An Innocent in Paradise by Kate Carlisle

smile. She couldn’t seem to get it out of her mind.
    Had he asked her a question? Oh, yes.
    â€œI have,” she said, resting her head on his chest because it seemed so inviting. “But it was strictly for business purposes. I was taking a test.”
    â€œA test?” he said, rubbing her back in a slow circle. “Which test was that?”
    She could hear in the tone of his voice that he was smiling. She liked that tone, too, and gazed up at him. “Dee calls it the cocktail quiz.”
    â€œAh. And how did you do?”
    â€œI passed with flying colors because I’m very smart. Do you know how smart I am?”
    â€œYou’ve mentioned several times that you’re very smart indeed,” he said.
    â€œBut you don’t know how smart I really am,” she said, pointing her finger at his face, which was slightly blurry around the edges. “If you knew, you’d run for the hills.”
    â€œYou said that before, too,” he murmured, wrapping his hand around her finger. “But you’re wrong.”
    â€œI think you’re very handsome,” she said, staring at him keenly.
    He chuckled. “And I think you’re toasted.”
    She thought about it, then nodded. “I think you’re right. And I’m okay with that.”
    â€œGlad to hear it,” he said, his arms wrapped securely around her waist. “Shall I walk you to your room now?”
    She looked up at the night sky, then at him. “Aren’t you going to kiss me again?”
    â€œDo you want me to kiss you?”
    â€œYes, please,” she whispered. “Under the moonlight, if you don’t mind.”
    â€œWell, since you ask so politely…” He touched his lips to hers in a kiss so gentle, so sweet, so warm, Grace wanted to melt in his arms.
    â€œJust like a dream,” she uttered, feeling as if she were floating on air. Was she melting for real? She felt as light as a feather. Then she felt nothing at all.
    Â 
    Logan caught her as she slid downward, boneless and out cold. Lifting her effortlessly into his arms, he was thankful he’d decided to take a walk out to the beach to catch a few minutes of fresh air before heading to his suite for the night. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had a chance to rescue Grace from a night spent sleeping on the sand.
    As he carried her across the terrace, he hoped like hell she wouldn’t wake up with too bad a hangover in the morning. He had a feeling she didn’t indulge very often, so she was probably going to pay for taking the cocktail quiz.
    He reached her room and used his own master-key card to open it. Stepping inside, he let the door close behind him and carried her over to her bed to lay her down. Once she was settled, he glanced around her room and saw the elaborate setup she’d arranged on her table and across the top of her dresser. It was a portable laboratory complete with a serious-looking microscope, state-of-the-art laptop and some contraption with a toggle switch and digital readout screen that measured something or other. There was a small scale next to a plastic thing that held glass cylinders suspended in a row, several of which had tubes attached that wound around and emptied into nearby beakers.
    If he didn’t know her better, he might’ve thought she’d set up a still to make whiskey.
    He glanced back at Grace, who was snoring softly. She would probably freak out when she woke up in the morning and realized that her boss had been the one who’d carried her to bed.
    She wore cropped pants and a thin blouse and he pondered the idea of taking her clothes off. She would sleep better wearing just her underwear, right?
    He enjoyed the image of her waking up and seeing herself in panties and a bra. How quickly would she grasp that it had been Logan who’d undressed her?
    Ah, well, it was a nice fantasy. One he wouldn’t be carrying out tonight.
    But soon. Very