“I’ll call in a couple of days,” he promised and hung up. It was time for a showdown with Ms. Kinkaid. As soon as her half-brothers and the Santini clan cleared out, Luke would have to confront her.

For a second the image of her lying beneath him, her eyes wide and verdant green in anticipation, her lips parted in passion as he made love to her, flashed through his mind.

His gut clenched.

He’d never felt so completely satisfied in his life as he had with her; and he’d never felt so guilty for seducing someone. Katie Kinkaid was different from any of the other women he’d had in his lifetime. Very different. And that was a problem. A big problem.

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

That night, after most of the stuff had been packed away, Katie opened the door to Josh’s room and smiled as she saw him spread-eagled across the bed, snoring softly, dead to the world. Her heart swelled as she brushed a wayward lock of hair from his forehead, leaned down and kissed his smooth brow. He had been warmer to her today, as if he was getting over the shock of realizing that she had lied to him, as if he were finally forgiving her. Thank goodness. She didn’t know how much more of the cold shoulder she could take. As she left the room she snapped off the TV and lights, then softly closed the door behind her.

In the next room over, her new office, she rearranged some files on her computer, edited an article on the new Santini winery and vineyards, and went through her notes on Isaac Wells. It had been over a week since she’d received the letter, and she’d never been contacted again. The police had told her nothing and she was starting to believe she’d been the target of some kind of hoax, though she couldn’t begin to think why. “Live and learn,” she said, frowning and catching a glimpse of her pale reflection, blurred over the words of her article in her computer monitor.

A truck roared into the drive and Katie’s heart jumped. The engine died as she opened the blinds and peered through. Luke’s truck was parked near the garage, the glow of a security lamp reflecting on its hood. Stretching as he climbed from the cab, he strode across the backyard. His expression was stern, his demeanor that of a man with a mission. Her pulse jumped of its own accord.

He cast a quick look at the house and upstairs to the lighted window. Katie’s throat caught. She couldn’t look away. He didn’t so much as smile, and quickly disappeared from view beneath the roof of the porch. Her porch. Oh, God, he was coming to see her.