Five Minute Man: A Contemporary Love Story by Abbie Zanders Read Free Book Online Page A

romance and paranormals. Currently has five books published, available online at B&N and Amazon. Never married, no kids. One dog, Max, which she rescued about a year ago.”
    At Adam’s gaping stare, he grinned wickedly and added, “Oh yeah – and she has dinner with her friend every Tuesday at Applebees, is an excellent tipper, and doesn’t believe in the possibility of five minute orgasms.”
    “How do you know all this?”
    A smirk. “Ever hear of Google?”
    “You Google’d her?”
    “Well, yeah. I knew you wouldn’t do it, and someone’s got to have your back, Uncle Adam. Oh, and she has a Facebook page, too, for fans of her work. Based on some of the comments posted out there, it’s pretty steamy stuff.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and snatched an apple from the bowl on the table. “You might want to check it out.”
    ***
    “H olly?” At the sound of the deep male voice, Holly gripped the cell phone a little tighter.
    “Yes? Adam?”
    “Yeah. Listen, about tomorrow...”
    Holly braced herself for what would come next. She’d been expecting it, but as each day had gone by, she allowed herself to hope a little more. She’d made it all the way to Wednesday, but now he was calling to cancel.
    Oh well, she lamented, searching for the positives. At least the cottage got a good (and much needed) cleaning. And the anticipation of seeing him again had done wonders for her creativity. She’d finished off that historical she’d been stuck on for two months and made significant progress on two or three others.
    “Yes?”
    “I was thinking maybe I could pick up something to eat on the way. I won’t have time to grab something after work. Unless you have other dinner plans, that is,” he added hastily.
    He wasn’t canceling? He was offering to bring dinner? She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it.
    “Holly, are you there?”
    “Um, yeah, I’m here,” she said, leaning against the counter and bringing the phone back to her ear. Max looked up at her and blinked. “Sorry. That would be great, actually.”
    “Do you like Chinese?”
    “I love Chinese,” she admitted.
    “Great. Anything I should avoid?”
    “I’m not big on seafood.”
    She thought she heard a sigh of relief. “Me neither. So I’ll see you about six?”
    “Six is good.”
    Holly hung up the phone and did a little happy dance right there in the kitchen. “He’s still coming, Max! And he’s bringing dinner! Chinese food!”
    Max’s ears perked up in interest. He knew the words “Chinese food”; the dog loved it almost as much as she did.

Chapter 10
 
    W ell, the cottage looked about as good as it was going to. The floors had been swept and Swiffered, the area rugs beaten and aired out. The wood was polished, shelves dusted. She didn’t have an abundance of furniture, but what she did have was vacuumed and treated to a clean-smelling fabric refresher. Max’s toys had been picked up and deposited in the baskets she had in each room, though he was quietly emptying them every time she wasn’t looking. A vase of fresh flowers – picked from the garden out back – sat on the table, and a subtly scented vanilla candle burned in the kitchen, mixing with the aroma of the lemon cream cake she’d baked that afternoon. It wouldn’t win any featured pages in House Beautiful , but it looked neat and cozy, and smelled clean and inviting.
    Holly changed her outfit no less than six times before deciding on a pair of comfortable but stylish leggings and an oversized tunic T that was both slimming and managed to give the illusion of being a little taller than her actual diminutive height. It was casual, but a bit nicer than the pajama pants or ancient but oh-so-comfy faded jeans she normally hung around the house in.
    With a final spritz of light white musk – her favorite fragrance, she checked her hair one last time. She opted to leave it down, but slightly tamed it