Yes, she still had a scattering of freckles dancing across her nose.
And most definitely yes, shed grown into those long, long legslegs that now could be registered as a lethal weapon, for shed nearly stopped him in his tracks when hed stumbled across her in the kitchen.
If he hadnt been about to fall asleep on his feet, he might have been able to fully appreciate those unexpected, and delightful, changes.
He might have even enjoyed the décor of the lodge, knowing his sister and her friends were far more talented than he could have imagined. He might have wondered who Hannah had kicked out of the clearly full lodge in order to give him a place to crash.
But his mind had gone fuzzy, and amazing as it seemed for a man who hadnt been with a woman for far too long, he couldnt even think about it.
He needed sleep.
Beyond that, he probably needed some good food, too, and some serious brain rest, but if he didnt take care of the sleep first, he was going to fall down on the spot.
Again, his jobs fault. Portraying someone else for an entire year on the undercover sting, then living on the edge for that long, always on guard and never being able to relax, was incredibly hard on the body.
Oh yes, and being shot.
That hadnt helped, either.
Hed assumed hed fully recuperate, but suddenly he had his doubts, and it scared him.
His job was his life. He hadnt set out for it to be so, but hed always wanted to be the best, and to do that, sacrifices had been made. His personal life, for one. Hed been so busy being a cop, being a good cop, hed lost a part of himself. Strange how hed been perfectly happy that way, until he couldnt do his job.
Now, that life seemed...empty. No, that wasnt right.
Maybe it was just exhaustion.
On the second-floor landing he came to a small sitting area. There was a fireplace, and several couches were nicely arranged for easy gathering.
Seated there was an older couple sharing a pot of tea. Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz, they were all too happy to tell him, when he made the mistake of pausing one second too long and they introduced themselves.
Mr. Schwartz gave him a sly smile. Youre here to pick up babes, I bet. Saw a bunch on the beach today.
Mrs. Schwartz turned on him. You said you didnt notice!
Only helping out the young man, dear.
Did he ask you for help? No! Mrs. Schwartz took her husbands cup of tea right out of his hands and placed it on the tray in front of them. Always butting in, you are. Im sure this nice young man doesnt need any help finding a woman to keep his bed warm at night, especially from you. Isnt that right?
She looked at Zach questioningly, and under different circumstances, such as when he wasnt literally ready to fall on his face, he might have laughed. Im just here to rest, he said, earning a smirk from the older man.
Well, just rest on the east end, Mr. Schwartz suggested. That beach is a hot spot. A regular babe magnet.
Mrs. Schwartz smacked her husband.
Uh...thanks. Zach backed away just in time to see the older man lay the charm on his wife, who cackled her surrender and kissed him.
Shaking his head at the mysteries of a relationship that old, yet still together no matter how rocky, Zach kept walking. His room was at the very far end, down a hallway and away from any activity.
A Good Thing.
He let himself in. Without bothering to turn on the lights, he dropped his bag to the floor and kicked off his shoes. Hannah had told him there was one bedroom, a bathroom and a small sitting room. All he needed at the moment was the bed, so thats where he headed.
The bedroom windows were open to the night air and moon. Hed showered in his condo in Los Angeles before hed started the drive, so he simply pulled off his shirt, kicked off his jeans, sighed deeply, and slid under the covers.
Before his head settled on the pillowwhich held an oddly arousing scent of some sort of flower he couldnt quite placehe was fast and deeply asleep.
* * *
HANNAH COULDNT CONCENTRATE on work, and was it any wonder? Zach was here. Here.
It had to be Fate.
Now all she had to do was get him to want to sleep with her. Maybe not a problem for most women, but Hannah knew it would be a task. Never in her life had she been able to make a man want to sleep with her, so she had no idea what made her think she could do it now, but she was up for the challenge.
She had to be. The timing was right, she could feel it. It would help if she knew exactly how to do it, but if she knew what she was doing, then she wouldnt be in this situation in the first place.
Seduce him. Thats all.
Zach didnt have to know all her problems. That she scared men off more quickly than she could blink. That she wanted, needed, to know what she was missing. No, he could remain oblivious.
It was all perfect, Zach was perfect. Yes, hed been a wild rebel in his day, but hed turned out okay. He was a cop, for Gods sake. She knew beneath his tough exterior that he was kind. Sensitive.
And as for the passionate part, one look in his eyes and her knees had trembled. That was passion, right? She was fairly certain.
Just do it. The slogan worked for running shoes and it would work here. Which was why shed taken such drastic measures. Shed actually put him in her room for the night.
Oh, and one minor detailshe hadnt told him. How else to get him into her bed? How shed gotten the nerve, shed never know, but the wheels were in motion now. Zach was in her room, her bed, hopefully exhausted enough to not question it.
To combat the nerves, and to give herself some time to relax, she threw herself into work. She decided to take the late evening shift at the icecream and gift shop, and if she was distracted, it was no wonder.
There was a man in her bed.
Hey, Boss, Karrie called out when she walked in.
Karrie was one of their four part-time employees. She had green hair, green eye shadow and matching green fingernails. She had a silver tongue stud and a pierced eyebrow. And she was absolutely great with the guests.
I came to help with the crowd, Hannah told her, moving behind the counter.
Karrie looked around her at the nearly empty shopthere was only one young couple in a booth sharing pietucked her tongue in her cheek and nodded gamely. Yeah, Im pretty overwhelmed here.
Hannah ignored her and used the excuse of being there to devour a triple-decker chocolate cone.
Ah, youve got man trouble. Karrie, all of nineteen, nodded again, as if she knew all about such things.
I do not have man trouble. This... Hannah gestured to her nearly eaten cone. This has nothing to do with a man. Not much anyway. She helped herself to another scoop.
Whatever you say, boss.
It really doesnt.
Uh-huh. Karrie calmly sponged down the counter. Is he at least cute?
Gorgeous. I dont know what youre talking about.
That means yes.
Hannah stopped eating and looked at Karrie with renewed interest. Desperate times, desperate measures, she thought. Do you...know a lot about men?
That got a good laugh. I know about as much as its possible to know about an alien species.
So...you know how to... Oh, this was ridiculous. Embarrassing. Stupid. Never mind.
You cant stop there! Do I know how to...what? Snag a guy?
No. Um, seduce one.
Karrie grinned. Thats simple.
It is?
Sure. All men are really just one big walking hormone. If they even so much as sense theyre going to get lucky, your job is as good as done.
It had never worked that way for Hannah before, but then again, maybe shed never made a man feel lucky. It cant be that simple.
At the giggle behind her, Hannah turned around. The young couple sharing pie were listening with avid curiosity. They were in their midtwenties and were both so pretty they could have walked right out of the pages of Cosmopolitan.
Its really that simple, the young woman said to Hannah.
The young man blushed from chin to roots, and that had his girlfriend giggling again. Honest.
Hannah shook her head. Maybe for you. But Ive never turned a man into a...hormone before.
No, it isnt about beauty, the young woman insisted. Its about how you make them feel.
I cant believe its that simple.
Karrie looked at her pityingly. Trust me, it is. Look, flash some skin. Then kiss him, anywhere. Mouth, neck, ear, you pick.
Then what?
Then flash some more skin. Its as good as done, guarantee it.
Hannah turned to the young woman. Really?
She nodded emphatically while her boyfriend blushed all the more.
Hmm. It was worth a shot. She grabbed a tablet from the counter and started writing.
Step one: flash skin.
Step two: kiss him. Anywhere.
Step three: more skin.
Sounded easy.
Contemplating her strategy, Hannah spent the rest of the shift working on their stock, even getting her replacement order ready for the following week. She scrubbed the floors. She dusted. Dusted, for Gods sake.
But she drew the line at cleaning the bathroom. It was Taras turn. If she failed at this unsingle thing, it would be her turn soon enough.
Flash skin. Kiss. More skin.
How difficult was that? From beneath her nerves came something else, something more base. Her insides tingled, heated. The shock wasnt her excitement, but that she felt it at all. For years shed made sure she was too busy for this romance stuff, mostly to save her pride, but also out of a fear of the unknown. Shed stifled and ignored her own sexuality.
She couldnt any longer. Fact was, Zach Thomas had turned out pretty darned amazing. And he was in her bed, maybe not waiting for her exactly, but he was there nevertheless.
Studying her notes, she went back to the lodge and climbed the stairs. Anticipation raced through her as each footstep brought her closer.
Men are all one big walking hormone.
She could only hope that was true, though the mental image of that nearly made her laugh out loud.
She let herself into her little suite. No lights. Good. Not being able to see might help her nerves.
Zach was there, in her bed, fast asleep if his even, deep breathing was any indication. In the dark, she moved closer, peering at him. She could see his head, and one bare shoulder as it gleamed in the moonlight.
Her heart raced, and she promptly forgot everything she was supposed to do.
What first? Squinting in the dark, she reread her notes.
Flash some skin.
Okay, easy enough.
She stripped, trying not to think about the actual technicalities of what she was about to do. Blessing the dark, she dropped shoes, pants, blouse...oh darn. She paused, her hands ready to remove the thin camisole shed worn beneath her blouse.
Laundry.
Shed forgotten to do itagain.
Knowing she had no nightie in her drawer, not even a clean T-shirt thanks to her forgetfulness, she left on the little silk camisole and hoped it looked sexy enough. To ensure that, she removed the bra shed worn beneath it. Then she drew a deep, very shaky breath and glanced through the dark at her faint reflection in the mirror over her dresser.
Shed never been one to sleep in the nude, shed never even slept in just a little chemise and panties before. She felt...sexy. She even looked sexy, if the hardly-there reflection told the truth.
Shed always been fairly curvy. Blessed with breasts, as Alexi was fond of saying. But her chestnut-colored hair had always been difficult. Wild at best. At least it fell past her shoulders, which made it easy to pull back when she wanted. For now she left it down, because guys liked long hair.
Or so shed heard.
Hoping that was true, she attempted to tame it, but it refused to be browbeaten. She couldnt see her eyes in the faint light, but that only added to the strange allure of standing there half nude staring at herself.
In spite of her hair, she really did look good! It was a horribly embarrassing thing to admit, even to herself, but she couldnt tear her gaze away.
An achiness filled her, especially in those erogenous spots that had been tingling ever since shed first seen Zach again. Now goose bumps rose on her skin as well, and she shivered, though she wasnt cold. The opposite actually.
This was the new millennium. The age of the woman. She was perfectly capable of sleeping with someone, even making the first move if she had to. There certainly didnt have to be any commitment involved.
She could do this. She wanted to do this. And it had nothing to do with any silly challenge, and everything to do with what she wanted for herself.
Standing there in the dark, she ran her hands down her arms, soothing away the slight tremor that had danced through her with all the racy thoughts. Even that simple touch seemed sensual, and her body tightened. Her nipples puckered.
And she laughed silently at herself. There was a man in her bed; a warm, hard-bodied, sexy man and she was standing here wasting good time.
Zach was utterly still, completely asleep, on his side facing her. So exhausted. A flash of guilt hit her. Should she let him sleep awhile longer?
No. Shed lose her nerve.
It was too dark to see him clearly. Probably a good thing. Dragging in a deep breath of courage, she lifted the covers and slid in. Oh...my, he felt so absolutely wonderful
All thought deserted her as two large hands caught her, hands which hauled her close, then rolled her, so that she was pinned beneath him and rendered completely immobile.
CHAPTER 3
A GROAN RUMBLED from Zachs chest, in the region of Hannahs ear.
What the Towering over her, his hands now flat on either side of her head, the length of him became flush with the length of her. Then one of his hands smoothed back the hair from her face. Bending close, he struggled to see in the dark. Hannah?
Oh God, what now? At the first feel of him, her plan had escaped her. Oh yes, flash skin. Thinking she needed to remove her camisole, she started to wiggle, but he held her utterly captive.