Absolutely, Positively

the coffee table.

    “I like it.” Harry sat down beside her and reached for the teapot. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her smile. He took that to be another good sign.

    Molly had a very expressive face. Harry could have watched her for hours. The angle of her brows reminded him of a bird on the wing. The image was a good metaphor for Molly. A man who wanted to catch her would have to be very fast and very smart. Harry told himself that he was both.

    Tonight Molly was dressed in a businesslike, moss green pantsuit complete with a one-button jacket and softly pleated trousers. She wore a pair of demure, suede pumps. Harry had never before paid much attention to women's feet, but he found himself captivated by Molly's. They were perfectly arched with delicate ankles. All in all, a marvel of engineering design, he thought.

    The rest of Molly was well designed, too.

    Having given the matter a great deal of close consideration in recent days, Harry had finally concluded that Molly was slender, but definitely not skinny. She practically radiated health and vitality. He was extremely healthy, himself. He had the reflexes of a cat, and he actually felt turbo-charged when Molly was in the vicinity.

    There was an appealing roundness to certain portions of Molly's anatomy. The jacket of the pantsuit skimmed over high breasts that Harry knew would fit nicely into his hand. The pleats of the trousers flared to encompass full, womanly hips.

    Although he found her figure eminently interesting, it was Molly's vibrant face that commanded Harry's most serious attention. She was spectacular, he thought with satisfaction. Not spectacularly beautiful, just spectacular. She was unique. Special. Different.

    Intelligence shimmered in her green eyes. Harry acknowledged that he was a sucker for brains in a woman. There was strength and fortitude and character in the delicate yet determined lines of her nose and high cheekbones. Her honey brown hair had a mind of its own. It exploded around her head in a short, thick, frothy mass. The style emphasized the tilt of her fey eyes.

    It occurred to Harry that with those eyes, Molly could have made her living as a carnival fortune-teller. It would have been a simple matter for her to convince any likely mark that she could see straight into his past, present, and future.

    The realization sparked a flash of renewed caution in Harry. The last thing he needed was a woman who could see deeply into his soul. That way lay madness.

    For the space of perhaps three heartbeats he seriously questioned the wisdom of getting involved with a woman whose gaze held such a disconcerting degree of perception. He did not do well with women who were inclined to probe his psyche. His disastrous experience with his ex-fiancée had proved that much. On the other hand, he had no patience with bimbos.

    For a few seconds Harry let his future hang in the balance as he contemplated his next move.

    Molly gave him a questioning smile, revealing two slightly crooked front teeth. There was something endearing about those two teeth, Harry thought.

    He took a deep breath and consigned his qualms to hell with a breathtaking recklessness that should have alarmed him. It would be okay this time, he told himself. Molly was a businesswoman, not a psychologist. She would take a rational, levelheaded approach to what he was about to offer. She would not be inclined to dissect him or try to analyze him.

    “I would like to discuss something with you.” Harry poured tea into her cup with calm deliberation.

    “Yes.” Molly gave a little shriek, made a small fist, and pumped it wildly. Her eyes glowed. “Hot damn, I knew it.”

    Harry looked up, startled. “You did?”

    She grinned as she picked up her teacup. “It's about time, if you don't mind my saying so.”

    Enthusiasm was a good thing in a woman, Harry assured himself. “Uh, no. No, I don't mind. I just hadn't realized that we were on the same wavelength here.”

    “You know what they say about great minds thinking alike.”

    Harry smiled. “Yes.”

    “I realized when you invited me to dinner tonight that this was a special occasion, not an ordinary business consultation.”

    “Right.”

    “I knew that you had finally made a decision.”

    “I have, as a matter of fact.” He eyed her closely. “I've given the matter a great deal of thought.”

    “Naturally. If I've learned one thing about you during the past few weeks, it's that you give