“Looks like you stroked somebody the right way.” Stabbing a bite of taco salad from a plastic takeout container, Candy nodded past Courtney’s shoulder.

      Courtney’s belly tightened as she set her tuna-salad croissant on her plate on the table and slowly turned in her chair. She half expected Blaine to be standing behind her, ready for a second round of ice play, his devilishly taunting smile making his thoughts clear to every one of the two-dozen-plus employees in Pinnacle’s lunchroom.

      Or maybe that was half hoping, Courtney realized, given her displeasure at finding not Blaine but Sherry, the front-desk admin, waiting for her.

      She noted the woman was smiling then and that in her hands was a nearly foot-long, thin red box with a gilded ribbon wrapped around it.

      “For me?” The words came out sounding pathetically hopeful, as was the glee rocketing through her, but Courtney couldn’t help it. Despite her revamped attitude toward life and sex, she’d never gotten a gift from an admirer. Not even on Valentine’s Day. Not even from her lone boyfriend, a guy she’d dated in college for almost a year before realizing he was more boringly average and reserved than she had been at the time.

      Sherry nodded. “I left the front desk long enough to send a fax, and when I came back this box was waiting with your name on it.”

      Thirty seconds passed where Courtney did little more than sit and grin, and Candy encouraged, “Open it already. You’re starving your coworkers.”

      A glance around the room backed up Candy’s words. Most everyone in the place was waiting to see what she’d gotten.

      Courtney quit with the idiotic grinning, took the box from Sherry, and untied the ribbon. Lifting the lid had the strains of “Always On My Mind” filling the lunchroom. The lyrics were loud enough to chase heat into her cheeks, a reaction she generally reserved for those times when her date walked in on her climaxing for another man.

      The heat arrowed downward, bringing to life a lusty ache in her core. She hadn’t seen Blaine since leaving his kitchen with her panties still damp four nights ago. First, it had been the weekend, and then he’d been working in the field on a road job.

      Was this gift from him? Had he really been hot for her long before her transformation, the way Candy had implied and the way his comment on her being worth the wait seemed to suggest?

      Since she vowed not to let herself get wrapped up in one man so soon and since Blaine was a known no-strings kind of guy, Courtney forgot about the questions to focus on the gift. She pulled aside a thin red sheet of tissue paper and a dozen rosebud-shaped dark chocolates winked at her.

      Candy let out a low whistle. “Nice. Not that cost is the point, but those sell for close to fifty.”

      Holy cow. Whoever her admirer was, he obviously had money to burn. Courtney did a quick check for a card or anything else that might hint at the sender. Finding nothing, she set the box on the table. “In that case, I’ll forget about eating them.”

      Candy looked stricken. “You will not. They’re laced with imported liquor and beyond awesome, or so I’ve been told. Eat one for me, if not for yourself.”

      Courtney had been raised to save dessert for last, to ensure her body got all the nutrients it needed before being filled with fat. But then, she’d also been raised to believe her body was a temple only her husband deserved the right to worship. Saying to hell with the whole temple concept had left her feeling incredibly good. Saying to hell with saving dessert for last was bound to not only taste incredibly good but would make Candy happy, since her coworker had a cocoa allergy and couldn’t eat chocolate.

      “All right. For you.” Courtney lifted a rosebud from the box, thinking it should be gilded itself for the price. She popped the candy into her mouth. Scrumptious rich dark chocolate exploded over her taste buds. Eliciting an unconscious moan, she bit into the candy’s center and liquor filled her mouth.

      Strong liquor. Burning strong. Gagging strong.

      She sucked in a breath in an effort to cool the burn. The liquor spread, coating the back of her mouth. Leaving her tongue feeling heavy, thick. Cottony.

      Attempting to move her tongue had the unchewed portion of the candy sliding back, filling her throat. Stealing the air from her lungs.

      Courtney’s eyes bulged with the sickening awareness she couldn’t breathe. Panic clawed at her from the inside out.

      Oh, God! Her first admirer gift was going to kill her!

      Slapping a hand at her fiercely pounding chest, she silently begged Candy for help. Her coworker was on the other side of the table and, by the time she realized Courtney was choking, it was too late. Someone else was already there, helping her.

      A hard body pressed against her from behind. Strong arms slid around her waist. One fisted hand wrapped around another against her stomach, jerking solidly upward.

      Once.

      Twice.

      Gasps filled the lunchroom as the half-eaten candy flew from Courtney’s mouth and landed on the next table over. Sweet air cruised into her mouth and down to her lungs on a whooshing breath. Tears pricked at her eyes, blurring her vision.

      Praise the saints.

      Her tongue still felt leaden, coated with the horribly strong liquor. But she could breathe. She was going to live.

      Pulling in deep breaths, she wiped the stinging tears from her eyes. Her vision cleared to reveal everyone in the lunch room watching her. Not yet sure she was ready to speak, she gave a small smile and a wave to show them she was all right.

      Candy stood at the other side of the table. The usual sass and vitality was gone from her brown eyes, replaced with horrified concern. “Jesus, you scared the crap out of me. Are you okay?”

      Courtney cleared her throat. Finding it a little tender but not painfully so, she attempted a response. “Yeah. I—”

      “You sure?” It was Blaine’s voice asking the question, his warm breath whispering next to her ear.

      Delightfully life-confirming shivers skated along her neck. A different kind of awareness gripped her as she looked at the arms still wrapped around her middle, the intimately familiar hands, and realized he was the one who’d potentially saved her life.

      So many ways she would love to thank him. With her mouth. With her body. Since they were once again surrounded by coworkers, she just said, “I’m sure. So you can release me.”