Kate Hoffmann - Warm & Willing

“Nope,” he said. He started off again, but she grabbed his arm.

“All right. Here’s the deal. I want to make a television show about Sam Morgan’s experiences in the wilderness. I own a small production company and we work with the PBS station in Charleston, South Carolina. It would be a multimedia deal. There’d be a companion book, speaking engagements, special appearances. I’ve read Mr. Morgan’s articles in Outdoor Adventure and he’s a wonderful writer. I can make him famous.”

Charlie laughed out loud. “Famous?”

“As famous as…Bob Vila. Or Julia Child.”

“So you like his writing?” Charlie asked. “I always thought his prose was a little flowery.”

“Not at all,” Sarah protested. “It’s descriptive and evocative. He has such a wonderful way with detail, yet there’s an innate simplicity to his words. Do you know if he’s an educated man?”

Charlie hesitated, as if contemplating how much he was willing to reveal. “I’d say he’s just about the smartest guy I’ve ever met. I’d even call him brilliant. But he’s also very humble.”

“And what about his dental situation,” she asked. “Does he have all his teeth?”

Sam’s eyebrow shot up. “Yes, I believe he does.”

Sarah sighed in relief. She was finally getting somewhere. But she still had to convince Charlie Wilbury to take her to Sam. “I could really use your help. Maybe we could have dinner tonight and I could explain all the details.”

She swallowed hard, wondering if the invitation sounded too desperate. But she was desperate—to find Sam Morgan. And maybe a tiny bit interested in his friend Charlie Wilbury. “I’m sure Mr. Morgan will want to listen to my proposal, but I’ll let you be the judge.”

“Where are you staying?”

“At the Gap View Motor Lodge out on Route 18. Room nine.”

He studied her for a long moment, then shrugged. “All right. I’ll pick you up at seven. Dress warmly,” he said. With that, Charlie Wilbury walked down the street, whistling softly, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket.

Sarah watched him go, staring at his backside and admiring the view. She shivered again, then rubbed her arms through her wool jacket. It had been a long time since she’d found a man so devastatingly attractive. And had he been just an ordinary man, she might have considered seducing him.

But it had always been her policy never to mix business with pleasure. She sighed. “A guy like Charlie Wilbury would be a good reason to revise that policy,” she murmured.

SAM STARED at his reflection in the rearview mirror, then raked his hands through his hair. Maybe he should have taken more care with his appearance. After all, this was a date of sorts. He was taking a beautiful woman to dinner, the closest thing he’d had to a real social engagement in almost three years.

“What the hell am I doing?” he muttered.

It had been a simple plan—hide his identity, find out what she wanted and then get the hell out of town. But now that he knew exactly what she wanted, why was he still hanging around? He had no intention of agreeing to her proposal.

Obviously he was staying because Sarah Cantrell made his pulse race and his blood warm. From the moment he’d met her, he’d thought about nothing but getting her into bed. For a man who’d done without sex for months, that wasn’t unexpected. But his fantasies were strangely detailed, imagining the feel of her breast in his hand or the warmth of her mouth on his skin or the—

Sam cursed softly. Nothing good could come of his deception. If he had any intention of inviting her into his bed, then he needed to tell her the truth as soon as possible. Sam tipped his head back and groaned. Why couldn’t he have stumbled across a less complicated woman? Usually when he came down from the cabin, he found himself a woman with exactly the same wants and needs that he had—great sex and lots of it. So why was he even considering seducing Sarah Cantrell?

“She’s beautiful, for one,” he murmured. With a body any man would want to put his hands on. But there was more to it than just a physical attraction. Sarah Cantrell was smart and funny and stubborn and resourceful, the kind of woman who’d probably make seduction a challenge.

And women like Sarah didn’t just drop out of the sky every day, especially in Sutter Gap. If his instincts were right, and they usually were when it came to the opposite sex, she wanted him as much as he wanted her. So what was stopping him?

Carter had called her a pretty little thing. The old guy always did have a knack for understatement. There was something about the auburn hair and the perfect skin and the lush mouth that made him believe Sarah Cantrell might just be the most gorgeous, intriguing woman he’d ever met.

The thought of slowly undressing her, of running his hands over her naked body and touching her in her most intimate spots, made his pulse pound. “Right now, any woman would look good,” he reminded himself.

Sam turned off the ignition and hopped out of the SUV. “Just tell her who you are,” he said as he strode up to room number nine, “turn down her proposal and go from there.”

He rapped on the door, then stood back. Though this wasn’t a date, it sure felt like one. He was already cataloguing topics he might call upon if the conversation dwindled and she seemed bored.

A few seconds later, Sarah pulled open the door. Sam’s breath caught in his throat as the light from the room lit her from behind. Her hair tumbled in soft waves around her face. She wore a pale green sweater that clung to her body like a second skin, molding to the curves of her breasts. The neckline scooped low in the front, revealing just a tiny bit of cleavage.

Sam swallowed hard. Why did there have to be cleavage? Now he’d spend the rest of the night thinking about pressing his lips to that very spot on her body. “Hi,” he murmured.

“I’ll just be a second,” Sarah said, gracing him with a warm smile.

Sam watched her from the doorway as she gathered her jacket and purse from the bed. She wore a wool skirt that hugged her backside and revealed the tantalizing length of her legs. Black leather boots hugged her calves and an image of those legs wrapped around his waist flashed in his head. He’d forgotten just how arousing a woman’s body could be when fully clothed.

When she turned around, he was caught staring. He cleared his throat. Now was the time to come clean and tell her the truth. But then again, he didn’t want to spend the entire evening talking business. He’d wait until after dinner. “Ready?”

Sam stepped aside as she walked out, then he hurried to open the door to his SUV. When she was settled in her seat, he closed the door and circled around the front of the truck. After three years of living in the wild, he was almost surprised he remembered basic etiquette.

As he steered the truck out of town, Sam turned his attention to the sharply winding road. The lights from the SUV illuminated the trees and they headed deeper into the woods. He stole a quick glace at Sarah and saw a worried frown wrinkling her brow.

“You’re going to love this place,” Sam assured her. “The view is incredible. And the food is great.”

“How does a restaurant survive so far out in the sticks?” Sarah asked in an uneasy tone.

“It has a very exclusive clientele,” he explained.

“I—I think I’d prefer to eat a little bit closer to town.”

He pulled off the county road and carefully maneuvered the truck down a narrow dirt drive, the path marked by two ruts cut through the woods. As they bumped along, Sarah clutched the dashboard, her eyes wide. “Where are you taking me?”

Sam heard the concern in her voice and figured her mind was beginning to form images of serial killers and axe murderers. Just how far was she willing to go to find Sam Morgan? She’d already driven into the woods with a virtual stranger. Would she sleep with a wilderness guide who promised to take her to Morgan? “We’re almost there,” he said.