“Okay...” she said reluctantly. “It was thrilling.” Being on the side of the mountain, moving quickly, working alongside the search and rescue crew and the ski patrol members had definitely set her blood pumping. “Very different than being at the hospital.”

“Better?”

She hesitated. “Different.”

He nodded. “Okay.” He paused. “I was kidding before, but if you do ever get tired of the six-figure salary and want to try slumming it up here, we’d be happy to have you.” He reached across and touched her hand, sending an electric current straight to her heart. “I’d be happy to have you.”

She swallowed hard. While it was reassuring to know she wasn’t in this alone, that he was feeling this connection between them as strongly, she thought maybe it would be easier in the end if it was one-sided. If it was only her heartache she had to deal with when she left, she could handle that. “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, before an unexpected yawn escaped her.

Despite the sleep she’d caught up on that day, she was completely wiped out. Her eyes struggled to stay open and the wine wasn’t helping.

Reed smiled, reaching into his pocket for his truck keys. “Here. Why don’t you go to my place and take a nap?”

She frowned, taking the keys. “I could just go to Cassie’s.”

“You could, but then I’d have to come wake you up at midnight to take you back to my place.”

Her mouth went completely dry. A direct contrast to what was happening between her legs. Just like that, she wasn’t so exhausted anymore.

“This way, you’ll already be in my bed.” He took her hand and brought her palm to his lips, where he placed several soft kisses that had goose bumps surfacing on her skin everywhere. “Go. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Midnight couldn’t come fast enough.

* * *

HE WAS BAGGED. The rescue followed by the evening shift in the crowded bar had him struggling to keep his eyes open, but the moment he saw Erika sleeping in one of his T-shirts in his bed, he caught a third wind. He hoped she’d gotten enough rest, because they probably weren’t going to do much more sleeping that night.

She was there for one more week. And he planned on making every minute count.

Diva slept curled up on the foot of the bed, and he carried the heavy, out-like-a-light pup to the extra doggy bed Cassie had given him for “sleepovers” such as this. Well, maybe this wasn’t exactly the kind of sleepover his sister had in mind.

He’d worry about Cassie and how she was going to react to all of this later. For the first time, he was experiencing a real connection to a woman and he wouldn’t think about the consequences right now.