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The Favor Chapter One | page 1 | page 2 | page 3 | excerpts
When she closed her eyes, and sagged, he felt a sprint of panic. That was a first too. “Are you all right?” he repeated as he tightened his grip on her. Clenching her fists, Sierra stiffened her spine and wished for her inhaler. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Fine. I’m fine.” She would be in a minute. What had she been thinking? She’d kissed him. She’d let him kiss her back. And she’d do it again in a heartbeat. She drew in a deep breath and pushed down the little ripples of panic that were threatening to turn into huge waves. She hadn’t been thinking at all, and that wasn’t like her. “Here,” he said, pushing something into the hand he’d been holding. “Do you need this? Or this?” Opening her eyes, Sierra glanced down to see that he was offering her inhaler and the prescription pills she carried with her at all times. Reality check. This was Sierra Gibbs, she thought – a woman who suffered from migraines and asthma. She very much wasn’t a woman who kissed strangers in bars. So who was tis woman who had kissed this man? The question sent a ripple of panic through her. She used her inhaler, then steeling herself, she met his eyes. Concern was all she saw. Sierra swallowed her disappointment. That was a male reaction that she was familiar with, one she could handle. All her life she’d brought out a protective streak in men. Wasn’t that what she wanted to change? She was tired of being the baby of the family, the one everyone protected. Still, it might be better not to look at his mouth again. It was hard enough looking into his eyes. They were as gray as smoke, the kind that could swallow you up in a heartbeat. For the first time in her life, the thought of losing herself that way sent a little thrill through her. Oh, she definitely wasn’t quite the same woman who’d walked into the bar a few minutes ago. But she wasn’t sure she was the woman she’d felt like during that kiss. She had to think. “At least let me buy you a drink. You look as if you could use one. I know I could.” “Yes. Okay.” The words were out before she remembered. “Oh no, I can’t. I forgot.” Tearing her eyes from his, she glanced around. How could she have forgotten the letter and the mission she was on? “You have a date?” “Yes.” She grabbed her bag and stuffed the pills and the inhaler into it. “Sort of. My sisters and I are having dinner.” She grabbed the letter next. Then spotting her day planner under a stool, she reached for it, but he was quicker. “Sierra Gibbs, Ph.D.” He read the name off the card in the plastic pocket on the cover. “What’s the Ph.D. in?” “Psychology.” She scooped up the letter and stuffed it into her tote. “You’re a shrink?” In spite of the interest in his voice, she kept her gaze averted. “Not in the way you mean. I don’t have a private practice or anything like that. I do research mostly. And write. I teach at Georgetown.” She was babbling. “No couch?” “No.” She could hear that he was smiling, and she very much wanted to look at his mouth again. More, she wanted to feel it pressed against hers. For one moment she was tempted to become the woman she’d felt like during that kiss.... But she’d come here with a plan, and she always stuck to her plans. Scrambling to her feet, she said, “I have to go.”
As he watched her turn and walk away, Ryder forced himself to stay right where he was. He was a man who went with impulse when the occasion warranted it. But this woman was new territory, and a smart man knew when to let caution rule. Still, it took more effort that he would have liked to turn back to his stool. Then he saw the blue notecard lying beneath it. It had to fallen out of the Doc’s bag. Bending over, he picked it up and his gaze fell on the neat little list. A five-step plan for initiating a sexual relationship with a man. Intrigued, he read further.
Could this possibly what it seemed to be? Eyes narrowed, Ryder read the list again. What kind of a woman set out to have an affair with a To-do list in hand? |
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