His gaze settled on her in a provocative way that made her pulse race. “The closet’s always filled with extra toothbrushes, if that’s what has you worried,” he said.

Janet felt her cheeks flame. He knew precisely what had her worried, and it definitely wasn’t toothbrushes or the lack of them. “Thanks for the offer, but no,” she said firmly.

“Come on back in the morning then,” he said.

In giving in more gracefully than she’d expected, he almost left her feeling disappointed. Obviously she needed to work a little on her backbone. It was apparently as limp as an overcooked strand of spaghetti.

“Jenny can do her research and you and I could go riding,” he prodded when she remained silent. “You still haven’t seen all of White Pines.”

Janet felt Jenny’s wary gaze on her, but she avoided meeting her daughter’s eyes. There were a lot of reasons to accept Harlan’s offer, beginning with the chance it would give her to explore the very land that her ancestors had once hunted on. Jenny couldn’t fault her for that.

There was also one very big reason to turn him down: he made her stomach do the most amazing flip-flops every single time he looked at her. If he could manage that after a few relatively brief encounters, what kind of havoc could he wreak during a whole day’s outing? In private? Without Jenny’s watchful gaze on them every minute?

Would there be more of those bone-melting kisses like the one that had thrown her so off stride on Sunday night? Without a doubt. The heated promise was in Harlan’s gaze every time he looked at her. Temptation heated her blood. Longing made her heart thump unsteadily. And the combination had her saying yes before she could stop herself.

Once the single affirmative word was out of her mouth, Janet wasn’t sure which of the three of them was most stunned. A pleased smile hovered on Harlan’s lips. Jenny retreated into sullen silence. And Janet considered whether a steel rod implant was necessary to stiffen her spine to the degree it needed.

“Shall we get an early start?” Harlan inquired. “Or are you one of those people who likes to laze in bed on the weekends?”

There was just enough seductive innuendo in the question to make her voice unsteady when she vowed that she could be there at any hour he liked.

He grinned. “Brave words,” he taunted. “I’ll give you a break just this once, though. You get here by ten. I’ll have Maritza pack us a picnic to take along.”

“For three,” Jenny said, scowling at her mother. “I want to come, too.”

“Thought you had a big paper to do,” Harlan said, but his eyes were glinting with amusement at Jenny’s obvious ploy to play chaperone once again.