Free Hot Rocks by Nora Roberts

counter, watching her. That long body relaxed, but those eyes focused. Something about him made her want to rub up against him like a cat begging to be stroked.
    “I have to say something.”
    “Okay.”
    She got down two of the mugs that had survived the kitchen rampage. “I don’t usually . . . Hold on, let me figure out how to say this without sounding incredibly stupid and ordinary.”
    “I don’t think you could sound either. Ever.”
    “Boy, you really push the right buttons. All right.” She turned to him while the coffee steeped. “It’s not my habit to make dates, even casual ones, with a man I’ve just met. With a customer. In fact, you’re the first.”
    “I’ve always liked being first.”
    “Who doesn’t? And while I enjoy the company of men, and the benefits thereof, I also don’t, as a rule, wrap myself around one after dinner like sumac around an oak.”
    He was certain he’d remember the moment she had for a long time. It would probably come back to him on his deathbed as a major highlight of his life and times. “Would I be the first there, too?”
    “At that level.”
    “Better and better.”
    “You want cream? Sugar?”
    “Just black’s good.”
    “Okay then, to continue. I also don’t—and this has been a pretty hard-and-fast rule of thumb—contemplate sleeping with a man I’ve only known for twenty-four hours, give or take.”
    He was scratching Henry between the ears, but he never took his eyes off her face. “You know what they say about rules.”
    “Yes, and though I agree with what they say, I don’t break them lightly. I’m a firm believer in the need for structure, Max, in rules and lines. So the fact that I’m considering breaking a rule, crossing a line, makes me nervous. It’d be smarter, safer, more sensible if we backed away a bit, at least until we get to know each other better. Until we give things a chance to develop at a more reasonable and rational pace.”
    “Smarter,” he agreed. “Safer. Sensible.”
    “You have no idea how hard I’ve worked to live by those three attributes.” She laughed a little, then poured the coffee. “And the problem here is I’ve never been as attracted to anyone as I am to you.”
    “Maybe I’m a little looser when it comes to rules and lines, and not as worried about being sensible in certain areas.” He took the mug she offered, then set it on the counter. “But I know I’ve never looked at another woman and wanted her the way I want you.”
    “That’s not going to help me be smart.” She picked up her coffee, stepped back. “But I need some order. Let me put my house back together, as best I can, and we’ll see where things go.”
    “Hard to argue with that. We share some of these domestic chores, we ought to get to know each other.”
    “Well, it’s one way.” He’d be a distraction, she concluded. A lot more of a distraction than Jenny and a lunchtime Big Mac.
    But what the hell.
    “Since I’ve got some muscle on hand, let’s start with the living room. The sofa’s pretty heavy.”
     
     
     
    In Remember When, business was brisk. Or at least browsing was. It hadn’t taken long for word to get out about Laine’s latest trouble, or to bring out the curious to pump for more details. By one, with the new shipments logged, tagged and displayed, sales rung up and gossip exchanged in abundance, Jenny pressed a hand to the ache in her lower back.
    “I’m going to take lunch at home where I can put my feet up for an hour. Will you be all right on your own?”
    “Sure.” Angie held up a protein bar and a bottled, low-fat Frappucino. “Got my lunch right here.”
    “You don’t know how sad it makes me, Ange, to hear you call that lunch.”
    “Weighed in at one-nineteen this morning.”
    “Bitch.”
    While Angie laughed, Jenny got her purse from behind the counter and her sweater from the hook. “I’m going to nuke leftover pasta primavera and finish it off with a brownie.”
    “Now who’s