“You did good out there.”
“Thanks,” she said lightly, “but I prefer driving on dry roads. How’s your thigh?”
“I’ll be fine.”
That wasn’t, she noted, an answer to her question.
He exhaled. “You got towels in the bathroom?”
“Sure.”
“Then I’ll go find us some towels while you get changed out here. Stay away from the windows and the
door. And, Dani?” He started limping toward the bathroom.
“Huh?” She dug her feet into the floor before she got any ideas about following him. This wasn’t a
romantic getaway.
“Get undressed, okay?”
SINCE SHE CLEARLY wasn’t used to taking orders, he figured the shock bought him a few seconds.
After that, she’d be giving him hell.
“I’m going to go in there.” He gestured toward her bathroom, and damned if the corners of her mouth
didn’t turn up. “I’ll start the water, heat things up some. When I come back, you go in. I don’t know how long we’ll have hot water, so let’s use it while we can and get you warmed up, all right?”
“Someone died,” she said, “and made you God. That’s it, isn’t it?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He came around behind her and whispered in her ear, “There are two ways to do this,
Dani. You can go on in there by yourself and shower, or I can take you in there.”
She turned to face him and unfortunately, he didn’t miss the hands that came to rest on her hips. “This isn’t another mission, sailor.”
“You phoned it in,” he pointed out ruthlessly. “You asked for help—and it sure looked to me like you
needed it.”
Daeg grabbed a flashlight and limped into the bathroom, his thigh and knee hurting. He’d pushed too
hard, too fast, and the muscles were flat-out on strike. Still, he wouldn’t have traded places with Cal or Tag for the world.
“There are towels on the rack by the tub,” she called as he closed the door between them, and he
figured that was the concession he was getting tonight.
He liked teasing Dani, liked how that pretty blush lit up her face. She was easy to rile, too. Of course, he was also used to issuing orders, and she’d made it plenty clear that she wasn’t his to command. He
wondered briefly if that ultimatum of hers extended to bed and then forced the thoughts away. Back on track, soldier.
He turned the water on in the shower and carefully positioned the flashlight. Dani’s bathroom was as
romantic as the rest of the cabin, with a wide, claw-foot tub, a basket of rose petals, scented creams and lotions. Oh, and lots and lots of candles. All white. He yanked the shower curtain closed and waited for the water to hit steamy. A bikini lay neatly folded on the counter, and it was too easy to remember how she looked in it when he picked up the scraps of soft cloth.
She was too sexy for his peace of mind.
And it didn’t help that the whole cabin was some kind of elaborate fantasy scene for night after night of hot sex. Good thing she couldn’t see the grin stealing over his face.
As much as he’d enjoyed that kiss, he’d enjoy making love to Dani even more.
He shifted uncomfortably, parts of him eager to do just that. Towels. He was on a mission to find
towels.
His first pass turned up a pair of tiny decorative hand towels on silver rings by the sink. Those were
about as useful as a bandage to patch a pothole. But everywhere he looked, all he could see was Dani.
There was the scent—pretty and feminine. A neat row of pastel nail polish bottles sat on a shelf, along with a perfume bottle and a pair of earrings. Her bathrobe hung on the back of the door, the belt tied and the sleeves tucked into the pockets. He winced as he remembered dropping his filthy boots on her floor.
Spotting a low cabinet, he popped the door open, needing the distraction.
Bingo. He’d found the mother lode of all towels, neatly folded and stacked in two columns.
“Incoming!” He’d opened the bathroom door and tossed a few towels into the bedroom. Dani’s muffled
squeak said he’d hit his target. “Ten minutes and I’m back out there,” he warned and closed the door. He tried hard not to think about Dani possibly stripping off in the other room. That she could be naked and a mere ten feet away. Or maybe she’d wait until she had a door and a lock between them to undress.
Making a return trip to the linen closet, Daeg noticed something fall from the shelf as he claimed a
couple of towels for himself. Hello. The something was one of those yellow-lined notepads filled with neat handwriting. He listened for Dani, but all he could hear were rustling sounds coming from the bedroom.
He eyed the notebook.
He shouldn’t.
But he was going to.
Why would his by-the-book actuary be hiding a notepad in her bathroom linen cupboard?
He acknowledged a twinge of guilt, yet hunkered down on the bathroom floor, back to the tub. It did
feel good to get off his leg, although he wouldn’t be admitting that to Dani. Instead, he riffled through the pages. Many were blank, but others were covered with long, orderly lists. Supplies to purchase, cabin-cleaning rotations and some kick-ass plans for a new flower bed. None of that merited concealment, so he kept reading with an ear cocked toward the bedroom.
There. The last list before the remainder of blank pages started. Three neat numbered columns with
headings in all caps. He knew Dani’s handiwork when he saw it. When he scanned the columns, he hit the
jackpot. His Dani had an imagination—and one incredibly sensual bucket list.
She’d listed her sexual fantasies.
And prioritized them.
Row by row, she’d laid out one naughty scenario after another—complete with her predictions about
how he’d react. And then how she’d react. One column for him and one for her.
Yeah. He’d be happy to help her out.
He wanted to hold her, to touch her and love her. He’d admitted that much to himself. From the
moment he’d spied her standing on the beach in that little white crocheted bikini, he’d been a goner. So he’d taken the room at Sweet Moon without complaining—too much—and he’d done his best to get closer.
A lot closer. She’d been running, though, and he didn’t blame her. They didn’t have the best history, but he suspected someone else had hurt her a lot more and recently, too.
And yet she’d made this list. He read it a second time.
Dani tapped on the door. “It’s safe to come out now.”
There was wry humor in her voice.
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat, his own voice sounding hoarse. “Be there in two.”
He ran his finger down the list. Sex before a roaring fire, sex on the beach, a list of cross-references to some Cosmo articles and a kind of kissing that—and he knew a grin was splitting his face, because this was so perfect—involved his tongue on a very personal part of Dani’s anatomy. He’d happily do all that and
more. This was the roadmap to Dani’s own seduction with a path straight to her likes and dislikes.
A man couldn’t ask for more than that.
10
ITEM ONE ON Dani’s list: a hot fire and a heart-to-heart in front of the flames, followed by slow,
sweet seduction. Talking wasn’t Daeg’s strong suit, but he knew how to build a fire, and more than
anything, he wanted to give her the kind of intense pleasure she’d never had before.
Once he had the shower hot enough for Dani, he stepped into the bedroom and spotted her still fully
dressed. That was a disappointment, given the image he had of her towel-wrapped body, but he’d work
with what he had.
“Shower’s ready.” He gestured toward the bathroom with his flashlight in hand.
“Then you’d better get back on in there.” Sugar wouldn’t melt in her voice. He mentally scanned her list and, sure enough, there wasn’t an item on there that involved being told what to do, which was too bad for her. The inside intel was good, but they would still have to handle this the right way.
“You’re wet.” What had she been doing while he was in there? Because she sure hadn’t changed. Or
dried her hair any. The strands clung to her face and shoulders.
“So are you.”
“Right.” He winked at her and grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt. With one swift pull, he took the shirt off and dropped it on the floor. “Which is why I’m changing. You’re welcome to use the bathroom if you’d prefer not to watch.”
She marched into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.
“Water’s hot,” he yelled after her.
Apparently, he hadn’t lost his touch.
Grinning, he stripped off his wet gear and pulled on sweats and a dry shirt. Starting a fire in the big fireplace took five minutes, leaving him with far too much time to think about the fact that only a door separated him from a naked Dani. His imagination obligingly drew a superb, sexy picture of her standing among the billowing steam, water sluicing down her body. She’d be all smooth sweetness if she used the
basket of bath products he’d spotted by the side of the tub. Raspberries. He loved that rich scent with a hint of tartness.
Redirect.
Grabbing his cell from his duffel, he tried a call, but no surprise, he had no signal. The storm would
have temporarily knocked out service across the island. He reconned the cabin again and was fiddling with the radio when the bathroom door opened.