A Stroke Of Magic Read Online Free PDF

to join me.”
    “For what?” I asked, then realized quite suddenly that I was staring at his chin. How had I never noticed the cleft before?
    “Lunch. It’s a meal between breakfast and dinner. Surely you’ve heard of it,” he teased.
    “Lunch. Uh-huh.” And the jaw itself? Strong. Angular. My hands itched to touch it, to draw it.
    He must have noticed my gaze was not directed at his eyes, because he rubbed his chin. “Do I have something there?” he asked.
    “Hmm? Oh. No. Sorry.”
    He didn’t say anything, just stood there watching me with an inquisitive, teasing expression. As if he had a secret he couldn’t wait to share. Finally, I said, “Um, did you need something?”
    “I asked you to lunch, if you’d like to go,” he reminded me.
    “Oh. Sure.” My stomach flip-flopped. “When?”
    He laughed. “Now. Is this a good moment for you to step away?”
    I hesitated. Ethan got under my skin, and I didn’t completely understand why. Sure, he was sexy in a Remington Steele sort of way, but I was pregnant. No man anywhere should be getting to me at this juncture of my life. So, spending an hour with him alone made me more than a little nervous. But I couldn’t exactly say no to my boss, now could I?
    “It’s fine,” I mumbled. “I just need a minute and I’ll be ready to go.”
    “I’ll meet you in the lobby then. Sound good?”
    I nodded in agreement just as his gaze caught the sketch I’d been working on. “Hey, that looks pretty good.” He bent over to get a closer view, and as he did, the clean, fresh scent of his cologne wrapped around me. “Is that us?”
    “What?” I so wanted a bottle of whatever he was wearing.
    He pointed with his index finger to the couple sipping the malt. “I know it’s rough, but that looks a lot like you and me.”
    “Don’t be silly. Why would I draw us as a couple?”
    Straightening, he winked at me. “I don’t know, but the likeness is uncanny. Take another look.”
    I leaned over, all ready to point out the myriad differences between my hurriedly sketched figures and us, but as my eyes took in the drawing, I gasped. The profiles of the man and woman were, indeed, eerily familiar. Why had I done that? I certainly hadn’t done it on purpose. Heat tickled my cheeks, and I said, “There’s not enough detail to tell.”
    “Actually, I was thinking they had more detail than any of the other people in the shop.”
    The tickle of embarrassment turned into a blast. I imagined flames shooting out from my cheeks; they were that hot. And since a person should change the subject when there’s no hope of the floor opening up to suck her away, I did. “Lunch?”
    “Of course. I’ll meet you downstairs.” He turned to leave, saying over his shoulder, “I think it’s cute. That you put us in the picture.”
    Cute? More like freaky. Did the fact that I’d coupled myself with him in pencil mean I harbored fantasies I hadn’t fully admitted to myself? Or was it yet another sign of hormones gone wild? Hell if I knew, and I didn’t have time to figure it out. Tucking the picture away in a drawer, so no one else would see it, I went to meet Ethan.
    First, though, I stopped in the restroom to check my appearance. I was pleased to see I looked mostly okay. Except for my shirt. I’d been in a hurry that morning and grabbed the first clean one I’d come across that fit. Soon I’d have to give in and go buy maternity clothes. Not something I looked forward to.
    I tugged at the drab olive green blouse. The cut and style suited me well enough, but the color did nothing for my skin tone. Primary hues were best. Blue, especially. If I had to go to lunch with someone as dashingly sexy as Ethan, it’d be nice to feel confident.
    “I wish you were blue, you ugly green shirt,” I said as I turned on the faucet.
    A long, rolling tremble began at my toes and inched its way up my body. I grasped the edge of the counter to steady myself and inhaled. The walls closed in