Still holding one of the kittens, he leaned over and
kissed Oreo right on the tip of his nose.

Oh, for God’s sake, Zoe thought. How the hell was she
supposed to keep her heart safe when he was nice to her
silly dog and he saved kittens and he fixed the things in
her house that were broken while pretending not to in
order to save her own damn pride?

He sat there, rumpled from sleep, like maybe he, too, had
just rolled out of bed, seeming very comfortable in her
kitchen.

Like maybe he belonged there.

And then there was the fact that all he had on was a pair
of sweats, dangerously low slung and showing off his abs
and those sexy cut muscles on his lean hips, the ones
that made women stupid with lust. . . .

And never mind his eyes and how they seemed to heat when
he looked at her. She’d never experienced anything like
it, really. She’d enjoyed the men she’d been with and
knew they’d enjoyed her back, but not a single one of
them had even looked at her like Parker did. “You knew
what I meant regarding the no-animals thing,” she said.
“You keep breaking the rules on purpose.”

He smiled a little to himself at that and gently set the
kittens on the floor, where they immediately cuddled up
to Oreo.

Then he stood up and stepped into Zoe. “Not true. You
only had two rules, the other one being no overnight
guests. Haven’t broken that one.”

She took a step back and found herself up against the
counter.

He set hands on the tile on either side of her hips and
dipped a little to look into her eyes. “You’ve got a lot
of rules.”

“For good reason,” she managed, trying not to stare at
his mouth and failing miserably. His lips were somehow
both firm and soft, and he always tasted good. So yeah .
. .

At her scrutiny, those sexy lips curved. “I bet you have
all sorts of rules in bed, too,” he said.

She had no idea how in the world he managed it, but with
him she always felt a whole lot aroused and just a little
bit pissy at the same time. It was a special talent of
his.

“Yeah,” he said, sounding amused and not at all
surprised. “You do. You have rules in bed.”

“I don’t.” She hesitated. “Well, maybe a few,” she
admitted. Hey, it was just common sense to have rules.

He laughed softly, the sound sliding through her belly
and heading directly south. Dammit.

“Maybe that’s why your dates aren’t working out,” he
said.

“My dates are working out just fine, thank you.”

“Yeah?” he asked. “Did you get laid last night?”?

She squirmed. Joe had made it clear that sex was
absolutely on the table and up for discussion. She’d made
it just as clear that it wasn’t going to happen.

But she did want to be with someone. She wanted that
quite badly. Just not with Joe.

Parker grinned. “I rest my case.”

“Hey,” she said. “I could have . . . with Joe. If I’d
wanted to.” But the amused doubt on Parker’s face really
did her in. “I could call him back right now even,” she
said.

He slid his gaze over the blanket she had wrapped around
herself—The Little Mermaid—and smirked.

“Well, I wouldn’t be in this blanket,” she said. “I’d
change. And not into the bingo dress, either. I’m
retiring the bingo dress.”

“What have you got instead?”

“Plenty,” she reported. “I have a little black dress, for
one.”

“Yeah,” he said. “That and some fuck-me pumps would do
it. You’ve got great legs.”

She did her best not to flush with pleasure because she
did not care one bit that he liked her legs. Correction:
She didn’t want to care. “It’s not all about physical
attraction,” she said.

“No kidding,” he said with a self-deprecating laugh as he
looked her over again.

She narrowed her eyes. “And what’s that supposed to
mean?”

“Babe, you’re covered in that blanket from head to toe,
and I bet beneath it your pj’s are flannel and baggy.
That should be a turnoff but I’m not even close to being
turned off.”

She stopped breathing. “You’re not?”

“Nope.” He lowered his head so that his breath warmed her
neck. He stayed still for a beat, ratcheting up the
anticipation within her so tight that when he finally
spoke, just the brush of his lips moving against her
throat made her damp.

“Back to your bedroom rules,” he murmured.

She huffed out a laugh that sounded nervous even to her
own ears. Probably because she suddenly was.

And unbalanced.?So very, very unbalanced.?

To try to ground herself she leaned into his solid chest.

“Tell me one,” he said, those lips of his still ghosting
over her throat with each syllable. “Slowly and in great
detail.”

She stopped a helpless moan from escaping. “No.”?

He rubbed his jaw to hers like he was a cat, a big, sleek
cat. “Want me to guess?” he asked.?

She meant to give him a shove, but her hands were still
entangled in her blanket. “You don’t know me well enough
to guess.”

“You don’t want anything too intense,” he said, ignoring
that. “Get in, get out, and if you get an orgasm out of
it, you consider yourself lucky.”

She’d be totally insulted if his words weren’t deadly
accurate. “I’m not that uptight,” she said.

He gave a soft, sexy laugh.

“You were wrong when you said I had the smart mouth,” she
said. “You’re the one with a smart mouth.”

“Maybe kissing it would help contain the sarcasm,” he
suggested, and this time his mouth was at her ear,
drawing a shudder out of her. Somehow her hands had
separated from her brain and dropped the blanket.

He looked down at her tiny boxer shorts and thin white
cami.

“I stand corrected,” he said roughly.

Smug, and also unbearably aroused, her hands slid down
his chest.

And then back up.

Unable to handle the onslaught of all the emotions—
hunger, desire, need, and a yearning that weakened her
knees—she couldn’t hold back her moan this time.

“You’re sweet,” he murmured.?

“No, I’m—”?

“Shh,” he said, and kissed her just beneath her ear.

“You’re also fierce,” he went on. “Loyal. Tough . . .”?
She heard another moan. Still her.?Parker sucked her
earlobe into his mouth and then gently sank his teeth
into her and gave a little tug.?

She gasped and would’ve slid to the floor if he hadn’t
lifted her to the counter. He did it casually, easily,
and then with a palm on each thigh, he pushed open her
legs.

And then he made himself at home between them.

“But one thing you’re most definitely not,” he said, “is
uptight.” And then his mouth covered hers.