A Touch of Passion (boxed set romance bundle)

by Uvi Poznansky

  Murphy’s clothes, usually immaculate, were caked with dirt. And the shirttails of his buttoned down shirt were hanging loose from his pants.

  Kate snorted, shaking her head. “What in the hell happened tonight?” she asked, staring hard at Dan.

  Sheepishly, Dan hung his head. “Murphy’s drunk.”

  “No kidding,” she answered dryly. “I thought you said he didn’t drink much?”

  Dan smiled wryly. “Not usually.” He cleared his throat. “I think that, tonight, he was letting loose a little steam.” He grew momentarily serious. “Promise me you’ll go easy on him, Kate?”

  Kate stared at Dan sharply. She chose to ignore the insinuation. The mutual attraction between her and Murphy was something she really didn’t want to talk to Dan about. “Well. We’d better get him inside.”

  Dan wrapped an arm around Murphy as Kate propped him up from behind. Dan did his best to provide balance as Murphy stumbled over the gravel driveway before reaching the back steps.

  Kate somehow managed to stop Murphy from nearly careening into Dan and knocking him from his feet – twice. “God, Murphy, how much do you weigh?” she grunted.

  Unexpectedly, Murphy tugged Kate under his arm and began laughing.

  Kate attempted to swat away his arm ineffectively. “Murphy. Cut that out. We need to get you inside.”

  But right before they were ready to climb up the steps to the porch, Murphy suddenly became serious as he steadily held her gaze. “Come on – why not just admit it – you like how I look. Don’t you?”

  Kate stilled, staring into Murphy’s eyes. Maybe he wasn’t quite as drunk as he appeared?

  But then he staggered into Dan, nearly toppling him over.

  And Kate began laughing.

  Shaking his head with resignation, Dan flickered his stare from Murphy to Kate. “Okay, loverboy,” Dan said dryly. “Let’s get you into the cabin.”

  Kate blinked. “Loverboy?” Still laughing, she shook her head with resignation as she tried to wrap her arm around Murphy.

  Kate and Dan finally managed to haul Murphy into the cabin. “We’d better get him into the kitchen, Dan. His face is a mess.”

  After dragging him through the hallway, they shoved Murphy into a seat at the kitchen table.

  “I appreciate your taking us in Kate. I’m sorry for waking you up.”

  “That’s alright. I only hopped into bed a few minutes ago.”

  “I couldn’t take him home like this. What would Mom and Dad say?”

  “It’s definitely an emergency.” Kate grinned. “With Murphy as drunk as he is, he probably would’ve woken up everyone in the household – along with a few of the neighbors, too.”

  Dan chuckled, rolling his eyes. “You can thank that ex-boyfriend of yours for finishing him off. Murphy wasn’t too bad; until Brian began loading him up with shots of tequila.”

  Murphy started. “Yeah, that Lancaster’s a pretty good guy,” he muttered, wrinkling his nose. “I wonder why I didn’t like him before?”

  Dan snorted. “Somehow, I doubt you’ll be saying that in the morning.”

  Kate laughed. “But why would Brian be buying Michael shots?”

  Dan gave her a strange look. “Michael, huh?”

  Without answering, Kate lifted her brow in challenge.

  Dan sighed. “It’s a long story. Murph can just sleep it off in your spare bedroom. I’ll take the couch. Mind if I grab a beer? I’ve definitely had my hands full being his designated driver tonight.”

  “Go right ahead. They’re leftovers from the last time you were here, anyway.” Kate turned to study Murphy’s face. His eyes were getting heavy. “I’d better dig out some antibiotic lotion for those cuts. How’d his face get so banged up?”

  “Would you believe he fell off a barstool?”

  Kate giggled.

  Moments later, she was seated in a chair at the kitchen table next to Murphy. Like a sentry, Dan hovered behind them, sipping on his beer.

  Staring directly into her face, Murphy licked on his lips as he murmured, “You’re so pretty.”

  Kate’s eyes widened.

  Dan groaned. “Jeez, Murph. It’ll sure be interesting to see what you have to say for yourself when you wake up in the morning,” he muttered. “I’m gonna go make up my bed.” Rolling his eyes, he slugged down the rest of his beer and made his way over to the couch in the living room. “Are the extra blankets still up on the shelf in your spare bedroom, Kate?”

  “Yep. Pillows, too,” Kate answered distractedly.

  With his eyes still focused on hers, Murphy reached over, laying his hand over Kate’s.

  Kate felt a shiver of awareness as Murphy’s calloused fingers touched hers. Hesitating, she stared into eyes that were the same forest green as the pines. “Hold still,” she finally muttered, shaking her head. His gaze was mesmerizing. “Are you sure that someone didn’t punch you? Your nose is gonna be twice this size tomorrow.” She carefully fingered Murphy’s nose. “But at least it doesn’t appear to be broken.”

  “I’ve taken enough hits playing football. I’ve been in a lot worse shape,” he mumbled, closing his eyes.

  Distractedly, Kate nodded. Lightly touching his face, she checked for bumps and bruises. “Everything else seems okay,” she muttered.

  Murphy sighed.

  And Kate grinned. He was obviously enjoying her ministrations. But he definitely appeared to be going down for the count. “We’d better get him into bed, Dan.”

  “Alright. I think I’m gonna have one more beer.”

  “I’ll go put this stuff away.” Gathering up her Band-Aids and the tube of antibiotic, she was returning her supplies into the medicine cabinet when a loud crash resounded from the kitchen. Running back through the hallway and into the living room, she ran into Dan, who was cracking up laughing.

  Stopping short of the kitchen, Kate gaped.

  Murphy lay in a crumpled heap on the kitchen floor.

  “He did it again, Kate.”

  Kate grimaced.

  But finally, reluctantly, she began laughing. “He’s gonna feel awful tomorrow. Isn’t he?”

  Dan snorted. “Give me a minute, Kate, and we’ll get him up. He’s not going anywhere. I need to get something out of my truck.” Scrambling from the kitchen, Dan rushed outside through the door.

  Kate bent down attempting to revive Murphy. But he wouldn’t budge.

  Dan returned to the kitchen with his phone in hand. After a moment of manipulation, he focused it on Murphy. And then he snapped a picture.

  Kate’s mouth dropped open. And then it closed. “Dan!”

  Grinning, he kept his camera focused on Murphy as he snapped a few more pictures.

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Some friend.”

  “The best,” he agreed, chuckling. “No one’s ever gonna believe this. Murphy never gets drunk. He takes everything so seriously.” He laid his phone on the table. “Alright. I’ll get under him. You grab his hand.”

  It took a lot of manipulating and maneuvering, but they finally got Murphy into the spare bedroom. Murphy became conscious just long enough to stumble down the hallway and into the bed. Dan disappeared when Kate began to untie Murphy’s sneakers.

  It was rather warm in the bedroom. Frowning, she opened the window. Kate was attempting to tug Murphy’s shirt over his head when Dan reappeared in the doorway. “You’d probably better pull off his jeans for him, Dan. It’s really hot in here.”

  She was suddenly startled by the flash from Dan’s camera. “Dan. Stop that. “

  Dan grinned, smugly.

  “Some great picture,” Kate mumbled.

  When she left the room, she could’ve sworn she heard Dan muttering under his breath, “Murphy’s sure gonna think so.”

  Chapter Eight

  Somewhat reluctantly, Murphy began to awaken. And then he groaned. “Oh, God.” Slowly, he attempted to raise his head.

  But the pain was too intense. “Why doesn’t someone just shoot me ri
ght now? What in the heck got into me last night?”

  His stupid obsession with Kate Callahan, that’s what.

  Trying not to move, he cracked his eyelids open. Bits and pieces of the night before flickered through his brain. He couldn’t have actually been somewhere with Kate?

  Sluggishly, he attempted to sit up in the bed.

  But then, he stilled, as his eyes searched the room. Where in the hell was he? A colorful quilt adorned the queen-sized bed. Creamy furnishings included a mirrored dresser and nightstand. A cheery floral area rug, patterned in shades of green and lilac, covered the whitewashed wooden floor.

  When he sat up too quickly on the edge of the bed, his head began spinning.

  And then his stomach heaved. “Steady, steady,” he muttered, closing his eyes. Slowly, he rose up from the bed. Hearing the splashing of water, he approached the open window to peek outside curiously.

  “Oh, God.” With wide eyes, he stared at the naked woman standing on the edge of the pier. Kate. Apparently, she’d just climbed out of the water.

  She definitely didn’t appear to be shy.

  Attempting to move closer to the opened window, he slammed his head into the edge of the pane.

  “Ouu...chh...chh,” he moaned, holding his head. But he continued to peer out through the window.

  Kate’s head jerked up and she suddenly stared towards the window. Grinning, she rolled her eyes while reaching for her robe. Spinning around on her heels, she tied up the robe as she approached the cabin from alongside the pier. Murphy heard the screen door slam shut from around the other side of the cabin. She must’ve entered the cabin through the kitchen.

  Wait – he’d actually known where the kitchen was. And that this cabin belonged to Kate.

  Murphy grimaced, dropping his gaze. Although he was finding it difficult to wake up this morning, another part of his anatomy didn’t appear to be having any trouble.

  Closing his eyes, he took in a deep unsteady breath. He couldn’t get the vision of Kate’s lovely naked body out of his mind. Beautiful firm breasts with tight pink nipples – that slim little waist he could span with both hands. And that beautiful ass...

  His eyes jerked open. “What in the hell am I thinking?”

  All of a sudden, he realized, he was only wearing his boxers. Had Kate undressed him? As he gradually became more alert, he began to search the room. Discovering his clothing neatly folded on top of a trunk resting at the foot of the bed, he shook his head at himself irritably.

  Once he was dressed, he gave his body a few more minutes to settle down.

  God, he felt like shit. Inhaling a shaky breath, he opened the door. He staggered slowly from the bedroom and into the hallway, making his way towards the kitchen.

  Still wearing the robe, Kate appeared to be gathering the ingredients for breakfast. Peeking out from behind the door of the fridge, she grinned.

  Murphy was sheepish as he motioned with his hand towards the lake. “Sorry for...”

  “Oh. That’s alright.” she said dryly. “Turnaround’s fair play, after all.” She deliberately winked.

  Murphy started to laugh, but the sound quickly morphed into a groan. Holding up a hand to his head, he spoke quietly to himself. “Please, Murph, not so loud.”

  Kate chuckled. She pulled out a carton of eggs from the fridge. “How’re you feeling?” she asked, cheerfully.

  Murphy snorted. “Can’t you guess?” Shuffling through the kitchen, he pulled out a chair at the kitchen table, and dropped into it. “Absolutely awful,” he added.

  “Hopefully, you’ll be feeling better once you eat.”

  He grunted. “Anything I can do to help?”

  Kate turned around and studied him. “Why don’t you just relax? Would you like some coffee?”

  “Please.”

  But when Kate bent forward to set his coffee cup on the kitchen table, he felt his body beginning to stir once again. The outline of her breasts stood out from the silky fabric of her robe. And when she walked through the kitchen, he could make out the light shadow of...

  “Damn.” He had a bad case of sex on the brain this morning. Yeah, right. He’d never had this kind of a reaction to Sara.

  Kate eyed him oddly as she turned away from the stove. “What?”

  Murphy cleared his throat. “Nothing.” But, inwardly, he was scolding himself. “I’m just mad at myself for acting the way I did last night.”

  But, exactly, how had he acted?

  “Ah.” She smiled. “You weren’t so bad, according to Dan. You just kept falling down a lot.”

  “Is that what happened to my face?” He grinned wryly. “I can’t really remember. I feel like I’ve been tackled one too many times.”

  “Well, apparently, you tackled yourself.”

  “What?” He lifted a brow and Kate hesitated.

  “Are you sure you really wanna know?”

  He nodded.

  “Supposedly, you caught your feet under a barstool and fell flat onto the floor.”

  Murphy groaned.

  “And then you fell onto the gravel in the parking lot when Dan was trying to load you up in his truck.”

  He groaned again.

  “And Dan kept calling you loverboy after he brought you back here last night.”

  What? Had he made a pass at some other woman? Come to think of it, he vaguely recalled a lovely brunette seated next to him at the bar. He was pretty sure he’d had Kate on the brain the entire night, though. He’d been so damn jealous after she’d left for that date with Brian Lancaster.

  Jealous? Crap, crap, crap – what was he thinking? He stared at Kate as she emptied scrambled eggs from the pan onto a plate. What right did he have to be jealous?

  “Would you like some orange juice, too? All we’ve got to eat are eggs and toast.”

  Still distracted, he cleared his throat. “Sure.”

  She brought the plate full of scrambled eggs to the table before returning to the fridge to pull out the orange juice. She grabbed the two glasses from the counter and settled onto a chair opposite Murphy at the table after handing him over his orange juice.

  Murphy tried hard not to stare at Kate’s breasts. But the robe she was wearing sure was revealing. He frantically attempted to turn his thoughts elsewhere. “Nice place you’ve got here,” he said, glancing through the window towards the lake.

  “Thanks. I really like it.” Kate smiled. “You wouldn’t recognize it, if you’d seen it three months ago.”

  “It needed a lot of work?”

  “Yeah. But it sure was worth it. I just love this location. Since Lucy and Gabe live in a huge home right on the lake, my family never use this place anymore. I’m hoping that, eventually, Dad will let me build my dream house here.”

  “Really?” Pausing from munching on his eggs, Murphy took a sip of his coffee before turning his gaze back towards Kate. “What kind of home have you got in mind?”

  For the next few minutes, Kate described, in detail, the multi-storied contemporary home she hoped to build one day to replace the cabin.

  Murphy nodded and asked the questions that only someone with a background in architecture would have the wherewithal to ask. After a couple more cups of coffee, a glass of juice, and some intelligent conversation with Kate, he felt a heck of a lot better.

  “Wasn’t Dan actually here with us, last night?” Come to think of it, he remembered Dan helping him find the bathroom before he must’ve finally passed out.

  She nodded. “He left early to meet Lucy and Gabe at the Riverbend Lodge.” Kate grinned. “They’re making the final arrangements for our trip down the river.” In a sing song voice, she continued, “Don’t forget – we’re going canoeing today.”

  Murphy groaned. Momentarily forgetting his headache, he slapped his forehead with his palm. “Ouch,” he yelped, dropping his fork. It hit his plate with a resounding ring.

  Kate smirked, taking a bite of her toast.

  “That canoeing trip is today? I comple
tely forgot. Dan and I haven’t even talked about it, since last week. I probably would’ve thought twice about how much I was drinking last night if he would’ve just reminded me.”

  “Ahh.” Kate chuckled. “Fresh air, a couple of beers – and you’ll feel fine.”

  “Beer?” Murphy groaned. “Oh, God, no. I don’t think so. I’d never recover in time for work tomorrow.”

  Kate sipped her coffee. After wiping her hands with a napkin, she crumpled it, dropping it onto her plate. Tenting her fingers, she rested her elbows on the table and stared thoughtfully at Murphy. “So. You wanna tell me what you and Dad have going on at the campgrounds? I’ve realized you weren’t quite as incompetent as you’ve pretended to be – during these past couple of weeks – since you began working for me.”

  Murphy sighed in resignation.

  She held his gaze. “He told you about the robberies – right?”

  Reluctantly, Murphy nodded. “Yeah. He wanted someone on site. But, unfortunately, I haven’t had much of an opportunity to discover anything.”

  “It probably didn’t help when I transferred you over to my crew for these past couple of weeks.”

  “I wasn’t getting anywhere, anyway, Kate.”

  But Murphy hesitated. He wasn’t sure, at all, that what he’d noticed was important.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I’ve been away from the campgrounds. There was one thing I saw that did seem kind of odd to me. But maybe not. You or Cal might need to go over there and take a look.”

  “How about now?”

  Murphy started.

  “Since you haven’t been in town that long, you probably haven’t got your bearings yet. This used to be the caretaker’s cabin for the campgrounds.” Staring through the window at the lake, Kate motioned with her hand. “We’re right next door. Let me go take a shower and get dressed.

  Chapter Nine

  There’d been tension in the air from the moment Murphy straggled into the kitchen this morning looking pale and disheveled. She’d immediately wanted to run her fingers through the thickness of his ash-brown hair to straighten its disarray. It’d required a conscious effort on Kate’s behalf to hold herself back.