Moon Shadows Read Online Free Page B

there’s this restaurant up on Bucksport—you are a carnivore, right?”
    â€œAnd then some,” she murmured.
    â€œWell, they have these amazing steaks. Nice change from the local seafood. It’s just wrong to sit down to one by yourself, so you’d be doing me a big favor if you went with me.”
    Oh God, did she have to like him as well as want to rub her naked body all over his? “And I should do you a favor because?”
    â€œI can’t concentrate properly on my work for wonderingabout you. You don’t want my patients to suffer because you won’t chow down on a steak with me.”
    She took his glass, carried it to the sink. “Do you have a dog?”
    â€œActually I have dibs on a puppy from a patient’s litter. Mom’s a mixed breed I’ll spay in trade for the pup. I lost my dog, Kirk, to cancer about six months ago.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” She turned back, had to check the urge to touch him. “It’s very hard.”
    â€œHe used to sing.”
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œSing, along with the radio, especially if it was something soulful. “Dock of the Bay” being one of his favorites. I miss that. He was sixteen, had a good life. It’s never long enough, though.”
    â€œNo, it’s not. Kirk? Are you a Star Trek addict as well as Simpson -obsessed?”
    â€œI claim the right to teenage geekdom when I named him.”
    â€œYou were never a geek. Guys who look like you may flirt around the edges of the geek universe, but they never get to its core. Too busy gathering up girls with names like Ursella.”
    His smile was easy, and appealingly sly. “She was brainy and beautiful, what could I do? I’m a sucker for brains and beauty and it seems for girls with exotic names.”
    â€œMy grandfather’s name was Simon. It’s not such a stretch.”
    And that, he thought with some pleasure, was the first personal thing he’d wheedled out of her. “Simone.” He took a long breath. “It just sings. Simone, with the beautiful green eyes, have dinner with me. Don’t make me beg.”
    Instinct was what she knew—its dangers. But she followed it, moving around the counter, facing him when he swiveled toward her on the stool.
    She moved quickly, before rational thought could overcome primal need. Taking his face in her hands, she swooped in, and crushed her mouth to his.

Chapter 3
    I T was like being pitched headfirst off a cliff, then discovering you’d sprouted wings.
    The shock slammed into him first, then the speed, then the soaring thrill. He wasn’t aware he’d moved until he was standing, until his hands were tangled in her hair and his heart was pumping its life away against hers.
    The heat of her poured into him until his blood smoked and smoldered, until his senses were stunned by it. So that he stood, reeling, when she nudged him away and stepped back.
    â€œThe dinner invitation was just another prop. You want to sleep with me.”
    â€œWhat?” He heard the words, but with the majority of blood drained out of his head, he was having a hard time comprehending them. Had there been that much gold in her eyes before? So much gold the green was like a haze under it? “Ah . . . I’m just going to sit here another minute, if it’s all the same to you. Feel a little punchy.”
    He looked down at the dog who sat as he had since they’d entered. Like a soldier on guard duty.
    â€œNo. Yes.”
    It was her turn to look confused. “What does that mean?”
    â€œNo, the dinner invitation wasn’t a prop.” His eyes, so rich and brown, fixed on hers. “I’d like to spend some time with you, get to know you. And yes, I want to sleep with you. Did you take a course to learn to kiss like that, or is it just innate? And if it’s the former, where can I sign up?”
    â€œYou’re funny,” she