“Are you falling asleep before midnight?" Cassie leaned over the edge of the couch to look at Jack. He was stretched out on the floor, his head resting against a pillow near the center of the couch, his eyes closed. She was now wide awake and headache free. He wasn't in so good a shape. "The new year is eighteen minutes away.""Come kiss me awake in seventeen minutes."She blinked at that lazy suggestion, gave a quick grin, and dropped Benji on his chest. He opened one eye to look up at her as he settled his hand lightly on the kitten. "That's a no?"She smiled. She was looking forward to dating him, but she was smart enough to know he'd value more what he had to work at.He sighed. "That was a no. How much longer am I going to be on the fence with you?""Is that a rhetorical question or do you want an answer?" If this was the right relationship God had for her future, time taken now would improve it, not hurt it. She was ready to admit she was tired of being alone.He scratched Benji under the chin and the kitten curled up on his chest and batted a paw at his hand. "Rhetorical. I'd hate to get my hopes up."She leaned her chin against her hand, looking down at him. "I like you, Jack.""You just figured that out?""I'll like you more when you catch my mouse.""The only way we are going to catch T.J. is to turn this place into a cheese factory and help her get so fat and slow that she can no longer run and hide."Or you could move your left hand about three inches to the right right and catch her." Jack opened one eye and glanced toward his left. The white mouse was sitting motionless beside the plate he had set down earlier. "Let her have the cheeseburger. You put mustard on it.""You're horrible."He smiled. "I'm serious.""So am I."Jack leaned over, caught Cassie's foot, and tumbled her to the floor. "Oops.""That wasn't fair. You scared my mouse."Jack set the kitten on the floor. "Benji, go get her mouse."The kitten took off after it."You're teaching her to be a mouser.""Working on it. Come here. You owe me a kiss for the new year.""Do I?" She reached over to the bowl of chocolates on the table and unwrapped a kiss. She popped the chocolate kiss into his mouth. "I called your bluff."He smiled and rubbed his hand across her forearm braced against his chest. "That will last me until next year."She glanced at the muted television. "That's two minutes away.""Two minutes to put this year behind us." He slid one arm behind his head, adjusting the pillow.She patted his chest with her hand. "That shouldn't take long." She felt him laugh. "It ended up being a very good year," she offered. "Next year will be even better.""Really? Promise?""Absolutely." He reached behind her ear and a gold coin reappeared. "What do you think? Heads you say yes when I ask you out, tails you say no?"She grinned at the idea. "Are you cheating again?" She took the coin. "This one isn't edible," she realized, disappointed. And then she turned it over. "A real two-headed coin?""A rare find." He smiled. "Like you.""That sounds like a bit of honey.""I'm good at being mushy.""Oh, really?"He glanced over her shoulder. "Turn up the TV. There's the countdown."She grabbed for the remote and hit the wrong button. The TV came on full volume just as the fireworks went off. Benji went racing past them spooked by the noise to dive under the collar of the jacket Jack had tossed on the floor. The white mouse scurried to run into the jacket sleeve."Tell me I didn't see what I think I just did.""I won't tell you," Jack agreed, amused. He watched the jacket move and raised an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to rescue the kitten or the mouse?”

“Prove it!" she hissed. "Prove you are who you are!""We don't have time for this! You really want me to prove who I am?" he asked."Yes!" she challenged.In answer, he took her in his arms, lifting her up and against the wall. He pressed his lips against hers, and with each kiss she could see into his mind, into his soul. She saw a year of hate...saw him alone, alienated, hurt. She had lied to him and had left him. With every kiss he made her see, made her feel...every emotion, every dream he had of her...every ounce of his wanting and his need...and his love...his all-consuming, life-affirming love for her. In the darkness they found each other again...and she kissed him back, so greedily and hungrily, she never wanted to stop kissing him...to feel his heart against hers, the two of them intertwined together, his hands in her hair, then down the small of her back. She wanted to cry from the overwhelming emotion that engulfed the two of them...."Now do you belive me?" Jack asked huskily, pulling away from a moment so they could look into each other's eyes. Schuyler nodded, breathless. Jack. Every fiber of her being tingled with love and desire and remorse and forgiveness. Oh Jack...the love of her life, her sweet, her soul...”

“He's a clever little thing, isn't he?"She leaned in to drop a kiss on the kitten's soft head, reaching to move him off Griffin's chest. He reached for her hand, stopping her."And what about me?" he asked, his eyes burning into hers."What about you?""Am I not clever enough for a kiss?" His voice was gruff.She favored him with a shy smile."You're more than clever enough, Griffin Channing.”

“Jace set what he was holding down on the windowsill and reached out to her. She came to lean against him, and his hand slid up under her t-shirt and rested caressingly, possessively, on the small of her back. He bent to kiss her, gently at first, but the gentleness went quickly and soon she was pressed up against the glass of the window, his hands at the hem of her shirt — his shirt —“Jace.” She moved a little bit away. “I’m pretty sure people down there in the street can see us.”“We could …” He gestured toward the bed. “Move…over there.”She grinned. “You said that like it took you a while to come up with the idea.”When he spoke, his voice was muffled against her neck. “What can I say, you make my thought processes slow down. Now I know what it’s like to be a normal person.” “How … is it?” The things he was doing with his hands under the t-shirt were distracting.“Terrible. I’m already way behind on my quota of witty comments for the day.”

“What do you want to show me?""Nothing, really. I just want to be alone with you for a minute." He pulled her to the back of the driveway, where they were almost completely hidden by a line of trees and the RV and the garage."Seriously?" she said. "That was so lame.""I know," he said, turning to her. "Next time, I'll just say, 'Eleanor, follow me down this dark alley, I want to kiss you.'"She didn't roll her eyes. She took a breath, then closed her mouth. He was learning how to catch her off guard.She pushed her hands deeper in her pockets, so he put his hands on her elbows. "Next time," he said, "I'll just say, 'Eleanor, duck behind these bushes with me, I'm going to lose my mind if I don't kiss you.'"She didn't move, so he thought it was probably okay to touch her face. Her skin was as soft as it looked, white and smooth as freckled porcelain."I'll just say, 'Eleanor, follow me down this rabbit hole...'"He laid his thumb on her lips to see if she'd pull away. She didn't. He leaned closer. He wanted to close his eyes, but he didn't trust her not to leave him standing there.”

“You're the whole focus of my world," he murmured. "After you left, I went crazy.I flew down to New Orleans, and-""You did?" Stunned,she drew back to look at him. "You went after me?""With various purposes in mind," he muttered. "First,I was going to strangle you,then I was going to crawl, then I was going to just drag you back and lock you upstairs."Smiling,she rested her head on his chest. "And now?""Now." He kissed her hair. "We compromise. I'll let you live.""Good start." With a sigh,she closed her eyes. "I want to watch the sea in winter."He tilted her face to his. "We will.""There is something else...""Before or after I make love to you?"Laughing,she pulled away from him. "It better be before.Since you haven't mentioned marriage yet,it falls to me.""Gennie-""No,this is one time we'll do it all my way." She draw out the coin Serena had given her before she'd lef the Comanche. "And,in a way,it's a kind of compromise.Heads,we get married. Tails we don't."Grant grabbed her wrist before she could toss. "You're not going to play games with something like that, Genvieve, unless that's a two-headed coin."She smiled. "It certainly is."Surprise came first,then his grin. "Toss it.I like the odds.”

“He gave her a lazy predatory smile as he moved his torso over heres. "You're not afraid of me at all anymore, are you?"She sobered. Call her crazy, but she thought he would rather cut off his hands than hurt her. "So what if I'm not?" she muttered.His beautiful, cruel mouth pulled into a smile. "I think if your're not crazy, it's a very good thing," he said. He moved, and before she realized what he intended, he had her hands pinned over her head. "It gives me all kinds of license to do bad things to you. With you. On you. In you.”