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"Walking on the wild side tonight?" she asked She poured a slass and handed it to hiht This looks awesoh the dip and chased it with a sip of red wine

"My food preparation really lights your fire I think in an earlier life you liked to drag your woolly mammoth home to the cave for your woman to butcher and roast"

"And then she tanned the hide and rapes "What have you been doing tonight?"

"Mostly watching the show," she said, pointing her wine toward the sliding glass doors "It’s the first really good one since I h su to spend a lot of tirape and sip of wine

"Storainst the pillows and headboard of the bed, tray between thehtning was close, the noise was so deafening they both ju rocks in the bay, they shouted in excitement as if they were kids at a fireworks display

And then the rain began in earnest and Laine lass on the bedside table and curled up against hi becaainst the s

"If you had told o that one day I’d have this kind of life, I never would have believed it," Eric said

"You ot prison out of the way, stability became my middle name It was a priority I didn’t make too many fast moves--I liked the no-drama zone a lot But I was sometimes overworked and pretty often bored No, I didn’t know I’d be working on irl, that I’d be laying in bed with the most incredible woman I’ve ever met"

"Well, does it coical charts, either? I thought I’d spend halfprobable cause, and the other half undercover or in court And then there’s the paperwork"

"Is this life getting too dull for you?"

She shook her head "This is the best I’ve felt since --I bet it was spikey and black and nervous before" She turned her head and looked up at him "I bet it’s all soft pink and lavender noas all about controlling the stress before I think you sucked the stress right out of s Some healthy distance from Senior helped A second look at the commune, disarmed And I don’t knohat’s different about this place but the people are They’re nice They let me in I didn’t realize hoomen I had in my life Well, I realized it, but I didn’t know I could do anything about it I didn’t knohat kind of friendship I was "

"Were there just men in your life?"

"Not what you think I worked with rown close to were irlfriends I don’t have to prove myself to these people, to these woht scare you to death"

"I’ve learned to be very brave where you’re concerned"

"I’n fro here, being with you I’ve gotten a little lazy"

"That last assignment took a lot out of you," he said "Another few ain"

"What if I’h?" he asked her

"Eric, you’re not under any pressure, please believe that My expectations of you are the sa you in h"

He slid an arm around her and pulled her on top of hith of him He pulled her mouth onto his while thunder ruo he said, "Don’t tease me You know you’re all I want"

When the rain was driving inland over the bay, Hank Cooper grabbed his rain slicker and flashlight and went outside through the back door of the bar He crossed the parking lot and shone the light on the path that would soon be a stone sidewalk He braced a foot on the raised floor of the structure that would be his house and pulled hie open room in the front of the house Sarah sat on a stack of two paint cans, looking out the glasslessat the stor hs

"I wish you wouldn’t prowl around over here in the dark," he said

"I wanted to check out the storreat room"

"Sarah, what if you tripped over construction debris and fell?"

"I’d bounce," she said

"Please tell me you didn’t lift a full paint can to stack those"

"Okay," she said

"You did!"

"I’ve been instructed not to tell you"

"You’re a wiseass," he accused He took off the slicker and draped it around her shoulders "Coht the way And step carefully--it’s wet and muddy out there" He put an arm around her waist, what there was of it, and led the way He ju her down, his ar around her