Read Remember Me for Free Online Page A

smiled. “Good.” He slid open the door, and the boxer bounded up to them.
    “Hello.” Dropping to her haunches, she let him sniff her hands then scratched him behind the ear. “He’s beautiful.”
    “ Handsome ,” Hamish corrected. “He gets quite put out at any denigration of his masculinity.”
    “Sounds like someone else I know.” She winked at him as they entered the house, and he pretended to be affronted.
    “Hey, I have a pink shirt. And I’m not afraid to cry . ”
    “Really?” She closed the door behind her and followed him into the large, open-plan living room and kitchen area, already liking the spacious feel of the place.
    “Absolutely. I bawled my eyes out when Schwarzenegger died in Terminator. ”
    She laughed. He switched on a couple of lamps then turned on the heat pump and flooded the room with warm air.
    “Oh...that’s nice.” She rubbed her hands.
    “Yeah, it’s pretty chilly out there. Glass of wine?”
    “Please.”
    “White or red?”
    “Red, please.”
    While he found a bottle and some glasses, she sat on the sofa and stroked Brandon, who promptly rolled over onto his back. She scratched his stomach, and he sighed blissfully.
    “You’ve got a friend for life there,” Hamish said.
    “I’ve found this works with the males of most species.”
    He grinned. “No argument from me.” He nodded toward an iPod sitting on a set of speakers to one side. “You want to choose some music?”
    “Okay.” She scrolled through the albums and settled on some folksy jazz. He came over, handed her the glass of wine, and sat beside her as she lowered herself back onto the sofa.
    “Cheers.” He held up his glass.
    “What shall we drink to?”
    He thought about it. “To midwinter magic.”
    Her heart rate sped up at his lopsided smile, his gentle but interested gaze. He seemed so much bigger than her, all height and breadth and muscle, his leg from hip to knee longer than hers by several inches, his arm so brown against her pale skin. She couldn’t go to bed with him. Could she? They’d only just met! And yet somehow that made it even more exciting.
    What did it matter? In the twenty-first century, people had one-night stands all the time. Gone were the days when society frowned on women if they didn’t save themselves for their future husbands, and anyway, she was hardly a virgin. As long as a couple used protection, where was the harm in it?
    He started talking about music and which concerts they’d been to, but even as she told him about the Foo Fighters gig at Western Springs she’d seen recently, the terrifying image of taking off her clothes in front of him dominated her thoughts. She finished her glass of wine and he poured her another, and she’d drunk half of it when he gave a sigh and tipped his head at her, smiling. “What’s the matter?”
    “What? Nothing!”
    “Honey, your hand is shaking and I don’t think you’ve heard a single word I’ve said for the last ten minutes. What’s on your mind?”
    “Sex,” she said, and then blushed furiously. “I mean...oh jeez.”
    Brandon lifted his head and stared at her. Could even the dog sense her embarrassment?
    Hamish smiled. “You’re absolutely delightful, you know that?”
    “It’s just... I think...”
    “Sweetheart. I meant what I said—I only invited you here for a drink.”
    “Oh.”
    Her disappointment must have been written all over her face, because he started laughing. “That’s not to say I don’t desperately want to take you to bed, because I do.”
    “Oh!” The disappointment turned to panic and excitement in seconds.
    “What I meant to say was, it’s up to you. I’m not going to pressure you into anything. I know we’ve only just met. I don’t expect anything.”
    She swallowed and moistened her lips with her tongue, not missing the way his gaze dropped to watch. “I know. I... I want to. I think. It’s just... I’m not very...” She blushed again.
    “Very...”
    “Experienced. I