“And you ended up divorced.”

“Do you think Nathan would marry you?”

Startled, Chloe looked at her grandmother. “It’s only been a week.”

“If it had been three months, do you think he’d propose rather than lose you?”

Chloe thought hard. She considered the high-powered, self-assured Teresa and her abrupt and permanent exit. Then there was the way Cavill had jumped to incorrect conclusions about her relationship with Nathan right off the bat. It looked like Nathan had a revolving door with women.

On top of that, she compared Nathan’s huge home and multiple cars and aircraft to her tiny house and ten-year-old Toyota. She remembered the guest-room closet stocked with designer clothing and the casual way he’d told Faye they’d buy everything in the Saks dressing room.

“Would he sweep me away in a white Rolls to live in the penthouse of his castle?” She shook her head. “Only in a fairy tale.”

Grandmillie gave her hand an affectionate squeeze before she let go. “You’re a smart, sensible girl.”

Chloe picked up her fork and speared a bite of chicken. She put it in her mouth, but it tasted like tears.

Just this once, she wanted to believe in fairy tales.

Nathan sat down at the desk in his home office and opened his e-mail program. Scanning down the endless list, he scowled at the mind-numbing subject lines of reports and memos and scheduling. The contrast with the explosive pleasure of his earlier hours was too dismal. He flicked a finger across the screen to slam the program shut. The thought of Chloe sent him to a triple-password-protected folder marked “Prometheus.”

A couple of hours later, he leaped out of his chair so fast it spun in circles as he paced away from his desk and back again. He had an idea about how to fix Prometheus, and he wanted to discuss it with someone. He glanced at his watch and growled in frustration. He couldn’t drag Andrew Koenig, the project’s manager, away from his wife and children at this hour. Then he remembered Ginnie Tsai, the assistant manager of the project. She reminded him of himself at that age, committed to the point of obsession. She would want to hear his idea, no matter what the time.

He went back to the computer, bracing his arm on the desk as he scrolled through the company’s phone directory until he found her number and sent it to his autodialer. “Ginnie, it’s Nathan Trainor. I might have a solution to our problem with the battery. I know it’s late, but can you meet me at the R and D lab?”

There was a short pause before her voice came back with a tinge of pride. “I’m already there.”

Nathan wasn’t sure how to label the emotion that blew through him at her words, but it might have been joy. He’d found his tribe again.

It was after midnight when he left the lab and walked out of the doors of Trainor Electronics and into the foggy Manhattan air. Neon signs swirled colors through the night, and scattered knots of people still strolled the sidewalks. He’d told Oskar to go home so he could walk off the adrenaline sizzling through his veins.

He’d arrived at the lab to find Ginnie and half a dozen other team members awaiting him. When he explained his idea, they had practically vibrated with excitement. They’d torn the battery down to its microcomponents before starting to reassemble them in a white heat of creative exhilaration.

He’d been impressed with how they’d embraced his suggestion and expanded it, stretched it in new directions and layered their own improvements on it. There had been that rare electricity of pure thought sparking between all of them. He felt almost drunk on it.

He needed to share it with Chloe. His hand went into his pocket to wrap around his cell phone. Chloe would be sound asleep in her bed, hopefully dreaming her erotic dreams of him.

He released the phone as he imagined her in his bed. He could wake her up with a kiss and a long stroke down the sexy curves of her body. Her naked body, since this was his fantasy. She’d blink up at him with a sleepy, come-hither smile. He’d have to decide whether he wanted to tell her about the breakthrough before or after he made love to her. Maybe he’d tell her about it while he made love to her. He would whisper something very technical and watch her agile mind try to focus on it while he did his best to distract her by plunging himself inside her delicious heat.

As his cock hardened, Nathan winced at his self-inflicted frustration.

He kept walking, but the hunger for Chloe didn’t lessen. He hit the autodial button for her number. It took four rings, but she picked up just as her voice mail began. “Nathan?” Her voice was husky with sleep. “Are you all right?”

“Beyond all right. I just left the lab. I think we’ve got Prometheus on the right track.”

He heard the rustle of sheets as she shifted in some way. “I’m thrilled for you and your team.” Her tone was warm and he could picture her smile. “I’d ask how you did it, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t understand a word.”

He chuckled, remembering his fantasy. “I won’t bore you with the technical details, but I want to thank you.”

“For what?”

“You sent me there. I’d forgotten where I started, what I was really good at. You reminded me that my job as CEO could take me out of the executive office.” He let his voice drop low. “Working with the development team tonight was almost as good as sex with you.”

She gave a half-pleased, half-embarrassed choke of laughter. “An intellectual orgy.”