"Bribery? Witchcraft? Divine intervention? Hell, I don't know. I only know we're damned lucky it did."

Brandon couldn't believe this. It was going to happen. They were going to make a freakin' fortune.

"How soon before they're moving ahead with the urban living center?"

"They've been champing at the bit already. Now that they've got the goahead, I bet they break ground within a few months."

"So by the time we finish the lofts, it'll be well underway?"

"Yep. Buyers will be able to visualize the whole area. We were going to do okay before, partner. Now we're going to make a killing."

This was it. This was what Brandon had been waiting for. That one deal that would put him on the road to the top again. No more pinching pennies, no more feeling broke, no more hanging his head because his life had fallen apart.

"Wait a minute," Tom said, glancing at the purse on the nightstand. "That's Alison's. What's it doing in your bedr-" He stopped short, his eyes widening. "Tell me you didn't sleep with her."

He was silent.

"Oh, God. You did." Tom blew out a breath. "I knew it. I knew sooner or later you'd end up in bed with her."

"Will you keep your voice down?"

"Where is she?"

"Taking a shower in the hall bath. This is my business, Tom. Not yours."

"No. It's not just your business. It's my business, too. Tell me you're not flaking on me. Tell me you're still planning on being in Houston at that closing table on Wednesday morning."

"Hell, yes, I'll be there. I'd be out of my mind to pass up a deal like that."

"So what about Alison?"

He paused, his head starting to hurt. "I don't know."

"I thought she was dating that Justin guy."

"She broke up with him."

"So you moved in on her?"

It hadn't been like that. Not that he wasn't an opportunistic man. He jumped on a good deal every time one popped up. But last night with Alison hadn't been a spur of the moment thing. His feelings for her had been a long time coming, growing bit by bit, seeping into his consciousness, until it had taken only the tiniest tip of the scales for them to come together.

"What's she going to do when she finds out you're leaving?" Tom said. "Hell, forget that. What's she going to do when she finds out you never intended to stay? That you've been playing matchmaker all this time just to scrape thirty grand together to do the deal? That'll be pretty."

"I'll handle it," Brandon said. "Don't worry."

"Don't you think maybe you should have had an exit strategy before you slept with her?"

No. There was going to be no exit. Somehow he was going to make this work. He wasn't giving Alison up. But he wasn't staying here and giving up the deal of the century, either. Somehow there had to be a way to work this out.

"Break it off with her," Tom said. "And do it now."

"It's my problem, and I'll deal with it."

"You'd damn well better, or-"

Tom froze, staring over Brandon's shoulder. Brandon whipped around to see Alison at his bedroom door, her hair wet, wearing nothing but a towel. He prayed to God she'd missed all that, but judging by the look on her face, she'd heard every word.

Chapter 26.

Tom," Brandon snapped. "Out."

This time Tom didn't hesitate. He was out of the room in seconds. Alison hurried in to grab her clothes she'd laid on a chair last night, a look of anger and betrayal on her face. She tossed the towel aside and put on her underwear, then her bra.

"Alison, please," Brandon said, coming to his feet and yanking on his jeans. "Stop. We need to talk about this."

She reached for her shirt, but he came around the bed and caught her arm. She shook loose and spun around to face him.

"Is it true? Are you leaving for Houston?"

Brandon lowered his eyes.

"And not coming back?"

"Alison-"

"Oh, my God. Everything Tom said is true. You never intended to stay here. The moment you conned enough people out of fifteen hundred dollars, you were out the door."

"I didn't con anyone!"

"Then what do you call it?"

"I delivered the services people paid for. If I didn't, I'm returning their money before I shut things down. Where's the con in that?"

"You lied," she said, putting on her shirt. "You lied about who you are and what you were doing here."

"Come on, Alison. That was just business. I had to convince prospective clients I was the real deal. If I'd told people I was going to be around for only a few months, how much business would have come my way then?"

"Business came your way because I helped you!"

"And I appreciate everything you did, believe me."

"I'm sure you do." She reached for her jeans.

"Alison. Listen to me. You have to understand what we have going in Houston. It's the deal of the century. There's a development going in next door to our property that's going to make its value go sky-high."

She yanked on her jeans. She ran her fingers through her wet hair, then picked up her purse.

"Even with renovation costs, we could walk away with at least half a million apiece," he went on. "That was why I did it."

"I defended you to Heather," she said, as if she hadn't even heard him. "Defended you. I told her you weren't what she thought you were, that you didn't have an ulterior motive, that all you wanted was to carry on your grandmother's business. I should have listened to her. I mean, it wasn't as if every red flag in the book wasn't there where you were concerned. But I ignored every one of them."

She started for the door.

"Alison!"

She spun around and glared at him. "You coerced me into breaking up with Justin. Then you made love to me last night, making me think you cared about me. How could you do that?"

"I do care about you! Just because I'm leaving Plano, it doesn't mean we're never going to see each other again. People have long-distance relationships all the time."

"That's not what I want."

"Come on, Alison! Do I really have to be at the dinner table at six every night? Is that the only kind of relationship you'll accept?"

"You know what I'm looking for," she said hotly. "You've always known. An absentee man isn't it. And a man who lies to me certainly isn't it." She turned and strode out of the bedroom.

"You know what?" he said, following her, "I've been listening to you for months now, telling me what you want. Well, how about what I want?"

They reached the stairs, and she turned back. "Okay, Brandon. Why don't you tell me what you want?"

"When I was a teenager slogging around in those crappy bars with my father, at least I was making him happy. As much as I hated it, I was doing what he expected me to do. Then he dumped me like yesterday's garbage. I felt like the biggest failure alive. I told myself I was going to do something with my life. Something big. I happened into real estate, and suddenly I was raking in the money. Finally I was getting somewhere. Then the market fell apart."

He inched closer to her, wanting to reach out, wanting to touch her, but he knew he didn't dare.

"When I came here in June," he went on, "I was dead, flat broke. I had notes coming due I couldn't pay. My credit was shot. When Tom contacted me about the Houston deal, I knew it was the opportunity I'd been looking for, but I didn't have my part of the down payment. That was when I decided to use the matchmaking business to get the money to buy in."

She turned away as if she was dismissing every word, and his frustration mounted.

"I want to be back on top again," he said, desperation lacing his voice. "I want money in the bank. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror again and not feel like a failure. What's so wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that you lied in order to do it," she said. "All those things you said on the radio, in interviews, in articles...you don't believe in any of that, do you?"

"I gave people what they wanted."

"But you don't believe it."

"I didn't have to believe it. I just had to give them what they were paying me for. And that was exactly what I did."

"All this time I put my heart and soul into helping you, and it wasn't even a real business for you." Her eyes filled with tears. "Heartstrings. My God. How stupid does that sound now?"

"It wasn't stupid. Just because the business wasn't forever, it doesn't mean any of it was stupid."

But he knew the humiliation she felt was just too much to bear. She'd gone on and on that day about soul mates and why he needed a name like that, thinking he understood, thinking he felt it, too, only to find out that all he'd ever been interested in was the bottom line. How had he let it come to this?

"Are you sorry you broke up with Justin?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. It wasn't right." Then she looked up at him plaintively. "But if not him, then who?"

Brandon opened his mouth to answer, only to close it again. He didn't know what the hell to tell her anymore. He only knew he didn't want her leaving like this.

"I don't know," he told her. "I just..." He shook his head helplessly. "I don't know."

"I have to go."

She walked down the stairs. Brandon followed her, desperate to keep her from walking out the door. But he just didn't know how to do it. When they reached the entry hall, she slowed down. Turned around.

And tears were streaming down her face.

The sight of Alison crying was just about more than he could bear. If only he'd backed away last night, shut things down, sent her home, she wouldn't be standing there looking at him like this today. But he'd wanted her so much that he'd lost his head, and now he was paying the price for it.

And so was she.

"Alison," he said. "Please believe me. I never wanted to hurt you. I don't want you to leave here thinking anything else."

"I know." She looked away. "I know you wouldn't do that. Not on purpose."

He could hear it in her voice that she'd already begun to forgive him, just as she'd forgiven him for every lousy date he'd ever set her up on. He couldn't believe it. After everything he'd done, her anger was already slipping away.

But the misery was still there.

"Do you know I've never been in love before?" she said, her voice hushed. "All these years...all the men I've dated...not once."

He just stood there, no clue what to say to that.

"I thought I was a couple of times," she went on. "But looking back now, I know I wasn't." She paused. "And then I met you. That's how I knew. Because it had never felt like this."

Her words hit him like a thunderbolt. She was telling him she was in love with him?

No. He couldn't let this go on. He couldn't let her have any of those feelings, because if she thought he'd let her down today, it was nothing compared to how he'd let her down in the future. He'd want her so much that he'd promise her anything, and then the next deal would come along and he wouldn't be able to turn it down. It was what he did. It was who he was. It was the only thing in his life he'd ever been a success at. He couldn't give that up, so he needed to end this now.

"You didn't fall in love with me," he said gently. "You fell in love with the man you thought I was. But he was never real."

"Are you sure?" she said, her voice a plaintive whisper. "Isn't that man in there somewhere?"

Let her go, and do it now.

"You deserve a much better man than me, Alison. And I hope one day you find him."

She wiped her fingertips beneath her eyes. "Yeah. I kinda hope so, too."

God, what an understatement.