First Impressions by Nora Roberts

that Vance’s thoughts and moods flow along the same stream as hers. Such comfortable compatibility would offer little excitement and no surprises at all. Absolute harmony, she mused, could be lovely, rather sweet and very bland. There were more . . . interesting things.
    She’d seen a spark of humor in him, perhaps an almost forgotten sense of the ridiculous. And he was far from cold. While she accepted his faults and their differences, these qualities caused her to accept her own attraction to him.
    What she had felt from the first meeting had only intensified. There was no logic in it, no sense, but her heart had known instantly that he was the man she’d waited for. Though she’d told herself it was impossible, Shane knew the impossible had an uncanny habit of happening just the same. Love at first sight? Ridiculous. But . . .
    Impossible or not, ridiculous or not, Shane’s heart was set. It was true she gave her affections easily, but she didn’t give them lightly. The love she had felt for Cy had been a young, impressionable love, but it had been very real. It had taken her a long time to get over it.
    Shane had no illusions about Vance Banning. He was a difficult man. Even with spurts of kindness and humor, he would never be anything else. There was too much anger in him, too much drive. And while Shane could accept the phenomenon of love at first sight on her part, she was practical enough to know it wasn’t being reciprocated.
    He desired her. She might puzzle over this, never having thought of herself as a woman to attract desire, but she recognized it. Yet, though he wanted her, he kept his distance. This was the reserve in him, she decided, the studied caution that warred with the passion.
    Idly, she sipped her drink and stared out into the rain. The problem as Shane saw it was to work her way through the barrier. She had loved before, and faced pain and emptiness. She could accept pain again, but she was determined not to face emptiness a second time. She wanted Vance Banning. Now all she had to do was to make him want her. Smiling a little, Shane set down her cup. She’d been raised to succeed.
    The glare of headlights against the window surprised her. Rising, Shane went to the back door to see who’d come visiting in the rain. Cupping her hands on either side of her face, she peered through the wet glass. She recognized the car and immediately threw open the door. Cold rain hurled itself into her face, but she laughed, watching Donna scramble around puddles with her head lowered.
    “Hi!” Still laughing, Shane stepped back as her friend dashed through the door. “You got a little wet,” she observed.
    “Very funny.” Donna stripped off her raincoat to hang it on a peg near the back door. With the casualness of an old friend, she stepped out of her wet loafers. “I figured you were hibernating. Here.” She handed Shane a pound can of coffee.
    “A welcome home present?” Shane asked, turning the can over curiously. “Or a hint that you’d like some?”
    “Neither.” Shaking her head, Donna ran her fingers through her wet hair. “You bought it the other day, then left it at the store.”
    “I did?” Shane thought about it a moment, then laughed. “Oh, that’s right. Thanks. Who’s minding the store while you’re out making deliveries?” Turning, she popped the can into a cupboard.
    “Dave.” With a sigh, Donna plopped onto a kitchen chair. “His sister’s babysitting, so he kicked me out.”
    “Aw, out in the storm.”
    “He knew I was restless.” She glanced out the window. “It doesn’t seem as though this rain’s ever going to let up.” With a shiver, she frowned at Shane’s bare feet. “Aren’t you cold?”
    “I thought about starting a fire,” she said absently, then grinned. “It seemed like an awful lot of trouble.”
    “So’s the flu.”
    “The cocoa’s still warm,” Shane told her, automatically reaching for another cup. “Want some?”
    “Yes,