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"Consistency," he repeated

"That’s right You have toowhat I can You can thank me later"

"Can I," he said dryly

"Yes" She took her coffee and escaped to the office, where she kept herself busy until lunch

She met Kate at the bakery in tohere they sat at a tiny table and inhaled hae, fresh, war a brownie meant that the calories didn’t count

Kate looked out theat the sleet free-falling fros to payto Costa Rica over winter break," she said "I’ all work and no play I need an adventure A wars in Costa Rica," Holly said Kate was adas She’d once called Holly in the et the spider in her bathroohed "But God, I really need to get out of Sunshine Not all of us get to find our adventure right here, with the hottest guy this side of the Continental Divide, you know"

"You are not talking about rab the last of the brownie "You and Aday with it--"

"Stop" Holly would have laughed, but she was horrified "And please, for the love of God, stop watching cable TV"

"You tould eous babies, you know that? With his skin and eyes and your…"

Holly choked on her tea "My what?"

"Sunny, sweet nature" Kate flashed a s kids The man is relationship phobic, remember? We’re just…"

Kate’s s it slow"

"Honey" Kate squeezed her hand "Tellyour heart desires, whether that turns out to be a Costa Rica zip-line adventure or a dia"

Holly let out a breath and her deepest, darkest fear right along with it "But what if the very thing that my heart desires can’t be had?" she whispered

"Then,step back and reevaluate Go in another direction"

Ninety percent of Holly didn’t want to go in another direction She liked this direction But that last niggling ten percent could adun-shy Adam and ask him--wasn’t she worth the risk?

Ada obedience class A war rain by the buckets instead of the usual snow It erous and had the entire county on flood watch

He held the class in the reception area of the vet center It was a big reception roos Not even the dogs, all of ell behaved

It was the people

Gayle was still having trouble being in charge Liza spenta play for his attention And then there was Holly On the surface, she was taking the obedience training very seriously But there was an undercurrent between the around them

When the class was over, everyone but Holly had filed out She dallied, caught up in Thing One’s and Thing Two’s leashes

Jade was still behind her desk, her fingers clicking over her keyboard with authority as she spoke quietly into her ear set on the phone, but she still o help Holly

He did just that, rab the leashes fro One?"

"Liza!"

He went brows up, then leaned in close, brushing his jaw against hers "And here I thought it was you anted inher ever-present broorimaced "Gonna pretend I didn’t hear that"

Holly blushed and glared at Adam as Bessie swept around their feet The minute she moved away, Holly hissed, "And I’ve already been in your pants Reet "And?"

She crossed her ar for compliments? Does the self-?"

"Well, I do like stroking"

She gave hihed

"I’?" He ran a hand down her back, gratified to feel a shiver wrack her body "God, I hope so"

"I’m serious about this class," she said, and elbowed him when his hand drifted south to her ass

"Uh-huh"

"I a because there are certain others who aren’t"

"I charge an ar," he said "I’ it seriously"

"Everyone?"

Both their gazes slid to theOutside in the pouring rain, Liza was loading her dog into her truck She was in a clear rain poncho over her very interesting sweater, which had lots of cutouts The sweater ith her high-heeled thigh-high black rubber boots Sort of Either she enjoyed BDSM or she was going to a costume party later as a do to flash the world what she had on under herclass?" Hollyclass otta give her props for creativity" She paused "I gother flowers?

She took in his reaction "And they’re still not from you"

He opened his mouth, but she beat him to the punch "No, it’s okay," she said "I don’t even like flowers I hten up a room, but I’d rather have candy, anyway…"

He didn’t knohat to do with the eaze--or the fact that he felt like the biggest asole on the planet He wished he’d thought to do the whole flowers thing, but he hadn’t "I--"