An ornate wrought-iron gate decorated with dragons swung open to admit them. Miranda glanced around for some sort of electronic sensor, but saw none. Tall, spooky-looking trees edged the winding driveway. After a half-mile, they came to a stone house.

A light snapped on and a tall, slender woman in a long turquoise dress stepped out onto the front porch. Flowed out is more like it, Miranda thought, for the woman seemed to glide on air. Glistening silver hair hung to her waist.

“Welcome,” she called to them.

“Sybil, thanks for providing a port in the storm,” Eli said.

The woman nodded almost imperceptibly. “But of course.”

He pulled Miranda’s suitcase out of the trunk and carried it to the house. As he and Sybil hugged warmly, Miranda noticed him relax for the first time.

“Is that supposed to be a disguise?” Sybil asked, studying his harlequin garb.

“It helped me escape San Francisco.”

“In the morning you can tell me all about it and we’ll find you something more appropriate for the country,” she promised.

“May I present Miranda Malone?” he said. “Miranda, this is my dear friend, Sybil Lake.”

The two women shook hands. Except for the gray hair, Miranda thought, Sybil could be twenty-five. Her violet eyes sparkled and not a single wrinkle marred her smooth skin.

“Are you hungry?”

“No, thanks, we ate on the way,” Eli answered. “But we’re pretty tired.”

“It’s been an amazing day,” Miranda added.

Sybil eyed the pair with a smile. “Let me show you to your room.”

Room. They’d only met this afternoon, and not under the most romantic of circumstances. Miranda wasn’t sure she was ready to sleep with Eli, despite his adorable smile and sexy green eyes. Before she could object, however, Sybil led the way to a charming bedroom with a four-poster bed.