Risky Engagement

He let the lager slide down his throat, watching while she licked some salt from the rim before taking a sip of her drink. The small act was completely natural, the way most people tasted a margarita—and disturbingly provocative. Wolf’s belly tightened another notch as he followed the movement of her tongue.

Come on, he urged silently. Drink the damn thing.

He knew from experience that two-for-one happy hour drinks at most Cabo San Lucas dives were usually so watered down you couldn’t even taste the booze in them. The Purple Parrot, however, had a reputation to maintain. That’s why he’d chosen it. Another double round, and he’d have Nina Grant singing like a tanked-up canary.

“How long have you lived in Albuquerque?” he asked to get the ball rolling.

“I got a job there after grad school and decided to stay. I love the climate. The people. The mountains. The incredible sunsets. Seems I’ve spent almost as much time traveling recently as I have at home, though. I almost cringe when I have to get on a plane these days.”

Wolf pumped her for information, subtly, smoothly, and hid a smile of satisfaction when she took another taste of her drink.

“Whew! This is potent.”

“Not that potent. It goes down easier after the first few sips.”

“I’ll bet.” Her nose wrinkling, she set the glass aside. “It’s hitting my empty stomach like a sledgehammer. I’d better stop with this one and head to my hotel.”

So much for his plan to get her sloshed. No matter. He wasn’t about to let her wiggle out of his net now.

“So let me buy you dinner.”

Chapter 2 (#ulink_24832bc9-8309-53d5-81e5-17c140c59f11)

Nina blinked at Blackstone’s unexpected invitation. An automatic refusal formed on her lips. Before she could voice it, his cell phone emitted a low, vibrating hum.

“'Scuse me.” He slipped a sleek little jobbie out of his pocket and held it at an angle. “Sorry, I need to read this text message.”

“No problem.”

His face remained impassive as he scrolled the screen. She couldn’t tell if the news was good or bad, but the brief interruption gave Nina time to reconsider his surprising offer of dinner.

She had to admit it was tempting. Extremely tempting. She didn’t need her string of degrees—or the intent look in this sexy stranger’s eyes—to make the leap from drinks to dinner to a quick tumble into bed.

The mere thought made her throat go tight. It affected other parts of her, too. Parts that hadn’t felt this sudden sizzle in way too long.

No surprise there. She was a biologist by training and a medical researcher by profession. She knew she possessed a normal, healthy sex drive. One that she and Kevin had made the most of. At first.

In the later stages of their engagement, their lovemaking had been less adventurous. It went decidedly flat when she began to suspect he’d courted her more for what she could do for him in the business arena than in the bedroom.

Maybe … Maybe this was just what she needed. An hour or two or three of hot, sweaty, completely mindless sex. What better way to get over the humiliation of Kevin’s lies? How better to revalidate herself as a woman?

Ha! Who was she kidding? Inviting Blackstone back to her hotel had nothing whatsoever to do with validation, and a whole lot to do with his impact on her pulmonary system. The mere thought of peeling off his T-shirt and popping the snap on those wrinkled khaki’s constricted her lungs and put a lump the size of Rhode Island in her throat.

Unfortunately, the biologist in her didn’t have to delve very deep to compile a comprehensive list of diseases she could pick up by exchanging bodily fluids with a total stranger. Even one as hot as Rafe Blackstone. Especially one as hot as Blackstone. With a stab of real regret, she groped for the tote bag hooked over the back of her chair.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass on dinner, too. Let me pay for the drinks.”

“I’ll get them.”

“Really, I want to. I’ve enjoyed our—”

“I’ve got it covered.”

Oooh-kay. She dropped her wallet back into her tote. That was twice today she’d stepped on it: first with the guys who’d fixed the fuel line on her rental, now with Blackstone. Guess she shouldn’t have let his bristles and rumpled shirt mislead her into thinking he would appreciate a woman who preferred to pay her own way.

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

She started to decline the offer. The vendors milling outside the bar, waiting to pounce, changed her mind. With the sun gone down and the crowds of tourists thinning out, they would swarm all over her. Why not let this lean, tough-looking gringo deal with them?

Which he did, with a few well-chosen words. He also took her arm to weave a path for her through the grumbling souvenir hawkers. His hold was loose but oddly possessive. To Nina’s consternation, the feel of his callused palm raised goose bumps over every exposed inch of skin.

She covered her involuntary reaction with a nod toward the rapidly darkening sky. “Cools off fast when the sun goes down, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” he replied, and promptly tucked her closer into his side.

His scent enveloped her. The seductive blend of sun-warmed skin and healthy male sweat retriggered the erotic sensations Nina was so determined to repress. Gulping, she tried to focus on the dramatic red-and-gold streaks in the dark sky, the raucous beat of music coming from the restaurants, anything but the man beside her.

She failed miserably and breathed a distinct sigh of relief when they reached the parking garage. Easing free of his hold, she punched the button for the fourth floor.

“Thanks again for the drinks.”

“I’ll ride up with you.”

She turned to him with a polite but firm no on her lips. He spiked it with a shrug and casual remark.

“This part of town is usually pretty safe, but a couple of tourists were mugged in this garage a few days ago.”

Common sense prevailed. Parking garages in any part of the world could be risky. No sense tempting fate.

Which was exactly what she was doing by prolonging her brief association with Blackstone. She wasn’t fooling anyone, herself included. The tingling awareness of his proximity, the delicious feeling of temptation rode all the way up to the fourth floor with her.

They stepped out into cavernous gloom. Their footsteps echoed as Nina led the way up the ramp, glad now that she’d accepted Blackstone’s escort. The garage had emptied considerably since her arrival. Probably because most of the businesses in town that didn’t cater exclusively to the tourist trade had closed for the day. Her rental now sat by itself at the end of the row.

Digging the keys out of her tote, she clicked the remote. The lights flashed, the locks popped, and she turned to her escort once more. He was close. A little too close. She put on a cool smile.

“Thanks again. I enjoyed—”

“Let me have the keys.”

“Excuse me?”

“Give me the keys. I’ll drive you back to your hotel.”

Okay, enough is enough. Lifting her chin, Nina shook her head.

“Look, I don’t know what signals you think I sent there at the bar, but you read them wrong.”

“Give me the keys.”