Feeling the Heat & Night Heat

Canyon’s Bluff. Ramsey’s Web. Derringer’s Dungeon. Stern’s Stronghold… Need I go on?”

He chuckled. “No, and you have my cousin Bailey to thank for that. We give her the honor of naming everyone’s parcel of land, and she’s come up with some doozies.” He picked up her luggage. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room. If you aren’t in the mood to climb the stairs, I do have an elevator.”

“No, the stairs are fine. Besides, it gives me the chance to work the kinks out of my body from our long flight.”

She followed him to one of the guest rooms on the third floor. They hadn’t slept together since that one night he’d spent with her after they’d met on the staircase. Even after he’d taken her dancing, he had returned her to her room at the villa, planted a kiss on her cheek and left. The next day had been extremely busy with them packing up the lab’s equipment and finalizing reports.

They had been too busy to spend time getting naked on silken sheets. But that hadn’t meant the thought hadn’t run through his mind a few times. Yesterday they’d taken the plane here, and sat beside each other for the flight. The twelve hours from India to Washington, and then the six hours from Washington to Denver had given him time to reflect on what he hoped she would get from her thirty days with him and his family.

“Wow!” Kalina walked into Micah’s guest bedroom and couldn’t do anything but stare, turn around and stare some more.

The room was done in chocolate, white and lime green. Everything—from the four-poster, white, queen-size bed, to the curtains and throw pillows—was perfectly matched. The walls of the room were painted white, which made the space look light and airy. Outside her huge window was a panoramic view of the lake she’d seen when they arrived. There was a private bath that was triple the size of the one she had in her home in Virginia. It had both a Jacuzzi tub and a walk-in shower.

She wasn’t surprised Micah had given her one of his guest rooms to use. He wanted to shift their relationship from the physical to the mental. She just wasn’t so sure she agreed with his logic. She could still get to know him while they shared a bed, and she didn’t understand why he assumed differently. She watched him place the luggage by her bed. He said nothing as she continued to check out other interesting aspects of the room.

“I can see why Gemma used your house as a model home,” Kalina said, coming to stand in front of him. “Your house should be featured in one of those magazines.”

He chuckled. “It was. Last year. I have a copy