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  He scooped her into his arms and headed for the bedroom, stopping only to blow out the candles in the main room. “I don’t want to be interrupted tonight, especially not by the fire alarm.”

  He laid her softly on the bed and crawled over her as she slid backward to accommodate both of their bodies. Strong, warm hands slid under her camisole and up her sides until they reached their destination and she gasped in approval.

  “I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of you not wearing a bra today. But now—” He let out a hoarse laugh. “—I’m so totally okay with it.”

  She chuckled softly against his lips and reached for the starched cotton that obscured the contours of his chisled chest. Her fingers tugged at the fabric that was firmly in his pants and moved her hands up the soft skin of his back, grasping at his bare shoulders in order to pull his body closer to hers.

  A trail of hot, moist kisses moved their way from her lips to her neck and down to her collar bone which caused her breathing to become unsteady and her heart to race. His fingers gently shifted the strap of her camisole, replacing its existence with his lips.

  One by one, her fingers unbuttoned the cotton barrier between her and the chest of the man she loved. With his skin exposed, she moved her hands across his muscles which jumped at her touch. She continued her exploration, over his shoulders and down his arms.

  She gasped as Jesse raised her cami up to kiss the flat surface just above her low-riding slacks. Then his fingers moved to the zipper and slid it down to reveal the ivory lace beneath. His breath left his lungs in a whoosh. “I can never get enough of you, KC.” The weight of his body vanished then he stepped away from the bed.

  “Jesse…where…are you…going?”

  He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bathroom where more candles burned, giving off a romantic glow. He sat her down next to the large bathtub and turned on the water, filling the tub with bubbles and the air with the scent of vanilla.

  His eyes twinkled in the candlelight and a smile spread across his full lips. “Now, let me help you...” He found the hem of her camisole and lifted it up and over her head. Her hair tumbled onto her shoulders. He slid her pants down over her hips and reached for her panties.

  “Huh uh.” She pushed his hands away. “You first.” Her fingers seductively roamed down his chest until they reached the waistband of his pants. She tugged at the button and made quick work of the zipper. They both gasped. “Commando, Jesse?”

  One corner of his lip lifted as did one brow. “Like I said, I have big plans for tonight.”

  She pushed the pants down his hips and they fell to the floor, leaving a whole lotta naked skin temptingly close to her. Her eyes swept him appreciatively from head to toe. Rough hands grabbed her then reached for the satin and lace of her panties. “Now can I finish?” His voice was rough with desire.

  “Please,” she breathed.

  His large hands grabbed her by the waist, his thumbs slipping between the thin piece of satin and her skin. In one fluid motion, the fabric was gone. Again she was in his arms, his lips on hers. He placed her carefully into the warm water and stepped in next to her. He dipped down into the bubbles and pulled her so that they were facing each other, her legs straddling his.

  He kissed her lightly. “You really did a great job today, KC.”

  “Thanks,” she sighed as her body reacted to his touch. “I’m going to really like it there.”

  “Good. I’d hate for you to be miserable like at the last station.” He kissed her shoulder. “Meet any interesting people?”

  “The News Director, Dale, is great. He has a sense of humor, which always helps. A producer named Olivia, cute little thing, and I’m pretty sure she’s married to the Assignment Editor, Jordan.”

  “What about your photographer? He seemed to have done a good job for you.” His body stiffened and his voice was tight.

  She stiffened too, lifting her eyes to glare at him. “I’m not doing this with you, Jesse. Not again.”

  “What?” He acted as though he was seriously offended by her reaction. “Well, let me ask you this…Is he good looking?”

  Kate stood, furious, and sent water spewing over the sides of the tub. “I am done. This night is done. Good night, Jesse.”

  His fingers grabbed for her, but she jerked away from his touch, stuffed her still wet arms into the sleeves of her robe and stomped out of the bathroom. She glanced at the bed for only a second before deciding that sleeping next to Jesse was not going to happen tonight. His constant suspicions made her livid.

  Did it matter that Rich was good looking, that he was smokin’ hot? No, it didn’t. What mattered was that Jesse felt the need to ask. She wasn’t sure if she’d made her point, or just caused him to be suspicious of something that didn’t exist.

  **

  Kate was already awake when the alarm went off. She’d been at KHB for a full week now, and couldn’t seem to get Rich off her mind. Luckily Jesse hadn’t pushed the issue and didn’t seem suspicious. He’d been loving, voracious.

  She rolled over to hit the snooze button, realizing that last night’s events were going to haunt her all day, in more ways than one. Three hours of sleep was not enough, no matter what wonderful, earth shattering, activity kept you up. Her whole body felt the effects of Jesse’s body possessing her; the good kind of ache that left your mind reliving the past.

  After gathering her clothes, she headed into the bathroom, turned on the water and stepped under the hot water that would help her muscles relax enough to get her through the next twelve hours.

  When the water finally ran cold, she turned it off and grabbed at a towel. She stood in front of the foggy mirror and combed through her hair. Her reflection began to show itself as the blow dryer evened out the humidity in the room.

  “What the…” She tipped her head to the side. “Dammit!” Her fingers moved over the marks that marred her normally white skin. She threw the door open, letting light flood the room where Jesse still slept. “Jesse Vasquez, you are so dead!”

  He rolled over and squinted at her. “Why?”

  “How am I supposed to go on air with these—” She inclined her head to reveal her neck. “—hickeys on my neck?”

  “I thought you liked when I sucked on your neck.” A huge arm flopped over his face to block the light. “You didn’t seem to object last night.”

  She closed her eyes, fighting off the images of their fabulous lovemaking session last night, took a deep breath to calm herself, and glared at him. “Jesse, you have to be more careful.”

  He laughed unapologetically. “I promise that next time I’ll put them in a place where no one will see.” He stood, letting the sheet caress his body until it lay motionless on the bed. “Come on,” he said, walking toward the closet, “I’ll help you find something to wear.”

  Three hours of sleep was not enough. Rich’s whole body hurt, especially his neck. He leaned his head against the wall in the photog lounge and closed his eyes. Last night, Shea had screamed, yelled, and destroyed everything she could get her hands on before finally retreating to the bedroom.

  “Good morning,” Nate said from over his shoulder.

  Rich continued to rub at his neck. “Morning.”

  Nate studied him for a second then asked, “What’s wrong?”

  His fingers ran over a knot and caused an involuntary wince. “I must have slept funny on my neck.”

  Nate sucked in a breath and blew it out between his teeth, making a soft whistling sound. “Dude, that’s what you get for sleeping on a couch in the den. You should at least invest in a futon.”

  Rich narrowed his eyes at him. “Thanks for the sympathy, man.”

  Nate shook his head. “Come on, are you really that scared she’ll kill you in your sleep?”

  Rich sighed, again remembering how unbalanced she was last night. “I sleep behind a locked door, don’t I?”

  His best friend burst into laughter. “Oh, I almost forgot about the time she s
haved your genitals.”

  “I’m just grateful that’s all she did to them.” He’d not told Nate about his serious lapse in judgment the other night, and he had no intention of sharing that little bit of information. There was no need to give Nate more ammunition.

  “So what happened last night?” Nate buried his head in his locker.

  “She threw a glass of wine on me at dinner last night.” Rich plopped down in a chair. “Then chucked it into the wall.”

  “What? Why?” Nate whipped around to look at him, his mouth hung open.

  “I’m not sure. She yelled until 4:00 this morning about all the ways I’ve ruined her life. Then she started in on all the affairs she insists that I’ve had.”

  “But you haven’t—”

  “No! Not even an emotional one.”

  Nate shook his head. “Are you sure she hasn’t—”

  “Rich Spencer to the assignment desk.” Jordan’s voice said from overhead.

  “Well, I guess that’s the end of this conversation,” Nate noted.

  Rich nodded. “I’d better go see what he wants.” And seconds later, he stood in front of Jordan. “What’s up, man?”

  “I’m going to have you go out with Kate again today. Is that okay?”

  Being Kate’s photographer wouldn’t make Shea happy, but then again, nothing did. There was something about the girl—with auburn locks that looked so soft he had to fight the urge to stroke them, and jade eyes that seemed to peer into his very soul—that made Rich want to get to know everything about her. A dangerous, slippery slope, he knew. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Good morning,” a soft voice called from the entrance of the newsroom. He turned around to see Kate walking toward her desk. She waved and his heart jumped.

  It was ridiculous to have any sort of feelings for this woman who had just entered his life a week ago. But there she was, doing nothing except looking absolutely beautiful in a black turtleneck that was tight enough to reveal her shapely figure. She smiled and her eyes twinkled, causing his heart to melt.

  You’re married, his thoughts reminded him as his heart continued to pound in his chest, and his mouth went dry.

  “Morning meeting in five.” Dale’s daily message came over the PA.

  He couldn’t tear his eyes away as Kate fumbled through her things. “Good morning, Rich. How was your night?” Olivia asked from next to him, her arms full of papers.

  “You don’t want to know,” he grumbled as his feet took on a mind of their own and followed her toward Kate.

  “Hi, Kate,” Olivia said. Kate looked up and smiled first at Olivia, then at Rich which caused his heart to jump into his throat while his stomach did flips. “How was your night?” Olivia asked her. Color rose in Kate’s cheeks. “That good, huh?” Kate’s only response was a nervous, uncomfortable giggle while she anxiously fiddled with the fabric around her neck. Olivia tipped her head and scrutinized Kate’s appearance for a moment before she started to laugh. “Kate? Does the turtleneck have anything to do with what happened last night?”

  Kate gasped and the pink in her cheeks turned to beet red. “Jesse got a little overly rambunctious, that’s all.”

  A twinge of pain stabbed at Rich’s heart. It took a few seconds for his brain to register the emotion as jealousy.

  “Olivia. Kate. We’re waiting on you,” Dale called from across the room.

  Kate grabbed her things and hurried toward the conference room. Her auburn curls rested on her shoulders. Her turtleneck was tucked into the slim waistband of her black slacks. She had a tiny waist and a perfect…

  “Rich, do you have any extra batteries?” Nate yelled. “I need to get out of here, and Tommy isn’t here with the keys.”

  Rich tore his eyes away from their focus, and turned to see Nate’s reproachful stare. “I think I might have some in my lock-up. Let me check for you.” He knelt down, fumbled with the keys, found what Nate needed, and handed them off.

  “Thanks, man.” Nate dropped the AA’s into his microphone. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.” The words left his mouth, and he instantly wanted to take them back. Nate knew him too well.

  “What are you doing?” The question and Nate’s face were full of disapproval.

  “What do you mean?” he asked with faked innocence.

  “I see how you look at her, Rich.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

  “Okay.” Nate shook his head. “I guess we’ll go with that for now.” He picked up his gear and threw it over his shoulder. “Have a good day, Rich.”

  “Yeah, you too,” he said into his locker, avoiding Nate’s eyes.

  Love at first sight had always seemed like a fallacy, but maybe there was something to it after all. Rich had only known Kate Callahan for a short time, but there was little doubt that he was developing feelings for this new reporter. And, for the first time in his life, he considered making Shea’s paranoia a reality. The consideration caused his heart to hammer in his chest, blood raced through his veins. His breath caught in his throat when a small, warm hand rested on his shoulder.

  “Rich.” Her voice was like that of an angel.

  My angel. Oh, how he wanted that to be true.

  Looking over his shoulder, he was struck speechless. Almond-shaped eyes, gold flecks set off the intensity of the jade, with long fringed lashes blinked. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t convince his vocal cords to work.

  “Are you ready?” she asked softly.

  He stared at her for another moment, finding his voice. “Um…yeah.” He shook his head back and forth in an attempt to not look like a total moron. “Where we headed?”

  “We’re breaking news today,” she announced.

  “Breaking news?” He was honestly surprised.

  “Yeah, Clayton, Greg…whatever,” she laughed and it was a glorious sound, “was not happy about it either. Before the meeting he was hitting on me, and then…”

  “He hit on you?” Rich was surprised by the anger in his voice. So was she, it seemed, as she tipped her head and examined his expression while her delicate fingers rubbed at her turtleneck sweater. Be cool. You have no right to fall for this girl.

  “Yes,” she said quietly. “But then after Dale assigned me to breaking news, he was…well, you could say he was pissed.”

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Don’t apologize. He’s the jerk.” She shrugged.

  “He’s just used to getting that gig. What story did he get?”

  She laughed and bent down so that their faces were only inches apart. The smell of her minty breath was almost his undoing. He closed his eyes, fighting her effect on him. “The baby elephant at the zoo.”

  His eyes shot wide in shock as a smile spread across his face. “Dale gave him…fluff?” The thought of “Go-Get-‘Em Greg Jeffers” reporting on baby elephants nearly caused a case of hysterics.

  She straightened and laughed with him. “Yeah, he’s so ticked that I don’t think I have to worry about him hitting on me anymore.”

  “That’s good,” he sighed, staring into her eyes.

  She stared back, scrutinizing whatever she saw on his face. “Yes. Yes, it is.” Her hand moved up and rubbed at the spot on her neck. “Jesse was worried the guys would hit on me. He can be the jealous type.”

  Jesse, the BOYFRIEND, you idiot! The mention of the man in her life was like a slap.

  “It makes him crazy when guys pay attention to me.” She sounded detached, worried.

  “Kate and Rich, move out,” Jordan’s voice rang out overhead. “Breaking News.”

  Rich jerked at the sound of their names, lost his balance, and fell over on top of her. Kate sucked in a breath, her eyes wide, penetrating his. Their noses touched slightly before he was able to pull away from her. Her whole body went stiff under him, and it seemed that she’d stopped breathing.

  Kiss her, his thoughts echoed the feelings of his entire body. Instead, he leaned
up onto his knees and stood, offering her a hand. “Sorry about that.”

  “You sure do apologize a lot, Rich.” She reached up, took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. It took every ounce of self control he had not to wrap her in an embrace. “Especially when it’s not your fault.” She smiled. “We’ll need to cure you of that.”

  “Sorry.” He cringed as the word left his mouth.

  She laughed. “See? You did it again.”

  He threw his gear over his shoulder. “Do you have everything?”

  “Yep. Let’s go.”

  The gentleman that his mother had raised wanted to open her door, and he had to remind himself that she was a co-worker. Nothing more. It was surprising how much that revelation hurt.

  His phone buzzed with their assignment.

  Amber Alert…

  4-yr-old girl

  59th South and 15th East

  Rich couldn’t help but groan. His stomach suddenly felt sick. “Looks like we have a missing little girl.”

  “Oh, no.” Her body shifted so she was looking out the passenger window. “Reporting on hurt kids makes me hate this job,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, me too. Let’s hope there’s a happy ending,” he agreed.

  “I love happy endings.”

  His thoughts easily moved to having Kate as his own—his perfect happy ending. “Yeah, me too.”

  The ride to the scene was a quiet one. Rich’s thoughts plagued by the beauty in the passenger seat. Hers were probably on the task at hand—finding the missing little girl. As they pulled up to the scene, the police were setting up their command center. Kate didn’t even wait for him before she headed into the throng of people.

  Rich shouldn’t have been surprised. This was how Kate Callahan rolled. He’d watched her since she burst onto the scene two years ago. Thought she was beautiful then, but she was all business. Never took the time to get chummy with anyone but her sources. So, of course, she beelined it for the sheriff.