LITMIR.BIZ

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While the reason he didn’t might be something she should know, she didn’t have to find out tonight.

      She felt safe with him, safe to explore the desire this man—this stranger—stirred. He seemed so dangerous, and yet he treated her so romantically. All through dinner they’d talked about likes and dislikes. Movies. Food. Politics. He liked action, meat and potatoes, and laws that helped the little people and kept greedy corporate leaders honest and fair. She liked the occasional chick flick but she also liked action. Meat and potatoes were okay but she preferred seafood. The two complemented each other in an inexplicable way.

      With dinner finished, she didn’t want the night to end just yet. He presented her with temptation but...should she dare?

      “There’s something I’d like to show you. Are you up for a drive?”

      Drive? Alone with him? “Where?”

      “I’d like to keep that a surprise. Something incredible, something a small-town girl like you would love to see.”

      She wasn’t sure she should go anywhere with a man she’d only just met. But the fact that he worked for a man with Kadin’s reputation and she could defend herself as a trained cop, she agreed.

      Now he pulled to a stop on a dirt road where it crested an incline. Moonlight gleamed over a grassy field atop the flat surface of the butte she’d seen from his office window.

      “What’s here?” She saw nothing.

      “Just wait. It’s usually around this time they show up—if they show up. They don’t always.”

      She could see his enthusiasm for whatever would appear and it struck a chord in her. She met few people who had this kind of zest for life, more than aspirations to succeed, but for simpler things.

      “There.” He pointed.

      She looked but saw nothing. “Do you come here every night?”

      “I have been. It’s curing me of city life.”

      “You prefer big cities?”

      “I thought I did, before Kadin offered me a job.”

      She saw something deeper in that response and would have asked, but suspected it related to the serious topic he’d rather avoid.

      “Come on. I’ll keep you warm.” He got out of the truck and came around to her side. Her boots were spiky and might sink into the soil. She put her hands on his shoulders as he helped her down from the truck. Exciting prickles of pleasure ran a current from everywhere she felt him. Chest. Hips. Thighs.

      She stared up at him, seeing the dark swirl of passion come over him, too.

      He lowered his head and then his eyes caught sight of something. “There.”

      She turned and he stood behind her, his arms going around her, heating her body to the point where she almost didn’t see the herd of wild horses. They made their way up the hill to the top of the butte, some grazing, some looking majestically off into the horizon as though enjoying the moonlit view. She picked out the lead stallion. He walked with his head high and ears perked, sensing their presence before the rest of the herd.

      Rearing up, pawing the air, the horse whinnied loud and stomped and clawed the ground with one hoof. The herd scattered a bit, but calmed when they saw no danger, resuming their moonlight leisure.

      Nothing like this existed in Never Summer. The sight stole her breath and her heart.

      The stallion ran the flank of his herd, getting them to move farther down the mountain, and soon they were out of sight.

      Wordless, filled with awe, she turned to Jamie. “That was incredible.”

      “Yeah.” He faced her. “Almost as incredible as you.”

      He slid his arm around her, drawing her to him. “Tell me you feel this, too.”

      Still breathless from the inspiring sight of the wild horses, she said, “Yes.” He didn’t have to explain he meant the passion that had begun the moment they saw each other.

      The suddenness of this nudged a feeble warning just before he touched his lips to her. Soft and patient, he kissed her with warm reverence. Any hesitation fled as desire flared into roaring flames.

       Chapter 3

      Reese floated in an infatuated current all the way back to her hotel. Jamie’s big form sitting across the truck from her engulfed her senses. His strong thighs parted, his muscular arm extended as he gripped the steering wheel, his shadowy profile masculine and sexy. His blue eyes turned to her, zapping her with that electric attraction. Her whole body throbbed with desire. She tightened her hand on the door handle.

      What about him so allured her? Was it his distance from her—his address, so far from hers? She had to admit, she felt safe opening up to him, especially sexually. He presented no danger of trapping her into commitment. After college, she’d promised herself the freedom to explore her life goals, without anyone—any man—holding her back.

      He stopped the truck.

      Not wanting the night to end, she didn’t move.

      Killing the engine, he got out of the truck and walked around the front. Even the way he moved turned her on, with that long stride, unhurried and sure. Opening the door, he held out his hand.

      “You didn’t strike me as the old-fashioned type,” he said.

      She put her hand in his. “I’m not. I just don’t know what to do with how hot you make me.”

      Taken aback at first, he stepped back as she got out.

      “Come again?”

      “Again and again.” She smiled along with her teasing. What more of an invitation did he need? She felt bold, maybe too bold, but she also knew if she didn’t act now, this night would be gone forever.

      “Not old-fashioned at all.”

      “Not easily drawn into bed with a man, either,” she said. “But you...” She let her gaze roam down his broad chest, at eye level.

      He shut the door behind her, a definitive thud. Decision final. She heard the fob beep, indicating he’d locked the truck. All the while, he held her eyes in a long, heated look.

      “Let’s see where this leads us,” he said in a deep voice that revealed his interest.

      She walked beside him up to the double front doors of the three-story Victorian hotel, white brick with recently painted black shutters. Soft lighting added to this real-life fantasy. Her intense attraction to this man only added to the excitement that stole her caution. Something about him made her feel safe to be impulsive.

      Inside, the sole clerk turned to greet them as they passed to the antique elevator. The smell of old wood and sound of cables protesting joined the fiery chemistry electrifying the air. Jamie put his hand on her lower back, further inflaming her. She looked up and back. He looked down, and as the elevator stopped, he lowered his face to kiss her.

      She turned and slid her hands up his deliciously hard chest and pressed herself to him. With a gruff sound, he kissed her deeper as the elevator door shut. She didn’t care how long they stood there. Arrows of pleasure pierced her from her core outward. She’d experienced nothing else like it. Ever.

      When the elevator began to move again, Jamie lifted his head and she laughed along with his chuckle.

      “Oops,” she said.

      And then all traces of smiles vanished as passion took over again.

      He held her head and kissed her again. She thought she’d go out of her mind with ecstasy right then. But the elevator stopped and the doors began to slide open.

      Jamie stepped back from her and she quickly moved

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