Page 17

N oah was relieved when Laura took Tuesday off after waking with a fierce headache. It took everything he had not to stay and take care of her. He made her coffee and breakfast and fed Sebastian again. As he ate over her sink so he wouldn’t get crumbs on her spotless countertops, the cat bumped his cheek against Noah’s ankle, then, purring, started weaving figure eights around his boots.

Noah watched, puzzled. When his plate was clean, he scooped the feline up in one hand. “It’s your turn to watch her,” he informed him as he carried the tabby back to the bedroom where Laura dozed. “Don’t screw it up.”

His phone rang. Sebastian twisted, unhappy as Noah juggled him to dig the device out of his pocket. Setting Sebastian down, he swiped at the long strands of cat hair clinging to the front of his shirt before answering.

“Steele,” Adam greeted him.

“Colton,” Noah replied just as flatly.

“I have a proposition.”

Noah braced himself. “I’m listening.”

“I don’t expect Laura to come to work today.”

“Damn right,” Noah said.

“I’ll be stepping in for her,” Adam told him, “to help with the investigation.”

“Thanks,” Noah mused, “but I’m good.”

“Meet me near the paddock in an hour,” Adam said, ignoring Noah’s refusal. “Dress for a riding excursion.”

The line clicked. Noah looked at his phone and saw that Adam had ended the call. “Sure, cupcake,” he muttered, sliding the phone back into his pocket.

An hour later, Noah said, “You know, I don’t think me and you kissing is going to have the same effect on people as Laura and I do.”

“Just once,” Adam said mildly, “I’d like to see you go an entire day without vexing me.”

“Not likely,” Noah responded. He adjusted the Stetson he wore low over his brow as they walked to the paddock together. “You’re sure Knight signed on for this thing today?”

“Yes.” The corner of Adam’s mouth curled. “But if he backs out at the last minute, I won’t lose sleep knowing you’re Josh’s problem. Not mine.”

“You realize I know how the internet works, right?” Noah said. “If baby brother abandons me like a lost calf on the trail, I’m dropping a one-star review for Mariposa on Tripadvisor.”

Adam’s smile morphed. “You wouldn’t.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because what you’ve done for your sister these last few weeks tells me you’re a man of honor,” Adam admitted. “If you have as much regard for Laura as she has for you, you’ll leave Mariposa alone when this is all over.”

Noah scowled, eating up the ground with long strides. He could smell the horses, the saddle leather... He could hear the chink of cinches and stirrups and the nickers and snorts of the animals as the guides and riders readied them for the long drive ahead.

All he’d wanted to do over the last few weeks was find Allison’s killer. He hadn’t considered what would come after. Once the perpetrator was caught and Noah’s actual reasons for being at the resort were revealed, would he be welcome there?

He couldn’t think about Laura and what he wanted with her when this was all over. He couldn’t think about losing her. Leaving her.

“I know you spent the night with her again last night,” Adam revealed.

Noah felt a muscle in his jaw tic. “She was in pain.”

“So you didn’t sleep with her?”

He chose his next words carefully. “I slept next to her.” At the sight of Adam’s grimace, Noah nearly gave in to his own frustration. “I know the hospital said she didn’t have a concussion. I wanted to make sure.” He’d needed to make sure. “She didn’t need to be left on her own. Ferraday didn’t just hurt her. He scared her.” And for that, Noah wanted to drive back to Sedona and toss the man across his holding cell.

“She shouldn’t have been there to begin with.”

Finally, something the two of them could agree on. Noah saw the knot of people in the horse paddock and scanned for his mark. “Where is he?”

“There,” Adam said with a jerk of his chin to the left.

Noah had memorized the file on CJ Knight. He knew the man was twenty-seven, approximately five-eleven, one hundred and eighty pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. Noah also knew he was unmarried and that he resided primarily in Los Angeles as an up-and-coming film actor.

CJ removed his cowboy hat, so the wind tousled his wavy locks. Under his plaid button-down shirt and jeans, he had the trim body of a gym rat.

Like a true actor, he’d dressed the part for the day’s trail-riding adventure, led by Knox and Joshua. Noah’s goal was to ride next to CJ and get to know him and hope Joshua didn’t have other ideas—throwing Noah into a gorge, for example.

Among the others assembled, Noah recognized Kim Blankenship and her husband, Granger. He remembered the initials on Allison’s refrigerator schedule: CJK , DG and KB .

Maybe today Noah could knock out two birds with one stone. Was Kim Blankenship KB or did Noah need to look harder at Mariposa’s cowboy, Knox Burnett?

He needed to find the identity, too, of the mysterious DG .

Joshua spotted Noah and Adam on the approach and he nodded in their direction. “The gang’s all here. Where’s your riding gear, Adam?”

“I’m not staying,” Adam stated. Everyone fell quiet as he brought his hands together. “I’d just like everyone to know that Joshua and Knox are the two best guides in Red Rock Country. You’re in expert hands today.” He patted Noah on the shoulder, either in assurance or warning. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

Noah walked with him to CJ Knight and the mare that had been chosen for him from the stable. “It’s good to have you back, Mr. Knight,” Adam said.

CJ shook Adam’s offered hand. “It’s good to be back. I’m sorry I left with so little notice before. I got called back to LA without warning.”

“Is everything all right there?”

“It was a callback on an audition,” CJ said. “And it wound up getting canceled, anyway. I wish I’d never left.”

“Let us know if we can do anything to make your stay with us better this time,” Adam replied. He turned to Noah. “I don’t believe you’ve met Noah Steele. His band Fast Lane’s making a splash. He’ll be riding out today, too.”

“Nice to meet you,” CJ said, reaching out to grip Noah’s extended hand.

Noah pasted on a smile. “Likewise. Have you done this before?”

“A few times,” CJ said. “I love Red Rock Country. Are you new to trail riding?”

“It’s been a long time,” Noah admitted. “I hope I can keep up.”

“Knox normally rides behind with the stragglers,” CJ informed him. “Josh keeps pace, but most of the time it’s leisurely, so we can enjoy the view.”

A man flanked CJ. He had light hair and dark eyes and an unrelaxed posture that looked almost unnaturally upright. “Doug DeGraw,” he introduced, shaking Noah’s hand. “I’m CJ’s manager.”

“Noah Steele,” Noah returned. He glanced down at the man’s feet. “I believe you’re wearing the wrong shoes for this.”

CJ chuckled as Doug looked down at the businesslike brogues he had donned. He patted Doug on the back. “Doug’s not used to riding.” He lowered his voice and said to his manager, “I told you I’d loan you a pair of boots. And you didn’t have to come. You hate horses.”

“I’ll be fine,” Doug said with a slight wince, looking around at the bay he had been assigned. “I’m told fresh country air does the body good.”

“I can vouch for that,” Adam agreed. “I’d better be getting back to L Building. Enjoy yourselves.” He exchanged a significant look with Noah before departing.

Knox brought around a familiar horse that had been saddled. “Mr. Steele. You remember Penny?”

Noah couldn’t help but smile as he raised his hand to the filly’s mouth for a nuzzle. “I do. Is she mine for the day?”

“She is,” Knox said. “She’s new to the trails, but she’s done well in practice. Want to give her a shot?”

“Absolutely,” Noah said as Penny blew her whiskered breath across his palm. He took the reins. “Thanks. Hey, by any chance, do you know when a new yoga instructor will be hired? I’ve got this pain between my shoulders blades, and I really need a stretch.”

Sadness lay heavy on Knox’s face. “I don’t, no. I’m not sure management’s even thought about it. You could ask Laura.”

“I will,” Noah returned. “Sorry I brought it up.”

“It’s okay,” Knox replied. “Allison hasn’t even been buried yet. It’s hard thinking about a replacement for her.”

“It’s a shame she died,” CJ added. “I liked Allison. I’d just started private lessons with her.”

“Oh?” Noah said, feigning surprise. “I didn’t know she offered that sort of thing.”

“We got one session in before I had to leave,” CJ explained. “I didn’t hear of her passing until it hit the news. She was so full of life. I don’t understand how anyone could hurt her.”

“Are you talking about the yoga instructor?” a voice said from the right. Noah looked over and saw that they’d drawn Kim Blankenship into the conversation. “Allison?”

“Yeah,” Knox said, his voice lost in his throat somewhere.

“I knew her!” Kim said with wide gray eyes in a heavily made-up face. Under her hat, her bottle-blond hair was perfectly curled. She mixed a down-home, don’t-mess-with-Texas attitude with vintage movie star glamour. “She came to my bungalow the morning before she was killed and led me through a personalized yoga routine. I’d overdone myself hiking a few days before, and she knew exactly what to do to help me work out the kinks. She was so sweet and personable.” Kim planted a gloved hand on her hip. “Why, if I knew who did such a thing to her, I’d tie them behind my horse and drag ’em across the desert.”

“I’m with you, sweetheart,” her husband, Granger, agreed.

This struck up talk among most other members of the excursion. Noah watched CJ nod and concur as others voiced their opinions about Allison and the person who had brought her life to an untimely end. Noah wondered how good an actor the guy really was.

“You ride well, Steele.”

Noah looked around as Joshua pulled his big, spirited stallion, Maverick, alongside Penny. “I detect disappointment.”

Joshua laughed. “Did Adam tell you I’d leave you for the coyotes?”

“Something like that,” Noah drawled.

“You can stop looking over your shoulder, Fender Bender. Accidents on the trail are bad for business.”

“That’s reassuring,” Noah grumbled.

“You’ve been talking to CJ Knight.”

“And you’ve been keeping tabs on me,” Noah acknowledged.

“Part of my job,” Joshua explained. “Did he mention Erica Pike?”

“Your brother’s secretary?”

“Executive assistant.”

“He didn’t. Why?”

“No reason,” Joshua said quickly.

“Why?” Noah pressed.

Joshua nickered to the stallion when the animal bobbed his head impatiently. “Laura thinks something may have happened between her and Knight. I asked Erica. She said it didn’t.”

“You don’t think she’s being truthful?” Noah asked.

Joshua shrugged, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. “It’s no good—relationships between staff and guests. Or management and staff, for that matter.”

“No wonder you think so little of Laura and me,” Noah noted.

“That’s another matter,” Joshua told him. “You met her before you came here. And you’re hiding something.” He spotted Noah’s look of surprise and snorted. “I’m the second son of Clive Colton. I know when a man isn’t being truthful. I don’t expect you to tell me what you’re lying about, but I will ask you not to lie to Laura. Come clean with her or coyotes will be the least of your worries.”

Noah knew what it was to be a brother. It was a shame Joshua would never know that he and Noah had something so crucial in common. “Laura knows who I am.”

“I hope so,” Joshua said sincerely.

Noah glanced back at CJ Knight. He was lifting his canteen to his mouth and taking a long drink. His manager, Doug DeGraw, unsettled on his mount, struggled to keep up. “That guy’s a nuisance.”

“Who?” Joshua turned in the saddle. “CJ’s manager? We rarely get inexperienced riders on challenging drives like this one. But he insisted.”

“Doesn’t look like he’s having much fun,” Noah said.

“The man’s sweating bullets,” Joshua observed.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t turned back.”

“Knox offered to take him. He seems determined to stay by Knight’s side.”

Noah frowned. “Seems more like a nanny than a manager.”

“I’m surprised you and Knight are getting on so swimmingly.”

“Why’s that?”

“Unlike you,” Joshua said, “he’s a Boy Scout.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. Like any celebrity, he values his privacy. But he’s personable with other guests and staff. He’s uncomplaining. He tips well and not because it’s expected of him—because he’s grateful.”

“You like him,” Noah stated.

“I do,” Joshua said.

This coming from the guy who claimed he could spot a liar at fifty paces. If Joshua had guessed that Noah wasn’t being entirely truthful, wouldn’t he have been able to do the same with Knight if he was the killer?

Joshua tapped Maverick with his heels and rode ahead. He turned the horse to face the riders. “Congratulations! You’ve all reached the south point. We’ll rest our mounts for a while before the return journey. Dismount. There’s a creek down at the bottom of the hill where you can lead your horse to water.”

A resounding thump brought Noah’s head around.

Doug DeGraw sprawled beneath his horse.

CJ shook his head as his boots hit the ground. Gathering Doug’s horse’s reins, CJ extended a hand to him. “Something tells me you’re going to need a masseuse.”

“Forget that,” Doug said, brushing himself off. He struggled to his feet with CJ’s help. “Get me a stiff drink and an hour with a nimble woman.”

Kim Blankenship rolled her eyes. “That one’s a winner,” she muttered as she led her horse down the hill past Noah and Joshua.

Noah took Penny to the creek. “Good girl,” he said as she bent her head to the water that burbled busily over its smooth rock bed. He took a moment to admire where they were. There was no fence to mark the boundary of Mariposa, just an old petrified tree trunk with a butterfly carved into its flank. He could see familiar formations from the state park in the distance.

He’d always been drawn to that perfect marriage between the cornflower blue sky and the red-stained mountains, buttes and cliffs that jutted toward it. The wind teased his hair as he took off his hat and opened his canteen for a long drink.

Someone stumbled over the rocks, making Penny sidestep. Noah patted her on the neck until she settled. Then he watched Doug pry off one dirt-smudged brogue. “I told you those were the wrong shoes.”

Doug groaned as he rubbed the bottom of his socked foot. “I miss LA. I can’t understand why CJ keeps getting drawn back to this place.”

Noah lifted his eyes to the panorama. “Can’t you?”

“No.” Doug stilled as a woman from their party brought her horse to drink. He lifted his chin to her in greeting. “Ariana, right?”

“Yes,” she said. “And you’re Doug, CJ’s guy.”

“Just Doug,” he said. “You’re the host of that new game show— Sing It or Lose It .”

“I am,” she said, beaming. She was young, a redhead with large green eyes and long legs encased in jodhpurs. “Well, I don’t exactly host. I’m the DJ.”

“You should host,” Doug asserted. He slid a long look over her form. “The network would draw far more viewers if they made you more visible.”

She favored Allison. The resemblance jolted Noah, and he fought a sudden overwhelming urge to put himself between her and Doug.

Ariana stepped back a little, as if she didn’t care for the way Doug was coming on to her either. Politely, she fixed a smile into place. “Thanks.”

Noah cleared his throat, doing his best to draw Doug’s attention away from her. “Your shoe’s making a break for it.”

“Huh?” Doug did a double take when Noah pointed out the brogue racing across the surface of the creek. He swore viciously and ran after it while Ariana giggled.

With Doug out of earshot, Noah moved toward her. “Here,” he said, taking her horse’s bridle. “They’re building a fire. You go get warm. I’ll make sure your horse is taken care of.”

“Oh, thank you,” she said, surprised. “Her name’s Autumn. She’s a sweetie. But I will join the others. That guy’s vibes are way off.”

“I’m starting to get that,” Noah said.

“Hey.” She touched his wrist. “That’s an evil eye.”

He looked down at the bracelet peeking out from under the cuff of his shirt. “Yeah. My, uh...” Licking his lips, he absorbed the pang above his sternum. “My sister gave it to me,” he finished quietly.

“Did you know the evil eye dates back to 5000 BC?” she asked. “It’s also used in symbolism across various cultures—Hindi, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim...not to mention Indigenous, pagan and folk societies.”

“I didn’t know that,” he said truthfully.

She rolled her eyes at herself. “I sound like a geek. But I love that sort of thing. You’ve got a light blue eye. It’s supposed to encourage you to open your eyes to self-acceptance and the world around you.”

“Interesting,” he said.

“Is it?” Doug snarled as he returned with one dripping shoe.

Ariana stiffened. “I’ll go get a seat by the fire.”

“Sure,” Noah said. He blinked when she was gone. For a moment, it had felt like he was talking to his sister again.

“Look at that ass work.”

Noah sent Doug a long scowl. “A little young for someone like you, wouldn’t you say?”

“I like them young,” Doug said as he worked his foot into his shoe. “Things tend to be more high and tight, if you know what I’m saying.” He chuckled nastily, cheered by his own imagery.

If the man didn’t shut up, Noah was going to shove both brogues down his throat.

Doug stood finally and grabbed the reins of his mare roughly. She rebuked him with a jerk of her head. “I knew someone with one of those.”

On the verge of telling him to can it, Noah looked warily to where Doug pointed.

To Noah’s wrist. He was pointing at Noah’s wrist and the evil-eye bracelet.

Noah felt his jaw clamp and his stomach tighten. “Yeah?” he managed to drawl.

“Yeah.” Doug lifted a brow. “That one... Ah, man. She was a real peach.”

Was?

Under the watchful gaze of a high-noon sun, Doug led his mount up the hill, limping a little as he went.

“Son of a bitch,” Noah muttered, clutching Penny’s reins. He fit his hat to his head and led her and Autumn to the cluster of riders, wishing hard for his badge.

“You’re supposed to be resting.”

Laura looked up from her desk and spied the dusty man framed in the open door to her office. She noted the Stetson and the wide silver buckle on his belt. Noah looked dirty and dangerous, and her heart caterwauled as he propped the heel of his hand on the jamb above him.

The man was the human equivalent of devil’s food cake.

Setting the papers in her hands flat against the desktop, she studied his comfortable scowl and smiled broadly despite the ache in her head that had persisted throughout the day. “You’re probably going to take what I say and run with it, but...you look good enough to eat, cowboy.”

The scowl wobbled, and warmth chased the moody slant of his eyes. Pushing off the jamb, he closed the door.

As he came around the desk, she turned the swivel chair to face him. Angling her chin up, she tilted her head. “I’m happy to see Josh didn’t bring you back to me in splints.”

Noah leaned over, pressing his hands to the arms of her chair, caging her in. He scanned the mark on her brow and its ring of dark bruises. Then he searched each of her eyes in a way that made her lose her breath. By the time his gaze touched her mouth, she was shivery with anticipation. She clutched the collar of his shirt to pull him down to meet her.

His arms locked, resisting, when he found the gold chain around her neck. Gingerly, he slid his first finger between it and the skin at the high curve of her breast and lifted it, so the pearl drop rose from the V-cut neckline of her plum-satin blouse.

His eyes crawled back to hers.

“I’ve been thinking about you,” she whispered.

He made a low noise.

Her chest rose and fell swiftly. She wished she could catch her breath. He made it difficult. “And I’ve missed you,” she admitted.

He tensed. Then he lowered to his knees. His arms spanned her waist, and he tugged her to the edge of her chair.

When he buried his face in her throat and pressed his front to hers in a seamless embrace, she melted. Spreading her fingers through his hair, she latched on.

She couldn’t handle him like this—urgent, tender, sweet. It disarmed her.

She swallowed. “Did something happen?”

His lips pursed against her skin. His breath across the damp circle left by his mouth made her skin hum all over. “I have to go back to Sedona.”

“Why?” she asked, pulling back far enough to scan his face.

He stiffened. “I think I know who killed Allison.”

“CJ Knight?” she asked.

“He was taking private lessons. I confirmed that. But I think I’ve been looking in the wrong place.”

“Talk it through with me,” she invited.

He eased back some, his hands lowering to her outer thighs. “ KB is Kim Blankenship. Allison went to her bungalow for a lesson the day she died. But I don’t think it’s her either.”

“Then who?” Laura asked.

His eyes hardened. “DG.”

“You know who that is?”

“I think it stands for Doug DeGraw.”

She squinted past the thumping behind her temples. “Isn’t that CJ Knight’s manager?”

“Yes.”

“What makes you think he’s guilty?”

“Other than that he’s a complete and utter douchebag?” Noah drawled.

She sighed, nodded. “Yes.”

“He was trying to flex on one woman. Ariana.”

“Fitzgibbons,” she said, plucking the name out of her memory files. “She’s a new television personality. Beautiful, smiley, bubbly—”

“Like my sister.”

She stopped. “They look similar,” she granted.

Noah swore. “She’s a dead ringer for Allison. And she knows things about spiritualism and symbolism. I felt like I wasn’t just looking at Allison. I felt like I was talking to her, too.”

“Noah,” she whispered. “I can understand how that must have felt. I know how it would have affected me. But is the fact that Doug DeGraw was hitting on Ariana Fitzgibbons the only reason you believe he killed Allison?”

“No,” he said vehemently. “He saw the bracelet. He recognized it.”

When he lifted his arm, she saw the evil-eye pendant around his wrist. “How do you know he recognized it? Did he say something?”

“Yeah.” Noah’s jaw locked from the strain. His hands gripped the arms of the chair again. His knuckles whitened. “He said he knew a woman who wore one. He said she was a real peach. I could’ve killed him on the spot.”

“Okay,” she said soothingly, laying her hands across his shoulders. “Let’s just take a minute.” For all his wrath, she could feel the grief emanating off him and she wanted to hold him until those waves came to shore. “I don’t think you’re in any condition to drive back to Sedona tonight.” When he started to refuse, she spoke over him. “There’s rain coming in. The roads will be wet, possibly icy. And it’s after six—too late for you to make any headway.”

“I need to nail this guy,” he told her. “I need to look into his history, his record, his behavior—”

“Come home with me.” She touched his face. “We’ll soak in the pool, order dinner, then turn in before nine. That way, you can be up and out the door first thing in the morning. And you’ll have the whole day to do whatever it is you need to do.”

His frantic gaze raced over her. “It’s him, Laura. He’s the one who took Allison’s life. He must’ve lured her to his bungalow, drugged her, then...”

A sob wavered out of her. She shook her head quickly. “Stop. Please, stop.”

He released a long, ragged breath, dropping his head. “I still want to kill him. Crabtree was right. If I find something on DeGraw, I’ll need to hand the arrest over to Fulton. If it’s me... I don’t know if I have what it takes not to put a bullet in him.”

Her hands gentled on his face. She kissed the broad plane of his cheek. Then the space between his eyes before placing both palms around the back of his head and drawing him against her once more. “It’s okay,” she said, blinking back tears. “It’s going to be okay.”

He didn’t pull away. They remained that way, still in the upheaval, for a while.

“Noah?” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Will you?” she asked. “Come home with me?”

He shoveled out a breath. Then he nodded, reluctantly.

When he stood, he extended a hand. She took it and let him pull her to her feet. Switching off the lamp on her desk, she grabbed her purse. On their way out, she stopped to lock the door.

“You lock your office but not your front door,” he grumbled.

She stuffed the keys in her purse and reached for the handle of the glass door that led out of L Building. He beat her to it, shouldering it open and propping it until she’d passed through. He took her hand. “Wait.”

She stopped moving. At the sight of his frown returning, she gave in. “I’ll start locking my front door if it bothers you that much.”

“Yes,” he said with a nod. “But there’s something else.”

She was stunned when he gathered both her hands in his. As his thumbs stroked her knuckles in fast repetitions, she tried to read him. “What is it?”

“Promise me, Pearl,” he murmured. “Promise me you won’t approach DeGraw while I’m off property. I can’t leave you here if I think you’ll put yourself in harm’s way for even a second.”

She nodded. “All right.”

“You promise?” he pressed.

“I promise.” Unable to watch the conflict clash on the inside of him, she raised her lips to his.

As he inclined his head toward hers and his hand cupped the back of her head, he let it be soft—let himself be, drawing out her sigh with a head-to-toe shudder.

He took her home, where they soaked in the pool. He remained close to her as she reclined on the steps. It was easy with him, she thought, not to cut through the water but to rest and let the moment stretch.

She offered to order in, but he found pesto, grape tomatoes, green beans, tortellini and chicken in her fridge. As she sat with her wine and watched him throw it all together in a pan over the stove, she saw someone channeling his demons. Filling another glass, she took it to him. He stopped long enough to clink it to hers, holding her gaze as he took the first sip. She did the same, then rubbed the bones that had been etched on the left side of his spine, leaving the right side blank.

She half expected to feel the inscribed tears in the flesh that separated the unmarked side of his back from the tattoos as she ran her fingers across his vertebrae. Warm, smooth skin greeted them instead, and she marveled again over the level of artistry he’d placed upon his body.

Noah mixed and flipped the contents of the pan so that the pesto coated everything.

He’d stirred, mixed and flipped her, Laura mused. He’d come at her like a demolition expert, knocking down walls, making a mess, hauling complete sections of those walls out.

He’d rearranged things.

Allison had called Laura a “classic Taurus,” no more open to change than she was to heartbreak. It’s why you won’t play with risk , she’d told her.

Laura had shrugged that off. Risk is overrated.

Maybe , Allison had replied. Her wise eyes had flickered knowingly. I’m just afraid that when you find someone who’s right for you— really right for you—you’ll shy away from the risk and lose the chance to get everything you’ve ever wanted.

The sentiment had made Laura reevaluate everything. What if she’d already done that? What if she’d missed her shot because the risk scared her?

She and Noah were so different. Night and day, as a matter of fact. But as she watched the hair on the back of his head fan through her fingertips, as the tense line of his body eased and he lifted his face to the ceiling briefly to dig into her touch, she caught her lower lip between her teeth.

Could they be this different and this right for each other all at once? All the candles he lit inside her just by being whispered yes .

“You keep this up and I’m going to burn the first dinner I prep for you,” he noted.

The first? Her heart leaped. She swallowed all the deeper questions and asked, “What’s your sign?”

“What sign?”

“Your astrological sign,” she clarified. When he gave her a long sideways look, she let a slow grin play across her mouth. “Come on. With a sister like Allison, how could you not know?”

“Please tell me you don’t put as much stock in that as she did,” he groaned.

“Not really,” she said. “But it’s a fun question. And I’m curious. You were born in November.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course I do,” she murmured.

He lifted the wineglass, taking a break to study her.

She smiled. “November either makes you a Scorpio or a Sagittarius. Which is it?”

Ever the man of mystery, he chose not to answer and took a long sip instead. Then he picked up the spatula and continued to stir. “I’m not a wine drinker. But this one’s fine.”

“It is,” she agreed. “It’s a rare vintage. One I’ve been saving.”

He raised a brow. “For me?”

Why did he think he was worthy of so little? “Yes,” she said, moving closer. “And after we eat, I’m going to find out how it tastes on your tongue.”

The spatula clattered to a halt and his eyes fired. The tension hardened his features, but it had nothing to do with anger this time and everything to do with what they had made the last time their bodies had come together in a fit of urgency. He remembered that clash, she saw, and its sensational conclusion every bit as much as she did.

“Is that right?” he ventured.

She saw the smile turn up the corners of his eyes even as his mouth remained in a firm, forbidding line. “How much longer?” she asked.

“Not long,” he guessed. He cursed. “Too long.”

She wondered if his body had responded as eagerly as hers was. Crossing one foot over the other, she tried to tamp down on it. By pressing her thighs together, she only fanned the flame. She ran her hand over the small of his back, just above the line of the towel he’d wrapped around his hips, and made herself step away. “I’m going to change.”

She made it to the corner before he spoke up again. “Scorpio.”

She glanced back in surprise. His head was low, intent on the work of his hands. And she grinned because she saw the pop of color in the flesh leading from his collarbone to his ear.

His body had responded, and she could think of nothing more than unknotting his towel and letting dinner burn.

Taking a steadying breath, she said, “Of course you are.”

In her bedroom, she opened the top drawer and pulled out the black nightie she’d bought online on impulse a few nights before. Lifting it by the straps, she considered. She hadn’t thought she’d have the nerve to wear it for him. She’d thrown out all her nighties after the fiasco with Quentin, deciding she wouldn’t need sexy finery again.

Carrying the gown into the bathroom, she closed the door after letting Sebastian follow her inside. She discarded her towel and the wet bathing suit underneath and hopped into the shower.

When she came back out, tying the belt of a black silk robe that had lived at the back of her closet for some time, the smell of pesto hit her. She followed the seductive aroma to the dining room table, where he had already plated dinner for them.

She stared at the candle he’d found on her side table in the center of the dining set. “My goodness,” she said, at a loss for anything else.

He topped off her wine. “From the moment we met, I knew you were the candlelit-dinner type.”

He pulled out a chair for her. Inwardly, she sighed. The hard man in the towel, quietly and devastatingly courteous, had no idea how irresistible he was. “Thank you,” she said, turning her mouth up to his for a breathy kiss.

His eyes remained closed when she pulled back. His head followed hers as she lowered her heels to the floor. “You smell good. You always smell good.” When his eyes opened, they were unfocused. “I could eat you alive.”

“Tortellini first,” she insisted.

He dropped his gaze to the silk covering her. “Are you wearing anything under that?”

Later , she cautioned herself when, again, adrenaline and desire surged. “All good things,” she whispered before she lowered to the seat, tucking the robe around her legs when it parted over her thighs.

He pulled out the chair next to hers. Lifting her glass, she drank before lowering it back to the table and picking up her knife and fork. “This looks excellent.”

“It’ll get you by.”

“Mmm,” she said after the first bite. The different flavors gelled. Together, they were perfectly delectable. “Noah. This is fantastic.”

“I just threw things together in the pan.”

She jabbed her fork in his direction. “Modesty doesn’t suit you. I watched you make this. You’ll take credit for it.”

“Or?” he asked and popped a long green bean into his mouth, chewing.

She reached for the bottle of wine. “I could pour this fine vintage over your head.”

“You’ll taste it on the rest of me, then,” he said darkly. Wonderfully.

Images hit her brain, inciting more answers from her body.

“What’s it going to be, Colton?” he asked, amused, when she didn’t let go of the bottle. The delicious light of challenge smoldered behind his eyes.

Jesus. Did he play with fire often? Because he was good at it. She placed the bottle back on the table. “Fortify yourself,” she told him, nodding at his plate. “You’re going to need it.”

Shaking his head, he muttered, “A little over an hour ago, I didn’t think there was anything that could make me forget what’s going to happen tomorrow. But you could make me forget the world if you put your mind to it.”

That had been her goal. Hadn’t it? Now she could only think about wanting him in her bed again. He’d been there since that first night they’d made love. He’d slept beside her. But this time, she wanted more. To make him forget, yes. But also because...

Because she needed him. “Eat,” she said. It was the only safe word she knew.

They cleaned their plates, and he cleared them. She polished off her wine. Before he could think about washing dishes, she took his hand. “Follow me?” she asked, grabbing the soft faux fur blanket draped over the back of the couch.

As she led him to the back door, he said, “Anywhere,” before sliding the glass panel open for both of them.

She held that inside her, letting it feed her, as she led him around the chairs and pool to the path that tumbled down one flagstone at a time to the base of the natural hill her bungalow dominated.

The sound of trickling water led her. Little lights on either side of the path would be turned off soon in adherence to Dark Sky Community guidelines. The stargazing party would leave soon in the Jeeps provided by the resort, with the blankets and hot cocoa offered during cooler nights. The chill in the air was sharp.

“Is there a stream here?” he asked as the tumble of water grew louder.

“When I was a kid, it was a river,” she told him. “This is all that’s left.” A small swath of moonlight shimmied over stones as water hurried across them. “My mother would walk here every morning. Sometimes she would bring me and the boys. But mostly this was her spot.”

“Is that why you built your place at the top of the hill?”

“Yes,” she said. “It was my way of feeling close to her.”

His hand didn’t leave hers as they stood listening to the water babble. “Do you find that fades...more and more as the years go on?” he asked quietly.

Her eyes sought his silhouette. As they adjusted to the dark, she carved him out of the night. Hooded brow, firm jaw, solid as the mountains that held the sky. “Yes,” she admitted.

He nodded slightly. “So do I.”

She tightened her hold on him, bringing his attention to her. As his feet shuffled to face her, she let go to reach for the belt of the robe.

He stopped her. “You’ll freeze.”

“It’s why I brought the blanket,” she said. “Will you hold it?”

He took the furry coverlet. Anticipation high, she untied the knot.

She wished she could see him better, but the moon was behind him. Knowing it bathed her, she parted the silk and let it slip from her shoulders.

She heard his breath tear out of him. Trailing her fingers over the low-cut neckline and transparent lace, she followed the cascade of silk to her navel. “What do you think?”

“I knew you’d drive me wild.”

Intrigued, she planted the heel of her hand against the granite slab of his chest. “You feel okay to me.”

“Laura, I—”

She bit her lip when he stopped. “Yes?” she breathed, wanting to hear exactly what he’d censored himself from saying. She waited long enough that she shivered.

“You are cold,” he confirmed. He swung the blanket around her shoulders. “Let’s go back to the house.”

“No.” With her hand still on his chest, she backed him up to the large chaise underneath a collapsed red umbrella.

He went down hard, grunting. She knelt on the thick cushion. It was cold, too.

They’d warm it, she knew.

She felt his hands close around the blanket on her shoulders. Using it, he brought her against the heat of his chest and rolled her beneath him.

She did taste the wine on his tongue. She tasted herself there, too, as she lay beneath him, shivering not from the cold anymore but the storm of worshipping open-mouthed kisses. They started somewhere around her instep and spread to the back of her knee, up the inside of her thigh, between them where he lingered, using lips, tongue and beard to push her over the edge. Then his kisses continued over her hips, navel, breasts, to the bridge of her collarbone where he found the pearl. He sipped the delicate ridge of her jaw, and at last took her mouth.

She’d brought him here to seduce him. The thick fur blanket lay heavy over their tangled forms as he joined with her. Long, deep strokes built fresh waves of sensation. The cold didn’t penetrate the lovely languid haze of his loving, and she knew she was the one who had been completely, utterly seduced.

“Look at me.”

Her eyes had rolled back into her head. She made her lashes lift.

His face was half shadow, half light. His hips rocked against hers in an unbroken rhythm and she found she had swallowed the fire. It burned so good, she wanted to bathe in it.

His mouth parted hers. His eyes remained fixed. “Again,” he breathed into her.

She shook her head slightly even as the next climax gathered steam. His hand was between them, coaxing her at the point where their bodies met. She was trembling all over, a string about to break even as his touch made her pliant and soft for him.

His chin bobbed in a listless nod. “Do it,” he bade, need bearing the words through his teeth.

She didn’t have it in her to shy away. And she realized she’d thrown caution with him to the wind days ago. She burned, feeling like a phoenix as she let the firestorm take her. All of her.

He groaned, long, low, satisfied. “That’s right,” he whispered and added, “Stay with me,” when she pooled beneath him. “Stay with me,” he said again, quickening.

The base of his erection pitched against the bed of nerves at her center, and she dropped the crown of her head back, gasping at the assault of unending pleasure. He had to stop. She was going to catch fire.

No one... No one had ever brought her this close to blind rapture. No one had made her bare her soul like this before.

“Noah.”

His response hummed across her lips as his brows came together.

Ardor painted his face, and she moaned. “I’m yours.”

He swore. The word blew through the night as he buried himself to the hilt. His body locked, arcing like a current, and he slammed his eyes closed, suspended in the rush.

When his muscles released, he made a noise like a man drowning. She raised her hands to him, stroking as his lungs whistled through several respirations and his heart knocked like a ram against hers. Lifting her legs, she crossed her ankles at the small of his back and dragged his mouth back to hers, not ready to give up the link.

“I’m crushing you,” he said when he caught his breath at last.

“No.”

“Laura, baby. I’m heavy.”

Baby. Her smile was as soft as the blanket. “You’re perfect, Noah Steele.”

He stilled in her embrace. It even seemed like he stopped breathing.

“A little while,” she sighed soothingly, running her nails lightly over his upper arms. “Let’s stay just like this a little while longer.”

He made another noise, this one of assent.

Eventually...eventually, she agreed they had to get out of the cold. And when he wrapped her in the blanket and carried her back up the flagstone steps to her house, she was speechless.