“Yes.” She sighed. “It was fine.”

“You look exhausted.”

She smiled wryly. “Thanks. I can always count on you to keep my ego in check.”

He ran a hand through his hair and was that much closer to the youthful surfer-dude he’d been back when she’d first met him. His gold hair stuck up in all directions, appealingly tousled. “I don’t mean you don’t look good. Jesus.” He shook his head. “You look gorgeous as always. I’m just saying.” He tipped his head as he looked at her.

Her stomach swooped at hearing him say she was gorgeous. “I am tired,” she admitted, peering down at her wine glass. She couldn’t look at him anymore or she might jump onto his lap. “It’s exhausting. Thanks for doing the eulogy. It was...” She paused, unable to find the right words. She didn’t want to admit how much his words had meant to her. “...good.”

He gave a short laugh. “And likewise, my ego is firmly put in place by you.”

She lifted her eyes, surprised. He was smiling, eyes glinting. She’d always liked how he didn’t take himself too seriously, and the flash of humor made her relax minutely. Godfrey, he was sexy. Her body wanted to lean in closer, and she tightened every muscle she could. An urgent yearning for him burned low inside her.

“Are you seriously going to stay here?” he asked.

She held his gaze. “Yes.” Then she said, “What about you? You’re not going back to Los Angeles?”

“No.”

He too held her gaze. She lifted her chin. He lifted his. Sparks damn near flashed between them

She stood to face him, but as she did so, one of her spiky Jimmy Choo heels slipped on the rough stone patio.

Travis reached out and caught her arm. “Whoa.” His hand was big and warm on her bare arm, and his jacket slid off her shoulders to the patio. Startled by the rush of pleasure she felt at his touch, she wrenched her arm away from him and almost lost her balance again. Wine sloshed in her glass.

Suddenly on his feet, Travis made a grab for the glass and for her at the same time, his big hard body crowding her. “Samara.”

He held her by her upper arm, his grip tight. His mouth pressed into a tight line, he took the wine glass and poured the contents into a plant. He set the goblet down on the table and took hold of her other arm.

“Let go of me,” she muttered, her face so close to his she could see the glints of gold whiskers in the faint light from the house.

“Are you okay?”

She was not okay. She was a wreck. She was strung out, her emotions a twisted knot of confusion, fear and frustration. And she was hot. “I’m fine,” she said through her teeth, trying to pull away from him. His hands tightened, and she shifted against his hard body. Heat radiated off him in waves.

The voices inside had disappeared. Had the party finally ended? Then faintly, the sound of voices, car doors slamming, and engines starting drifted on the evening breeze from the front of the house.

“I should be saying good night to the guests,” she choked out.

“Your mother will do it.”

They stood like that, bodies touching, faces close, staring at each other for long, stretched-out moments. Samara’s heart was pattering so fast she couldn’t tell one beat from the next. Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed with difficulty, licking her lips without conscious thought.

Travis’s eyes went to her mouth, and hot liquid pooled down deep inside her between her legs. Her breasts swelled, her nipples tingled, and her lips parted as she watched his eyes darken, still fixed on her mouth.

“Oh sweet Jesus,” he muttered. He gave her body a hard little jerk, bringing her right up against him, and it felt so good to press her aching breasts against his hardness. She felt his arousal against her and wanted to feel it lower, deeper. Involuntarily her hips arched against him, and he groaned.

* * *

He shouldn’t have come out here. Travis knew he should keep his distance from her. The sparks that flew between them got out of control so easily, igniting into a goddamn wildfire. But he’d been worried about her, about the grief and fatigue that had shadowed her face. She still looked too thin, fragile, like she could snap, but yet, in his arms, she felt just right—delicate but strong, soft but resilient.

A shadow fell in the light that spilled through the French doors from the den. He couldn’t tell who it was.

He maneuvered Samara backward, still grasping her arms, deeper into the shadows up against the house. He pressed her body against the cool smooth stucco, pinning her there with his hips.

She mumbled some sort of protest—of course—at his movements. “What—”

“Someone was at the door,” he whispered, setting his forehead against hers. He felt her indrawn breath and her breasts pressed against him. Then he had to taste her, and he found her mouth with his. Her small mouth opened under his, and he groaned. He held her up against the wall, pressed his throbbing erection against her, and released her arms to take her face in his palms. He tilted her head so he could deepen the kiss.

Her hands slid over his shoulders then into his hair. He couldn’t stop. She tasted so sweet, felt so right, smelled like heaven. His mouth devoured hers, and he swept his hands from her face down over her shoulders, skimmed over full breasts and narrow waist until he reached the flare of her hips to grip her sweet little ass. He lifted her against him, filling his hands with lush firm curves, sensation pouring through his veins like electricity sizzling along wires.

Her honey-velvet tongue swept against his as she opened wider, and he hardened even more. He gasped into her mouth and shared her breath then leaned his forehead against hers as he panted. Then the silky fabric of her dress slipped under his fingers, and he urgently needed to feel her skin. His fingers dug at the dress, tugging it higher and higher until at last firm, warm flesh met his fingertips. He stroked the backs of her thighs, the hot crease where they met her buttocks, and she writhed and moaned and arched into him.

He thrust a thigh between her legs, the dress now up around her waist, and she moved against him, riding his thigh, and he knew what she was seeking. Christ, he wanted it too, sweet release from this exquisite torturous longing. His skin buzzed as he kept his thigh against the damp heat between her legs.

“Christ, Samara, you make me crazy.”

She moaned again, and her head thunked back against the wall. He took the opportunity to bury his face in her neck and inhale the exotic vanilla and spice scent of her, the feminine scent of her arousal inflaming his senses. He kissed her soft skin with hot, open-mouthed kisses, licked her there to taste her, and sucked gently.

She was still riding his leg, making little whimpers of need, her hands still tugging on his hair. “Oh god!” she cried softly, and her body went tight against his then twitched hard. Twitched again. Jesus, she was coming. He kept the pressure of his leg firm, caught her mouth again with his, and swallowed her cries of pleasure, almost losing it himself.

“Oh, god,” she moaned, long moments later, burying her face against his neck. “Oh god, I can’t believe I did that.”

He slid one hand from beneath her bottom and cradled her head, holding her against him as her body continued to quiver in twitchy little spasms. “Samara,” he whispered. “Christ, Samara.” He couldn’t believe it either.

They stayed like that for long, throbbing, panting moments. He wanted to finish, wanted to take her upstairs and roll into her bed with her, wanted to do everything to her and make her come again every way he knew how. He was thick and hot inside his pants, so hard he hurt, and if he moved, if he even breathed, he was done.

The chirruping noise of a cricket nearby registered faintly in his fuzzy brain. A light went out in a window above them, which he knew was the hall. Dayna was going to bed. Luckily her room was at the front of the house. He moved back from Samara, and she smoothed her dress down over hips and thighs. Still leaning against the wall, her eyes closed, she lifted her hands, covered her face and rolled her body over the wall so that her forehead pressed to the stucco. Her slender ribcage rose and fell with the quick rhythm of her breathing. He set his hands on her hips, moved up behind her again.

“Don’t,” she said in a choked voice.

He bit his top lip. Was she embarrassed by what had just happened? Should he apologize? He closed his eyes, afraid to say the wrong thing. Knowing Samara, anything he said at this point was bound to be the wrong thing.

“I have to go in,” she choked out. She slipped beneath his arms, dashed across the patio, yanked open the door and disappeared into the house.

* * *

After successfully avoiding Travis most of the weekend, Samara arrived early Monday morning at the Cedar Mill Coffee Company offices, dressed in a suit and heels and ready to kick some butt. She came to a halt in the area outside her father’s office where Travis leaned against Paulette’s desk. Damn. He’d beat her there.

“Good morning,” he said, straightening.

He looked, as usual, delicious in his dark dress pants and crisp gray shirt. Heat flashed beneath her skin as she remembered the night of the funeral and what he’d done to her out on the patio. Godfrey, she’d thought about it all weekend as she’d sneaked around the house making sure she didn’t run into him. She’d wavered between hot embarrassment and melting arousal ever since.

She ignored him and smiled at Paulette. “Good morning.”

Paulette’s gaze flicked back and forth between them.