Page 20 of Snow Bound

It was so damn hot.

“What did you have in mind?”

She had in mind whatever would make her come her brains out, but she didn’t think that’s what he meant. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

His smile grew, just a little, and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “We can always negotiate.”

Right. Negotiate. She could do that. “Okay.”

“You’ve negotiated before, haven’t you?”

“Sure.” She’d had a few scenes at Odyssey before she’d called it quits, and those had involved negotiating. She’d found the process a little annoying, a little tedious. “It’s just been a while.”

“How long is a while?”

“Eighteen months.”

Speculation glimmered in his crystal blue gaze. “Then we’ll start at the beginning.”

“The beginning.” She grimaced. “Does that mean filling out a Yes/No/Maybe list?”

“Something wrong with that?”

“It’s just so long,” she complained. “It took me ages to fill out, and some of the things on there are just ridiculous.”

His lips twitched. “It’s meant to be comprehensive.”

“It’s a pain in the ass,” she muttered.

“We can skip the full list for one scene,” he allowed.

One scene, she thought, and her knees went wobbly.

“But I need hard and soft limits, and a short Yes list. Say, five things.”

Only five? “What if I have more than that?”

His smile broadened, the eye crinkles deepening. “We’ll call five the minimum.”

“Right.” She squeezed her thighs together to keep them from trembling—and to get a little friction on her clit. “When would we do this?”

“Tonight?” he suggested. “I need to run into town to get the apples and dog food, and you’ll need time to think.”

She almost laughed. She could rattle off her five things right now and be naked before she’d finished. “All right.”

“Let’s say, eight o’clock?”

“That’s fine.”

“Then I’ll meet you in the living room at eight.”

“Sounds good,” she said, pleased at the calm in her voice. “Oh, wait. Don’t you want breakfast?”

“I’ll get something in town,” he said, turning toward the door. “Besides, you burned the eggs again.”

She whirled to look at the pan, full of charred scrambled eggs. “Well, shit.”

He laughed, quick and wicked, then walked out of the kitchen. Henry trotted after him while she snatched the pan off the stove and took it to the sink to join its predecessor. Then she did a quick little boogie.

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