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"Okay, on that note, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty." Reed waited a minute for her to stop groaning. "Oral sex?"
    Trish took a deep breath. "Giving and receiving is great.
    And before you go there, most every other type of sex is fine, too, except what’s previously been mentioned, although I’m sure I’ll think of some other things along the way." She sighed. "If there was one good thing I got out of my ex husband, it’s my attitude towards sex – unless I hear a complaint, I’m going to assume that what I’m doing is pleasurable. It’s up to whichever partner is feeling uncomfortable to speak up – neither person is a mind reader. And there really is very little that I don’t like, and if I didn’t like it, believe me, you’d know. And most things – with those few basic, unwavering exceptions – are negotiable."
    He was leaning forward again, searching her face. "I would like to enter into this type of a relationship with you, as soon as we

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    BacksideOfLove.com

    KEPT
    can come to an agreement about compensation. I’ve already run the idea by my lawyer on a tentative basis, and although she was appalled, she’ll draw up what I tell her to draw up. You will want to get your own lawyer to look over the papers."
    Trish nodded, biting her lip, wondering if she could afford a lawyer . . . When she looked up, he was still staring at her. "What?
    Do I have béarnaise on my nose?"
    "No," he mused, drawing the word out thoughtfully, "I was just wondering if we should do a test run before we sign any papers."
    Her eyes got big. "A test run?"
    "Yes." Reed leaned forward again, bringing his face near hers. "Don’t you think we should sleep together at least once before we finalize things?"
    Trish’s mouth went completely dry at the thought of lying naked beneath this big behemoth of a man, letting him cover her with his body, dwarf her with his size, and enter her body for his own pleasure, with nothing between them beyond a lot of legal documents – completely without love? What if he wasn’t what he seemed? What if he attacked her? Or what if he was a sloppy, wet, bad kisser who thought nipples were radio dials? She prefaced her answer with, "Like I said, I don’t do casual sex. But I do think that a trial run is probably a good idea. That way you will also know that you’re not getting a pig in a poke."
    Reed chuckled. "I’m not particularly concerned about that.
    It’s not like I think you’re really a man under there – " he gestured towards her.
    "Uh, not last time I checked, anyway. But I could have hideous scars or be really hairy – "
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    BacksideOfLove.com

    Carolyn Faulkner

    He was laughing again, and her nipples peaked unexpectedly as her body was suffused with a familiar warm ache.
    Oh, God, please don’t let him be a slob in bed! She found herself fervently praying.
    "Well, then," he was saying, while her body ran away in its own little daydream about what he would be like, "why don’t we plan on getting together next Friday night. Would you prefer a hotel or my place?"
    "Hotel," she answered immediately, surprising him, but he kept it to himself. She was such a little homebody; he wondered why she hadn’t decided to stay at his house, but then, again, a hotel was neutral territory.
    Reed helped her into her light wrap, saying, "Leave everything to me. When should I pick you up? I’m not going to be able to see you until then, but don’t think I’ve forgotten about you."
    "I’m on vacation; you’re the one with a schedule. You tell me when it would be convenient for you to pick me up and I’ll be ready. And I don’t need to be coddled. I understand that you’re a busy person. I will try not to be high-maintenance."
    Reed grinned as he settled her into the back of the limo.
    "All women are inherently high-maintenance." He felt a smack on his shoulder, and heard her muttering under her breath something about chauvinistic remarks getting him hurt.
    He escorted her to