In the elevator, Josh stared straight ahead at the closed doors, keeping a careful few feet between them. Hope stood behind him, trying to simultaneously imagine what he looked like under his clothes and not have a panic attack.

What was she doing? Going up to Josh’s room was impulsive, even reckless, maybe the craziest thing she’d ever done. Her thoughts raced around in her head, but the hot thrum of her blood almost drowned out any kind of coherent thought. She had never felt a connection like this with a man before. One kiss, and she’d been ready to jump him in the hotel lobby.

Hope had spent her life being responsible. She’d worked her way through college, earned a living, made a good career for herself. She drove a safe Japanese car, drank inexpensive California wine, and put ten percent of her income into savings. She dated boring men who made her feel boring too.

Maybe it was time to do something completely reckless.

The ding of the elevator startled her out of her reverie. Josh stepped out of the elevator and turned to the right, still not looking at her. She followed through the beige hotel hallway, wondering if he was having second thoughts, even as the concerned little voice in her head was silenced for good by the sight of his long, lean back flexing as he dug his keycard out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

She didn’t say anything as the door swung closed, leaving the two of them in the small room only lit by a small lamp. Just when she decided Josh had changed his mind, he turned and grabbed her arms a little roughly and backed her against the door. His jacket slipped off her shoulders into a puddle on the floor.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.

Instead of answering him, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed his throat, his chin, and finally his lips.

He groaned and leaned into her, pressing himself up against her body. He felt amazing, all muscle and hardness. When his tongue brushed against her parted lips, she opened them further and thrust her tongue against his. The kiss was wet and hungry, turning into another kiss and yet another until she felt like she was drowning and dizzy with lust. She pushed into him, her nipples tingling with sensation and begging to be touched.

Hoping he’d get the idea, she let her fingers go in search of his shirt buttons. He broke the kiss and reached down to help her, and together they shrugged off his shirt, leaving her free to explore the expanse of his shoulders and chest. So much skin for her to touch, smooth in places, rough with hair in others.

He undid her belt, letting it fall to the floor, then began tugging at the zipper of her dress. She turned around to allow him better access, but he drew it out, lowering the zipper an inch at a time, then leaning in to lick and kiss the skin he’d uncovered.

When he reached her bra, he slid his hands along her shoulders, pushing her dress off. She reached up to pull it off and let it drop to the floor in a colorful puddle. She took a deep breath, thinking of all those times she’d meant to go to Zumba, but then Josh leaned in to kiss her shoulder, and she felt his erection press against her backside. He was hard for her. He wanted her, extra pounds and all.

She unhooked her bra before turning around, for the pleasure of seeing his eyes widen at the sight of her breasts. He immediately reached up to cup them, his thumbs stroking across the nipples, and she let her head thunk back against the wall as the pleasure shot through her. He let out a low chuckle and leaned into to take one in his mouth.

“Oh, God, Josh,” she gasped as he tugged at the pebbled flesh with his lips.

“You are so gorgeous, I can’t believe it. I could barely wait until we got in the room,” he murmured. He stroked his hands down her bare sides and came to rest on her hips. “Lie down, so I can taste you.”

The rush of desire felt like a physical impact, weakening her knees. She wanted so many things simultaneously—his mouth on her, the feel of his skin against hers, him filling the aching emptiness inside her. She moved toward the bed, a little unsteady on her feet, and pulled the covers aside. The cool sheets were a shock to her overheated skin. Josh finished undressing, and then he was on top of her, slowly sliding to rest between her legs.

They kissed again and again, deep, hungry kisses, each one promising more pleasure to come. Josh slid his mouth down her neck, leaving a wet trail that tingled in the cool air of the hotel room. He kissed each of her breasts, then trailed his tongue along the waistband of her panties.

“Can I take these off?”

“You better.”

The silk slid down her legs, and then his mouth was on her. His tongue was wet and hot, licking into her relentlessly, sending her into a spiral of pleasure. Her muscles tensed, and her fingers clenched in the sheets. When he sucked gently on her, she cried out in a voice she barely recognized as her own.

“Josh,” she chanted, “Josh, Josh, so good...”

The sensation built and built, but as she came close to release, he eased back on the pressure, just lightly teasing her with the tip of his tongue.

“Oh, you bastard,” she gritted out. Her muscles were so tense it almost hurt. “Please, please—”

“Shh, it’s okay.” He lowered his mouth to her again and kept up the steady pressure, just right, so that she almost immediately crested to her orgasm. She relaxed as the waves swept through her body, pulsing warmth spreading through her and leaving a languorous exhaustion behind.

Josh climbed up and settled next to her, a hand resting gently on her belly.

She poked him in the side with a finger. “You can stop looking so smug.”

The smile on his face grew, and he leaned down to kiss her. “Oh, it was my pleasure.”

“Mine too. Obviously.”

She reached down to stroke his cock, and that wiped the smile off his face. “God, your hand feels so good.” He thrust into her grasp, a little helplessly.

“I want you inside me,” she whispered.

“There are condoms in that bag on the nightstand.”

She pulled out a condom and rolled it onto him, and then she leaned back and welcomed him into the cradle of her legs. He pushed slowly into her, her wetness smoothing the way. When he came to rest fully inside her, she tensed around him, loving the feeling of fullness. Loving the way they were joined together, body and soul.

He thrust into her over and over, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, holding him to her.

“Can you come again?”

“I—I don’t know,” she said; even the thought felt shocking and erotic.

He balanced his weight on one arm and reached for her hand to pull it down. “Try,” he said.

She rubbed herself gently, the sensation different but still good. Josh started thrusting again, and they both groaned at the movement. Her second orgasm was tighter, more focused, and after that, it was almost too much to have Josh moving inside her.

“Come on,” she whispered. “Your turn.”

He pushed all of the way inside her and dropped his head to her shoulder, and after a moment, she felt him pulsing as he came.

She turned on her side and nestled into the pillows while he disposed of the condom. The bed dipped as he slid back into it and moved close to her, their foreheads almost touching. She tried to remember the last time she’d felt this content and comfortable with a man and came up blank.

“I love hotel sheets,” she murmured sleepily. “They always smell clean and feel so crisp on your skin.”

“Lot of experience with hotel sheets, huh?”

“All that travel,” she said. “And the hotel sheets always smell the same, no matter where you are.”

“On the ranch, we dry most of the laundry outside. They smell like clean air and sunshine.”

“That sounds nice,” she said, halfway asleep.

He yawned. “You’ll come visit, right?”

“Sure.” She’d make a trip out there to get to know him better, meet his family, take a look at what she might be getting herself into. A long-distance relationship could be a bit of a challenge, but she thought they’d be able to manage it for a while.

“I want you to meet everyone, and I’ll show you around the place. I know the perfect spot for a summer wedding.”

Her eyes flew open as his words registered like a bucket of cold water dashed over her. “Wait, what?”

“Flowers blooming in the meadow, beautiful blue skies—”

“Uh, Josh?” She poked him until he opened his eyes. “Are you talking about our wedding?”

“Well, yeah. I know I haven’t asked you yet, and it’s moving a little fast—”

“A little fast?” she heard herself screech. “We haven’t even known each other twelve hours!” She pushed herself into a sitting position, and he sat up to face her.

“I don’t understand,” Josh said. “I thought you were ready to get married. That’s why you signed up with Single and Serious.”

“Not right away!” she protested. “After we’ve actually spent time together and gone on dates and fought over, I don’t know, leaving the toilet seat up.” Suddenly, her carefully made plans and schedules were falling apart.

“Why do we have to do that if we already know we belong together? I know you’re not a shifter, but—you’re my mate. I knew it as soon as I saw you.”

“Mate?” There was that word again.

“When we meet the person we’re destined to be with, we know. We can feel it. Didn’t you know?”

Shit, Kathy was right. Hope swallowed down on the sensation of panic building in her stomach. Of course she felt something, a connection more intense than anything she’d ever experienced, but that was very different from some kind of magic bond.

“No, I didn’t know!” she snapped, feeling herself scooting a little farther away from him.

“The agency should have told you!” He paused. “But they didn’t tell you I was a shifter, did they. Someone messed up.”

“Big time,” Hope agreed.

“But you feel it, don’t you? Our connection?” He leaned toward her, probably not even meaning to do it, but it was suddenly the last straw.

“I feel...like I am not prepared to have this conversation.” She swung her feet to the floor, stood up, and began gathering her clothes.

“Hope—”

“I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t enjoy myself, because obviously I did, and you’re gorgeous and nice, but I don’t even commit to a dentist this quickly!”

She knew she was babbling as she pulled on her undergarments and her dress, but as long as she kept talking, there wouldn’t be a really awkward silence, and she wouldn’t actually have to deal with what she was feeling.

Josh was simultaneously tripping over his discarded shoes and trying to disentangle himself from the trailing bedspread. “You’re right, I’m sorry, I just—”

“Where is my purse?” she muttered to herself. There, tossed on the desk chair near the door. She turned to look at Josh, who’d managed to pull on his pants and looked both chagrined and confused.

“Please,” he said. “I know you weren’t expecting this, but please give me another chance. I didn’t mean to come on too strong. I just—I want to be with you. In whatever way you’re comfortable with.”

Hope took a deep breath. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? After we’ve both had a chance to calm down and think about things.” Josh nodded, and when she turned to look, she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her go.

***

The next day, Josh tried not to stare at his cell phone. He paced in the hotel room. He read half of a book without paying any attention to it. He went down to the gym and lifted weights, a poor substitute for galloping around the ranch with the wind in his mane. He got room service and flipped channels on the TV while eating a burger that might as well have tasted like sand.

Finally he gave up and called his uncle’s cell phone.

“Hey, Josh, how’s it going?”

“Something went wrong, Uncle Rick.” He gave Rick a slightly censored version of what had happened with Hope, leaving out the more lurid details.

“Yeah,” said Rick, raising his voice above the background noise Josh could hear through the phone, “it does sound a little like you stepped in it good. But it wasn’t your fault that she didn’t know.”

“I guess I just thought that because I felt the bond, she’d feel something too.”

“Maybe she does,” Rick reassured him. “She’s just moving at a different speed from you.”

“What should I do?”

“You already know what you have to do. You didn’t call me for advice. You just wanted someone to feel a little sorry for you.”

“Do you?” The noise level on the other end of the phone rose again. A pang of longing struck him. He wanted to be back there, able to run out his problems in the cool evening breeze with the long grass tickling his legs.

Rick tried and failed to conceal the amusement in his voice. “Of course I do, son.”

“I know you’ve said that it’s different for different people. That some are like me, and know immediately, and some people take a little more time to realize it.” Josh took a deep breath and gripped his phone tightly. “Do you know what it was like with my parents? All I ever heard was that they met at the dance.”

“It was something to see, I’ll tell you that.”

Josh could almost see his uncle settling back in his recliner, ready to tell a story.

“Sixteen years old, both of them. It was the Homecoming dance, with nothing fancier than tissue paper streamers hanging from the ceiling and a sad little punch bowl in the corner. But as soon as your mom walked in and saw your dad, her face lit up and made her look twice as pretty as she already was. And your dad, you couldn’t get a coherent word out of him for a week. After that dance, they were never apart again. You’re definitely your father’s son.”

“What about you and Aunt Susan?”

“We actually met on a double date. She was with the other guy, and I was with the other girl. We spent the whole night at the roller rink trying to avoid each other.”

“Wait, avoid each other?”

“You think I’d go on a date with a girl and dump her for the friend she brought along?”

“No,” Josh admitted. “I can see the problem.”

“But I got her phone number, and I waited a while, and eventually I called her. And the rest is none of your business.”

“That’s nice,” Josh said. “Gives me some hope, I guess.”

“She’s the one?”

“Yeah, definitely” Josh replied, remembering Hope’s smile and her quick wit, and her amazing, lush curves...he coughed and decided it was time to change the subject. “Everything okay on the ranch?”

“Spent the day checking the fences and found a couple of breaks,” Rick summarized.

“The Armstrongs?” Josh cursed under his breath, but from the sound of Rick’s chuckle, he’d heard it.

“More than likely. Unless some barbed wire decided to snap all on its own.”

Josh sighed gustily. “Damn. If we could only get some proof, convince the sheriff—”

“I know,” Rick said. “We’ll get ‘em eventually, don’t worry. You just focus on your new lady.”

“I hope she’s my lady.”

“Sure sounds like she is.”

“Well, she is,” Josh agreed. “I just hope I can convince her.”

He asked briefly after the rest of the family, then said goodbye to Rick and hung up. Phone in his hand, he stared at the phone icon on the screen. He wanted so desperately to call Hope, but he knew it would be the worst thing he could do. If he pushed too hard, he’d just scare her away. He had to prove that he respected her enough to let her make her own choices.

But if she didn’t call him soon, he was going to have a hard time sticking to that.