LITMIR.BIZ

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about it.”

      That explained a lot. Ava could talk about sex the way some way people talked about their laundry. And yet, her voice took a husky dip when she said the word sex. Maybe prancing around nearly naked in front of him had affected her, as well. Now this was starting to go somewhere.

      “You’re not answering the question. Do they like what you’re doing?”

      Her eyes met his, and she pushed a strand of her drying blond hair behind her ear. “They hate it. They think I’ll never be taken seriously in the academic field.”

      “You’re writing a book.”

      “A pop-fiction book. That’s like intellectual prostitution in their opinion. Oh, don’t get me wrong, they’re not snobs, they’re just…”

      “Academics?” he suggested.

      Ava nodded, and that lock of hair fell forward again from behind her ear. He itched to touch the strands. To let them fall through his fingers. “They don’t think anyone will ever take my research seriously after this.”

      “Will they?” he asked, and wondered why he’d be concerned about that. Cole Publishing was in the business of making money, and although he wasn’t sure about it on the plane, he knew they could make a lot with this book…with the proper execution.

      “Probably not,” she said, her tone rueful. “But then, no one has really taken my work seriously. More like facts to parade out at Valentine’s Day. Colleges prefer professors who get published in professional journals, and bring in grant money. Groundbreaking—not titillation.”

      If they didn’t take her seriously before, they certainly wouldn’t now. Maybe he should give her one last warning. He’d hate for her to regret writing the book. The enthusiasm had faded from her voice, and a line formed on her forehead.

      Then her face brightened and she stunned him with a beautiful smile. His pulse quickened. “Screw ’em. That’s why I’m doing the book.”

      “Beat them at their own game.” He liked that about her. He was beginning to like a lot of things about her.

      “So why call the book Recipe for Sex? That title is all wrong, by the way. I’ll brainstorm a list tonight, and give you a heads-up in the morning.”

      “Why don’t I brainstorm a list and give you the heads-up in the morning?”

      His lips twisted for a moment, then he grinned. “Going to be like this, is it? Fight me every step of the way?”

      “As the writer, I should make the final decisions.”

      He raised an eyebrow. “I was brought in to fix some of those decisions.”

      “And I’ll take your suggestions under advisement,” she told him.

      Ian laughed. “Glad to hear it,” he said in the tone of a man confident he’d get his way. “The title still won’t work. It sounds like a cookbook.”

      “Well, originally I thought I’d just include the foods that put couples, and particularly men, in the mood.”

      “Why men?” he asked.

      “It’s been my experience, and I can document this with culture after culture, that men don’t often use food in their seduction.”

      Now wait a minute, he made a mean lasagna. He’d be happy to make it for her. And if they managed to get a little messy and needed to clean up together…so be it.

      “I can see by your face you don’t agree. In cultures where couples routinely push back marriage and family, then yes, the male will cook. In fact, most men have one ‘signature’ dish they believe is the ultimate key to the hookup.”

      Ian cleared his throat. Okay, he made other things besides lasagna. “That’s ridiculous.”

      She smiled then nodded. “Research only gives us generalities. Individuals can always surprise you. One thing that is a fact is a man’s sense of smell. It’s very powerful. A potent scent can stimulate blood flow to the extremities, including the penis, and can evoke all sorts of feelings.”

      “In the book, we’ll use another word other than feelings for the male readers.”

      “You know, straying from gentler emotions isn’t universal among men.”

      “It will be for the men we’re trying to sell this book to.” And if he had to hear the word penis from her lips again, he’d have to resort to phoning this book in.

      Change the subject. “Let’s get back to this smell thing. Why is it women are always wanting to smell flowers? I could care less.”

      “Because that’s the wrong smell for a man. Believe it or not, the scents more attractive to men are food-related. There’s something to be said for that old saying about the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Pumpkin, for instance, elicits very strong responses from men. And the smell of doughnuts.”

      “We can keep a running list of places for women to meet men. The pumpkin patch. The doughnut shop.”

      “I can see you’re not taking this seriously. Let me do a demonstration.” She signaled the waitress. “Can we have some of those churros, please?”

      If the waitress thought it strange Ava was asking for dessert before they’d even been served their entrées, she didn’t show it.

      Ava returned her attention to him. “Have you eaten one of these? They’re delicious. Sugar and cinnamon. Mmm.”

      The way she said mmm with such a level of carnal enjoyment made his stomach clench.

      A moment later the waitress dropped off a platter of churros, as well as a basket of chips, salsa and queso.

      “Cinnamon is another scent men respond to on a primal level. Plus the food has the added bonus of being somewhat phallic.” Her voice had turned husky, as if her very words aroused her.

      She cleared her throat, her green eyes never leaving his.

      “I think it’s most effective when a woman teases her face with the food a bit, running it along her chin. Her lips. Makes men think of a woman running her lips along his—”

      Her words didn’t drift off. He cut them off in his mind. He knew exactly what seeing a woman with something like a churro, seeing Ava do with that churro, made him think. It made him think of her lips on his erection.

      “The key is to keep the man in a steady state of semiarousal at all times.”

      Semiarousal? He’d just gone from zero to performance status in about half a second.

      She dropped the churro onto the platter. “You see? Food is one very important ingredient for sex. You show me a man whose mind doesn’t immediately turn to a blow job at the sight of a woman eating a banana or carrot—I’ll show you a man whose balls haven’t dropped yet.”

      Or one who wasn’t into women. He turned to face Ava, whose expression was teasing. “Okay, you have a point,” he admitted, speaking around the lump in his throat.

      She smiled, bit off the tip of the churro with gusto, then tipped it his way. “Bite?”

      “No, thank you.”

      The scent of cinnamon drifted back to him. Was that the food or the woman? And more importantly, was she wearing it on purpose?

      “Food-sharing is also very erotic. The significance more than likely dates back to when humans were in survival mode. To share your food literally meant to share your life. Now, eating from your lover’s hand reveals an innate trust. All this academic talk, I’m not boring you am I?”

      Hell, no. If the classes he’d taken in college had been half this interesting, he might have stayed to finish his degree. He shook his head.

      “Good. Do you like churros, Ian?” her voice husky again

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