Sitting up, she swung her legs off the bed, folded Kate’s letter and tucked it with the others, under the mattress. Then she walked to the door and turned off the light switch. There were night-lights along the stairs. She could find her way.

Burke’s room was dark and cold, the way he liked it for sleep. Slivers of moonlight, shining through the venetian blinds, gave her enough light to see where she needed to go.

Passing a chair, she slipped out of her robe and tossed it over the back. Shivering in her thin silk nightgown, she tiptoed toward the bed. Burke had needed to sleep on his back since the surgery. As she leaned over him, she could hear the low rush of his breathing. How she’d missed that sound and the way it made her feel safe in the night.

Lifting a corner of the covers, she slipped into the warm darkness beside him. She snuggled close, feeling the contours and textures of his naked body and drowning her senses in the rich male aromas of his skin. How could she have forgotten how sweet it was, lying next to him.

He groaned and stirred. “What . . . are you doing here?” he muttered.

“I was lonesome,” she whispered in his ear. “Lie still.”

She began kissing him and stroking him, her hand moving across his chest and along his belly. By the time her fingers traced the smooth strip of hair that made a path downward from his navel, he was breathing hard and fully ready for her.

With a growl of arousal, he reached for her and pulled her almost roughly on top of him. Hungry with need, she guided him into her and began to move.

Their lovemaking was bittersweet and explosive, sweeping them both away with its intensity, leaving them spent, satisfied, and at peace. Afterward she lay nestled against his side, drifting on the brink of sleep.

“So how soon do you want to sign on as my business partner?” he asked.

“I thought I just did,” she teased, laughing. “No, seriously, is this what it took?”

“Don’t underestimate me,” he said. “I know I gave you a hard time, but my mind was made up before you went stalking out the door. I’d have told you if you’d come into the den and found me. When you didn’t I just figured you needed time to cool down.”

“You’re impossible,” she said.

“I know.”

“And I wouldn’t have you any other way,” she said.

“I know that, too.” He kissed her with a tenderness that brought tears to her eyes.

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 16

Two weeks later