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So must have shown on his face because she smiled faintly, then leaned close "Fine," she whispered, her breath soft and sweet against his face "Change the subject if you have to I don’t mind"

Then she kissed him

His body responded instantly Even as Arizona ainst her, heat filled him as blood rushed toin less than ten seconds

There was little time for tenderness They touched each other everywhere Even as he tried to slon, Chloe tugged at his clothing and whispered words of encourage him how much she needed him to be in her When he touched her panties, he found her ready for hier deep inside of her She surged against him As he kissed her, he cupped a breast with his free hand and toyed with the tight nipple He er in and out of her Within seconds he felt the rhyth hiasp out his name as her pleasure continued

From then on it was a blur One minute they were still half-dressed and on the sofa The next they were on top of the bed, their clothes fored into her and felt her clax again There was no way to stop either of them, he realized The passion burned away social convention and left theers into her hair to hold her still She grabbed his hps and forced him in deeper Their kisses were hot and wild and when she bucked against hi to each other as the fire cooled They were both slick with sweat and panting Arizona slid out of her and settled next to her on the bed Chloe caled in a position that had so quickly becoht, he told hiht

HE FELT HER stir sometime well before dawn Arizona turned onto his side and squinted as she clicked on the la," she said softly, her eyes still heavy with sleep and her hair et to the house"

He nodded "I didn’t mean to fall asleep Sorry" He motioned to his hotel roo out of "

"There would be talk," she agreed with a so hoet soht"

"I just ht do that"

He watched as she pulled on clothes When she was dressed, she crossed to the bed and kissed his cheek "I’ll see you tonight"

He grabbed her hand "Dinner? After the lecture?"

"I’d like that Thank you"

He squeezed her fingers When she pulled away, he didn’t want to let her go He wanted to tell her soo

Was that it? Did he want to keep her with hiure it out, she’d stepped into the hall and quietly closed the door behind her He rolled onto her side of the bed The sheets were still war But it wasn’t enough The roorown cold and erimly, had his life

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHLOE STARED AT the pile of notes sitting on the corner of her desk She had too much material It was, she supposed, the problem to have After all, toothe very best of what she had instead of scraes Unfortunately, she was having trouble figuring out what to cut and what to keep She wanted to keep it all The article was about Arizona and she thought he was pretty wonderful

"Not that I’m biased in the least," she said aloud, then shifted in her seat Her insides still felt a little squishy froo to sleep If only they could do that every night

She sloith happiness As long as the gloasn’t the least bit netic, she wouldn’t hurt her coet any work done, either

On a whied onto the Internet She found her way to Arizona’s fan club She’d noticed an icon for a bulletin board Feelingthat while the man was completely brilliant, he was also a hunk and wasn’t that just as ie, then went to check her E- to her mail, she returned to the bulletin board to see if anyone had read her coreed completely and went on to describe him in such detail that Chloe wondered if she should feel jealous Then a thirdChloe for her shallowness That the wonder of Arizona Sic of his work He was more than just a man He was a syed off the Internet She didn’t want to talk about Arizona with people who had never met him She wanted to talk about who he really was and how he --she could concede that with no probleifted, motivated, kind But like everyone else, he had his faults He was a little self-centered and he could be stubborn He wasn’t perfect, but he was someone she could…

He was someone she could love Someone she did love

Chloe placed her elbows on the desk and rested her head in her hands Love? No, that wasn’t part of the plan She wasn’t supposed to love hi, nothing erous She’d learned her lesson She didn’t want to go there again Because of her past, she’d been avoiding love for a long time This situation with Arizona had pain written all over it

"Why me? Why now?"

But there weren’t any answers Maybe it was the luck of the draw, or just her tiht she’d been so careful to hide her heart away But she hadn’t At least not this time She’d been so stunned when she’d first met him Because of the dreaown," she said as she straightened in her chair Didn’t the faend promise a lifetime of happiness? But that wasn’t possible with Arizona He wasn’t a , and she was the kind of woman who needed a houarantee she had was that he would leave in just a few days and she would be heartbroken

"I don’t need this," she told herself Not again She didn’t want to love him but it was too late Love hihts She glanced up and saw Aunt Charity standing in the doorway The older woman wore tailored slacks and a shirt, the conservative clothing eure that had stayed tri dark hair was up in its customary French twist She offered a smile

"It’s nearly lunchtiht you a snack" She placed the tray on the desk

Chloe glanced at the pot of tea, the sandwiches and bowl of fruit "Thank you," she said, forcing her voice to sound soft and grateful Her natural tendency was to be belligerent with her aunt Her conversation with Arizona about letting go of the past was still fresh in her mind "You went to a lot of trouble and I appreciate that"