Page 25 of Dreaming of You

"My clock," she said faintly, straightening up in her chair. She tipped her head toward the cuckoo clock on the kitchen wall.

He looked at it in bemusement, then turned back to her. "You have a cuckoo clock? I didn't think those existed anymore."

"It was my grandparents' clock. They gave it to me as a housewarming present."

"It's loud."

"It has charm," she defended. "And it keeps very good time."

"Maybe so, but it has a lousy sense of timing," he remarked regretfully.

She stared back at him, filled with mixed emotions. She wanted to keep going on with that kiss, but her brain was screaming caution. "Or maybe a good sense of timing," she murmured. "We have to work in the same building, and I'm not sure this truce could take another kiss like that. It would complicate things."

"It would do that," he agreed, but the glitter in his eyes told her how much he wanted to keep going.

She cleared her throat. "I can finish the last favor on my own." She stood up. "You've done more than enough."

"I guess that's my cue to leave," he said, as he rose.

"Thanks, Barrett. You were a lifesaver."

"You're welcome." He gave her a long look. "You're not anything like I first thought."

"I could say the same about you," she replied.

He nodded. "Well, I guess I'll see you around the building."

"I'll try not to fall at your feet again."

A smile curved his lips. "I have a feeling that our next meeting will be just as memorable."

"Why would you say that?"

"Judging by our past history, I'd say the excitement is just beginning."

She decided not to touch that comment, because she had a feeling he was right.

She walked him to the door and tried not to think about giving in to a crazy attraction burning between them. She pushed him into the hall and locked the door behind him, then leaned against the solid frame and let out a breath. She hadn't felt so worked up by a man in a very long time.

But it could not be this man. He was her landlord, her office neighbor, but more than that, he was cynical and cocky and not at all the kind of man she wanted in her life.

She just wished he wasn't so damn attractive.

---