“What do you want me to do with the boxes?”

“Oh. I can take them with me. I need to return the cart, too. I borrowed it from the building maintenance guy.”

“So he gets full points for helping out the pregnant lady?”

“Absolutely.”

“What about me?”

Sam had a great voice, Francesca thought as a shiver rippled through her. Deep, rich, seductive.

“You get bonus points,” she told him.

“Good to know.” He angled toward her. “How about I let you keep the points and in return you join me for dinner tonight?”

Under normal circumstances Francesca never would have accepted the invitation. She didn’t know Sam Reese from a rock. Yes, he was plenty appealing, but in the scheme of things, did that really matter?

“Dumb question,” she murmured as she maneuvered her truck through the early evening Santa Barbara traffic. It was early June, with the tourist season in full swing. Sidewalks were crowded, restaurants full, and traffic moved at a crawl down State Street.

“Appeal matters.”

So did those cat eyes, the tempting smile, and easy conversation. But the real reason she’d said yes was she needed to have sex. After all, a promise was a promise.

Francesca grinned as she thought of Sam’s reaction if she’d told him that particular truth. Would he have bolted for safety or started unbuttoning his shirt? She liked to think it would be the latter, but she’d taken a good look at herself when she’d gone home to change and her out-loud shriek hadn’t been from pleasure. Nope, the man would have run for his life.

One shower with three shampoos to get the powder out of her hair, a quick change of clothes, and a light dusting of makeup later, she was ready to if not dazzle, then at least intrigue. She figured with as bad as she’d looked before, anything would be an improvement.

So she was off to dazzle Sam Reese and see what she could do about keeping her promise… the one she’d made to have sex with the next attractive, single man to cross her path.