"Whose place is this?" she asked curiously. She'd been expecting a hotel somewhere, possibly a small town off the beaten path, but not a secluded cabin. "Does it belong to one of your connections?" she teased.

"You could say that." He cut the engine, withdrew the keys from the ignition, and briefly met her gaze. "The cabin belongs to my aunt and uncle." He opened the door and headed around to the back of the SUV to unload their stuff.

She followed from the other side. It was early afternoon, and while the sun was shining overhead, the air was crisp and cool, making it an absolutely gorgeous day. "It was nice of them to let you use it."

Lifting the rear door, he reached in and handed her a few of the grocery bags filled with food and other necessities, then grabbed the small duffel bags they'd packed. "They'd never tell their favorite nephew no."

She laughed in amusement. "Don't you have two brothers?"

A hint of humor lurked in his bright blue gaze as they walked side by side toward the front steps leading to the cabin's porch. "Yeah, but I'm their favorite."

"Well, you can certainly be charming when you put your mind to it."

Though, admittedly, it had been way too long since she'd seen that playful side to Joel's personality, and she missed his sexy smiles and flirtatious comments, along with the comfortable, amicable companionship they'd shared. Then there was the undeniable awareness still simmering between them that he was doing his absolute best to avoid and resist.

He unlocked the front door and held it open for her to enter before him. She walked inside, admiring the small but cozy interior of the cabin. From the living room, she could see two individual bedrooms, a bathroom, and a compact dining area that adjoined the kitchen.

With her arms loaded with groceries, she headed toward the kitchen while Joel dropped their duffel bags off in separate bedrooms, making it very clear that this was a working vacation for him, and he wasn't about to allow any distractions-meaning her and their attraction-to change that.

She sighed as she shelved the canned goods they'd bought, then put away the items that needed to remain cold in the small refrigerator, which had been left on. There were already frozen meals in the freezer for them to use, and plenty of other dry foods stored in tightly covered containers.

Hearing Joel's footsteps behind her, she turned around and found him standing in the doorway, looking as gorgeous as ever dressed in all black. She tried not to think about that amazing body of his beneath those tight, dark clothes, and instead focused on what they could have for their next meal.

She grabbed a canned item, glanced at the label, and decided to keep things simple and easy. "How does navy bean soup and grilled cheese sandwiches sound for dinner?"

"Great." He absently pushed his fingers through his too-long hair and rubbed at the back of his neck with his hand, looking much too tense and on edge. "If you wouldn't mind putting away the rest of the groceries, then opening up the place to let it air out, I'm going outside to get some things done. I also need to chop some fresh wood for the fireplace. A storm is supposed to be moving in by this evening, so I want to be prepared."

Considering the nice weather she'd just encountered, she had to wonder if he was using an approaching storm as an excuse to keep his distance from her. "Sure. No problem."

Once he was gone and she heard the screen door shut behind him, Lora finished putting the rest of the groceries away, then opened the windows in the cabin to let fresh air in, as he'd requested. Before long, she heard the steady thump, thump, thump of Joel splitting logs outside, and found herself drawn to one of the windows overlooking the side yard where he was working.

He was wearing a T-shirt, but she could still see the play of corded muscles in his shoulders, back, and arms as he swung the axe downward, then lifted it once again to repeat the motion. Too easily, she recalled how all that firm skin felt beneath her hands, along with the heat and strength inherent in every inch of his body as he moved over her, inside her.

She felt the familiar stir of longing when it came to this man, the tug and pull of desire deep inside of her. A cool breeze blew outside, ruffling his long, inky hair around his head and at the back of his neck. Those thick strands, she knew, were silky soft as they sifted through her fingers, and it had been much too long since she'd enjoyed that luxury. Much too long since Joel had allowed her to get close enough to touch him in any way that might be construed as too intimate.

Sighing, she leaned against the window frame and continued watching Joel as he worked. Since the night of the first attack and his claim that their attraction was too much of a distraction when it came to keeping her safe, she'd been waiting patiently for him to come around, to realize that what they shared was more than a one-night stand. To admit that he was far more distracted, not to mention grumpy, denying what was so obviously between them.

But it was more than just sex that she wanted from Joel, and that was a huge revelation for her. When she'd first met him, she'd been so adamant about not allowing herself to get involved with any man-especially after enduring such a tumultuous and emotionally devastating relationship with Brent. Work and making a life for herself had been her main focus, along with her future goal of opening her own spa one day soon.

But she'd never expected to meet a man like Joel. He was everything that Brent hadn't been. Joel Wilde was the real deal, a man with honor and integrity. And unlike her own father, then Brent, and even her brother, Zach, Joel was a man she could depend on, trust, and give her whole heart to, if he'd let her. And despite his own warning that he didn't have any room in his life for commitments and promises, and that he didn't do love, she believed differently.

Maybe it was time to make him realize that for himself.

She watched him turn and toss a split log onto a growing pile. Just when he would have picked up another slab of wood and continued chopping, he caught sight of her standing at the window, staring at him. Their gazes met, and even with the distance separating them she could see the wanting and carnal hunger in his expression.

Her heart raced with that same blatant need. She didn't move or look away, refusing to be the one to put an end to that intimate moment between them. Not surprisingly, he was the first to break the visual contact.

She decided that she was done waiting for Joel to come around. She'd agreed to let him do his job without distractions while they were in the city, but they were a world away from Chicago and the threat lingering there like a black cloud. Out here, with just the two of them at a secluded, isolated cabin, there was no need for Joel's protection. No need to look over her shoulder for danger, or rely on him to keep her safe.

Now, they were just two people who were very attracted to one another, and as far as she was concerned, all bets were off.


Chapter Fourteen


IT didn't take Joel long to realize his monumental mistake in bringing Lora to the remote, secluded cabin. When he'd originally come up with the idea of setting up a meeting between Lora and Zach, his only thought was to make sure it happened somewhere far outside the city limits, at a place that was difficult to find or trace without specific directions, and his aunt and uncle's cabin provided the kind of isolation he'd been looking for.

He'd deliberately withheld the real reason why he'd brought Lora there. She believed it was for the sole purpose of taking a mini-vacation and being able to rest and relax without worrying about being attacked again. But the truth was, he didn't want Lora to be disappointed if her brother didn't show up, and considering Zach's track record thus far, Joel knew that was a huge possibility.

Tomorrow would tell.

In the meantime, Joel hadn't accounted for the fact that he'd be spending a whole lot of time alone with Lora.

Or that she'd view this time away together as an opportunity to rekindle their affair and put the heat back into their relationship. He should have known better, though. Despite the fact that he'd kept his hands, and other body parts, to himself since the night of her attack, the sexual tension between them had only increased to the point that one simple touch from her had the ability to short-circuit his brain and make him forget everything except the aching need to be deep inside her again.

Shit.

Annoyed at himself, and the entire situation, he slammed the axe down hard, splintering the last log into two clean pieces. He wished he had a truckload of wood left to chop to keep him busy well into the night, but no such luck. This was it. His current diversion was done, and sooner or later he was going to have to face Lora again.

After carrying a night's worth of wood into the cabin and stacking the rest in the corner of the porch to keep it dry, he came up with an idea to stave off the inevitable. Since they still had a few good hours of daylight left, he figured they might as well take advantage of the outdoors, and the decent weather while it lasted.

He found Lora inside, reclining comfortably on the sofa and reading a book that someone had left behind at the cabin. When she heard him walk into the living room, she glanced up from the novel and gave him a too-knowing smile.

"Are you all done outside?" she asked, much too innocently.

"Yeah." She was so on to him, and he felt the beginnings of an answering grin tug at the corners of his mouth. "I was thinking of going for a walk along one of those trails before it gets too dark. Care to join me?"