Free Scenes of Passion by Suzanne Brockmann

nice men don’t exactly fall out of the sky. Because I hoped he’d grow on me. Because I want a family. I want babies. Did I tell you that Angie is pregnant?”
    She looked at him, expecting to see disbelief on Matt’s face. Angie. Pregnant. Instead, he was looking at the floor, real sadness in his eyes.
    Was it possible he still loved her?
    Maggie touched his arm. “Are you okay? I mean I know it must be a shock. Angie always swore that she’d never have kids, but…”
    Now he looked perplexed. “What did you say about Angie? I think I missed something.”
    â€œShe and Freddy are going to have a baby,” Maggie repeated.
    â€œNo kidding? That’s great.”
    Okay, now she was the one who was confused. If it hadn’t been the news about Angie, what had made him look so unhappy?
    â€œAngie’s going to be a really cool mom,” Matt said. “Although I can’t picture her changing a diaper.”
    She finished her second beer and, almost magically, another appeared. She narrowed her eyes at Matt. “Are you trying to get me too drunk to talk business? Another beer and we’ll have to play pool. I won’t be coherent.”
    â€œI’m trying to get you relaxed,” he admitted. “You’re wound pretty tight.”
    He slid off his seat and, standing behind her, he slipped his hands under her hair and began massaging the muscles in her neck and shoulders.
    God, it felt good. Too good. Maggie felt herself get even more tense.
    â€œMan, you have to loosen up. Is this what being a high-powered attorney does to you?”
    No, it was what he did to her. She closed her eyes, letting his fingers work their magic, letting herself pretend that they were in an alternate time line—one where Matt was more than just a friend.
    Matt could see Maggie’s face in the bar mirror. Under his hands, her shoulders were starting to relax. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted slightly.
    Oh, brother. That was just too inviting. He was dying to kiss her the way he’d kissed her that morning at the audition. She’d actually commended him on his fine acting job, unaware that he hadn’t been acting at all.
    He was praying that they’d both get the leads so that he’d be able to kiss her that way again and again. And again.
    It was an odd blend of torment and delight. Delight that she could kiss him and make his heart pound and his blood rush. Torment that she could seem so unaffected by it herself.
    And, oh my God, she’d never slept with Brock.
    â€œWe should talk about work. What time do you want to start tomorrow?” Maggie murmured, her eyes still closed.
    â€œWhat time is your dinner with Brock?” he countered.
    â€œWe made plans to meet at six,” she said.
    â€œThen let’s start early,” he leaned close to her ear to say. “Eight o’clock. Let’s have breakfast together, okay?”
    It was an innocent enough suggestion, but somehow with his hands on her shoulders, his fingers caressing the bare skin of her neck, it seemed like a different sort of invitation. Maggie’s heart nearly stopped when she felt him lean forward and kiss her just below her ear.
    He spun her bar stool so that she faced him.
    He was going to kiss her. Wasn’t he? As Maggie looked up into his eyes, she only saw uncertainty. Oh, boy, she was probably looking at him as if she wanted to gobble him up, which would freak him out if he’d only intended that kiss on the neck—as sensual as it had felt—to be friendly.
    â€œAs your lawyer,” she said, half to fill in the sudden odd silence, “I recommend that we gain access to any other papers that might be in the court’s files.”
    Matt backed off. “Other papers?” He was puzzled.
    â€œYour father’s will states only that you must, and I quote, ‘improve the business,’ within a three-month time period. It’s