Hot and Bothered by Lori Foster

Author:Lori Foster [Foster, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2012-04-18T05:00:00+00:00

Luke woke to a raucous squawk and looked up in the cypress branch above them to see a black grackle mocking the human couple in a tangle of damp arms and legs and clothes. The river water had dried on the skin, but sweat was taking its place as the hundred-degree afternoon heat steamed the ground under them, even in the shade. Luke guessed they’d slept a few hours and knew he had to get up, the bullriding would begin in a couple of hours, but he hated to let loose of the woman in his arms just yet.

The idyllic times they’d spent together had been stolen—first by staving off suspicion, then by distracting her from her psychological probing. It would all end with the ultimatum that he knew would come by the end of the afternoon.

He just didn’t know who would be making it.

They were both too strong, too independent, to be together for long, especially in the middle of someone else’s game with deadly stakes.

Shay stirred, moaning softly in a way that tweaked Luke’s heart. He relished the feeling for a few minutes; then those incredible amber eyes opened and blinked in consciousness. She smiled. “Why do you always wake up first?”

“I like to watch you sleep. You look actually tamable when you are unconscious.”

“What an odd thing to say.”

“You’re a little like the broncs and bulls in the rodeo. You can waltz right over and stroke their noses, their necks, but the moment you try to master them by hopping on their backs they don’t want anything to do with you.”

“But didn’t you say when you get on the rough stock the idea is to hang on for the thrill ride—let loose of the idea of controlling it?”

Luke laughed, surprised she was sharp enough to turn his bullriding philosophy back onto a human relationship. “I did.”

They shared a look that left Luke fidgeting. He wasn’t ready for this. It was time to push her away, make her want to leave and never look back at him again. He drew his arm out from under her and handed her her damp shirt. “It’s been fun, but it’s time I got back to the motel and dressed for tonight.”

Hurt flashed in her eyes for just an instant before it was replaced by her businesswoman look. She adjusted her bra, slipped her shirt over her head, and handed him his jeans. “We have to talk about that, Luke. You can’t ride. It’s not safe. The bull you rode last night was drugged. You are the killer’s target.”

“How do you know that?” He frowned, disbelieving. “Anybody could have drawn that bull.”

“Yes, and when you did he was injected with a substance that made him deadly crazy.” Shay watched Luke as he jumped rocks across the river and hiked back up the ridge to get his shirt, then his boots. She followed him across to get her own boots. “There’s a pattern, Luke; the guys killed or put out of commission under suspicious circumstances have all been the most reckless riders on the tour.

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