head. And for a split second, he was on this date with her—not a liar manipulating her so he could get what he wanted.
He let the water move him just slightly. His lips met hers. And he felt her moan.
* * *
HIS LIPS DIDN’T just touch hers. They were getting to know her. And Sara wanted more.
She was a woman spending her life alone. By choice now.
But there had to be more to life than women who were afraid of the men they loved. More than men hurting the women who loved them.
Logically she knew there was.
But she’d been separated for so long from the part of life where men loved and honored their women.
“Mmm.” She heard herself. The sound embarrassed her. And she wanted more.
His lips were thicker than hers. Harder, and compelling in their differentness. Her nipples tingled against the tight spandex of her suit.
She needed to escape reality, to know that being with a man still felt good, and he was giving her a way.
He hadn’t touched her other than with his lips. And was turning her on, making her not care about anything but the moment, like never before.
Sara’s breath bubbled in unison with the water holding them.
“Oh, God, what have I done?” The searing, pain-filled tone reached her first. His words filtered in with the realization that rather than pulling her closer, he’d pushed away from her instead.
It was a new experience for her—having sex stop once it had begun. Not that she’d ever gone in for a one-night stand before. Or for having sex before dating for a while first. But...
The pulse in her private area wasn’t gone. Her nipples still yearned for his touch. And the wounded cry spoke straight to her heart.
“It’s okay, Michael. Whatever it is, it’s okay. Nothing happened here.”
He was sitting across the pool from her. The jets were on a timer and would be shutting down soon.
“It’s not okay.”
She should go. Take care of herself so she’d be ready to face tomorrow. But right now, all she wanted was to sit with a man she’d only known a few hours. Sit with him until he felt better.
What did she know about Michael Edison? That he ran a kennel for rescue animals. And lived in her complex. Certainly not enough to have had such a strong reaction to him.
“Do you want to talk?”
His gaze as he sought hers was raw. Intense. “No. I want to move inside you until neither one of us can form a thought, let alone talk.”
She should have been embarrassed. Maybe offended. Instead, his honesty turned her on.
“But that’s not okay,” she said, repeating his words back to him.
“No.”
By his tone of voice, the strength of it, she’d guess whatever his problem was, it was a big one.
“You said you’re no longer married.”
“I’m not.”
“Is there someone else?”
Just because he was divorced didn’t mean he didn’t have a significant other. He’d been single for three years, he’d said. Plenty enough time to develop something with someone else.
Not enough of something to be living with her, though, she surmised. Michael didn’t strike her as the type of man who’d ever step out on his woman. But then, what did she really know about him?
Other than an instantaneous reaction that was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.
“No. I’m not involved with anyone.” Calmer now, he sat with arms spread out on either side of him, resting on the edge of the tub. “I wouldn’t... I haven’t had a real date since...”
“It’s been three years?”
“More or less.”
They were avoiding the issue. Sara was trained to keep the conversation on track. As curious as she was about Michael’s love life, her only business with him was to set this night straight so that it didn’t add to that which was already bound to keep her up into the wee hours of the morning.
And then she needed to get home. To plug in her lavender potpourri, drink some chamomile tea, turn on some soothing music and rest.
The jets turned off. Neither one of them stood.
“I have to talk to you.”
Ominous words. Confusing, too, coming as they were from someone she’d just met.
“So talk.” Feeling exposed in the still water, Sara longed for her towel and wrap but didn’t want to step out of the water, exposing more nakedness, while he sat so close.
Her nipples weren’t screaming anymore.
“I lied to you.”
Fine. At least he’d come clean before anything had happened between them. There was integrity in that. “You’re married, aren’t you?”
“What?” His shock had to be genuine. “Hell no, I’m not married.”
No reason at this point to be glad about that. She’d been lied to.
But she was glad he wasn’t married.
“I lied about living here. I was here this afternoon strictly to meet you.”
A rush of pleasure was followed by caution.
“Don’t worry, the security golf cart just passed again. And besides, if I was out to harm you, I’d have continued with...” He motioned toward her.
She didn’t really think she’d have let things get that far, but as strung out as she was, she might have invited him back to her place. Or thought about going to his.
Suffused with heat again, Sara nodded.
“I’m a bounty hunter.”
Sara jerked upright. “I’m not wanted for anything!”
“I know that.”
She nodded again. What was it with this guy? No one threw her off-kilter so easily.
She was worried sick about Nicole. She’d done her job. But sometimes the job just wasn’t enough. She’d never been face-to-face with the radicalness of Nicole’s situation. It was like something out of the movies.
Sara knew that the only way they were going to be able to have a breakthrough with Nicole—who’d been living her life
