Page 23 (1/2)

He lay ahile she slept She was incredible Hot, bright, electric He was crazy, letting hihosts And he was being swept into her world as if into a vortex He was crazy to let this happen, because…

Because it was crazy to fall for soht be totally insane

There was no way Genevieve regretted what she had done She had never beco so real--except, of course, when she entered into the ridiculous bet with Thor But even then…as incredibly arrogant and obnoxious as she had found hi, even if only sexually at the ti, still comfortable and ridiculously secure in his arant as she had assumed, and not at all obnoxious She cared about him Worse, she really liked hiht

Kind? She didn’t want kindness Although, she mused, they also had incredible che her sanity After all, she had literally stripped for him and asked him to bed Not too many men would have turned her down

So they hadn’t sworn eternal vows She wouldn’t have wanted such a relationship, anyway Real involve about each other But…she did care about hireat in bed" situation

But no ghosts had darkened her dreams when she had been with him She had been completely involved, felt completely protected, even in sleep

He rose She heard him enter the bathroom, heard the shower start A few minutes later, he walked out in a towel--damn, he wore a toell--and strode out to the kitchenette to put coffee on She rolled out of bed, headed into the shower herself, and eed in a towel, as well, just in ti Are you sorry you’re here?" he asked her

She shook her head "I came here of my own free will, remember?"

"I’m still not sure why," he told her

She was tempted to ask him if it really mattered so much She refrained "Good coffee," she said instead

"It’s hard toher He set his cup down and put his hand on her shoulders "I actually thought you’d try to disappear by first light or so," he told her

"No," she said softly

"Should I slip you out somehow, pretend you were never here?" he asked, his voice pleasantly soft, a bit amused

"No Not unless you don’t want people to knoas here," she said

That brought a deep smile She wasn’t sure what it h With Bethany We’re going to see an old friend"

"Ah, yes The mystic" He made his voice spooky for the final word

She hoped she kept her tone level and her voice indifferent "Don’t go telling anyone else, but Audrey is the first to ad She does what she does to make money, and apparently she does well Not a bad business to run in Key West"

He nodded, waiting

"Actually, though," she admitted ruefully, "I didn’t exactly dress to be seen, and I iain, I did walk through town in high-heeled sandals and a nightshirt"

"Ditch the sandals The nightshirt could just be a bathing suit cover-up," he told her gravely "It will be just fine Or, if you’d rather, you can give et whatever you’d like But first, you h the streets of Key West in high-heeled sandals and a nightshirt"

She ignored the last By ht, he seemed taller and far more solid and entirely businesslike--sane, no-nonsense, living in the real world-- his eyes on her, his hands on her shoulders, eventhat teased not just her senses but her heart He was perfect He loved what she loved He seemed to have ethics she had never suspected She wanted to…

Sleep with him, yes But also have breakfast, walk on the beach…curl up to watch a …spend endless tie for soreat," she told hi at her Then he began to s Like a current, the heat of arousal raced through her, quickening her muscles

He took the coffee cup froain The toere lost somewhere before they reached the bed His every whisper, every uely if that was simply because he was such an incredible lover, or because it was hiainst her flesh was a rapid-fire arousal The brush of his fingers…the liquid of his kiss And touching hihtness she created in hiency and desire In the end there ildfire, sweet excite…and the feel of his arms around her, as if she were the most wonderful woh of regret "I guess we should try the coffee thing again," he ain She was tempted to rise, to slip in with him

But she had plans for the day, and they were ied, and she was somewhat surprised to see hi black trousers and a short-sleeved tailored shirt But he had refrained fro her, so she decided it wasn’t her business to ask hi