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you don’t need to sweet talk me.”
    “I’m not sweet talking. It’s true. You’re beautiful.”
    He figured she’d object again—all she ever seemed to do was object—but instead she smiled shyly and said, “Thank you.”
    Those two words were laced with so much wonder that he had to ask, “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?”
    A tiny frown marred her forehead. “No. My parents, sure, but you’re the first man who’s ever said that.”
    “Then the men you’ve dated before are complete morons.” He dragged his fingers down her bare arm, then rested his palm on her stomach and rubbed the soft skin there. “You’re gorgeous, Annie.”
    “So are you, Rick.”
    He chuckled. Man, he really liked this chick. Her well of sarcasm never seemed to run dry, and he found himself laughing constantly when she was around. And who could forget the mind-blowing sex they’d just had. When was the last time he’d felt this sated?
    Next to him, Annabelle shifted, arching her back to form a little bridge with her naked body. “God, my back kills.”
    “Isn’t it worth it, though?”

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    27

    Elle Kennedy
    She mulled it over. “Yeah, I guess it is.” She raised herself up on her elbows, her breasts jutting out enticingly. “I should probably take off.”
    “What’s the rush?” he asked, wrinkling his forehead.
    Discomfort flitted through her brown eyes. “I figured you had, I don’t know, things to do or something.” She paused. “And it just occurred to me I don’t know a thing about you, except that you live in the building and were sort of involved with Christina.”
    “I’ll tell you what, if you stay, I’ll tell you every last thing about myself.”
    He sensed her reluctance, and an odd spark of panic lit in his gut. He didn’t want her to go. Weird, since they’d only met yesterday, but for some reason, he wanted her to stick around.
    “Come on,” he urged. “It’ll be fun. We’ll order some pizza or Chinese food, spend the afternoon and night naked, and get to know each other.”
    The corner of her lush mouth lifted. “That does sound pretty appealing.”
    “It’ll be fun,” he reiterated.
    Her smile widened. “How much fun?”
    Grinning, Ryan placed his palm on her thigh and stroked gently. “ A lot of fun.”

    The shrill ringing of the phone woke Annabelle up at five in the morning. And it wouldn’t stop. It kept ringing and ringing and ringing, and next to her, Ryan made no move to pick it up. Groaning, she buried her head under the pillow, as Ryan shifted beside her, letting out a groan of his own.
    “Who the fuck is that?” he mumbled.
    “This isn’t fun,” Annabelle mumbled back. “You promised me a fun sleepover and then stuck me with a five o’clock wake-up call. I’m very unhappy at the moment.”
    The phone mercilessly stopped ringing. For half a second.
    Then it started right back up again.
    Annabelle shot up into a sitting position. “If you don’t answer it, I will kill you.”
    Groaning again, Ryan stuck out his arm and began rummaging around for the cordless phone. He finally got it off its cradle, jammed on the talk button and lifted it to his ear. “What?” he barked into the receiver.
    Annabelle heard a male voice talking excitedly, but couldn’t make out any of the words. Ryan, however, was instantly awake. He sat up abruptly, a wide sleepy grin filling his face. “Seriously? Now ?”
    He paused. “Okay. Yeah, definitely. We’re on our way.”
    “We?” Annabelle burst out, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
    Ryan ignored her. “Huh? No, that’s Annabelle…yeah, long story…she’s kind of strange but—”
    “Kind of strange?” she yelled.
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    Heat of the Night
    “—pretty cool,” Ryan finished. “Yeah…okay, see you in twenty. Tell her to hold it in until I get there because I totally want to see the head when it—hello?” He glanced at Annabelle. “Bastard hung up.”
    Shoving