impatient. He hadn’t liked that hard-edged individual, his mother definitely hadn’t, and he knew damn well that Amanda wouldn’t, either. Which made his choice to go to Manhattan no choice at all.

He saw the words written in the sand from the top of the cliff, but the mist kept him from being able to read them.

As he climbed down the stone steps, the words became clearer.

Amanda loves Dane.

“I love you.” The soft, familiar voice echoed her written words. Dane turned and saw Amanda standing there, looking like his every dream come true.

“We found something together the other night in the cave, Dane. Something that’s far more valuable to me than any alleged pirate’s treasure. I want to stay. Here, in Satan’s Cove with you.” Her heart was shining in her eyes. “If you’ll have me.”

As much as he wanted to shout out
Yes!,
Dane knew they’d never be happy if she felt her decision was a sacrifice.

“What about New York?”

“It’s a great place to visit.”

“But you wouldn’t want to live there.”

“Not on a bet.”

He felt a rush of relieved breath leave his lungs. “What about the job of creative director?”

“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?” she asked with a soft smile.

“I don’t think a decision this important
should
be easy.”

“True.” She sighed, not having wanted to get into the logistics of her decision right now. “The problem is, if I move into Greg’s job, I’d still be working for a huge agency. Which wasn’t why I got into advertising in the first place.

“After you left the room this morning, I had some visitors. Marvin, Julian, and Luke. They’ve been as unhappy as I have with the profit craze that’s taken over the industry lately. They also decided Satan’s Cove was a perfect place to open a shop.

“They’ve arranged to lease the offices above the crystal store and asked me to join them.” Her smile was beatific, reminding Dane of how she looked after they’d made love.

“As much as I love the idea of you staying here, with me,” Dane said, “I have to point out there aren’t many prospective accounts in Satan’s Cove, sweetheart.”

“They’ve already contacted former clients who are unhappy with the way things have been going, and want to sign on. A lot of our business can be done by phone and fax, with the occasional trip into the city…. And speaking of local clients, I thought you might consider redoing your brochure.”

“What’s wrong with my brochure?”

“It’s lovely. But it could use some fine-tuning. Why don’t I give you a private presentation later?” She’d also come up with a nifty idea for Davey Jones’s Locker she intended to run by Iris.

Putting advertising aside for now, Amanda twined her arms around Dane’s neck and pressed her smiling lips to his.

As they sealed the deal with a kiss, the last of the fog burned off.

Amanda loves Dane.

The brilliant sun turned the love letter she’d written in the sand to a gleaming gold nearly as bright as Dane and Amanda’s future.

eISBN 978-14592-8096-0

IT HAPPENED ONE WEEK

Copyright © 1996 by JoAnn Ross

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office. Silhouette Books, 300 East 42nd Street, New York. NY 10017 U.S.A.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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