Hot Item (Hot Zone 3)

She merely nodded, then realized how one-sided this had been. “I…let’s go to the bedroom so I can take care of you,” she said, leaning forward and nipping lightly on his earlobe.

He shuddered with pleasure. “Much as I’d love to do just that, it’s unnecessary.” A twitch worked at one side of his mouth.

“You mean you already—”

“Uh-huh. Taking you there and watching you come did it for me.”

“Oh, wow.” She’d never had that kind of effect on a man. Either that or she’d never met a man who would admit that she had, she thought. “I guess I’m pretty potent, huh?”

He grinned. “We could bottle you and make millions.”

She laughed. “Shower?”

“You read my mind.”

Hand in hand, they were halfway there when the telephone rang.

“I’ll get it and meet you in there,” she offered. Her body still trembled with aftershocks and she could use a minute before stepping under the hot spray.

She ran for the phone in the bedroom, drew a deep breath and lifted the receiver. “Hello?”

“Who’s this?” a young female voice asked.

“Who is this?”

“This is Elizabeth Nash. Who are you and where’s my dad?”

Riley’s daughter, Sophie thought. He must have given her the house number when he’d checked in with her earlier. Obviously the young girl wasn’t into polite niceties or preliminaries. “I’m Sophie Jordan and…” Sophie trailed off. Did she tell Lizzie that her father was in the shower, making things sound, oh, about as tawdry as they were, or did she go get Riley?

“Hold on and I’ll get your dad.” She placed the phone on the counter and knocked on the bathroom door.

“Come on in.” She opened the door and peeked inside.

“No need to knock, darlin’. You’ve

already seen it all,” he said as he stepped naked beneath the spray. “You gonna join me?”

“Your daughter’s on the phone.”

He frowned. “Tell her I’m in the shower.”

She grabbed the door frame. “I thought about that and it doesn’t sound like she’d take that too well. At least not from me.”

He picked up the soap and began lathering his gorgeous body. “Then just tell her I’ll call her back in a minute.”

She nodded. “Will do,” she said, and turned to go.

“Sophie?”

She pivoted back around. “Yes?”

“Don’t let Lizzie intimidate you. Her bark’s worse than her bite.”

She smiled. “Don’t worry,” she said, shutting the door behind her. She walked back to the phone, thinking how Riley adored his daughter and probably made untold allowances for her.

She lifted the phone again. “Elizabeth?”

“Yeah.”