Hot Number (Hot Zone 2)

"Ready to hit the road?" he asked.

She'd been sitting cross-legged and, on hearing his voice, her feet hit the floor. "Ready." She glanced around. "Is there a garbage pail near here?"

He took the paper wrapper from her hand, walked to the curb and tossed it in the trash. Pops, he'd noticed, was still loading the groceries into the back of the Jeep.

Micki, in the meantime, had begun licking her fingers and he couldn't resist the temptation to stare as she sucked the juice off her fingertips one by one.

When she met his gaze, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. "Sticky," she explained.

He swallowed a reply that would surely have involved him offering to take over the job for her. "Let's go," he said gruffly.

He needed a cold drink and his big-screen TV where he could watch a game and distract himself from this woman. As if such a tiling were even possible, he thought, wondering exactly what he'd gotten himself into.

CHAPTER SIX

UPON THEIR RETURN FROM TOWN, Damian sequestered himself in the den and flipped on the television to watch the Boston Red Sox play the New York Yankees. Since he hadn't invited her to join him and she was exhausted anyway, Micki retreated upstairs for a nap.

She woke an hour later and headed for the kitchen, intending to cook them dinner. She wasn't a gourmet chef, but she could whip up a passable meal for two. She didn't have to. An older couple was already at work.

She cleared her throat and walked into the room.

A gray-haired woman greeted her with a smile. "You must be Mr. Fuller's guest. I'm Rosa and this is my husband Tino." She gestured to a man who resembled Dom DeLuise. Robust and cheery, he waved, his hands full with a carving knife and breast of chicken.

"Micki Jordan," she said by way of introduction. "Can I help?" But even as she asked, she realized they were extremely

at home in the kitchen. They worked in tandem, helping each other and knowing exactly where to find things in the drawers and cabinets.

"No thanks," Tino said, just as Micki had expected. "Go relax and we'll let you know when dinner's on the table."

"Okay." She lifted her arms in a halfhearted gesture, thinking she'd prefer to socialize than go off alone. "So have you worked here long?"

"For the last five years, every time Mr. Fuller comes to town," Rosa said.

"What do you do between visits?" Micki asked.

"If his family's here, we cook and clean for them. If not, we come in weekly to freshen the place up and keep it from getting musty while nobody's living here."

Micki nodded, though she wondered how they made a living on Damian's sporadic visits alone.

"When Damian was young, we were his neighbors in New Jersey," Rosa explained as she chopped tomatoes. "We didn't have any kids of our own, so I'd do babysitting for his mother while she worked. She helped his father out at his car dealerships. Damian made it big, bought this place about the same time Tino had a heart attack."

She spared a loving glance at her husband. "He needed warmer weather and Damian needed caretakers. It's a win-win situation, though a much bigger win for us," Rosa said, clearly embarrassed.

“Don't sell yourself short,'' Damian said, joining them.

He stepped closer, his big body overwhelming Micki from behind, his heady masculine scent sending warning signals to her brain. If she thought she'd slept off the effects of last night, she'd been sadly mistaken. Her reaction to the man was as potent as ever, which meant her plan to seduce him was still in full force.

"I see you met the best people around," Damian commented, affection in his tone.

"We met," Micki said warmly.

'We're almost finished," Tino said. "Do you want us to come back and clean up?"

Micki shook her head. "No thank you. I can take care of-"

"I'd appreciate it." Damian interrupted her.

He eased closer and leaned his head near hers. "They'll be insulted if they think they aren't needed," he whispered quietly into her ear. His breath was warm and his lips brushed against her hair. He might not have intended anything except imparting information but the result was erotic all the same and she shivered.