Free Tall, Dark and Divine by Jenna Bennett Page B

downstairs for you.”
    “No!”
    Ari halted, mid-movement, and Annie added, “Please. I don’t want to disturb him. Just give him the cookies when he comes downstairs. Whenever that is. I’m already running late, and…um…”
    “Of course.” There was understanding in Ari’s voice, a bit more than Annie had expected, and she wondered if the other woman hadn’t figured out that she’d really prefer not to see Ross face to face, at least not until she’d gotten a bit more distance on what had happened.
    “I’ll make sure he gets them,” Ari said, sitting back down behind the desk and moving the bag of cookies off the files. They’d already left a stain on the top file, but Ari didn’t say anything about it. “Who shall I tell him they’re from?”
    “I’m Annie Landon. I…” She stopped herself before repeating that she worked across the street. She’d already said that.
    Ari nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Annie. I’m Ari. This is Brita, Carrie, and Iris.”
    All three smiled. Among the four of them, it was a little like watching the cast of Sex and the City 2 , the remake.
    Maybe she’d imagined sleeping with Ross last night. Maybe it had been wishful thinking. If he had these women walking around his office every day, what could he possibly see in someone like her?
    But even as the thought crossed her mind, she heard his voice in her head. You look exactly the way you’re supposed to look. Like a beautiful woman .
    He’d sounded sincere. He’d been sincere. He’d taken her home and made love to her, and his response to her body hadn’t been feigned. Nobody could feign that reaction.
    She smiled, more confidently now. “Just tell him I said thanks for making me feel better last night. I’d better go. Time to…um…” She gestured over her shoulder, to the dog bakery.
    “I’ll let him know you were here,” Ari promised. “I’m sure he’ll stop by to thank you later today.”
    Great. Suddenly she couldn’t wait to see him again. She walked out with a big smile on her face.
    …
     
    “Gift for you,” Ariadne announced.
    Eros looked up from the papers on his desk. It had taken him forever to get himself together this morning. It must have been the unexpected exercise last night. It had been so long since he’d had sex, maybe the pleasure had been too much for him.
    What was it they said, use it or lose it ? Obviously he needed to use it more, and not let it go decades between each time.
    At any rate, his muscles felt pleasantly relaxed, and his brain was clearer than it had been in a long time. He felt great. At least until Ari started in on him.
    The conversation didn’t seem difficult when it began. She simply walked into his office, told him she had something for him, and put a stained paper bag in the middle of his desk. Then she stepped back and folded her hands, waiting.
    He squinted at the bag. “What is it?”
    “Open it and see.”
    Eros quirked a brow but reached for the bag. The contents shifted a little and rubbed together with a sort of scratchy sound. They smelled—he breathed deeply—nice. Back in time, in the superstitious Middle Ages and beyond, strange things had occasionally shown up on his doorstep, but this probably wasn’t anything too bad. At least it didn’t smell like dead rat.
    He unfolded the flap, pulled the sides of the bag apart, and peered in. Nothing jumped out and hit him in the nose, either.
    He looked up. “Cookies?”
    Ariadne nodded.
    “Why? I didn’t do anything to you.”
    “They’re not from me.”
    “Who…?” He stopped when he realized who must have dropped them off. They smelled like her, he realized. Warm and sweet and delicious. “She brought me cookies?”
    Ari nodded. “Baked them herself, from what I understood.”
    “Why didn’t you come get me?” He was planning to fix her up with Harry Mitchell, sure. But he’d slept with the woman last night. It would have been courteous to accept her cookies in