Mona's gaze narrowed skeptically. "Just okay?"

"All right, it was good." Her face flushed in remembrance, and she modified her rating. "Better than good."

A wide grin spread across Mona's face. "Now we're getting to the good stuff." A customer walked up to the counter with an armful of books, and Mona held up a stern finger at Liz. "Hold that thought."

As if Mona would let her drop the subject now that she'd managed to make Liz fess up. Liz waited while she rang up her customer and bagged the books for the older woman, and then she was back, anxious and eager to hear more.

"Spill all the juicy details," Mona said.

Liz gave her friend a very brief, clean-cut version of her phone conversation with Steve last night, not wanting to share just how sizzling and erotic the episode had been. She avoided specifics, giving Mona just enough information to draw her own conclusions, without really confirming anything at all.

Mona nodded. "So, things are working out between you and Steve, then, yes?"

"With business and finding Valerie, yes," Liz replied, deliberately misconstruing Mona's meaning.

"Your business with him happens to include hot and steamy phone sex," she said, and continued sorting the used paperbacks from the box on the counter. "So I'm assuming that your two-way banter was mutually satisfying?"

She absently turned the pencil in her pocket between her fingers. "Umm, you could say that." While Steve might have been the only one who'd climaxed from their phone conversation, he'd made up for that in spades later, as he'd promised.

Mona must have caught the dreamy smile that curved her lips, because she pounced on it like the curious feline she was. "It appears to me that the two of you have more than business going on." She gave Liz a quick once-over, then grinned slyly. "You slept with him last night, didn't you?"

Although an instinctive denial rose to her throat, Mona was her best friend, and Liz couldn't bring herself to lie to her- not when she trusted Mona unconditionally with something as private as her relationship with Steve. "Yeah, I did."

"Well I'll be damned." Mona stared at her in awed delight. "I knew you had it in you, and it's about time."

Liz shrugged, playing it off. "It's nothing serious."

"Nobody said it had to be," Mona said pragmatically but with genuine caring. "Just enjoy yourself, and Mr. Wilde, for as long as it lasts."

Now, that was something she could easily agree with. "I intend to."

"Tell me one thing I'm dying to know." Mona leaned toward her and lowered her voice secretively, obviously trying to keep her question just between them and out of earshot of any customers. "Was he as good in the sack as he looks?"

Memories of just how good he was filtered through Liz's mind, and her heart picked up its beat, making her feel like a teenager with a crush on the school bad boy. That was how he made her feel-young and vibrantly alive. And anxious to see him again.

"He was… incredible, in every way." It was the only adjective she could find to describe Steve Wilde and do him justice. "The best I've ever had, actually." And he had the wonderful ability to bring out the bad girl in her and let that naughty side have free rein with him. She'd never let loose like that with Travis, who believed sex was all about him achieving pleasure.

"After the past three years of flying solo, you deserve to treat yourself to a hot, guilt-free affair."

Liz laughed, because she knew Mona expected her to. Her affair with Steve was no doubt a guilty pleasure, but she wasn't about to admit to the deeper blame she was struggling to keep at bay for stringing her aunt and uncle along about Valerie, and for not being able to handle the simple request of watching out for their daughter.

She glanced back at the cafe and caught sight of Henry, the older guy who delivered her dairy products. Welcoming the interruption from her more troubling thoughts, she grasped the opportunity to refocus on business.

"I'd better go help Gloria get that dairy order put away," she told Mona just as another customer came up to the register with her choice of reading material.

"Okay, we'll talk more later." Mona flashed her a smile. "By the way, thanks for the kick of caffeine."

"Anytime." Liz headed around the counter and gave her friend a lighthearted poke in the side as she passed. "Since it seems to put you in a good mood, who am I to argue?"

"No, hearing about your evening with the incredible Steve is what perked me up," she countered sassily. "I should be so lucky, so I'll just have to live vicariously through you."

Liz just shook her head and continued back into the cafe. Back to real life and the responsibilities awaiting her.

Chapter 6

A few minutes before seven that evening, the familiar rumble of a motorcycle pulling up in front of the cafe caught Liz's attention and caused an immediate current of anticipation to ripple through her. Since all her customers were taken care of and her two second-shift employees had the tables covered, she started making the drink Steve always ordered- a caramel frappuccino, extra caramel.

As she blended the concoction, she watched him through the plate-glass window as he took off his helmet and combed his thick, tousled hair with his fingers. He slid off his bike in one smooth motion and retrieved what appeared to be a leather portfolio from the back compartment. Breathtakingly gorgeous and sinfully sexy, he strolled into the establishment, made eye contact with her, and winked. The private greeting started a slow melting sensation in the pit of her belly.

He made his way to the vacant couch in the corner, and she experienced a twinge of insecurity when she realized a group of flirtatious, model-thin women were doing their best to get his attention. There had always been a part of her that believed she hadn't been good enough to please Travis, that her body wasn't perfect enough, thus causing him to stray from their marriage. And those old self-doubts were obviously rearing their ugly heads with Steve, who could have any woman of his choosing.

She firmly reminded herself that he'd chosen her, and for the time being he seemed completely satisfied and dedicated. To his credit, he didn't seem to notice the other women who were staring at him, waiting for a smile or some other token acknowledgment as he passed their tables. A few of the interested females appeared miffed by his indifference, and Liz was admittedly amused by his subtle rejection.

Back off girls, she thought with a bit of triumph. He's all mine.

Katie, a young college student who worked part-time in the evenings while going to school during the day, rounded the counter. "Do you want me to go take his order?" she asked.

"No, I've got it." Liz poured the drink into a plastic cup. "I'm going to take a break, but I'll be right over there if you need me for anything." She indicated Steve.

With a nod, the young girl picked up a damp rag and went to wipe down tables.

Liz topped the drink off with a small mountain of real whipped cream and drizzled a generous amount of caramel sauce on top of that, having learned that there was no such thing as too much caramel for that macho bad boy of hers.

Minutes later, she was delivering the drink to him in the private, semisecluded corner he'd picked, away from other patrons. "Hey, there," she said softly, her whole being fairly zinging with instantaneous awareness as she sat down beside him on the couch.

He graced her with a bone-melting smile that kicked up her pulse yet another notch. "Hey, yourself," he murmured, his tone as warm and intimate as the genuine affection glimmering in his eyes. He reached for his drink and poked a straw into the thick mixture. "I'm not going to get in trouble for fraternizing with the help during working hours, am I?"

Hearing the teasing note in his voice, she leaned back against the sofa cushion and relaxed, intending to enjoy her time with him in a casual environment. Their knees touched, and the slight physical connection between them seemed as natural as breathing. "Since I'm the boss, the only person you have to answer to is me."

"That doesn't sound like such a bad deal." He waggled his brows at her as he took a drink; then a long, low, appreciative moan escaped him. "God, you give good caramel frappuccinos."

The man was so outrageous, she couldn't help but laugh. And it felt so good to do so when her life had been much too serious lately. "What's this sweet tooth you've got for caramel?"

"It goes way back, to when I was a little kid," he said easily. "Whenever I'd go to my grandmother's as a boy, she'd always have caramel squares tucked into her apron pocket, and she'd share them with me. It was as if that pocket never ran empty, and sneaking and eating those caramels became a special treat for me since my mother didn't have them at home."

A fond smile softened his masculine features, giving her a rare glimpse of an endearing side to Steve that stirred a reciprocating tenderness within her. She turned more fully toward him and stretched her arm along the back of the sofa, her fingers inches away from touching his broad shoulder. She could feel the heat of his body, could smell his clean, masculine scent, and wished they were alone.

"I always thought it was our little secret, until my brothers told me that they got those same caramel squares from Grandma's apron pocket," he said with a feigned grumble. "I remember being so crushed when I found out about that, and ticked at my brothers for horning in on what I thought of as my treats. We actually got into a fight over it."