Just Trust Me…

now…before he stood in real danger of not being able to stop at all.

Expending an effort that required all his will power, he lifted his head. Breathing hard, he looked down into her flushed face. Her hair was beautifully messed from his impatient hands, and with her lips parted and moist from their frantic kiss and her eyelids droopy, she looked sinfully aroused and sexy as hell.

Her tongue peeked between her lips, a flick of pink that spiked his temperature another few degrees. She blinked twice, a look of utter confusion filling her glazed eyes. “What was that?”

He shook his head, feeling as bemused and jumbled as she looked. “Damned if I know.”

“I…I’m at a loss to explain being so carried away.”

“Scientifically, I’d describe it as an instantaneous exothermic reaction.”

“Which means what, to those of us whose brain cells seem to have melted?”

“Basically, it’s a very fast, strong reaction that gives off heat-like when firecrackers explode.”

“Yes, that explains it very well. Although I’d have just called it ‘magic.’”

“Magic works for me.”

“Exactly what sort of science is your specialty that you know all this?”

He tucked a stray strand of shiny auburn hair behind her ear. “Chemistry. The study of matter and the changes that it undergoes…or what’s happening between us.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“I don’t suppose you know how to say ‘Can we get our meal to go?’ in Spanish?”

“No, but adios means goodbye. Probably if we said that, the waiter would get the point.”

“I’m willing to give it a try.” His hands lightly kneaded her bottom and every reason why he didn’t have the time or inclination for a relationship melted under the onslaught of heat between them. Relationship? his inner voice scoffed. No problem-this is just sex. Part of his mind instantly disagreed, but he ignored the warning.

Swallowing a moan of raw want, he said, “We either need to stop this or get out of here now. I know which one gets my vote. How about you?”

She looked at him with those beautiful green eyes smoldering with arousal, with the same wild need racing through him, and his heart performed a crazy rollover maneuver.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said. “Now.”

5

WALKING ACROSS the Plaza de Armas, her fingers entwined with Brett’s, Kayla drew several deep breaths and waited for her sanity to return. For her common sense to override her screaming libido. For her better judgment to cough to life and tell her that going to the hotel room of a man she barely knew wasn’t a good idea.

But instead of any of that, her heart simply whispered, I know enough for now. And I want to know more.

Never had she experienced such a wild, instant attraction. Or felt so carried away, so unable to think beyond the desperate need to get naked with a man. It was a fiery, heady, impossible-to-ignore sensation she couldn’t deny herself the pleasure of seeing through to the end.

Still, she felt compelled to say, “Brett, I want you to know…I don’t normally do this.”

He slowed his pace and turned to look at her. “This?”

“One-night stands. With someone I just met.”

He halted, set down the bag containing their boxed pizza, then framed her face between his hands. Serious golden-brown eyes studied hers for several long seconds. She wanted him to voice the words swimming through her mind-that somehow this didn’t feel like a one-night stand. That it felt intense, and unsettling because of that intensity. Instead he asked softly, “Did we just meet?”

Her throat went dry and for a panicked instant she wondered if he’d seen her at La Fleur. Before she could even think of a plausible reply, he continued, “Because it doesn’t feel like it, Kayla. As crazy as it sounds, I feel as if I know you. As if I have known you. For a long time.” A humorless sound escaped him and what looked like confusion passed over his features. “It’s illogical and unscientific, but…”

“Undeniable?”

He nodded, still regarding her as if she were a puzzle he was trying to solve. “I know chemistry when I see it. Hell, I know it when I feel it. But at the risk of sounding like I’m tossing out a line from some love song, I’ve never felt it like this before.”

“Thank God it’s not just me.” She settled her hands on his chest. “Maybe it’s the altitude.”

“Maybe. But I think it’s my molecules just really, really liking your molecules.”

She smiled. “How lucky for my molecules.”

“And mine. And if it makes you feel any better, one-night stands aren’t my usual thing either. Besides, since we’re on the same tour, this might turn into a two- or three- or even four-night stand.” He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. “Any more second thoughts?”

Kayla looked into his eyes and a tremor of pure want shook her. She’d come to Cusco because of Dr. Thornton, but she was here, wrapped in these strong arms because of Brett. Being with him, like this, had nothing to do with La Fleur and everything to do with her. And him. And how much they wanted each other. Making love with him would be the first thing she’d done just for herself in a long time. Indeed, it didn’t matter where she might have met this man-here, New York, Timbuktu-she would have made love with him. The chemistry between them was just too strong to ignore.

“If I had any other second thoughts,” she said, “the fact that you’re making my knees shake by just looking at me kinda shoves them to the background.”

He brushed his lips over hers, stopping her breath. “To repeat your phrase, thank God it’s not just me.”

Her fingers curled, clutching his shirt. “Do you have condoms?” she asked, praying he did.

“Yeah,” he whispered against her lips. “Anything else you want to know?”

“Yeah. How fast can we get to your room?”

After a brief, pulse-quickening kiss, he snatched up the pizza then grabbed her hand. “Let’s find out.”

They started off at a brisk walk which turned into a jog. By the time they neared the small hotel, Kayla was breathless with a combination of anticipation, laughter and exertion from the high altitude.

“I think I’ve exhausted myself,” she gasped, climbing the last two steps to the second floor. When she reached the top, he handed her the pizza, swung her up in his arms and strode swiftly down the hallway.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I have enough energy for both of us.”

Kayla wrapped an arm around his neck then leaned forward to nibble his earlobe. “I didn’t know scientists were so strong.”

“Obviously you’ve been hanging out with biologists. Or physicists. Bunch of weaklings those guys are. Now chemists-we know how to build muscles.”

“Obviously,” she murmured, running an appreciative hand over his wide, solid chest. “Probably I’ll get a second wind.”

“If not, I’ll do my best to revive you.”

“You know CPR?”

He shot her a wink. “Sweetheart, I know all sorts of ways to jump-start your heart.”

Her pulse quivered at the mere thought. “Lucky me.”

He stopped in front of the last door. “Hang on,” he said, letting go with the hand that was wrapped around her waist. “Gotta find the key.”

“You could put me down,” she suggested, her lips continuing their exploration of his jaw.

“Not a chance. I’m not letting go. Do you know why men carry women over thresholds?”

“No clue. But I bet a genius boy like you does.”

“It’s to protect them from being possessed by the evil spirits that hang around in doorways.”

“And here I thought it was just an amazingly romantic gesture.”

“That, too.” She gently bit his neck and he groaned. “You know, you’re not making the key search any