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through the kitchen to model her latest creation while he struggled over homework. Nick had always
been amused.
With Maggie doing the modeling, however, amusement was the last thing he expected. Arousal was
more like it. Not that getting him turned on would be any great trick. Hell, he was already halfway there
just being in the same room with this woman.
"We gonna get any refreshments with this show?"
Deena smiled at Hoop. "Actually, you are. I stopped at MacGuire's on my way home and put in an
order. Should be here any minute."
Hoop clutched his chest. "Deena, my darling, I think this is true love."
For a second, Nick thought his sister actually blushed, but he chalked it up to the lighting. Deena
Goodman simply wasn't the blushing type. And Hooper could hardly be called a ladies' man.
"Hold that thought," said Deena, looking up from the floor. "You may change your mind when I tell you
that I didn't have any cash. So the food's coming C.O.D."
Hoop shrugged. "Can't let money come between true love." He waved a hand toward Nick. "Pay the
man when he comes, will you?"
Deena actually giggled. Another something she never did. If she could giggle, maybe a blush wasn't that
far off the map. Nick tried to catch her eye, to see if he could read a clue on her face, but she was busy
bustling Maggie off to change for her runway debut.
So he looked instead at Hoop. His best friend's hair shot out in about twelve different directions, he
was slouched on the couch wearing a T-shirt that had probably started out white but had been washed
with something very red, and a pile of debris had already gathered around him. He was like the messy
little guy from the Peanuts cartoons, only older.
No, he had to be imagining things. Most women ran screaming from Hoop. Then again, Deena wasn't
most women. Interesting. He caught himself wondering what Maggie thought, and smiled at the image of
him and Maggie curled up on the couch, chatting about Deena's latest antics, Nick worrying like a fiend
and Maggie absolutely certain that whatever Deena did would turn out okay. It was a scenario that
appealed to him. And one he couldn't even imagine with Angela.
When Deena had insisted that Nick quit paying her rent, he'd tried to talk to Angela about his sister,
explaining that he worried about her selling her art from a pushcart on the Santa Monica
Promenade. Angela had agreed wholeheartedly. Not because she was afraid Deena would get mugged
walking to her car late at night. No, Angela thought it was beneath Nick to have a street vendor in the
family.
That was the last time he'd tried to talk about Deena with Angela. He'd certainly never told her about
Deena's bizarre childhood insistence that fairies had promised her everything would be okay after their
parents had died. He'd been terrified then that she was going to lose it that the stress would somehow
suck her under and he'd end up losing the only family he had left.
She must have picked up on his fear, because she quit talking about the fairies and started painting
them instead. But sometimes every once in a while he'd see her hunched over in the flower garden,
and he'd wonder what she thought she was doing. On even rarer occasions, he'd join her, giving in to
some secret, jealous part of his heart that wanted to see through his sister's eyes. None of which would
make any sense to Angela, but he had a feeling Maggie would completely understand.
The doorbell rang, interrupting his musing, and Nick's mouth watered like a dog at supper-time.
Knowing Deena, the food would be heavy on taste and low on health, with ample portions of the grease
and carbohydrate food groups. It would not be what he would order for himself ever but since she'd
gone to the trouble of pro-riding dinner, it would be rude to complain.
He opened the front door, expecting to see the MacGuire's Deli delivery boy holding a bag of fried
chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and a hot apple pie.
But there was no boy, no biscuits.
Just Angela.
Chapter Ten
Looking at Maggie, Deena knew one thing for certain if her brother's eyes didn't pop out of his head,
then Nick Goodman was dead. Decked out in her new duds, Maggie would turn the head of any male
within a ten-mile radius. And any female, too, for that matter. Maggie was one of those women who
clothes were made for, the kind of girl other women loved to hate.
But with Maggie, even a tinge of envy was out of the question. Just one look at her staring at the
mirror, eyes bright, fingers tracing her hips in black capri pants and any green-eyed monster who might
consider nipping at Deena's heels immediately dropped dead.
For one thing, Maggie was just too sweet, too unaware of her own appeal. How could Deena be
jealous of someone like Maggie?
Not that Deena would ever compare herself to Maggie, anyway. After all, there was no way in a
million years that Deena would go out in pubic wearing painted-on pants and an itty-bitty, sailor-striped,
midriff-baring top. But in them Mags looked perfect casual and sweet and not even the tiniest bit like a
streetwalker. Which was a good thing, especially considering Deena's shopping spree had mostly
focused on stretchy pants, clingy tops, and open-toed sandals, all of which were now laid out like a
rainbow on the bed.
No one could call Deena Goodman a fool. No, sir. After seeing the way Nick's eyes had roamed over
Maggie last night, Deena had aimed Nick's credit cards like tiny smart bombs, ending up with a trunkload
of the stretchiest, perkiest, sexiest clothes she could find.
And if she did say so herself, she'd done a damn fine job.
"About ready? Nick's gonna die when he sees you."
Maggie whipped around to stare at Deena, her eyes huge, her finger pressed against her open mouth.
"Die?" she whispered.
"No, no, no," Deena said, holding up a hand and stepping toward Maggie. "It's just a figure of speech,
Mags."
Relief practically oozed off Maggie. "Oh." Her brow furrowed. "What does it mean?"
Deena leaned back against the door, arms crossed over her chest. "You know, I'm beginning to think
amnesia's not your problem at all. I think maybe you're from another planet."
Maggie shook her head. "Oh, no. I'm sure I'm from here." She glanced at the floor and back up at
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