Body Heat

her future. Surely this man couldn’t-wouldn’t-harm her or her secure life in any way. In truth, she feared she was falling in love with him. Something that wasn’t planned and couldn’t last.

Her arms snaked tighter around his waist, harsh reality rising to surround her like the bubbles in the whirlpool. They’d been careless-not just with their time together, but by not using protection. Brianne understood why she’d allowed such an intimate act, because of how deeply she both trusted and cared for Jake. And it had been intimate and wondrous, feeling him inside her, no barriers between her body and his.

But it was foolish, anyway. They’d been acting as if they had their entire lives ahead of them instead of one short, blissful summer.

LOUIS SHOVED HIS HANDS into his jeans pockets. Staring up at the tall building, he wondered if the detective and his girlfriend were rocking the walls tonight. For Lowell’s sake, Louis hoped so, because it would be the last time. Once any woman had a taste of Louis, she’d never settle for a pig again.

He let out a harsh laugh and lit a cigarette, then shoved the lighter back into his pocket. Yeah, he’d have the redhead and the money that was coming in from his new dealer. The owners of The Eatery had been happy to go into business with him, operating out of both their uptown and downtown restaurants. Things had been going smoothly, too, until that damn girl and her boyfriend overdosed. Those drugs weren’t meant to kill, just to take them a little higher. Now he had Lowell on his back and a witness in the hospital. But if the cops hadn’t arrested him by now, they didn’t have a damn thing on him.

He shrugged. In the meantime, he was having a blast playing with the detective. Even if Lowell wasn’t already uptight and worried about his girlfriend, he would be soon. By tomorrow Lowell would think the only place the beautiful Brianne was safe was his high-rise security building. An illusion Louis couldn’t wait to shatter.

CHAPTER TEN

FROM YEARS of training, Brianne had developed an internal alarm that worked like a charm and an uncanny ability to hear her beeper, even in her sleep. Only, she wasn’t asleep when the pager went off, she was in the kitchen at seven a.m. pouring a glass of orange juice because she couldn’t sleep. Her bag with her beeper was in the living room where she’d dropped it earlier. Before she’d made love with Jake.

Though she’d rather dwell on every erotic memory of their joining, of soaring with New York City in the background, the persistent sound continued. With a sigh, she retrieved her oversize bag and dug through her things for the small black beeper. She was a bit surprised because she wasn’t scheduled with a patient until nine a.m.

She checked the number and called the hospital back. Though Brianne normally had patients brought to her at Rehab, occasionally she had an immobile patient that couldn’t be moved off the bed but needed strengthening therapy. Mrs. Cohen was one such patient, an elderly woman whom Brianne adored, perhaps because Brianne had no older relatives of her own. The woman had had a skin graft on one leg but still required upper arm workouts so she’d be ready to use her walker when she was allowed out of bed. But why would she need Brianne so early in the morning?

She picked up the phone to find out, but the desk phone on the other end rang endlessly until the hospital’s main switchboard picked up once more. The floor nurse could be with a patient or dealing with an emergency. Brianne shrugged and hung up. The page couldn’t be a mistake, not at this hour. She’d just toss on her clothes and head out early.

Tiptoeing back into her bedroom so as not to wake Jake, she pulled out a pair of black slacks and a white V-necked T-shirt, an acceptable alternative to hospital scrubs, but one she didn’t use often because her uniform was quick and easy. She’d lived on the move for as long as she could remember, and she hadn’t had time to think about how she looked. She didn’t have the time now, either, but the difference was, she cared. Because of the man asleep in her bed.

She made her way to the queen-size mattress and lay down, allowing herself to snuggle beside him for a few precious minutes before leaving for the day. He groaned and pulled her into his arms. He felt so right, so good. She sighed, burrowing her face into his broad chest. He smelled of musk and man, and she’d never felt as safe and protected as she did right now. Ironic, considering he dealt with risk and danger every day.

But she didn’t deal with that risk or danger. And that enabled her to breathe deeply and enjoy this moment. She shut her eyes and smoothed her hands over the strong planes of his back, memorizing the corded muscle and warm skin, giving herself memories to keep close to her heart while she was gone. Then, with regret, she rolled away. He reached out for her in his sleep, and Brianne felt the beginnings of a smile on her lips. It was easier to leave knowing he’d miss her, too.

She could get used to this too easily, and it could be taken away from her just as fast-by Jake’s belief that he didn’t want a long-term relationship. Or by a gunman’s bullet, Brianne thought with a shudder.

Maybe Mrs. Cohen’s page had come at the optimal time, after all. She’d planned on waking up next to him and making love to him again-with protection this time. Their foolishness in the whirlpool couldn’t be repeated, nor would she worry unless and until she had to. But making love with Jake in the morning was a luxury she couldn’t, shouldn’t, make a habit.

No matter how much she was coming to desire otherwise.

JAKE NORMALLY WOKE with the sun, but apparently the late-night activity had worn him out because when he looked up, the clock on the nightstand read 7:48. He felt the warm body heat nestled against him and rolled over, expecting to find Brianne and wanting to bury himself deep inside her again.

Unfortunately, he discovered Norton flush against him instead. “Oh, jeez.” He grimaced in disgust. “You are not the warm body I wanted.”

The dog didn’t move. Jake groaned and pushed himself to an upright position. He still had about fifteen minutes to catch Brianne before she left for work, and regardless of the fact that he wanted to make love to her, he knew he had to talk to her instead. Thanks to his stupidity last night, he’d added something else to his list of sins: sex without protection.

Without warning, his revelations to Brianne came back to him. He’d admitted wanting kids. What he’d omitted was that he’d never really been able to envision the family scene with Linda. Things between them had soured too fast. But Jake could too easily imagine it with Brianne. Waking to her warm body in the morning and falling asleep beside her at night. Watching her body change and grow with his child.

Jesus, where had that thought come from? He jumped out of bed, looked for her in the bathroom, then headed for the kitchen. Unfortunately she wasn’t there, either. His heart skipped a beat, and the note propped against the coffee machine didn’t calm his nerves: “Wish I could have shared the morning coffee with you but I got called to the hospital a little early. Have a cup for me. Brianne.”

She’d left him with a full pot of coffee and a burning sensation in his gut. How the hell had he slept through a phone call?

As if on cue, the telephone rang.

He snatched up the receiver. “Brianne?”

“No, David. If she had to be at the hospital early, why the hell didn’t you call me? I’d have tailed her or relieved you there.”

“She’s at work?”

“Yeah, she’s there. But I can’t do my job if you don’t-”

Jake slammed down the phone, cutting David off cold. “Sorry, buddy,” he muttered belatedly. And he continued muttering as he pulled on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and sneakers, grabbed his keys and ran for the door.

This woman would be the death of him. And he wanted to die every morning and every night with her in his arms. But he couldn’t do that if she was wandering around, ignorant of the threat Ramirez posed.

He tipped the doorman and asked him to walk Norton, before hailing a cab and heading for Brianne. He’d put off the truth in favor of selfish need last night, but the morning had come and he had to level with her. Immediately.

BRIANNE RUBBED HER EYES and poured a cup of coffee from the