Intent to Seduce & a Glimpse of Fire by Debbi Rawlins, Cara Summers Page A

him briefly. “It must be the same way in a business deal.”
    “Yes,” Lucas said. “But I’m not sure I’m following you.”
    Mac took another swallow of beer. “What are your feelings about divorce?”
    Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “I want to avoid it at all costs. That’s why I’ll never marry.”
    She nodded, then drank more beer. Lucas watched her lick the moisture from her lips as she lowered the bottle and turned to face him. “I want to avoid it too. We just differ in out approaches to the problem. I want to get married and my research is designed to make sure my marriage lasts forever.”
    Bells began to ring in Lucas’s head—the ones that always warned him about women who were thinking about weddings. “I don’t intend to get married. Ever.”
    “Of course you don’t. You already have a family. I only had one until I was five. That’s when my father’s eye started to wander.” She took another long swallow of beer, then glanced at the bottle. “You know, you were right about this. It is relaxing me.”
    “Maybe too much,” Lucas muttered. “Have you had anything to eat today, Doc?”
    “No. I never eat before I fly.” She tipped the bottle up again and drank thirstily. “It’s been ages since I’ve had beer. I didn’t think I liked it, but I do.”
    “You were talking about wandering eyes.” His own sure weren’t wandering. They were glued to MacKenzie Lloyd’s mouth as she licked the last trace of beer from her lips.
    “First it’s the eyes, and then it’s the whole body. Did you know that infidelity is the number-one cause of divorce? And the number-one reason for one of the partners to stray is that monogamy usually leads to monotony? Hopefully, my plan will prevent that.”
    “How?”
    “By making sure that my husband never gets bored in bed.” Pausing, she rubbed the bottle against her cheek. “It’s getting really warm up here.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    “I’m trying. I’ve done all this research on how to please a man in bed. Most of the data I’ve compiled is on male sexual fantasies. Did you know that the number-one fantasy of men is to make love with two women at once?”
    “I think I read that somewhere.”
    When she turned to study him, he had the fleeting sensation of being put on a slide. “Is that your favorite?” she finally asked.
    “Not at the present moment.”
    “I haven’t figured out exactly how to create that one, but I have a lot of other ones I’d like to try out. Are you going to finish your beer?”
    Before he could reply, she plucked his bottle from his hand and replaced it with her empty one. Then she took a long swallow.
    “Maybe you’d better spell out exactly how it is that I can help you.”
    As she turned to face him, she slid a little toward the end of the roof.
    He gripped her arm. “Careful.”
    “There’s a time in every research project when you have to put your theories to the test in the lab. I’m at that point right now. I feel like I’m bursting with research, and if I don’t put some of it to use, I just might explode. Do you ever get that feeling?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I feel that way in the lab too—and it’s so exciting. That’s why I need a man right now. I have to have someone to practice on. And Sophie suggested you.”
    Lucas’s mouth went dry as dust. “You…” He cleared his throat. “You can’t be serious.”
    “But I am. I tried to explain to Sophie. This is the exact procedure I follow in the lab. Theories always have to be tested. But you shouldn’t feel pressured. I can certainly find someone else to test my research on. I have a friend in Paris who has several volunteers lined up. But Sophie insisted that I ask you first.”
    Lucas stared at her. It had to be the beer. He removed his bottle from her hand. “Let me make sure I have this straight. You’re asking me to become your lover so that you can field-test your research on me?”
    “Exactly. And it won’t go any further than that.