She stared at him. It was finally hitting her that, yes, Eddie Jessup was the sort of guy who really would choose the crossword over a naked hot tub party, if he thought that was what she wanted.

“I appreciate you just fine, Eddie, with or without the stupid crossword. And I am getting in this hot tub.”

She stood, and in one smooth movement, pulled the dress over her head. She squealed as the cold air hit her bare skin and she immediately plopped into the tub. She sank down to her shoulders, her grand moment of bravery spent. “That wasn’t very graceful, was it?”

“The judges give you a nine-point-nine.”

“Not a ten?”

“I didn’t say you weren’t a ten.” He sidled close, but not too close. “You’re beautiful, Laura. Don’t you get that?”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, I’m not so sure you do get it.” He gently turned her face to his, studying her intently. “I blame that bastard fiancé of yours.”

“Ex-fiancé.” She looked away, avoiding that intense gaze, and instead placed her hand on the surface of the water, focusing on the feel of bubbles between her fingers. “It’s not what you think. It wasn’t like I was so in love with him. Patrick didn’t break my heart. He just showed me…how I need to be more careful. Keep myself safe. Protect myself, you know?”

“I’ll find him and kill him.”

She shot her head up with a laugh. “Okay. But you’ve got to let me help.”

“Naturally.” He leaned back, spreading his arm behind her, along the back of the tub. “We’ll be a duo. Only now, I’ll be the one to keep you safe.”

She felt her smile fade. “Sure.”

“Hey, come here.” He pulled her onto his lap, settling her sideways, and the position exposed more of her body to the cold evening air. He smoothed her wet hair from her shoulders. “You’ve got to let yourself be vulnerable with somebody, sometime. Vulnerable isn’t weak. Sometimes vulnerable is good. Like…vulnerable can get you this.” He kissed her neck, and the feel of his hot mouth on her cooling skin sent a delicious shiver rippling across her body. She became exquisitely aware of her breasts tightening under the thin, wet fabric of her bra.

“Or this,” he said, his voice gone husky. He stroked down her arm, until his hand disappeared below the bubbles. His fingers splayed over the side of her hip, gripping her, tugging her panties against her flesh just enough to set her body on fire.

She had to open her mouth to inhale. “All right,” she managed. “You’re convincing me.”

He nibbled her earlobe. “Only partly convinced?” His breath tickled her skin, and her pulse became a drumbeat. “What else do I need to do?” One hand smoothed down her thigh, finding her knee, and the other swept down her back, lower then lower still, until the very tips of his fingers dared plunge under the top of her panties.

“Oh.” She’d begun to speak, but her word became a moan. Nodding, she said, “You win. Vulnerable is good. I see that now.”

He stroked his other hand back up her thigh, higher and closer, until his thumb was sweeping just below the V of her thighs.

Her body was throbbing now, begging for more, and instinctively she circled her hips in his lap. “Mmm. I could maybe get used to vulnerable.”

“Show me.” He nipped at her shoulder, kissing along her collarbone, waiting for her to make the first move.

She tucked her knee, and in a single motion she swung her leg between them, spinning in his lap to face him.

He barked out a pleased laugh. “Hot damn, Laura.”

She felt like she must’ve been beaming, she felt so free, so gratified, so joyous. “I used to be a cheerleader, remember?”

“How could I forget? You were the Holy Grail of my teen years.” He grasped both her hips and ground her closer. His arousal was undeniable, and it was a spark, inflaming her.

“We’re not kids anymore,” she said softly as she twined her hands behind his neck. She hitched her hips to nestle him in place and kissed him deeply.

When she pulled away, he looked drugged, dazed. “You are one sexy thing, darlin’.”

He parted his lips, leaning closer to taste her again, but she ducked away, instead kissing along his jaw, his neck. She’d dreamed of seeing that bare chest, of touching him, and let herself explore every inch with palms and fingers and mouth.

It was perfect. Just then, in the dreamy twilight, this was perfect.

She roved back up and let herself sag into him, savoring the feel of his hands stroking along her back. “This is good, Eddie.”

“Better than good,” he said, in a voice gone fierce. He guided her mouth back to his, taking another kiss. It was passion and urgency, but mastery, too, his hands knowing just where to go, his kiss just right. Good Lord, but the man knew his stuff.

Her desire hitched higher, until she felt fevered with it. She stretched into him, until the chafe of her bra against her sensitive skin became an exquisite agony.

She broke the kiss, catching her breath. She wanted him. Needed him skin-to-skin. Desired him with an intensity that made the heat of the water nearly unbearable. “Too hot.”

“It is hot,” he growled, taking her mouth again.

After a minute, she broke away again. “No, the water.”

Holding her in his lap, he swept them to a bench that sat higher in the tub, exposing more of her upper body to the cold air. It was instant relief. “Better?”

With a moan of pleasure, she kissed him hard in answer. She wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck and tilted her hips, craving him closer, deeper.

He reached around and unclasped her bra. Pulling away, his eyes met hers. He still held her straps in place, as if asking permission to let the scrap of fabric fall from her shoulders.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He brought his hands down, drawing the bra slowly along her skin. Sensations overwhelmed her—the shiver of cold air on naked skin, coarse lace dragging over her body—it drove her desire to the edge. But it was Eddie’s eyes on her, hooded, devouring her with a look of such wanting, that gaze was what pushed her over the edge. She gripped his shoulders, needing him to take her, to quench this fire.

Her breasts pebbled in the cool air. She arched her back, wanting him to taste her, take her, something. “I want you.”

Instead, he slowly, reverently, brought his hand up, cupping her. “You’re like an angel.” She leaned into him, using her body to beg for more, and he answered with a firmer touch, squeezing her, palming her. “Magnificent,” he whispered. “Perfect.”

She grabbed his head and pulled his mouth to hers for a kiss. But still, it wasn’t enough. She pulled away, unable to stand it any longer. “Now, Eddie. I need you.”

He leaned down to steal a taste of her breast, and she pleaded, “Please.”

Finally, he parted from her. “Wait…” Keeping her legs wrapped around his waist, he held her as he half stood, reaching for the towel, and then when he settled them back in the water, he flashed a condom pinched between his fingers.

She grinned. “Smooth.”

“I’m a man with a plan,” he said, grinning back.

He stretched, tossing the towel well away from the water, and the move showcased his torso and flexing muscles. It was a beautiful sight.

She swept her palm lightly along his chest, teasing him to goose bumps. “You need to go shirtless more often.”

He sucked a breath in through his teeth. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“You bet.”

With a smile, he cupped her face for a quick kiss, but it soon grew heated, deeper. The next time they parted, when they settled back again, the rest of their clothes had disappeared.

She took Eddie inside her, and he filled her, hot and perfect. The bad boy and the good man, all at once, in a single package. It was almost too much.

Afterward, he held her close, and she felt raw, overflowing with sensation, with emotion. With a sense of completion that frightened her.

“You know I’m in love with you,” he said, his voice so quiet. So serious.

She held her breath. Darkness had fallen, and with it, silence had descended like a blanket, shrouding the woods from all sound but for settling leaves and the occasional distant cries of coyotes. A vast canopy of stars spread overhead.

She was overwhelmed by the night. Overwhelmed by him.

She couldn’t answer his extraordinary declaration. She only clung tighter, squeezing him closer.

He seemed to understand, though, and began to caress her in long strokes, from her head, along her hair, and down her back. “I’m glad you’re here,” he told her gently. “Glad you’re home.”

“Me, too.” She felt it in her heart. She wanted to be there, to be with him. She’d meant the words, but she was too afraid to consider beyond that.

It’d been a risk to come home. A risk to stay. And yet it was Eddie who felt like the greatest risk of all.

Twenty-nine

Rob stowed his blue-and-yellow Up Country Hardware apron in the back and headed out—finally. He must’ve checked his damned watch five hundred times, but the seconds had ticked by like he was trapped in some screwed-up science fiction movie.

He had another hunch, but this time it was a good one.

When he first checked his watch that morning, it’d been eight o’clock on the nose. No big deal. But then he’d checked again, and damned if the time didn’t read nine o’clock, exactly. He’d just about pissed himself. Double zeroes, then double zeroes again, right in a row, flashing like a red beacon.

Omens didn’t get any more solid.

Screw the card tables, he was done with them. He wasn’t going to mess around—he’d head straight to the Reno strip. It was time for roulette.

“Rob,” Tom called from the back of the store. “Didn’t you hear me calling?”

He stopped. Dammit, but he’d already clocked out and gotten halfway out the door. Automatically, he checked his watch, half hoping he’d hit one o’clock. But it was already seven past. “I thought I was off at one.” He tried to seem calm, but really he just wanted to hop into his car and floor it. His hand was in his pocket, jiggling that buffalo nickel.