Red Hot Lovers: 18 Contemporary Romance Books of Love, Passion, and Sexy Heroes by Your Favorite Top-Selling Authors

by Milly Taiden

  Bella remained on her feet. So did Paul and Nita, although he thought the two of them might rebel if she didn’t sit down and eat her lunch. They must want to grab their own meal.

  “Aren’t you going to eat?”

  “Yes. I just…” She glanced around, color rising in her cheeks as she found all four crew members watching her along with him.

  Aah—she heard the call of nature. “There’s toilet paper in your pack. Just find a handy tree.”

  She frowned, but opened her pack and took out a plastic pouch filled with toilet paper. “Okay.” She headed reluctantly into the bushes. When she reappeared a minute or two later she wouldn’t meet his eye. Paul, Nita, Chris and Andrew had all settled down to eat but he was positive the cameras and microphones were still on.

  “Seriously, Bumpkin. People piss every day; it’s no big deal,” he said.

  She ignored him and looked in her pack again. She didn’t appear any more enthusiastic than he felt when she pulled out her lunch.

  “That’s it?”

  “Think of it as a bonus diet,” Evan said. “You may lose the show but at least you’ll get rid of those pesky last five pounds.”

  “I don’t need to lose five pounds,” she said. She selected a sandwich, the apple, and the trail mix, and tucked the rest back in her bag.

  Evan had to give her points for that response. Most women were so touchy about their weight they might deny needing to diet, but they would have felt very self-conscious afterwards. Bella didn’t seem bothered a bit. She ate in silence and Evan bit into his sandwich, too.

  “Do you hike a lot?” he asked after a minute.

  “Sometimes.”

  “Do a lot of camping?”

  “You already asked that.”

  He laughed. “Right. Girl scouts. Tell me about it.”

  “No.”

  He could almost hear the collective groan of the camera crew—this wasn’t interesting television. How could he rile her up some and forestall a lecture from Madelyn the next time they saw her? God—what if Madelyn made them re-do the day? He could just imagine her yelling, “Cut—get back to the starting line and let’s hear more trash talk this time!” He wasn’t interested in that scenario.

  “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  This time she did turn around. “No, I don’t.”

  “Aren’t you going to ask me if I have a girlfriend?”

  “I don’t care.”

  “I don’t. Not a steady one, anyhow,” he amended since he didn’t want to come off like a total dork.

  “You mean you have one night stands.”

  Hmm, her disapproval about that idea was palpable. “Sure. Or two-night stands. Sometimes seven-night stands, even. I’m versatile.” Let her chew on that. He hadn’t even had a one-hour stand in a long, long time, though. Way too long, now that he was sitting close to Bella.

  “You’re a slut.” She shot him a look. “I bet you have to pay for it, too.”

  Anger surged within him. That was taking trash talk too far. And the fact that he’d entertained the idea once or twice out of pure desperation made it all the worse. “Betty, I never have to pay for sex.”

  She just raised her eyebrows. “But let me guess—you do pay for dinner, entertainment, hotels, plane tickets, gifts…” She ticked the items off on her fingers. “You may not hand them hundred dollar bills at the end of the night, but you most definitely pay for sex, Moneybuns.”

  Evan opened his mouth, thought a second and closed it again. She’d hit a bull’s-eye, but she’d also missed the target altogether. He didn’t date because it felt like paying for sex. The women were so sure a billionaire would lavish them with gifts that he felt compelled to do so, or ruin their good impression of him. He could never simply be with them; never know for sure if they even liked him.

  He didn’t trust women.

  He didn’t trust anyone, come to think of it.

  ***

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Bella watched the color surge into Evan’s handsome face. Score one point for her. Was he thinking over past dates and wondering whether they’d have gone so well if he hadn’t spent so much cash? She bet guys like him never found out. They were probably so addicted to the high life they rarely ever got their credit cards back into their wallets before it was time to flash them again.

  Poor little rich boy, she thought, and bit into her sandwich. She hoped the show planned to provide them a big dinner tonight, because while the food in her pack might get her through the rest of the afternoon, it wasn’t going to satisfy her at the end of this hike. She was ravenous.

  She finished as quickly as she could and allowed a crew member to top up her water supply. Apparently they might starve her, but they weren’t going to allow her to get dehydrated. She recalled Evan’s diet comment. Most women might fuss about their weight, but she wasn’t one of them. She was comfortable with her body and she saw no reason to change it. Who cared about frivolous things like that when there was so much suffering in the world?

  Speaking of suffering—how was Hannah doing with the animals? Had she remembered all their special diets? Had she played enough with the dogs in the back kennels? What about emergencies?

  “If you need a nap, you can curl up by me,” Evan said suddenly, startling her out of her thoughts. “I’ll keep a watch on…things,” he let his gaze dip to her breasts and raised it again, “while you sleep.”

  “Shut up,” she said and bit her lip, catching his mischievous grin. Darn it—he always made her sound like an adolescent when he caught her off guard. He obviously enjoyed the opportunity the show gave him to act like a teenager. Somehow she knew he didn’t normally behave this way. Her body hummed with interest over his insinuation, though. As much as she wanted to dislike Evan, she was attracted to him at some basic level. The thought of him looking at her? Yum.

  No, yuck. She gathered her trash and stowed it away, shouldered her pack and began to walk again, determined to focus on the contest, not her adversary. That proved to be harder than she expected, though.

  It was bad enough worrying about the cameraman focusing on her bottom. Now Evan dogged her every step and whenever she glanced back she could swear he was staring at it, too. She tried to curb the sway of her hips, but that made her walk stiffly and soon became uncomfortable. Okay, America, she thought as she gave up trying to repress her natural stride. Take a good long look at my butt. Hope you like it.

  Knowing Evan was unabashedly staring at her hindquarters kept her all too aware of him throughout their hike. Worse were the images of her and Evan in a more intimate setting. She pictured them peeling the clothes off of each other. Taking their time. Touching…

  She was thoroughly unnerved by the time they reached the colored flags that signaled their second challenge of the day. Her boots had begun to rub and she pulled the small first-aid kit out of her pack and held her breath as she opened it. Thank goodness there was a Band Aid big enough to cover the blister building on her heel. She shucked off her boot and sock, applied the bandage and pulled them back on. Only then did she allow herself to survey the challenge.

  Wait a minute. Where was the challenge?

  She caught sight of a rope dangling from a nearby tree and followed it up—and up—and up—until she spotted several people standing on a platform high overhead.

  Back on the ground, a crew member approached carrying something that looked like a cross between a vest and a harness. Her stomach sunk. A zip line course? She was not a huge fan of heights. She had managed to help fix the gutters on her clinic last year, but she’d never tried anything like this before. Was the challenge simply to live through it?

  As one crew member helped her into the vest, another explained the rules.

  “Once you climb to the platform, you’ll be at the first of five zip lines we’ve installed. You’ll be handed a beanbag at each platform and you need to pitch it into a basket positioned somewhere along each zip line. The challenge is to spot the baskets and m
ake each shot for a possible total of five points.”

  “We have to throw things while we’re zipping?” she said, and cringed at the squeak in her voice. “Aren’t we supposed to hold onto something?”

  “It only takes one hand to control your speed,” Evan said as a crew member finished fastening him into another harness. “It’s no big deal to throw something, too.”

  Control your speed? She hadn’t even thought about that. And why did Evan seem so confident about this task, too? Was he as much an expert at this as he was at archery? This whole thing was rigged, wasn’t it? The show’s producers must have it out for her.

  Miserably, she allowed herself to be fastened into her harness and led over to the tree containing the first platform. Evan, already halfway up, waved down to her. “Come on up!”

  “I’ll wait,” she said.

  His laughter rang out above her. “What’s wrong, Bumpkin—afraid of heights?”

  “No.” Yes. Kind of. She wasn’t afraid of balconies, or even ladders up to a point. This particular ladder, attached to this particular tree, however, seemed to go up and up and up—much higher than she’d ever climbed before.

  When Evan disappeared from view she took a deep breath and began her ascent. Paul and Nita climbed beneath her, Paul still filming. Terrific. This must be a very flattering angle. Her arm muscles began to ache about halfway up, but she knew better than to hesitate even for a second. She also knew better than to look down. The ladder seemed sturdy, so as long as she focused only on the next rung, everything was okay.

  “Just a few more rungs,” a voice said above her. She glanced up and saw the underside of the platform looming overhead. A trapdoor was open and a man she didn’t recognize looked down through it. “I’m Jim, your instructor,” he said as she climbed through the door. He steadied her as she awkwardly flopped onto the platform’s floor. “Come on, I’ll show you the ropes.”

  Evan was there, leaning casually against a railing as Jim began his safety spiel. She tried to pay strict attention to everything Jim said, but her gaze kept trailing back to Evan’s strong shoulders and wide-legged stance. Even in a harness he was hotter than hot. Would marriage to him for a year be so bad? What would it be like to be cared for by someone else for a while? To let him worry about bills and costs and… She snapped herself out of her reverie. Evan wasn’t interested in saving animals’ lives. Marriage to him meant an end to the clinic and possibly to her career.

  She turned her attention back to Jim as he finished outlining their task.

  “Who wants to go first?” he asked.

  Evan looked to her.

  “He can go first,” she said. “He’s been watching my ass all morning. Turnabout is fair play.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “We don’t have to take turns, Betty. You can watch my ass anytime you like.”

  He made a big show of keeping his posterior pointed her way through the entire process of connecting his harness to the zip lines. Jim handed him a beanbag. “Good luck, man.”

  “Thanks.” Evan turned to Bella and winked. “I’ll be watching for you.”

  “Whatever.”

  He took off, zipping down the line and out of sight. A second later, they heard a slap of something hitting wood.

  “I think he got a basket,” Jim said, obviously impressed. “Your turn.”

  Her stomach writhed at the thought of leaving the platform and skimming through the trees with the ground so far below her. “I don’t think I can do this.”

  “Sure you can. It’s easy.”

  “No, really—I don’t think I can!”

  Jim clipped the end of a tether to her harness and to the zip line, and helped secure a second connection. “See? You’re attached in two ways to the line; no way you’ll fall down, no matter what. Keep your left hand on the brake,” he showed her how, “and use your right hand to throw. Easy, peasy!” He put the beanbag into her right hand and pushed her to the edge of the platform. “Jump!”

  “But I don’t…”

  Jim shoved her, and she fell forward, jerking sharply when the connection between harness and line brought her up short. She dropped the beanbag immediately and clutched the brake with both hands, screaming so loudly she hurt her own ears. The forest zipped past her in a blur, so she closed her eyes. That was worse. She opened them again and fought to keep from throwing up with fear. Something caught her eye and she blinked, surprised by the incongruity of a florescent orange post in the middle of this pristine forest. It stuck straight up and culminated in what looked like an old-fashioned bushel basket.

  The basket!

  Bella let go of the brake with her right hand, threw, and realized she no longer held the beanbag. Damn—she’d lost another point, and Evan had scored this one—she’d heard the thunk. Well, now that she knew what she was shooting at, she wouldn’t miss next time.

  By the time she saw the platform approaching in the distance, she had her emotions under control. As she approached, she reflexively drew up her knees and pressed the brake harder. This zip line business wasn’t that difficult after all; and not that scary once you got past jumping off the platform. The brake did put her speed under her control.

  And the burn of competition helped a lot.

  Having never considered herself all that competitive, the feeling surprised her, but it also gratified her. Somehow, the unquenchable desire to kick Evan’s ass made her feel powerful, and she hadn’t felt that way in a long time. She slowed to a stop and landed on the second platform. As she allowed another helper to unclip her from the first line and escort her around the tree to the second line, she was only dimly aware of the cameraman also landing and making his way around the tree. She gripped the beanbag tightly and positioned her left hand over the brake with confidence.

  “Need a push?” the young man asked.

  “Nope—I’ve got it.”

  She pushed off and relished the feeling of freedom zipping down the line gave her. She kept her eyes peeled for the target and slowed down when she spotted it—there! Winding back for the throw, she remembered her years in little league. She could place a ball accurately.

  Thunk. She hit the basket, but on the outside. Bella watched the beanbag fall to the ground in disbelief. Double-damn! Two points down.

  The next target went better. She scored, and scored again on the fourth basket. When she arrived at the fifth platform, Evan was just taking off.

  “Help me—hurry up,” she called and this time a young woman helped move her tether from line to line. Evan was already almost out of sight, but she yelled after him anyway. “Hey, Evan—your butt crack’s showing!”

  He twisted and swore and the young woman helping her laughed out loud. “That’s the way to get him.”

  Bella took her time getting ready for the next leg—her last chance for a point today. Taking a deep breath, she perched on the edge of the platform and gripped the beanbag. This was it—she had to score. She took off, keeping her speed well in line this time, and slowed down considerably when she spotted the basket. She aimed, held her arm steady, and threw as hard as she could.

  Yes!

  She let go of the brake and allowed herself to pick up speed as she kicked her legs in a happy dance. Three points! Even if Evan got five she hadn’t fallen too far behind. The next challenge had to be better, right?

  “Bella!”

  She would show him tomorrow—she would run his butt into the ground and find a way to get him off his game so she could…

  “Bella—you’re going too fast!”

  She opened her eyes, unaware she’d even closed them in her celebration, to see the platform hurtling toward her. Evan and a stranger—another zip line attendant—stared back at her in shock. She grabbed for the brake, missed it and grabbed again, but it was too late. Evan threw himself in the space on the platform between her and the tree trunk and she slammed into him at speed, knocking the wind from her lungs.

  When she came to, she was tangled in a pile of ar
ms and legs, the attendant yelling and swearing at both of them. Evan’s breath tickled her neck and she breathed in his smell, masculine and woodsy. She hadn’t been in such an intimate embrace in…well, years, frankly, and it stirred something within her that had been sleeping for a long time.

  “Let me up,” she said shakily.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” Evan said as he climbed awkwardly to his feet and dragged her up with him. “You could have been hurt. You could have killed yourself!”

  “I would have stopped her,” the attendant said pettishly, and Evan turned his glare on him. The attendant slunk off to the other side of the platform. The cameraman landed, still filming.

  Bella ignored him. “I’m fine. Thank you for saving me.” She meant it, but somehow the words came out sarcastically and Evan scowled.

  “I did save you. They’d be hauling you off in an ambulance right now if I hadn’t been there.” Bella tried to shrug off his hands, but he gripped her harder. “Look at me.”

  She did so reluctantly, but instead of anger she saw concern in his eyes.

  “What do you care if I get hurt?” she demanded. “You’d win, right?”

  He frowned. “Sure—maybe, but that’s not how I want to win. I want to beat you fair and square.”

  He was so close she could see the shades of brown in his irises, warm tones that intrigued her and hinted at possibilities she hadn’t considered with Evan. His jaw was strong and his features handsome. A kissable mouth. He pulled her a fraction closer.

  “Bella.” His voice was rough.

  For a second she thought he was going to kiss her. She held her breath, anticipating his move, and her body tingled in awareness of him.

  Then the moment ended. He shook himself, glanced over her shoulder, and she realized the camera was still rolling. She stepped away automatically and suddenly the attendant was back to help unhook her from the zip line and get her prepared for the descent to the ground. There was a difficult moment when she moved from the platform onto the ladder that led down the tree, but once she’d navigated it, she found it easy to move down the rungs. Back on solid ground, however, she found she was shaking and she was grateful for the bustle of removing the harness and retrieving her hat, pack and map to bring her back to herself.