Eye of the Beholder by Jayne Ann Krentz Page A

she decided, was that it was hard on the nerves.
    She was as aware of the attraction between them as he was. He had seen it in her fortune-telling eyes. He wondered what would have happened if he'd kissed her.
    Dumb question. Trask tightened his hand on the wheel and watched the narrow strip of pavement unwind in front of the Jeep. He should not even think about getting involved with Alexa Chambers.
    She was Lloyd Kenyon's stepdaughter. And if that wasn't messy enough, she was a scandal-tainted art expert who, at the very least, associated with a known forger by the name of McClelland. She might well have made Avalon Resorts, Inc., the proud owner of the largest collection of fraudulent early-twentieth-century art and antiques on the West Coast. Hell, maybe the whole damn country.
    When the reviews and articles appeared in the trade journals he could wake up one morning to find himself a laughingstock among corporate art collectors throughout the nation. The headline in the business sections of every major newspaper in the country etched itself in invisible letters on the windshield in front of his eyes.

    AVALON RESORTS CEO VICTIM OF ART SCAM

    No question about it. An affair with Alexa Chambers would seriously complicate an already labyrinthine situation.
    He tried to analyze her motives.
    Maybe she thought she could influence the direction of his investigation into Harry's death.
    Maybe she figured that sleeping with him would be an effective way to deflect his attention from her stepfather.
    Damn. He was still half erect.
    Maybe she was right.

10

    Alexa parked the Camry in the section of the Avalon Plaza parking lot reserved for shopkeepers and their employees, got out, and checked her watch.
    There was time to pick up some tea and a muffin from Cafe Solstice before she opened Elegant Relic.
    She slung the strap of the large black leather satchel that doubled as both purse and briefcase over her shoulder and started toward the cafe.
    Avalon Plaza was a trendy architect's version of an eighteenth-century Spanish Colonial village. Vine-draped trellises shaded the terra cotta walks. Red tile roofs gleamed in the morning sun. Artistically worked wrought iron benches surrounded a sparkling yellow, blue, and white tiled fountain.
    The shops in the Plaza catered to tourists and locals who were into the metaphysical aspects of the Avalon area. It wasn't where she had envisioned Elegant Relic when she first came up with the notion for the shop, but there had not been a lot of choice in the matter.
    After making the decision to return to Avalon to lie low for a while following the debacle at McClelland, she had faced the problem of finding a suitable retail location. Business rental space had been at a premium in town due to the increased number of people moving into the vicinity and the surge in tourism.
    Lloyd had put out some feelers for her. Luckily one of his business contacts had passed along a rumor that Avalon Plaza was looking for a new tenant.
    Although not New Age or metaphysical in focus, Elegant Relic, with its gargoyles, medieval map reproductions, and imitations of ancient Egyptian jewelry, had settled in well with its neighbors.
    After all, it was only for a year or two, she reminded herself, as she did every morning when she arrived at the Plaza.
    "Peace and serenity, Alexa."
    Alexa glanced at the arched stucco doorway of Spheres Books and saw Dylan Fenn , the proprietor. He was a striking contrast to the faux-Spanish Colonial architecture of his shop. Unless, of course, short, razor-cut, platinum-tinted hair, a single gold earring, and a taste for 1960s tie-dye and platform sandals had been a fashion statement in the eighteenth-century Southwest.
    She guessed Dylan to be somewhere in his forties, although it was hard to be certain. There was a curiously androgynous air about his pale, slender frame. If he had a love life of any kind, straight or gay, she had never seen any indication of it.
    She reminded herself