"Men," she muttered.

When Rocco dragged his wrist across his mouth instead of using a napkin, she bleated, "No wrists!"

"No fingers, no wrists, no regular talk. How do you expect me to remember all of that?" Rocco complained.

"I know there's a lot," she consoled him. "So I prepared index cards for you. Between now and the big day, I want you to memorize each instruction and practice. Practice, practice, practice."

"Oh, man."

"Fiona," she reminded him.

That changed his tune, and instantly he yanked up the napkin and dragged it across his face.

Ben spent the entire day in his bedroom, finalizing the plan to meet Morales that night. By the time

everything was set hours later, he could hear Julia still working. He stood, stretched, and went in search of her like he could do nothing else.

It was seven-fifteen when he found the small crew in the grand living room with the furniture pushed back

and the rug rolled to the side. Julia looked exhausted. Rocco looked like he'd been run over by a Mack truck.

Sonja's perfect hair was no longer so perfect. Everyone looked beat.

He didn't have much time.

"Okay, Rocco," Julia said, drawing a deep breath. "I want you to tell me everything you do on a typical date. Then we're going to refine that. Plus I'm going to teach you how to dance."

"Ah, man. I'm worn out. Can't we do this another day?"

"No, we can't. We have to finish manners and etiquette today or we'll never wrap up the show in time."

Rocco muttered, then grunted his agreement.

"No more grunts!" Julia screeched, her exhaustion washing over her.

Rocco sighed, then said in a deep, cultured voice, "My apologies, Julia."

She actually gasped, leaped up, and clapped her hands. "See! You can do it! I knew it!" Her exhaustion

was pushed back just a bit. "Now, how do you ask a woman out? How do you pick her up? Where do you go? How do you end the date?"

Rocco shrugged, jutting his head forward, and seemed to consider, then instantly forgot his good manners. "I call up some babe and say, 'Ya want to do something Saturday night?' Then I tell her where to meet me. We slug back a few brews, then I take her back to my place for a little undercover hide the hockey stick."

Rocco clearly thought that was funny.

Julia, clearly, did not. Ben had never seen such outraged disbelief on any one person's face.

"Undercover hide the hockey stick?" she sputtered.

Rob chuckled, Todd said, "Cool!" and Sonja covered a laugh.

"Yeah," Rocco said, looking pleased with himself. "I made that up."

"Why am I not surprised?" Julia said with more than a little sarcasm. "It's getting late. We've got to get

to dancing."

Ben refused to think about the time he had called having sex Horizontal Hockey. He had been kidding.

Really.

He wanted out of there bad. He felt anger ticking through him that was disproportionate to what was

going on. But this guy was really pissing him off.

No way was he like this obnoxious guy.

The thought surprised him. Which was the only possible reason for what happened next.

When Julia asked Rocco to stand and show her how he danced, the guy took her hand and pulled her to

his chest with a jarring thud, his hand running down her back until he cupped the rounded curve of her butt. A second later, Ben had Rocco up against the wall.

"Ben! What are you doing?"

"Holy crap!" Todd gasped excitedly.

"I'm showing this bastard how to treat a lady."

"Last I heard, How to Pin Someone Against a Wall wasn't a chapter in Emily Post."

Once she had pried them apart, Ben couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Geez, man," Rocco gasped, "what the hell is wrong with you?"

Ben wondered the same thing.

"He's just trying to show his own form of bad boy behavior," Julia supplied.

"You want to see a bad boy?" The words were out of his mouth before he could think about what he was doing. Or why.

When she started to walk away, he caught her arm. Her breath snagged in her throat as her lips parted.

Slowly he pulled her to him, her eyes going wide, and then he started dancing her around the room. He held her close, could feel his own heart pounding inside him in a way that he didn't begin to understand. He guided her around the hardwood in a smooth Texas two-step. Reality faded away, and all that was left was Julia in his arms. It felt like he had been waiting for this. And the minute Rocco had touched her, he unraveled.

What he realized in that second was that he wanted her. He wanted her in a way he had never wanted a woman. Forgetting they weren't alone, he pulled back and looked at her. They stood facing each other, and he reached out and ran the backs of his fingers along her jaw.

"Wow, who knew you could dance?"

Todd's voice, and Ben felt like he'd just been doused with a bucket of ice water. It took him a second to understand what had happened.

Todd, Sonja, Rob, and Rocco stared at them.

"Oh . . . well," Julia said, the palm of her hand pressed to her cheek as if she were flushed.

Rob had the decency to stop filming. But Todd zoomed his camera in on her face.

"Todd, please," Julia said, holding her hand up to shield herself from the lens. "This isn't the sort of

thing you're going to get points for on a video resume."

"What the hell is going on around here?" Rocco wanted to know. "I'm the Primal Guy, man. Not you.

So buzz off."

Ben tensed again, but it was Sonja who really got Julia's attention. Sonja looked at her with a raised

brow.

Julia started to move away from Ben. "You are the Primal Guy, Rocco."

But Ben cut her off when he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the front door.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He didn't answer until the Primal Guy crew couldn't see them anymore. Then he turned around to face

her.

"I'm going to regret the hell out of this, I know."

"Regret what?"

"This."

Then he did what he hadn't done in years. He cupped her jaw and leaned down to touch his mouth to

hers.

The simple kiss of lip to lip stunned him with its intimacy. It must have been the same for her, because she

clutched his arms, her fingers curling into his shirt front. Then he gave in like a starving man.

He parted her lips with his tongue, the world around them forgotten. He groaned into her mouth, tasting her. Sheer hunger drove through his body. And when her hands slid up his chest he fell into desire, giving in. He brushed his thumbs over her nipples, and her tiny moan nearly undid him.

Yes, he wanted her. So much that sense left. So much that all he wanted was to carry her back to his room and finish this. But he couldn't. Not then.

Reluctantly, he pulled back. Her violet eyes were nearly purple, her lips full and swollen from his kiss.

"I've got to go," he stated.

At first she looked disappointed. Then those eyes of hers flashed their ire.