the choice of restaurant would be up to her. And she wasn’t yet familiar with many places in Boston. No, she’d made the best decision. She’d prepare a lovely meal at her apartment—and then she’d have him all to herself, with no distractions.
“Don’t do this!” Ellie muttered, letting the lid drop back onto the pot with a clatter. She brushed her hair back from her eyes, then strode into the living room. She found the book open on her coffee table and picked it up. She’d purchased Making Friends with Men just that afternoon, determined not to fall into the same old traps again.
The author wrote quite eloquently about the rewards of male-female friendships, but warned that the moment romance crept into the relationship, it was usually ruined for good. If Ellie hadn’t had such a lousy track record with men, then maybe she would have considered a romance with Liam Quinn. But she was at a point in her life when she needed a friend more than she needed a lover.
“Oh, who are you kidding!” She slapped the book shut and picked up another. Be Honest with Yourself: A Guide to Awareness. Dr. Dina Sanders claimed the most dangerous flaw a person could possess was self-delusion. And if Ellie didn’t acknowledge that Liam was the sexiest hunk of man she’d ever met, then she was the queen of self-denial.
“All right, he’s sexy. That face is just too pretty for words and he’s got gorgeous eyes and a smile that could make a girl melt. And his body is to die for. I’ll admit that. When he moves, I just want to watch him and think about him naked. He’s a fine specimen of a man.” Ellie stopped, then reconsidered what she’d said. A giggle slipped from her lips and she tossed the book back onto the coffee table.
“Don’t look for the answers in a book,” she murmured. “Look in your heart.” That’s what psychologist Jane Fleming had said in her book, Listen to Your Heart. Though at the time Ellie had thought it was a bit of a paradox, considering that advice came from a book. Still, it was good advice.
“I’ll just follow my heart,” she said. “But I’ll make sure I listen to my brain, as well.”
A raucous buzz broke the silence in the apartment and Ellie jumped, pressing her hand to her chest. Beneath her fingers she could feel her heart racing. Inhaling a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. “No pressure, this is just a friendly dinner.” So why had she spent nearly two hours on her hair and makeup? “A very friendly dinner.”
She pressed the security buzzer, then opened her door and waited for him to climb the two flights up to her apartment. When he rounded the landing, she noticed that he was carrying a lamp. At that moment he saw her and their eyes met, and for a second Ellie couldn’t breathe. Why did he seem to get more handsome each time she saw him?
“Hi,” she murmured. “You brought a lamp.”
“This is for you,” Liam said.
She stepped aside to let him walk into the apartment, then softly closed the door behind him, taking just a moment to stare at his backside. “Thank you. But you didn’t have to.”
“I know guys usually bring flowers or candy. But I figured after you broke your lamp on my head, I owed you one.”
Ellie grinned and reached for it. “Thanks. I’ll just go put it in water.”
That brought a smile to Liam’s lips. “I’ll just go plug it in.” He fished a light bulb out of the pocket of his leather jacket. “I thought about getting you a lamp with a brass base, but I figured if you ever decided to hit me again, I didn’t want to end up in the hospital.”
“How is your head?”
“I had a small lump, but it’s going down.”
She felt a warm blush creep up her cheeks. “I really do apologize.”
He glanced over at her. “Hey, there’s no need. You did what you had to do.”
Ellie pointed to the far wall. “There’s a plug behind the sofa.”
Liam set the lamp on the table, then shrugged out of his jacket, revealing a finely pressed shirt that accented his wide shoulders and narrow waist. Ellie quickly hurried across the room and took his jacket from him. “I’ll just throw this in my bedroom.” Right after she said it, Ellie realized that he might misunderstand. “Not that I expect us to end up in