“Pfft. Eli, I’ve yet to fall in love with any man who touched me. Good in bed or not. Even if the guy is prone to giving me flowers and taking me out, I tend to remain fairly distant. It’s hardly going to change with you. Remember? I don’t even like you. I just want your body. And that means that this will be the best sex-only relationship ever. Plus, we live close. Late-night booty calls will be a breeze and there will be no temptation at all to develop finer feelings.”

He lifted his coffee cup and took a drink. “Okay, I have to get back to work. Then I have to bring Connor food to ensure he does more than ingest alcohol today.”

“Sure,” she said, feeling a little like shrieking or scurrying in circles or something. Not with joy or anything, but with...panic, excitement and a pulse of adrenaline that seemed more appropriate for scaling a mountain than propositioning a guy for no-strings sex.

“I’ll see you after.”

“My place?” she asked, her throat dry.

“Probably for the best.”

“Bring condoms,” she said, looking around, suddenly concerned people might have started milling around since Eli last looked. “I am lacking, currently. And that would be a shame.”

He nodded. “I’ll come prepared.” The black radio on his shoulder buzzed and he put his hand up over the top of it. “I have to go. See you tonight. Good luck with the posters.”

Then he turned and walked away. Like some badass action movie star with a surprisingly poor exit line.

Oh, dear Lord, what had she done?

She bent and picked up her stack of posters again, holding them to her chest, the staple gun braced against the back of them.

There was no reason to panic. None at all. She’d propositioned Eli Garrett. And he’d said yes. They were going to have a no-strings fling that would result in many orgasms for both of them.

Putting it like that, it didn’t seem like a big deal at all.

No, it sounded awesome.

A slow grin spread across her face and she turned and started walking down the sidewalk, beneath the covered walkway that ran along the row of little shops.

She paused at the next bulletin board, her heart beating fast, excitement building now.

Things had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.

* * *

“Dammit, Eli. There’s mustard on this.”

“What?” Eli looked at his brother for a full ten seconds before he processed what he was saying.

“My burger. There’s mustard. You know I don’t like mustard.”

“Sorry,” he said, taking a French fry out of his carton and eating it, looking across the kitchen counter at his brother, who was looking grumpier than normal.

“How the hell do you forget something like that?”

Oh, good, Connor was hell-bent on being an ass. This would be fun.

“I just did,” Eli said.

Because his mind was on Sadie. Because his brother could starve for all he cared, except he couldn’t really let that happen.

So he was here, pretending like he was invested in the meal he’d brought in for the two of them, listening to Connor bitch about condiments.

“Ace knows I don’t like mustard,” Connor said, glaring and getting up from his seat, going to the counter to get paper towels and a knife.

“He didn’t ask if the burger was for you.”

“Who else would it have been for?”

Fair question. “Kate. She likes mustard.”

“And you remember that, apparently,” he said.

“Shut up, Connor,” Eli said, watching him flick the bulk of the mustard off the top bun with a knife before wiping it, seriously wiping it, with the paper towel, then scraping it thoroughly with the knife.

“You don’t normally forget.”

“If you want a flawless hamburger order, have Liss do it, since she actually likes taking care of you. Or better yet, why don’t you go and order your own damn food.”

Connor took a bite of the hamburger. “Because you do it for me,” he said.

“I should stop,” he said, putting another fry in his mouth.

He heard footsteps in the doorway and for a moment, his heart leaped up into his throat, his body tensing as he wondered if it was Sadie with a disaster of some kind, or...Sadie for any reason, really.

But it was Liss, speaking of, walking around the corner, holding a big white box. “Pie,” she said, smiling.

Connor looked at Eli. “See, I bet she got it without mustard.”

“If you put that pie down in front of me I’m going to squirt mustard all over it, Liss,” Eli told her.

“Connor doesn’t like mustard,” she said, setting it down on the counter.

“Yes. We know.”

She dropped her purse onto the counter and her keys with it, sighing heavily. “Is there anything for me?” she asked, turning and facing the fridge, jerking the door open.

Liss had a tendency to act like she lived here, which didn’t seem to bother Connor at all. But then, Liss had been a fixture during his marriage, since she’d been close to him and Jessie both. “Dear Lord, Connor, you need to go grocery shopping.”

“Still?” Eli asked. “I told him to go two weeks ago.”

“I did. I went out to fill up my truck and stopped and bought beanie weenies and beer.”

Liss gave him the evil eye. “That doesn’t count.”

“Why not?”

“I’m eating your fries.”