LITMIR.BIZ

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package of consolation prizes.”

      He released her hand. As if by unspoken agreement, they started back toward Smith Street. “I thought those little numbers were only passed around at bachelor parties.”

      “Men pass out condoms at bachelor parties?”

      “It’s been known to happen.”

      This was a subject that had always made her curious. “What else do men do at those things?”

      “Telling you would require using obscenities.”

      She looked up at him in silent expectation.

      “I don’t talk dirty to a woman so early in a relationship.”

      “We’re not having a relationship.”

      “If you’d agree to come home with me, that would change.”

      The deep cadence of his voice was as dusky as a whisper, as sensuous as a kiss placed ever so softly on her bare shoulder.

      “Do you play chess, Hannah?”

      Hmm. Her steps slowed and her breathing deepened. She was trying to follow the course the conversation was taking, really she was, but a young woman with dark hair and a skintight dress drew her attention. Why, it almost looked like Maria.

      “Or are you more the arm-wrestling type?”

      What would Maria be doing in San Antonio? She never came to the city anymore. Hannah’s heart beat a little harder. She loved her younger sister, and she ached for a glimpse of her. She wanted so much more.

      “Hannah?”

      “Hmm?”

      “Is everything all right?”

      She glanced up at Parker, and then back at the sidewalk across the street. She’d lost the young woman in the glare of headlights. Hannah surveyed the entire area. There were other dark-haired women out and about, but the woman in the brightly colored dress was nowhere to be seen.

      “I’m fine,” she told Parker. “I thought I saw someone I knew.”

      She told herself it couldn’t have been Maria. Surely there were a lot of women in San Antonio who bore the dark, exotic traits of their Apache and Mexican parentage. And Maria certainly wasn’t the only girl in Texas who had a walk she claimed measured seven point five on the Richter scale.

      “An old flame?”

      She tried to recall how the conversation had gone from bachelor parties to old flames. They’d reached an intersection a few blocks away from The Pink Flamingo. Waiting for the crossing signal, she studied Parker’s profile. His nose was straight, his chin was well defined and set at an angle that was the epitome of smugness. He glanced down, his gaze homing in on hers.

      “Not an old flame. My sister. But it wasn’t. Either of those things. An old flame, I mean, or Maria.”

      Hannah wondered when she’d become daft. While she was at it, she wondered when she’d been so drawn to a man she had no business being drawn to. She was so caught up in what was happening between her and Parker that she didn’t notice the voluptuous redhead until she’d sauntered up to Parker, ran a long, bloodred fingernail along his cheek, and slipped something into his pocket. She wiggled her hips, winked, puckered up her painted lips and kissed the air near Parker’s cheek.

      With a quirk of her eyebrows, Hannah watched her saunter away. Oh, no, Maria most definitely did not have sole rights to provocative moves and gestures.

      The Walk signal came on. Ignoring it, Hannah reached blithely into Parker’s pocket, pulling out a skimpy pair of panties. “How sweet.”

      “That isn’t what it looks like.”

      Hannah lifted her gaze to his. “This isn’t a pair of silk, thong bikini panties?”

      “Silk? Really?”

      She batted his hand away. “It’s white, but in this case I doubt it’s virginal.”

      Parker regarded the item in Hannah’s hand. She was right. Paula was definitely no virgin. “All right. It’s what it looks like, but it isn’t what you’re thinking.”

      “Then, she isn’t a friend of yours?”

      “A client, actually. A former one. Paula’s just trying to show her appreciation.”

      “For what, pray tell?”

      The unusual combination of vitality and sarcasm in Hannah’s expression made it difficult for Parker not to smile. His heartbeat sounded in his own ears as they started across the street, hurrying at the prodding of a car horn.

      Reluctant to release her elbow even though they’d reached the other side, he said, “I won her ten thousand dollars a month, the summer place, the winter condo in Florida, and if I remember correctly, the family poodle.”

      “What did the husband get?”

      “Let’s just say he’s never slipped a pair of his Jockey shorts into my pocket.”

      “I’m relieved to hear it. Tell me, Parker…never mind.”

      “What do you want to ask me?”

      “It’s none of my business.”

      “I’ll be the judge of that.”

      They’d reached the sidewalk in front of The Perfect Occasion. She stared up at him, but she didn’t finish her question. He answered as if she had. “No, I don’t, Hannah.”

      Her eyes must have shown her surprise, because he said, “That’s what you wanted to know, wasn’t it? If I sleep with my female clients?”

      Some would call her a fool for believing him, but her instincts told her he was telling the truth. After all, he might have jumped to the wrong conclusion when they’d first met, but he hadn’t taken her up on what he’d thought she was proposing.

      “Or were you wondering if I sleep with every woman who slips her underwear into my pocket? Why don’t you try it and find out?”

      “That isn’t my style.”

      He seemed to be assessing her statement. “Your style of panties? Or your style of invitations?”

      She fought a valiant battle not to smile. And lost. “Neither.”

      “Pity.”

      The streetlight cast a white glow over Parker, deepening the blue of his eyes, making his smile appear stark and white and oh, so inviting.

      “I like what you’re thinking.”

      She closed her gaping mouth. Could the man read her mind?

      “I want to see you again. Say you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow night.”

      She shook her head, fitting her key into the lock. “We’re complete opposites.”

      He took the key from her hand and opened the door. The man had smooth down to an art form. “Opposites attract.”

      She chided herself for falling into that one. “This is a good place to end our walk, Parker.”

      “I can think of a better place.”

      She was on the first of two steps that led to another door, which ultimately led to her apartment above the boutique. “I’m not looking for a fling. I’m not into casual sex.”

      “There would be nothing casual about the sex we’d have.”

      Her breath came out in a rush. “You’re presumptuous.”

      “I’m honest.”

      “So you’ve said.”

      “I honestly want you, Hannah. But I’ll settle for getting to know you better. For now. Invite me upstairs.”

      He

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