Hot Property (Hot Zone 4)

While he was gone, she stared out at the landscape, the snow and glittering lights. She was light-headed and in shock, as much from what she’d done as from the feelings attached to what she’d once considered merely a physical act.

If asked, she’d have said that she cared about the few men who’d come before Roper. Until tonight she’d have been telling the truth. But now, post-Roper, she realized she’d been so naive and ignorant.

There was sex. And there was making love. And though she’d obviously liked the men she’d been with in the past, none had ever induced such a cascading flood of emotion.

She pressed her hands against the cold window and then used her palms to cool her flushed face. But nothing eased the internal heat and nothing stopped the sudden realizations that came next.

She’d never felt this way before. So right, so uninhibited, so free. Only with this man. And that was what she’d feared all along—that the overwhelming desire he fueled in her would overwhelm common sense. That she’d act on instinct and satisfy her desires at the expense of the consequences.

And those consequences in this case were clear. She risked losing her heart to the wrong man. A man whose life meant cameras and public scrutiny. All the things she’d been hiding from in Florida for years.

Roper released the wildness in her she’d repressed for most of her life—the part of her that was so like her mother and aunt, making public spectacles and taking risks. Tonight she and Roper had been in a secluded place with minimal to no risk of being caught bare-assed having sex in front of wall-to-wall windows, she thought.

No press around. This time.

And yet despite it all, she couldn’t regret their time together here for that very reason.

It was theirs alone.

WHEN ROPER RETURNED FROM the bathroom he’d sensed Amy’s withdrawal, caused no doubt by too much time alone to think about what they’d done. He’d expected regrets and recriminations. A long talk about things between them being a mistake. But she’d surprised him by linking her hand in his for the walk back to their rooms. She might be more subdued, but she hadn’t pulled away.

Hannah’s party had broken up early, a discovery they’d made when they’d found the twins, Joe and John, drinking at the lobby bar and rolling their eyes at the fact that apparently, Hannah had finally gotten her way with Mike the drummer.

Amy had seemed ridiculously pleased with the tidbit of gossip, which Roper attributed to one of those female things he’d never understand. Who cared what happened between Hannah and her band member? Since the news only served to fully restore Amy’s good, playful mood, Roper decided he should not only care but be thankful.

When they reached Amy’s room, she unlocked the door and pulled him inside. That was when he got to live out his fantasy of making long, slow love to her in a bed with music playing and lots of time to savor and enjoy.

Which they did, twice before she collapsed on top of him and fell fast asleep. Before he followed, he had time to watch her. She didn’t snore, but she made cute little noises while she slept.

Noises, he suddenly noticed, that he didn’t hear now.

He reached for her, assuming she’d rolled over to the other side of the king-size bed, but he came up empty. He forced his eyes open and discovered he was alone. A glance at the clock told him it was only 9:00 a.m., and he decided to trust that wherever Amy had gone, she hadn’t run far away with morning-after regrets.

He propped one arm behind his head and stared at the ceiling. Thinking back on the night, he knew he’d seen a more adventurous side to Amy than he knew she possessed and he decided he liked it. A lot. The fact that she didn’t regret hooking up in the solarium reinforced his notion that she wasn’t someone he’d grow bored with too soon. She was good for him professionally and personally, he decided. And for now that was all he needed to know.

As his schedule started at ten, he headed back to his room for a quick shower. Then he stopped by the front desk to make his first request of the concierge. His plan? To fulfill a promise he’d made to Amy and show her all the ways he could make and keep her happy. Not just in bed, although he had to admit they’d gotten off to one helluva start.

AMY HAD LIKED WAKING UP next to Roper. She’d liked it too much, so she rose quietly, showered and met up with Hannah at the breakfast buffet. They walked the length of the long table together and Amy filled her plate with at least one of everything.

“I’m starving,” she said, the smell of pancakes assaulting her senses.

“Sex will do that to you,” Hannah said.

Amy choked. “How do you know what went on?” she asked, praying the other woman hadn’t seen or heard anything from the solarium.

Hannah laughed. “Until now, it was only a guess. One based on the fact that I’m beyond ravenous and I know what I was doing all night,” she said with a grin.

“So things between you and Mike worked out?” Amy grabbed one last pastry before heading for a small table in the corner of the restaurant.

Hannah followed. “Let’s say they’re at least moving forward. The only way they’ll be better is if he gets Big Mama’s blessing. All he’s ever wanted was his career and she can make or break him.”

They sat at a table and immediately dug into their food. While she and Hannah ate, they exchanged life stories, Amy about growing up without a father and as the only sane one among two childlike adults. She even revealed her mother’s Lady Godiva episode and what it had cost Amy in terms of not just a job, but a life among her peers, something she hadn’t been able to realize or put into words until now.

And Hannah described growing up with her mother, who lived her own unfulfilled dreams through her talented daughter. Hence the reason for the other woman becoming her manager and directing Hannah’s life, so that music was its only focus.

“You know you have to take control of your mother,” Amy said, stabbing her fork into a piece of waffle and talking to Hannah as if she’d known her forever.

Considering they’d already confided in each other about sex and their men, Amy figured the bond was already there. She liked people and talked to them easily. So this friendship with Hannah wasn’t a surprise, merely welcome.