Read Five Minute Man: A Contemporary Love Story for Free Online

there’d be skid marks for sure.
    “You seem like a pretty astute kind of guy, Adam.” He inclined his head in acceptance of the compliment. “What do you think I do for a living?”
    One brow raised. God, that was sexy. She’d never been able to pull that off, though she had once practiced for several hours with a hand-held mirror and a flashlight in her closet when she was younger and first became aware of the phenomenon.
    “Is this a test?” he quipped. “Am I being graded?”
    Her lips quirked. “More like a game show, really. Think of it as a chance to win fabulous prizes or go home empty handed.”
    “Empty handed? Really? Most shows have at least a consolation prize.”
    “I guess I could spring for one of those day-old scones over there for being a good sport.”
    “And the fabulous prizes?”
    “I’m still working on that part.”
    He grinned, the look in his eyes suggesting what he would pick for a prize if she asked him his opinion. She didn’t. Just the fact that he seemed interested was enough for her, no fishing expedition needed.
    “Do I get a phone-a-friend? Ask the audience?“
    Holly felt her lips quirking again. He was teasing her, and not in a mean or mocking way. She liked it. A lot. “No.”
    “Oh, well in that case, let’s see.” He sat back, crossed his arms, then brought one hand up to his mouth in a classic “thinker” pose.
    Of course he was already pretty sure he knew what she did for a living, but this was an opportunity to impress her a little. Normally he didn’t go for that kind of thing, but he was enjoying himself too much not to play along.
    “You seem very organized and intelligent. Well-spoken. I’m guessing you went to college?” She nodded, amused. “Fairly confident despite your self-mockery. You live alone, which shows competence and independence. You’ve already admitted you don’t date much, and I don’t get the impression you’re much of a party girl, so I’m guessing you went for something safe, respectable and relatively quantifiable, like mathematics or science.”
    He paused. “No, wait – something with computers. A programmer, or an analyst perhaps. How am I doing so far?”
    Her eyes twinkled, but she said nothing.
    He put both arms on the table and leaned forward, looking right into her eyes. “But that’s not the real you,” he said, his voice softer than before. “You could do that, and be very good at it, but you’d hate it. It’s not who you are.”
    Her eyes widened a little, her lips parted in surprise. Her attention was absolute, focused only on him, and he liked the feeling.
    “No, there’s too much passion in your eyes. Too much mischief to do anything so tedious. Given the clues you’ve already provided, it would have to be something more creative than that. Something -” he paused for effect, leaning forward even more, dropping his voice even lower, “... not so respectable.”
    He saw her swallow. The smile still played about her lips, but she was less sure than she had been. A bit of anxiety showed in the tenseness of her shoulders. He had her now. His voice was barely audible. “You’re a Dominatrix, aren’t you?”
    For a moment, her eyes got really huge. Then she laughed. Not a polite chuckle, either, but a real, hearty genuine laugh that had her shoulders shaking and filled his chest with sunlight, made him feel like he really had just won a great prize.
    “Come on,” he winked, “you can tell me. What do you have under that sweater? Leather bustier? Lace corset? Whips? Chains?”
    It made her laugh even harder until she had tears coming out of her eyes and she was gasping for breath. Jesus, he loved a woman who could laugh like that. And the fact that he was the reason behind it? Even better.
    “Oh, God, Adam,” she said when she could speak again, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed so hard. Thank you for that.”
    He grinned back. “So I’m right,