by Amii Lorin
“Why didn’t you tell me it was there when you found me?”
“I didn’t know who you were. If I’d told you where the ladder was, you would have known this wasn’t just a hole. I’ll go first,” he said, stepping around her and placing the ladder against the rim of the hole. Then, slowly, cautiously, he climbed the rungs and peered over the edge of the opening. When he turned to gaze down at her, he looked absolutely dumbfounded.
“You were right. Frank and his horse are gone.” He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “Come on up.”
Anxious but eager, Laura slung her pack over her shoulder and carefully climbed the ladder. The instant she was above ground, she grabbed Jake’s hand and began walking.
“Laura, where are you heading?” Jake asked, bringing her to a halt when he stopped dead. “My house is that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction.
“Come with me. I want to show you something that will blow your mind.”
“Blow my mind?” he muttered, frowning at the unfamiliar expression. Nevertheless, he allowed her to lead the way.
When they arrived at Sage Flats, Jake stared in stunned silence. His head turning from side to side, his eyes wide with wonder and sheer disbelief, he docilely followed as Laura marched through the ghost town and directly to the vehicle parked beyond it.
“And that,” she announced in a voice tremulous from relief, “is the red Cherokee.”
Jake looked at the Jeep, then back at her, then back at the Jeep once more. Finally a slow grin curved his lips.
“Damned if it ain’t.”
Epilogue
“Now that’s the way to start the day,” Jake said, repeating a slogan he had heard on TV, as he often did. “Just go for the gusto,” he went on, repeating yet another one. Smiling, he turned his head on the pillow to look at Laura. “You are beautiful after making love, woman.”
“Jake Wilder, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me woman?” But Laura’s voice held too much satisfaction to carry any weight.
“But you are a woman,” he murmured, rolling on his side to caress her naked thigh. “You’re my woman. Mrs. Jake Wilder. I like the sound of that.”
Her smile was misty. “I would think you’d be used to it by now.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s been almost a year since you dragged me into the twenty first century.” His hand stroked up her thigh to settle on the slight mound of her belly. “And only five months to go till the Wilder heir makes an appearance.”
“And the heir to a sizable fortune, to boot.”
“Yeah,” he said proudly. “I told you that vein of gold was pure and deep.”
“Yes, you did,” she said, moving sensuously in response to the hand he slid up her body to cup one breast. “And it was very accommodating of the government to take the mine off our hands when we reported the find after legally buying your abandoned ranch.”
“Yeah.” His laughter rippled with pure delight. “I would never have thought a person couldn’t own the gold he found. But it was a generous offer the government made, and the money will give me time to build that plant nursery you said you wanted. It’s something we both can work at. Think of all the fun we’ll have traveling around the country looking for specimens.”
Laura shivered when he rubbed the tight crest of her aching breast. “Jake, you must stop,” she protested, making not the slightest move away from him.
“I love touching you, loving you.” He inched closer to nip her ear, and laughed softly when she moaned. “I love you, my beautiful woman.”
“And I love you, you teasing devil.” She turned to brush her lips over his stubbled jaw. “But I have to go to work.”
“Only one more week,” he said, removing his hand from her body with gratifying reluctance, “then we’ll be on summer vacation, free to make love and roam at will.”
“Roam?” Blinking the clouds of sensuous arousal from her eyes, she stared at him in confusion. “Roam where?”
“Wherever.” Rolling away, he leaned over the side of the bed. When he turned back to her, he held a small midnight-blue velvet pouch. “What century would you like to visit?”
“Jake Wilder, put that away at once!” She dived for the pouch dangling from his fingers. “It’s dangerous.”
Laughing, he held it just out of her reach. “I’ll put it away on one condition.”
“What’s that?” she asked suspiciously.
He shook his head. “You gotta promise.”
“Okay, okay, I promise. What’s the condition?”
A blatantly sexy smile crossed his face. “You cut your first class and make love with me again.”
Her smile was every bit as sexy as his. “You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Wilder, but since I’m your woman, I suppose I’ll have to agree.”
“You will?” he asked with endearing eagerness.
“Damned if I won’t,” she taunted, curling her arms around his neck. “Now stash the pouch and come here.”
Copyright © 1992 and 1994 by Joan Hohl/Amii Lorin
Originally published by Avon
Electronically published in 2015 by Belgrave House
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No portion of this book may be reprinted in whole or in part, by printing, faxing, E-mail, copying electronically or by any other means without permission of the publisher. For more information, contact Belgrave House, 190 Belgrave Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117-4228
http://www.BelgraveHouse.com
Electronic sales: [email protected]
This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.