And Babies Make Four by Ruth Owen Page B

it would take.”
    She’d hoped to insult him. Instead his smile widened to a grin so thoroughly wicked it stole her breath. White teeth gleamed against his sun-darkened skin, making her think of the Big Bad Wolf in the children’s story.
The better to eat you with, my dear
.
    “Oh, I’d make it last at
least
ten minutes, sweetheart. And I guarantee you’d be screaming by the end of it.”
    She paled, stunned not only by his words, but by her shattering, instinctive response to them. Somewhere inside her dynamite was exploding. “I … I never scream.”
    His smile faded. “Well, that’s a damn shame,” he said, his gaze returning to the road ahead.
    Damn the man! Damn him for leaving her embarrassedand angry and unable to stop herself from wondering what it would be like to have him make her scream. She set her jaw, anger making her throw her habitual honesty to the winds. “For your information, Hayward and I enjoyed—I mean, enjoy a rich and fulfilling sex life. We respect and trust one another—something a degenerate brute like you wouldn’t understand.”
    “Better degenerate than repressed,” he muttered.
    “I am not re—dammit, no research project is worth spending two weeks with you.”
    “Yeah, well, this ain’t no picnic for me either, sweetheart.”
    “For the last time I am not your …” She clenched her teeth, marshaling what was left of her self-restraint. “Take me back down. I’ll find another guide.”
    “Like who? The Deveraux boys?”
    “At least they don’t pretend that they care—” She stopped, barely saving herself from a confession that would make her look far more foolish than anything she’d said so far. “A new guide is my problem, not yours. Take me back down this instant. You’re fired, Mr. Donovan.”
    “Suits me fine!” he shot back. “I should have known better than to hire on with a woman. I’ve never had much luck with them.”
    No luck with women? What did he call last night? Her first thought was that he was making another tasteless joke at her expense. But even the heat of her anger couldn’t allow her to ignore the ring of truth inhis words. Somehow, somewhere, deep down inside, he was hurting. She didn’t want to think it. She didn’t want to believe it.
    She didn’t want to care.
    A loud electronic whine from the laptop curtailed her troubled thoughts. “Stop Jeep!”
    Startled, Noel looked down at the little computer. “Einstein? What’s the—”
    “Trouble. Huge big trouble. Up ahead. Uh … rockslide.”
    Donovan pulled the Jeep to a stop and stood up on the seat, scanning the road in front of them. “I don’t see any rockslide, and I sure didn’t hear any. The road’s clear to the corner.”
    “Past corner,” Einstein offered quickly. “Other side. Audio sensors picked up sound. Better check it out.”
    Donovan ran his hand over his face and peered up at the cliff wall. “Rockslides in these volcanic mountains are serious—and loud. Are you sure you heard something?”
    “Of course he’s sure. Einstein’s audio radio-band sensors are the most technically sophisticated on the planet. Besides,
he
wouldn’t lie.” Laying E’s laptop aside, she started to get out of the Jeep. “I’ll check it—”
    A restraining hand gripped her wrist, pulling her back into her seat. “
I’ll
check it out. Technically I’m still on your payroll, and as long as I am,
I
take the risks.” He reached around and dug an army-issue walkie-talkie from the baggage. “This is tuned to theCB radio on the dashboard. If I get into trouble you hightail it down this mountain as fast as you can. Rockslides have a nasty way of spreading.”
    She watched him go, riveted by his tall, striding figure until he turned the corner and disappeared from her sight. Even then she kept staring at the curve in the road. Dread settled on her shoulders like cold, wet leaves. What if there was another rockslide? What if he was injured, or even—
    “Worried about