The Inheritance (The Donatelli Series) by SUE FINEMAN Page B

woman is fat.”
    Not fat, just right for holding onto in bed.
    Maria grabbed her jacket. “I’m out of here.”
    “Hold on, Maria,” said Nick. “Blade needs your help, and nobody thinks you’re fat. Turn that radar off.”
    “I wish I could.”
    Blade begged with his eyes. “I need your help, Maria.”
    “With what? Finding a house plan or finding a wife?”
    You’d help me find a wife?
    “Is that what you want?”
    Nick held up both hands. “You two have a strange way of communicating, and I have work to do. Lock up when you leave, Maria.” He grabbed his jacket and left.
    Blade couldn’t take his eyes off Maria. “You’d give me to another woman?”
    “You’re not mine to give, and you don’t want a woman with kids.”
    He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. What if you didn’t have kids? Would you be interested in me?
    “I can’t answer that.”
    “Can’t or don’t want to?” He came out of his chair and walked toward her. She backed up until she ran into Nick’s desk.
    Can’t or don’t want to? You’re scared spitless about falling for another guy, aren’t you, honey? It isn’t me, it’s you. You don’t like who I am or what I am, but you’re so turned on when we’re together you can’t think straight. He grabbed her shoulders and held on tightly while his lips ravaged hers. A little kitten sound escaped. He teased her lips apart and deepened the kiss until they were both breathing hard and he had a major woody that strained at the zipper in his pants.
    Maria couldn’t catch her breath. She always maintained control, but when she was with Blade, that control sprouted wings and flew out the window. Her bones had turned soft and a pool of liquid heat settled between her legs before she came to her senses and backed away from him.
    “Let’s see if we can find a house plan to work with, Blade.”
    “Yeah, okay. It’s a little early for sex for some people, I suppose, although there’s nothing like a little morning after romp.”
    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Blade, please. This is a professional office, not your bedroom, and—”
    “Yeah, okay. I can wait until tonight. Tell you what. I’ll take you and Sophia and the kids out for Mexican tonight, and after you put the kids to bed, we can...” screw the night away.
    “No, we can’t.” She moved around to the other side of Nick’s desk, putting a barrier between them. “If you need a wife that much, I’ll call some friends and see if I can find someone who might be interested.”
    I found the woman I want.
    “Are you asking me to marry you?”
    “Would you say yes if I did?”
    “No, I wouldn’t. I don’t want or need another husband. I’m not going through the anguish of another divorce, and I won’t put my children through it.”
    “They like me.”
    “I’ll help you find someone. What kind of woman are you looking for.”
    Look in the mirror, honey. He moved around the desk, cornering her.
    “You don’t want kids and you don’t like dogs.”
    “I like dogs better than cats, although I think Daisy is more cat than dog.” He took another step closer.
    “Daisy would be highly insulted to hear you say that.”
    He burst out laughing, throwing her completely off guard. Without touching her with his hands, he rubbed his cheek against hers and whispered in her ear. “My place tonight, after the kids go to bed. I have an adequate supply.”
    She knew better than to ask, but she did anyway. “Supply of what?”
    “Condoms, rubbers, protection, birth control, clothes, whatever you want to call those things that men roll on before they dive into paradise. We can screw all night long and never run out.”
    The phone on Nick’s desk rang and Maria jumped. Blade stepped back. The moment was over, but she was very much afraid there’d be another and another and another, until he broke her resolve. God help her, because if he kissed her again, she’d go home with him right now.
    She had