Sam felt the agent’s eyes on her back as she checked on Scotty, who was sleeping soundly, and then made for the stairs that led to the third-floor loft her loving husband had put together as a getaway for them. If the agents knew what went on up there, they never let on, but Sam was sure they had their suspicions. Let them wonder. It was bad enough that their house was overrun with people these days. The time they spent alone up there belonged to her and Nick and no one else.

On the way upstairs, she was greeted by the scent of coconut that took her right back to the blissful days and nights of their honeymoon. As she shut and locked the door behind her, she saw that he’d lit the candles, turned on music and was asleep on his side, the sheet pooling around his narrow hips, leaving his muscular back exposed. She licked her lips at the sight of him, torn between wanting him and not wanting to disturb his badly needed sleep.

Sam removed the robe and the lingerie since he was asleep, tossed her clothes over the end of the double lounge chair, put her cell phone on the bedside table and slid in next to him, tugging the covers up and over her.

His arm immediately encircled her waist, making her squeak inelegantly as he tugged her in close to him.

“I thought you were asleep!”

“That’s what I wanted you to think,” he said, laughing.

Her heart beat fast with adrenaline from being surprised and the ever-present desire that flooded her senses whenever he was nearby. She’d never reacted to any man the way she did to him, and she was addicted to the way he made her feel.

He propped himself up on an elbow and gazed down at her, as if seeing her for the very first time.

“What?” she asked, unnerved by his intense scrutiny.

“Just looking at what’s mine.”

“You put on quite a show downstairs.”

“When?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Why does he still look at you that way when he has Shelby waiting for him at home with his ring on her finger?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. He doesn’t look at me any way.”

“The second you walk into the room his eyes are on you. Every. Single. Time.”

“Why do you let it bother you? It has no bearing on us.”

“It pisses me off.”

“Sort of like it pisses me off that Secret Service Barbie looks at you like you’re a great big banana split with an extra helping of nuts?”

He lost it laughing.

“Why is that funny but your shit about Hill isn’t?”

Wiping tears from his eyes, he said, “Because she’s paid to look at me, and he’s just hot for you.”