Janet Evanovich - Full Scoop

"And it's not going to get any easier now that you've met me because I have been told I'm a hard act to follow."

Maggie chuckled. She felt relaxed and playful. "And I discovered the world is not round after all because I think I went right over the edge." She glanced up, noted the dark eyes and sexy mouth. She could feel the pull between them. She trusted him. With her daughter and her heart, she thought.

It had happened in just … two days!

"Uh-oh." She frowned. "I thought I just had the hots for you."

He frowned. "I thought you had the hots for me too. I could have sworn you had the hots for me. Like five minutes ago. Has the newness worn off?"

"I think what we have might be more serious."

"That's just good sex talking, Maggie. Hell, people get engaged over stuff like this. Tomorrow you'll feel differently. I'll just be an annoyance to you like before."

"Are you saying you don't feel anything special for me?"

He gave her an odd look. "You know, I think I do feel something more than just lust now that you mention it. Damn. I might be, you know—"

"Falling in love with me?"

"No way. Nobody falls in love in two days, Maggie. Only in movies with Jennifer Lopez does that happen."

"You know what I think?" she whispered. "I think something very peculiar is going on here." She looked about the room.

He followed her gaze. "Like what?"

"Magic."

He looked at her, touched her cheek. "I agree."

"Not that kind of magic. Queenie's kind of magic. Think about it, Zack. What other explanation is there for me just falling into bed with you like I did?"

"Other than the fact I'm witty, intelligent, good-looking, and hung like a stallion?"

"There's a crazed murderer out there," Maggie said, "and we're in bed."

"Which is a good thing," he said, "because that means we're not standing in front of any windows. What does Queenie have to do with this, by the way?"

"She threatened to put some kind of love spell on us."

"And you believe she's capable of that?"

"I just know that I want you, Zack," Maggie said solemnly. She curled her arms around his neck. "I want to be in your arms. I want to taste your lips. I want you inside of me."

"Oh, babe." He slipped his arms around her neck and kissed her deeply.

Maggie kissed him back, exploring his mouth with her tongue, hungry for him. She pulled him down on the bed and covered his body with hers, arching against him intimately. She raised her head. "See that? I can't get enough of you!"

His eyes were closed. "Okay, so be it."

She sat up. "I'm sorry, but I can't fall in love with an undercover agent. What kind of life would that be for Mel and me? We wouldn't see you for months at a time. Plus, your job is dangerous. I mean, look what happened on your last job. You could have been shot or knifed. You could have ended up a floater."

He sighed. "Okay, Maggie, I know what you're saying is important, but here we are, naked, in bed, and your daughter is asleep. Isn't there something better you'd rather be doing than discussing my bleak and dismal future?"

Maggie stood and reached for her clothes. "I'm sorry, Zack, but I just can't take any chances. I'll talk to Queenie tomorrow and once she assures me she hasn't cast some spell on us and we're not going to fall in love, I will gladly have sex with you again."

* * * * *

A few minutes later, Zack stepped outside into the night air. He stood there hoping it would clear his head. It did not. He tried to find logic in Maggie's earlier statement. It eluded him. She did not seem like a woman who wanted sex without strings attached. This was Maggie Davenport, respected pediatrician and loving mom. Stop being a dumb-ass, he told himself. It was his job. She'd made it plain it was his job. He didn't blame her. She had no business getting involved with a man who spent much of his time living on the fringes of society and crawling through sewers looking for bad guys. And it wasn't like he didn't know. He had already tried a couple of times to have a serious relationship, but both had turned into one big flop.

Bottom line, he had chosen the sheer adrenaline rush of each new assignment over love. It was the reason he'd spent sleepless nights rehearsing in his mind the smallest details and committing them to memory so he wouldn't make a mistake. And get shot. The reason he struggled with paranoia, not always knowing who his friends were, unable to trust anyone in case … Well, in case he got shot. Seemed like he was always one breath away from a taking a bullet.

Zack nodded. Yep. Maggie Davenport would do well to stay as far away from him as possible. And Carl Lee needed to show his sorry ass so he could do his job and move on because he knew he was in too deep.

His cell phone rang and he reached for it.

* * * * *

Maggie grabbed the Better than Sex chocolate ice cream and scooped several large servings into a bowl. Several times she had to refrain from turning on a light.

She stepped inside her bedroom a moment later, kicked her shoes off and sprawled across the bed on her stomach. She spooned a mouthful of chocolate into her mouth, closed her eyes, and sighed.

Zack's perfect naked body sprang to life in her mind. Wide shoulders and chest, flat stomach, and—

What was wrong with her? Had she gone wacko?

Zack was right. It was the sex talking. Leave it to Maggie Davenport to fall head over heels in love with the first man to climb between the sheets with her in Lord knew how many years.

This was what being a prisoner in your own home did to a person, Maggie thought. She was obviously suffering a breakdown of sorts, thanks to Carl Lee Stanton. That would explain her irrational behavior; why she had acted like the worst kind of slut with a man she barely knew, and then— She closed her eyes and groaned. Then, she had confessed she might be falling in love with him.

Okay, it was not her fault that she had made a complete and utter fool of herself in front of Zack. She would simply and calmly explain to him about the breakdown, and he would understand and maybe not run in the opposite direction when he saw her.

Knowing and accepting her problem was half the battle, Maggie reminded herself; then she wondered if that meant she was already half cured. She needed to look at it from a physician's perspective.

People in the throes of emotional problems usually lost interest in food and activities and sex. She spooned more ice cream into her mouth and thought about Zack's body again. A shiver climbed her spine and raised the tiny hairs on the back of her neck.

That had to be a good sign. Maybe she wasn't having a breakdown after all. She was just confused and stressed, and who the hell wouldn't be under the circumstances, thank you very much! So what if she and Zack had enjoyed a roll in the hay. So damn what! Like, wasn't it about time she enjoyed herself a little? Must she always be elbow deep in diaper rashes, sore throats, and ear infections? Must her life always revolve around a hormone-ridden thirteen-year-old?

So she was edgy. Who the hell wouldn't be edgy? There was a madman after her; her daughter was making her nutso. She had a root doctor boiling herbs and innards in her kitchen; and a black hen running around in her chicken coop for reasons unbeknownst to her. She had a cage full of rabbits breeding at the speed of light. Just when she thought she had all of them spayed and neutered, she found two or three new ones that looked just like the other ones. She had a goat with crooked eyes in the backyard who could literally eat her out of house and home. She had overhead at work.

And to top it all off, there was a drop-dead gorgeous FBI agent in her house who had seen her naked. And vice versa, she reminded herself with an eye roll. She was going to have to back off, she told herself; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to think straight. No more thinking about his body. No more hot kisses and hot sex. She was sure she could do it. She was a disciplined person.