Future Perfect Read Free Page A

he sure as hell believed in lust at first sight.

Chapter Two
    Juliana quickly put the milk and other perishables into the refrigerator and untied the apron from her waist before she went looking for Mr. Donovan.
    The sitting room was empty, and the front entry hall held a large battered suitcase and three huge computer boxes, but no sign of Webster Donovan.
    She opened the heavy front door and stepped out onto the wide, wraparound porch. The air was still chill enough for her breath to hang in front of her. No, he wasn’t out here either.
    Back inside the house, she started up the curving staircase, heading for the library. When Juliana had first started this business, the library had been her fifth guest bedroom. But she’d soon found that she didn’t need the extra money once a dent had been made in the improvement loan payments. And the difference between having eight potential guests and ten was immense when it came to cooking and laundry. Besides, she needed a place to keep all of Alicia’s books.
    Alicia was going to turn eighty in two more years, and Juliana was convinced that her great-aunt hadn’t thrown a single book away since she learned to read at age three and a half. It had been Alicia who’d opened up the worldof literature, of books, to Juliana. Alicia had opened up a great deal more than that, Juliana knew, but the gift of reading was the most precious to them both.
    And who would’ve thought, she mused, still impressed by the walls of shelves that started at the floor and led all the way up to the high tin ceiling, filled with books of all topics, shapes and sizes, who would’ve thought that she would ever own a house that held a library this size?
    She took another step into the room, then stopped.
    There was a sound. She paused, listening. It was the slow, steady sound of breathing.
    It was Webster Donovan, and he was lying on his back on the couch that sat underneath the window. One arm was up over his handsome face, his eyes buried in the crook of his elbow. His other hand rested on his broad chest. Both of his feet were still on the floor, as if he had been too tired to pull them up.
    Or as if he knew his worn-out cowboy boots didn’t belong on her antique furniture, Juliana grudgingly admitted. So maybe he wasn’t
entirely
mannerless, although sleeping like this in one of her public rooms didn’t win him any points. The way he was dressed, he looked little better than a vagrant, and his presence would keep the rest of her guests out of the elegant library. And that certainly wasn’t fair.
    “Mr. Donovan,” she said, her voice low but clear.
    He didn’t move.
    Juliana took a step closer. “Mr. Donovan.” Louder this time. “Please wake up.”
    His hand twitched very slightly.
    Why was it that Alicia was always off on one of her trips at times like these? Juliana sighed. All right. Shewas going to have to touch him. So she’d touch his arm, wake him up, then quickly jump out of range.
    Another step, and Juliana was close enough to breathe in his masculine scent. Sweet heavens, he smelled good.
But she wasn’t just an animal in heat
, she reminded herself.
This man may have been handsome, but he was also conceited, rude, and extremely forward. Even if she wanted a man around—which she didn’t—she’d never pick this one, not in a million years
,
despite how good he smelled
.
    She touched his shoulder tentatively. “Mr. Donovan?”
    The man was asleep.
    She shook him slightly. No response.
    She shook him harder.
    His arm came down, but his eyes were still closed. “Aw, honey,” he mumbled, turning onto his side. “C’mon back to bed.”
    Juliana felt her cheeks start to turn red. “Wake up,” she said, shaking his shoulder again.
    He reached out and caught her hand, pulling it toward his mouth. His lips caressed the delicate pulse at her wrist. Then his tongue tasted the palm of her hand in a wildly intimate gesture. “Babe, you smell so good,” he murmured. His voice was