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guys from the firehouse weren't sitting in
the booth behind, laughing their asses off. "You got this all
planned, Lily Keene?"
    "No. Actually I hadn't planned it at all.
But the thought just occurred to me. I have no class this morning,
no rehearsal until this afternoon. Perhaps this is an opportunity I
should take."
    "Great." He threw out his arms. "Ain't I
lucky? So you can fit me in."
    She hesitated. "Is that a pun?"
    He didn't know what the hell to do. It was
true he did want her. But it wasn't supposed to be like this, was
it? In the old days, Joe would probably have taken her up on the
offer, no questions asked. She was hot— damn hot— and he was primed
at the pump. Why not?
    Trouble was, he'd never had a virgin
before.
    This would be a first for him too.
    "How old did you say you were?" he asked.
She looked young. Her face, as far as he could tell, was free of
make-up, and despite her poise there was a certain naiveté in her
satiny gaze, an innocent wonder. Hey, it might not be polite to ask
a lady her age outright, but since she was being blunt...
    "Twenty-two."
    "And never been fucked?"
    "Correct."
    He hesitated, screwing the napkin tighter in
his fist, looking out at the snow. "But you just decided on me.
Why? We've established that I'm attracted to you, but I thought you
didn't even like me. You said you were humoring me."
    She seemed to consider this for a moment,
stirring her yoghurt. "But I like your hands," she said finally,
almost shyly.
    Joe wanted to laugh. He wanted to laugh loud
and long. It was all so weird.
    Yet he knew, as soon as he saw her in the
street in her splashed coat, that she was something special. That
he wanted her in his life, and he wanted to be in hers. Most of
all, he wanted to take the tears out of her blue eyes and make her
smile.
    He leaned over the table. "You'd better
admit you like me, Princess. C'mon, there's something about me that
turns you on, right?"
    "I told you. Your hands. I want to feel your
hands," she paused to lick her lips again, "on me. All over me. As
soon as possible."
    Little miss prissy-pants was playing with
him. She had to be. So he'd call her bluff.
    He finished chewing his last bite of bagel.
"Okay. Let's go now."
    "Go where?"
    "Your place."
    "I can't go there," she exclaimed hurriedly.
"I have a roommate. And it's a really small place with thin
walls."
    Uh huh . Just as he thought. "Okay. Then come back to Staten Island
with me."
    "Too far. I might change my mind before we
get there."
    He laughed curtly. "You might change your
mind?"
    "The journey will take too long."
    He shook his head. "I don't wanna sleep with
a woman who's not sure about what she wants."
    "That's okay, because we're not going to
sleep," she said firmly. "Let's get a hotel room."
    Not only was she blunt, she was taking
charge. Maybe that was why he felt so unsure about this. Joe had
never given over control to a woman before, and he wasn't about to
start now.
    But she had him knotted up like a pretzel
and he couldn't get unknotted.
     
    * * * *
     
    She had walked past this hotel before and
imagined that if the moment ever came to have sex with a man it
would be here. Why? Maybe it was the old-fashioned look of the
place, the "Georgian" facade and funny little lanterns by the door.
It just looked like the sort of place where people went for
clandestine affairs. If the tall office buildings and billboards on
either side were photo-shopped out, it could be a little bed and
breakfast in some European city such as those she'd seen through
bus windows when on tour with the company.
    "I'll get the room," he said.
    "No. Let me pay."
    He refused. Even looked angry with her for
suggesting it.
    The hotel was quiet, but of course it was
Sunday and the early hours. Dawn light hadn't yet crept over the
sky. She decided to save an argument and let him pay for the room.
Didn't want to draw attention.
    In the elevator, making their way up to the
fourth floor, she stared at their reflection in the