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Okay, if you re sure. Her reluctant shrug was enough to make Courtney second-guess herself, but
the idea of Rafe knowing that he was the first guy to ring her bell made her about break out in hives.
I m sure.
Cat nodded. Okay. Looks good so far, then. Oh! We forgot to fill out number eleven on page one.
What did you say your feelings were on dog leashes again?
Courtney groaned and slumped forward to rest her head on the cool Formica while Cat huffed a
sigh and called to the waitress.
Can you grab us two coffees? And might as well keep em coming. I think we re going to be a
while.
&
Nine days.
Courtney blew the lock of hair obscuring her vision from her eye and gripped the steering wheel
tighter.
Nine frigging days without a single word from him. After all that fuss, all those hours of waiting,
anticipating, planning&
She d filled out the survey about hard limits and safe words; they d exchanged medical history
forms. Hell, she d even given him a key to her house once they d put a system in place to let him
know whether or not she wanted him to use it on a given day. All that, and then?
Nada.
It was like Indecent Proposal without any of the indecency. Granted, she d balked at some of the
truly outrageous stuff on the questionnaire, but there was plenty left on the table to work with, and
he d seemed more than satisfied at her sense of adventure. Still, maybe it wasn t enough for him&
Whatever. She refused to let it shake her confidence. He probably decided much like she did half
the times she thought about it that this whole thing was a terrible idea and had opted out. Fine. But it
would ve been nice if he d given her a call so she could stop thinking that he d let himself into her
house and was about to ravage her every time she heard the radiator creak at night.
Which reminded her, she was going to have to ask Cat to get her key back for her. If things had been
awkward before, they d be more so now that he d stood her up. Besides, Cat owed her one.
She adjusted her seat belt and toyed with the radio, turning back on her Rosetta Stone practice CD.
It had been her lifelong dream to retire at fifty-five and travel the world, and she was hell-bent on
speaking at least seven languages by that time. She d already learned enough Spanish to eke by
especially if toilets or food were involved and had just started on French. No way was she letting
All Talk, No Action Rafe ruin her day or her retirement plans.
After yet another hellish forty hours at work courtesy of her new supervisor, who clearly had
decided that making her life miserable was priority number one, she needed a break from the shit that
had been her week. It was a beautiful summer night and she was exactly three miles from Cat s family
cottage where she planned to spend a relaxing weekend by the lake. She d been thrilled when Cat had
made the offer. Courtney knew she was probably feeling a little guilty for her part in this mess. Who
was she to snub the offer if it made her friend feel better?
She rolled the window down and cranked up her French lesson, letting the warm breeze batter her
hair into a wild mess, not giving a crap.
La boulangerie, the disembodied voice blared from the speakers. Bakery.
La boulangerie, she repeated, getting her Pepé Le Pew on, making sure to roll her tongue under
to get that authentic sound working. It wasn t great, but it wasn t terrible.
She d just turned down the dark, winding road that also acted as the Thomas family s driveway and
was in the midst of learning how to order a coffee when a noise broke her concentration. An
ambulance? Blue and red lights flashed in her rearview mirror, and she groaned. Cops.
Sacre bleu!
It was like she had the worst luck in the world in this town. First a flat and now this. She pulled to
the side, glad that this time there was space to get entirely off the road. Then she turned off the radio
and started digging in her glove compartment for her registration. Had she been speeding? Or maybe
her blinker was on the fritz?
A flashlight blinded her, and she covered her eyes, squinting.
Jeez, wow, that thing s pretty powerful. What s that use, nine volt there? She tried for a smile but
with her face scrunched up, she was pretty sure she d missed the mark on looking innocent and
affable and landed somewhere around weird and creepy.
I m going to need you to step out of the car, miss. His tone was sharp, and she winced.
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