Kate Hoffmann - Brody

“Or for that football tryout. I’m going to give that a go. And if it doesn’t work out, I have some other interesting prospects.”

She pushed up onto her toes and kissed him softly. “I don’t care what you do or where we live. I don’t ever want to be away from you again. I-I think I might love you.”

Brody chuckled softly. For now, he was happy with a vague statement of love. He could wait for her feelings to grow stronger. “I think I might love you, too. A lot.”

He grabbed her hand, then pulled it to his lips. “So, what are we going to do with ourselves?”

“Mary’s making dinner. We could eat and then go for a swim.”

“Aren’t you tired? You’ve been on a plane for the better part of four days.”

“About seventy hours,” she said. “I’ve taken off and landed sixteen times.”

“Then I definitely think you need to get to bed. Right now. For your own health. And mine.” He glanced over his shoulder. “We could head over to the shack and spend the night there.”

“But we’re not lost. And that would be trespassing.”

Brody smoothed his thumb over her lower lip. “This all started with a life of crime. I think we can live dangerously.”

Payton threw her arms around his neck. “Forget about nice. I’m really starting to enjoy dangerous.”

He wrapped his hands around her waist and set her back on her horse, then remounted. As they rode toward the sunset, Brody wondered at how his life had changed so much in such a short time. There were no answers to his questions, and maybe there never would be. But Payton was here, with him, from half a world away.

This hadn’t been his dream, but it was now. And it was better than any dream he could have ever imagined for himself.

Kate Hoffmann has been writing for Harlequin Books for fifteen years and has published nearly sixty books, including Harlequin Temptation novels, Harlequin Blaze books, novellas and even the occasional historical. When she isn’t writing, she is involved in various musical and theatrical activities in her small Wisconsin community. She enjoys sleeping late, drinking coffee and eating bonbons. She lives with her two cats, Tally and Chloe, and her computer, which shall remain nameless.