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her?”
    “She has a son.”
    “Good for her.”
    “He’s in New York.”
    Uh oh. Not so good for Roxi. “Mom… What have you done?”
    “I solved your problem, that’s what I’ve done. And I’d expect you to be a little more grateful. Anyway, I told Aminta to tell Kastor all about you.”
    She jerked back in her chair. “How much does he know?”
    “Everything, of course. Aminta said he’s very interested.”
    “Everything?” she mumbled into the phone, trying to keep her voice down and not bother the other patrons sitting nearby. “Like what, my vital stats and phone number?”
    “Among other things. Oh Roxi, be reasonable. If you could reel in a man on your own, I wouldn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
    Oh, for the love of… Her mother actually expected her to be grateful. “I’m perfectly capable of finding my own dates, thanks.”
    “I don’t want you to find a date .” Gryta spat out the word as though it tasted bitter on her tongue. “You’re twenty-three years old, no longer a teenage schoolgirl. I want you to find a suitable husband. Someone who will take care of you, protect you.”
    Roxi flashed back to Donovan again. She already had a damn good protector. Too bad she couldn’t tell her mother that without needing to go into more detail than she ever wanted to give either of her parents about what she did for a living.
    She felt her scowl tighten her forehead and forced herself to relax her features. “Promise me you won’t do anything like that ever again.”
    “Come home and I won’t.”
    For a moment, Roxi nearly believed her. And then she remembered that Gryta had been trying to set Roxi up with various “suitable” men since she turned eighteen. “I don’t believe you.”
    “Fine then. Come home and I won’t do it as often.”
    Fat chance of that. But Gryta had a much harder time finding a man for Roxi in New York. In the year Roxi had been here, this was the first time her mother had managed a potential love connection. No wonder she sounded so damn cheerful this morning.
    “Give him a chance, Roxana. He may be just what you need.”
    Roxi sank her teeth into her lower lip and murmured something noncommittal.
    After they said their goodbyes, she stirred her cold coffee and stared out at the city she loved. She already knew what she needed, but it was more than Donovan was willing to give.

Chapter Three
     
    Roxi tossed her purse onto the table beside the front door of the apartment she shared with her two roommates. Their voices reached her from the kitchen, where Gabriella Fraser was busy explaining the finer points of primal male behavior to Leann Rose.
    “It’s up to us to provide a calming effect on male aggression. I mean, think about it. When you get a bunch of men in a group, they inevitably start competing with one another. That competitiveness is inherent in them. It’s a drive, an urge, like… Having sex.”
    Leann scoffed. “You’re saying men can’t be civilized if there are no women around?”
    “That’s exactly what I’m saying. They’re beasts, through and through. Millions of years of evolution have ingrained that behavior into their genetic makeup.” As a graduate student currently earning her PhD in biological and physical anthropology at Columbia, Gabbi’s favorite topic was the Neanderthal man and his similarities to modern-day New Yorkers.
    Roxi grinned. Gabbi would have an absolute field day with Donovan.
    Her mirth vanished as soon as thoughts of Donovan returned. Damn the man anyway. Having his hands on her body, his tongue on her pussy, his finger in her channel, had felt much too good. And she hadn’t wanted him to stop. Not really. She’d just wanted…so much more.
    “Uh oh. I know that look.”
    Still lost in her memories, Roxi glanced up to find Gabbi standing only a few steps away. A cloth headband printed with brightly colored flowers tamed her wild mane of auburn curls.
    She fixed Roxi with a narrow glare. Dark lashes