parking lot was still there, and they entered the same elevator.
Boone had only seen her in the dark parking lot. Now, in the bright lights of the elevator, she stole his breath. His gaze skimmed over a figure that was usually found only in men’s dreams. Her emerald-green sleeveless dress revealed lush curves and a tiny waist. Her slender arms had well-toned muscles, and he guessed that she worked out regularly. Especially since that display in the parking lot.
Her full red lips conjured up his curiosity about how they would taste and feel beneath his own. He glanced at her long, slender fingers and noted she wore no wedding ring. She was looking down, adjusting her purse strap. The thick curtain of silky shoulder-length red hair fell forward, hiding her face. She raised her head and he gazed into the greenest eyes he had ever seen.
Thickly lashed, her cat eyes mesmerized and enticed. They were cool, icy green, full of mystery and mischief and hints of sensual pleasure. She met his gaze with her own direct, self-assured stare.
“I was going to come to your rescue out there in the parking lot,” Boone told her, “until I saw I wasn’t needed.”
“Thanks, anyway,” she replied in a throaty voice.
“Would you like to go downstairs and have a drink?” he asked, hoping to prolong their time together.
She smiled briefly at him. “Thank you. Actually, I was going back downstairs. I haven’t had dinner tonight so I’m going to eat not drink.”
“Fine. I just got into town. Let me take you to dinner to celebrate.”
Her eyebrow arched. “Celebrate what? Your getting into town?”
He grinned. “No, you fending off that guy. You were cool, collected and efficient. It was impressive.”
“Thanks.” The elevator doors opened. “Maybe I’ll see you in the restaurant,” she offered, and the doors closed behind her.
“Yes, you will,” Boone replied quietly. He rode to his floor, hurried to his room to deposit his flight bag, wash up and comb his wavy brown hair.
Downstairs in the restaurant, he got a table beside a window that overlooked the deserted swimming pool. In the red-carpeted restaurant the lights were low and, because of the late hour, the room was almost deserted. While he sat and waited, he could hear live music from the lounge.
Less than five minutes later, she walked through the door, and his pulse skipped a beat. When he stood and waved to her, she hesitated, but then she smiled and crossed the room toward him, moving past the tables draped with white linen cloths.
He watched the easy sway of her hips, and his temperature rose another notch.
“You don’t give up easily, either, do you?” she demanded.
“No, but I’m not going to coerce you into eating with me. You’ll have to admit, it’ll be far more entertaining than if we eat alone.”
“And you don’t lack in confidence,” she added, sounding amused.
“That was fact not confidence. I know I’ll have a better time eating with you instead of alone.” He pulled out a chair.
“I don’t usually let guys pick me up,” she told him, “and I don’t usually have dinner with strangers. For all I know, you’re married.”
“I’m not picking you up—this isn’t a date,” he said as she sat down. “And I’ve never been married, not married now, not going to be.”
“A free spirit?”
“Exactly.” He walked around to his chair to sit and face her. “Besides, we’re not strangers now. We’ve known each other almost a whole half hour.” He held out his hand. “I’m B—”
She shook her head. “No names. Let’s keep this impersonal.”
“You don’t want to know my name?”
“No, because we won’t see each other again after this night. When dinner is over we’ll go our separate ways. I’ll feel much better about it.”
He cocked his head. “Want to make a bet? I’ll bet you that before we part, you’ll tell me your name. In the meantime, I’ll just call you Red.”
Smiling, she nodded while her green eyes twinkled. “All right, I’ll take that bet. Winner gets what?”
“What would you like if you win?” he challenged, knowing what he would like to claim as his prize, but also knowing he couldn’t tell her that now. Another loud clap of thunder boomed and crackled through the hotel. “What would you like if you win? Name something,” he urged her.
She gazed past him and pursed her lips in thought. Boone had to fight the temptation to lean across the table and touch his lips to hers. Finally her gaze returned to him. “I’m a chocoholic. If I win, you get me a chocolate dessert, or if they don’t have one, a candy bar. I know the gift shop will have them.”
“Fine with me,” he replied.
“Now, if you win, what do you want? You better keep the prize simple and impersonal,” she warned in a no-nonsense tone.
“That you tell me four facts about yourself—in addition to the ones I figure out on my own.”
He received another smile. “If you’re trying to figure me out, I can save you the trouble. I’m an ordinary person who leads an ordinary life.”
“I don’t think so. Four new facts, right?”
“That’s an easy one. All right. I’ll take that bet and enjoy my chocolate.”
“Tonight we can have a double celebration.”
“This ought to be a good one—what else will we celebrate?” Outside, lightning flashed, and then was gone.
“My having dinner with one of the prettiest women in Texas, and that’s saying a lot. Since Texas women are usually gorgeous.”
She laughed and shook her head. “That’s a little thick!”
“There! Your smile is absolute proof. You have a dimple, even, white teeth, a smile that would set any man’s pulse racing, plus those big green eyes…” He paused when a waiter arrived to pour glasses of water for each of them.
Boone ordered white wine, yet all the time he was ordering, he was watching the woman and thinking about her. He had meant every word he’d said to her. Besides being capable and keeping a cool head in a scary situation, she was stunning and sexy—a combination to heat his blood to boiling. And he had the feeling that she was merely tolerating him. He could get some response from her, but it was slight and guarded, a rarity in his dealings with women.
As soon as the waiter left, Boone leaned forward. “Where was I? Big, green eyes, luscious red lips, fiery red hair,” he said, catching a lock of her hair in his fingers. It was silky soft.
“Who were you telling all this to last night?” she asked, tugging her hair away from him. Though she was being flippant, there was no mistaking a chemistry sparking
