0-69 in 5 Minutes Read Online Free PDF Page A

were spread
out on the coffee table. A few plants sat around and an abstract
painting covered the largest wall.
    “ This is the living room.”
She laughed when she looked at his face.
    His thoughts must have been written all over
him. It looked more like a doctor’s office than a living room.
    “ I know what you’re
thinking. It doubles as a waiting room for clients.” She took his
hand and led him through an open doorway. “Kitchen and dining are
this way.”
    He followed close behind her as she showed
him around. The place needed to be familiar to him if they had
dinner here with her parents. Maybe they should have dinner at a
restaurant, give themselves less to worry about.
    The dining room appeared as stiff as the
living room. Plastic plants covered surfaces and everything shined.
A far cry from his grease stained clothes and furniture. “Why so
many fake plants?”
    Laughing again, she squeezed his hand.
“Because I tend to kill the real ones.”
    Taking a few more steps, she showed him the
kitchen and an enclosed back porch that felt more relaxed. Like a
place he could kick his shoes off, throw her on the couch and make
love all night under the moonlight.
    “ This is one of my two
private spaces. I like to sit out here and look at the stars, read
a book or just have friends over. We don’t spend a lot of time in
the living room. Even on cooler nights, I fire up the wood burning
stove to warm the space. TV’s out here, as well as the computer and
stereo.”
    Crickets chirped and the quiet hum of the
night filled his ears. Aromas of roses and lilies filtered through
the large screens. Val’s skin glowed in the light of the moon. It
was the natural time to kiss her. Would have kissed her, if they’d
been on a real date, but they weren’t. He was a business deal to
her. A way to get back at her ex. Did she even find him
interesting? Charming? Or did she pick him because of his
boy-next-door look?
    Maybe she didn’t believe he was a threat to
her. That he wouldn’t make a move. It dawned on him it could be the
reason she’d invited him to her house. She did think he was the
sweet, next door, boy persona. Well, he’d show her he could take
charge and be a fabulous lover.
    He would have kissed her, but she tugged on
his hand and led him back through the kitchen and into the
hallway.
    “ I converted the second
bedroom to my salon.” She opened the door and quickly showed him
her salon—a desk and a few chairs, tools and shelf after shelf of
nail polish.
    “ The bathroom’s through
this door.” She gestured to a closed door between the salon and
what must be the master bedroom. “And behind here,” she opened
another door and flipped on the light, “is my other private space,
the master bedroom.”
    She said master bedroom as if the tour had
been completed. Good, because he had some exploring of his own to
do.

Chapter 3
    Val turned around to see Noah taking in the
room.
    “ Have I ever slept
here?”
    “ Yeah, a few times.
However, I’ve only told that to my girlfriends. So you don’t have
to tell my parents you have.” Her parents were open-minded about
those sorts of things, but it still felt odd discussing her sex
life with them. Or lack of. She hadn’t been with a guy since Tyler,
and he had claimed to be tired all the time from working on his
film career. The film he’d claimed had been a documentary about an
ill child.
    Some documentary. Turned out to be two
barely legal teenage girls and neither one looked sick. Blondes
with double D cups, tanned skin, and flat stomachs. Straight porn,
nothing else. No wonder he didn’t want sex with her anymore. Well,
she’d dropped those extra twenty pounds of flab and turned it to
muscle, boxing in the gym. It’d done hell to her nails, but she’d
taken some time off to make them nice for tonight.
    Noah stepped in farther and walked to her
bed. “Which side do you sleep on?”
    Any side you want. “The right side. Unless you sleep on the