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and soft sighs. Her mouth was pure sin, and was rapidly driving him beyond reason. His hands tangled in her hair, dragged her head back so that he could have more, still more, of that impatient, erotic mouth.
    “Let me have you.” He tore his lips from hers to race them over her jaw, down her throat.
    “I …” Her head was spinning, her breath came in ragged gulps. “Wait. Just … wait.”
    “Why?”
    “I need to think.” She put her hands on his shoulders, straining back. “I wasn’t thinking.”
    Blue eyes fixed on her chocolate brown ones, dark hair tousled on both of them, he skimmed his hands in one long stroke down her sides. “I can fix it so neither one of us is thinking again.”
    “I’m sure you could.” She kept her grip firm, locked her arms to ensure some distance. But it wasn’t nearly enough.
    “Back off a minute.”
    “It won’t change anything. I’m still going to want you. You’re still going to want me.”
    “Back off anyway.”
    It cost him, but he dropped his hands, stepped away. “Far enough? Or should I just back out the door so you can pretend this didn’t happen?”
    “I don’t have to pretend anything.” Laura’s spine straightened. “If I hadn’t wanted that to happen, it wouldn’t have happened. I’m responsible for my own actions, Royce.”
    “Fair enough. Why aren’t we rolling around on this fancy rug, finishing what we started?”
    “That’s blunt.”
    “That’s honest.”
    “All right. We’re not rolling around on the Aubusson because I don’t have sex with men I barely know.”
    He nodded, tucked his hands into his pockets. It was lowering to realize they weren’t entirely steady. “That’s fair enough, too.” His lips curved when he saw the surprise, then the speculation, flit over her face. “Didn’t expect me to be reasonable, did you, Slim?”
    “No, I didn’t. Which just proves my point. I don’t know you.” She braced, but didn’t evade when he stepped close again, when his hands slid up her arms to her shoulders, then back down to her wrists.
    “Royce Cameron,” he said quietly. “Thirty-one, single, ex-cop, currently self-employed. No criminal record. I had a couple of years of college, but it didn’t suit me. I like big, stupid dogs, loud rock, Italian food and dangerous women.”
    Amusement darkened her eyes. “That’s informative, but not entirely what I meant.”
    “I figure it’s a start. Do you want to know more?”
    She knew he had to feel the way her pulse was hammering under his fingers. “Apparently I do.”
    “Tomorrow night, seven-thirty. We’ll try the Italian food.”
    “All right. We’ll try the Italian food.” She didn’t move, kept her eyes on his when he leaned forward and caught her bottom lip between his teeth.
    “I really like your mouth. I could spend hours on it.” She thought his grin flashed before he turned away, but her vision had blurred.
    “Lock up, Slim, and reengage the system.”
    “Yeah.” She took two slow breaths, in and out. It occurred to her that the system, so to speak, had already been breached.

Chapter 4
    Gwen burst into the bathroom wearing underwear and full makeup. “I just ran my last pair of black panty hose. I’m a desperate woman.”
    “Mine’ll bag on you,” Laura called from the shower. “I’m four inches taller than you are.”
    “I said desperate. Julia doesn’t have any dark hose. I don’t have time to run out for any, and Greg will be here in fifteen minutes.”
    Laura poked her head out from behind the curtain. “A date with Dr. Smarm?”
    “It’s not a date.” Snarling, Gwen snatched a pair of hose from the jungle of delicates hanging on the drying line. “It’s a hospital function, and he’s my escort.”
    “He’s a creep.”
    “He’s chief surgical resident.”
    “Chief creep,” Laura corrected, and turned off the shower. “And all he wants to do is add another notch in his scalpel.”
    “Then he’s going to be bitterly