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“Believeharassed” And the sudden drop in his tone, to a richer, fuller octave even he couldn’t miss, likely proved his point

Maxi flinched Her legs squeezed tight again Her breath hitched

Ha! There it was!

He really did spark so inside her

Fascinated by

her and the topic on deck, even if it did make adrenaline pu the workday, he asked, “So you don’t fully believe in nonphysical relationships between men and women who are friends? What about the males employed by Staci Kay?”

She gave a s “I wouldn’t consider theues Associates Whatever Do we go to happy hour fro out with any of them alone, socially It’s always about work”

His look was pointed as he said, “We’re colleagues having lunch together, but we’re not talking about work”

Maxi washed down another bite with her soda Waving the cup in one hand and her sandwich in the other, she said, “Totally different”

“How so?”

“First, we’re in my office, not at a restaurant or a bar or anyplace that could be considered social Second, we’re supposed to be getting to know each other For business-related purposes”

He stared at her for a few seconds Her chest rose and fell faster than normal, he noted Shallow pants of air escaped her parted lips Noshe was a bit revved, a bit breathless

Ryan was a genius in several areas Mostly mathematics and quantitative research He was a fact collector who thrived on resolutions Had an IQ well over one-sixty

His specialty was not the female persuasion He’d proven that just recently when he’d allowed Elizabeth to jerk him around until she’d ripped his heart from his chest and had stomped all over it with her teeny-tiny, two-inch-heeled, pointy-tipped Louis Vuitton shoes

Yet he recognized an aroused woman when he saw one