“Thanks for the warning.”

She placed their order to the smiling waiter by pointing to the items on the menu she wanted. After he departed, Brett made an exaggerated eye roll and said, “Well, I could have done that.”

“Uh-huh. And we’d have ended up with sautéed earthworms.” She glanced down to where their fingers remained lightly joined, and he followed her gaze. Her hand looked remarkably small and pale and smooth next to his, and the sight of their entwined fingers looked stirringly intimate. And utterly arousing. His fingers bore dozens of pale scars from nicks and cuts and burns, mostly from childhood chemistry experiments. Luckily he’d gotten smarter and more coordinated as he’d grown. When he raised his gaze, he found her studying him.

“Care to share why your life’s out of balance?” she asked in a light tone. “If you tell me, I’ll tell you.”

He leaned forward and gave in to his craving to touch her hair. It was as silky-soft as it looked. “Okay,” he agreed, already deciding to offer up the very abridged version. “But you first.”

Kayla pondered for a few seconds, then decided to give him the full story, hoping that if she were open with him, he’d reciprocate. Reaching with her free hand into her bag, she pulled out her U.S. Weekly Review then opened it to the No Change, No Gain article and pointed to the first paragraph.

“‘Sex, love, career, family, friendships, marriage,’” she said, quoting the words. Then she looked at him. “Every one of those is, in some way, out of balance for me.”

He raised his brows. “Please tell me you’re not married.”

“I’m not, but my older sister, Meg, is getting married next month and I’m the maid of honor. Have you ever heard the term bridezilla?”

“No, but it doesn’t sound good-like a cross between a bride and Godzilla?”

“That’s exactly what it is, and it’s not good at all. This wedding has been in the planning stages for over a year, and to put it bluntly, it’s a nightmare that has turned my already type-A sister into a crazy person. She’s micromanaging every detail to death and driving everyone insane over the most ridiculous things-at least they seem ridiculous to me. I mean, does it really matter if the color of the cocktail napkins is eggshell instead of ecru?”

“Wouldn’t seem so, but then, I wouldn’t know eggshell from hot pink, so I’m not a good person to ask.”

“She calls me constantly to talk about the flowers or the photographer or the caterer or her future in-laws or how Robert-that’s her fiancé-isn’t helping her.” She shook her head. “They’re both lawyers and could argue the paint off the walls. Personally, I think Robert’s just tired of arguing, which is saying a lot.”

“So you’re saying I’m not missing much by being an only child.”

She laughed. “I love both my sisters, but there are definitely days when I wish they’d lose my phone number.”

He scooted his chair closer and lightly massaged her hand with both of his. “What’s your other sister like?”

“Hmmm…that feels nice.” Her eyes drifted closed. “Reeaally nice. What was the question?”

He chuckled and kept on massaging. “Your other sister.”

“Oh, right. Cindy is the youngest. Last week she pulled off an incredible trifecta. She graduated from college, announced she was moving to Los Angeles with her actor boyfriend, Jason, who just scored a minor part in the James Bond flick about to start shooting, and that she’s pregnant.”

“That is quite a triple play.”

“You have no idea. She’s been calling every day to ask for baby advice, as if I have any. Although, I have to admit I’m pretty excited about being an aunt. Not so with Meg. The news sent the bride-to-be into hysterics because now not only is she afraid that Cindy won’t fit into her Vera Wang bridesmaid dress, but she’s upset that everyone will be talking about the pregnancy and Jason’s movie role on her big day. She calls me hourly, alternately crying and complaining. I’ve taken to putting her on the speakerphone with the volume waaay down.”

“You might do better to just unplug the phone.”

“That’s next. Then there’s Mom. She can’t decide if she’s more distraught that Cindy is pregnant without, as she puts it, ‘benefit of clergy,’ or by the fact that she’s going to be a grandmother, which she claims she’s far too young to be. She calls several times a day to discuss either the wedding or the baby. When she isn’t talking about one of those things, she’s playing matchmaker, trying to set me up with every single man she can find.” Kayla blew out a huff of laughter. “Between the three of them calling me constantly, it’s like I’m caught in a Bermuda triangle of telephone agony.”

“No offense, but it sounds like you’re the only sane one in the family.”

“Only on days when I don’t answer my phone-which is becoming more and more frequent.”

“Where does your father fit in?”

She paused for several seconds, then said, “He doesn’t. He died five years ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me, too. He was a great dad.”

He nodded back toward the magazine. “Well, that explains about marriage and family.”

“Friendships, too. Believe me, remaining friends with my family has been challenging lately.”

“What about career?”

She hesitated, not certain how to explain without slipping up and giving away too much. “I’ve worked very hard to get where I am in my company, and I’ve always enjoyed my work. But lately, I’ve become…disenchanted with many of the people I’m working with. I’ve found them shallow and lacking in character.” Again she hesitated, then added softly, “It’s made me wonder if perhaps some of that hasn’t rubbed off on me.”

“You don’t seem shallow to me.”

“Says a man who’s known me all of two hours.”

His fingers lightly brushed over hers, the feathery touch pulsing heat up her arm. “True, but I’d be willing to bet that I’d say the same thing two hours from now.” He studied her for several seconds, his expression serious. “But I know what you mean. When you find yourself surrounded by superficial people, it’s easy to fall into that trap. To lose sight of yourself. And your goals.”

She nodded, surprised that he’d hit it so precisely. “Yes. That’s it exactly.”

“But your strength of character shows in that you recognize yourself falling. And you’re taking steps to change direction, to get back to where you want to be. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself for taking a slight detour.”

“This sounds like the voice of experience talking.”

A slight frown creased between his brows. “I guess it is.” His thumbs brushed slowly over the backs of her hands, a hypnotic gesture that lulled her into a pleasure-filled trance. “So that leaves love and sex,” he murmured. “Surely you have men begging for your company.”

“You know, you’re extremely good for my ego.”

“Just calling it like I see it. Bad breakup?”

“You can’t have a breakup unless you have a relationship, and my last one of those ended six months ago after I discovered we held polar opposite views regarding monogamy.”

“What’s your view?”

“At the point we were in our relationship, I felt it was essential. He was equally adamant it was optional. He claimed he loved me, but didn’t love only me. I decided he could love as many women as he wanted-but I wasn’t going to be one of them. Since then, my love life has consisted of a parade of really, really awful first dates.” She shuddered. “If you strung them together, they’d be a bad movie entitled Jerks, Egomaniacs, Cheaters and Other Assorted Whackos I’ve Recently Dated.”

“How can a guy cheat after only one date?”

“He cheated on the date. With one of the waitresses. In the ladies’ room. I recognized his shoes under the stall door. Based on the animal grunts, they were exchanging more than phone numbers.”

He winced. “Ouch. That’s really low. Makes me embarrassed to belong to the same gender as someone who would do that.”

She forced her attention from the magic his long, strong fingers were wreaking on her hand and wondered if he was sincere. He certainly sounded as if he meant it. “Definitely ranks as one of my worst first dates.”

“This first date is going very well,” he said.

“Is this a date?” She found herself holding her breath, waiting for his answer.

“A nice restaurant, a cozy, private alcove all to ourselves, a beautiful woman…feels like a date to me.”

Yes, it did. And she wasn’t really certain how she felt about that. Certainly it was unexpected. As was his effect on her. The last time a man had made her feel like this…like she’d been struck by lightning, was…never. “Well, this is definitely an improvement on the date with the guy who boffed the waitress in the bathroom,” she said lightly.

“Thanks, but that isn’t a high benchmark to exceed.”

“True. But if you claim to need the restroom, I’ll be mighty suspicious.”

“Not to worry. You have my full and undivided attention. Where are you meeting these losers?”

“Losers? Oh, no, my friend. They’re the best Manhattan has to offer.”

“Present company excluded, I hope.” He turned over her hand and traced his fingertip slowly around her palm, shooting fiery tingles up her arm and evaporating her concentration.

She had to swallow to find her voice. “Um, yeah. So far you’re way ahead of the Bathroom Banger.” And suddenly the thought of a hot, sweaty bang in the bathroom sounded really, really good. And far too tempting. And not her usual style. Certainly not with a man she’d just met.

Hey-it’s not as if he’s a complete stranger, her inner voice interjected.

Hmmm…very true. Even though they hadn’t met, Brett Thornton had been on her radar screen for the past four months. She had an entire file on him, filled with scientific articles he’d written-the technical aspects of which had glazed her eyes-and information about his education and professional life, but little regarding his personal life. Up until now she hadn’t cared to know.