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

by Milly Taiden

  “Maybe you should stop for lunch,” Nita said, startling Bella. She’d become so used to the two silent crew members trailing her, she’d forgotten they could speak.

  “I wanted to find five caches before I stopped,” Bella said, but she longed for a break. “Ten more minutes. If I don’t find it, we’ll take a rest.”

  Another half-hour later, there was no cache in sight and Bella wanted to throw the GPS unit into the next creek they crossed. The thing was worthless. She should have found that cache five times over by now.

  “Eat something,” Nita said gently, pointing her to sit on a fallen log. “You’ll feel better and think better, too.”

  “You two aren’t supposed to talk,” Paul said.

  “Give her a break, can’t you?” Nita said. “She’s having a tough day.”

  Something about the way she said it made Bella look sharply at the camerawoman. What exactly did she mean by that?

  That you’re having a bad day, Miss I-Can’t-Use-a-GPS-To-Save-My-Life, she told herself. Surely there wasn’t anything more to it.

  She didn’t have a phobia of geocaches, after all. Madelyn had no way of knowing she’d be a failure at following directions. Now, if the challenge included riding horses, she’d know Madelyn had it in for her.

  No, today it was her own stupidity tripping her up. As usual.

  She’d always been the one who caused trouble in her family; the one who ruined everything. She’d been responsible for Caramel’s death, hadn’t she? Responsible for Cyclone’s death and the hard months that followed, ending in the sale of half her family’s ranch.

  Plus there was her fear of horses. Her refusal to go anywhere near them again despite her mother’s attempts to help her get over it. One day Sylvie had led her to the corral, where a sweet-tempered mare stood ready to be ridden. Bella’s protests hadn’t stopped her, but her father spotted them from the barn and he put an end to the session with a quick burst of words: Get her away from there! She’s got no business around horses. I can’t afford to lose her; she’s the only one I’ve got.

  His words had hit her like a slap to the face. He cared more about the mare than he did her and he thought she’d kill any horse she got near, for heaven’s sake. She’d run into the house and cried for an hour.

  After that, her mother kept her away from the ranch as much as possible. With no money for activities, she hit on the idea that Bella could make herself useful to elderly Maggie Silverton, the local pet veterinarian. Maggie, in turn, was grateful for any help she could get. A gray-haired, soft-spoken, gentle woman, she took Bella in every afternoon after school and all day on weekends. Bella wasn’t sure how she’d have survived her teenage years without her.

  Her father acted as if she had died along with Caramel and Cyclone. He focused on Craig as the worthy heir to his diminished kingdom. Together they plotted how someday they’d recoup the lost land and restore the Chathams to their former glory.

  Bella kept her head down and learned to be invisible. While her parents scrimped and saved to make up any gap between Craig’s scholarships and grants and the cost of his education, she’d never once discussed the cost of hers with them. A top-notch student—all those afternoons working on her homework under Maggie’s gentle tutelage paid off—she’d still needed to take out loans to fund the final years of her veterinary education.

  At least she knew she had a job waiting for her with Maggie, and when Maggie had passed all too soon, she’d been shocked to find herself the sole beneficiary of her elderly friend’s will. Maggie was the only reason she had a clinic and shelter to run, and now she was losing it.

  She wasn’t worthy of the old woman’s trust. Wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love.

  She jerked to her feet, her lunch spilling to the ground. She had to win this thing.

  “Bella?” Nita reached out a hand, but Bella batted it away. Blinking back tears, she grabbed her pack and the GPS, leaving her lunch scattered on the ground. She had to move, had to walk and keep on walking, until she left those memories far behind.

  “Bella! Wait!”

  She didn’t slow down.

  She couldn’t.

  And if Madelyn tried to put her on a horse, she’d just crumple up and die.

  ***

  CHAPTER TEN

  “What are you doing here?”

  Evan, Chris and Andrew all swiveled to see Bella crash through the brush at the side of the trail, followed closely by Nita and Paul, who didn’t look at all happy. Bella’s hair was tumbling down around her shoulders, and a smudge of dirt streaked her forehead. She looked like she’d been crying, or maybe fighting hard not to cry. Evan’s stomach squeezed. Evidently, while he’d been taking it easy, she’d been working hard.

  On what? These geocaches couldn’t be any easier to find.

  “Damn it, we missed the shot!” Chris said, and he and Andrew raced to get their equipment set up again and rolling as a drizzling mist of rain began to fall.

  Bella faced Evan down. “Why are you on my trail?” Her voice was thin and high, and he thought she might break down into tears any second. What the hell had happened to her out there? He wanted to pull her into his arms, but now was not the time.

  “This is my trail,” he said, holding up his GPS. “You sure you know how to work that thing?”

  She scowled down at hers fiercely. “I think mine’s broken. It keeps blinking on and off and giving me new directions.”

  “Let me see that.” He swiped it from her hand along with her laminated card and went to work pressing buttons and checking the coordinates she’d put into it.

  “Hey! Give it to me! I don’t need your help.” She made a grab for it, but Evan turned his back on her, engaged in figuring out what she’d done. He ignored her when she shoved him—he was quite a bit heavier than she was; she couldn’t budge him and she obviously needed his help. “Give it!” She whacked his arm this time. Evan held fast. “I said, give it!”

  She locked her hands around his wrist and pulled hard. Evan pulled back, aware she was nearing the breaking point, but wanting one more minute to look over the GPS. If he could just help her, everything would be fine. “Hey, I almost figured it out…”

  “Let go!” Bella dug her heels into the now-slick dirt track and pulled with all her might. Suddenly, Evan caught sight of the camera crew, all four of them ranged in front of him, their expressions blank with shock, the heavy mist dampening their hair and clothes. He realized how all of this must look—like he was helping Bella against her will. Which of course he was, but the viewing public—and Madelyn—weren’t supposed to know that.

  He let go.

  Bella slipped and landed on her butt with a yelp of pain, and the GPS flew from her hands, landing with a harsh crack that spelled the end of her search for her geocaches.

  For one long moment, silence reigned as the rain began to patter down in larger drops. Then Bella leaped to her feet and charged him. “Where is it? Where’d you put it?”

  Mortified by what he’d just done, Evan had no idea what she was talking about, and he stumbled backwards as her hands searched his Jakeet pockets, patted down his clothing and finally delved into his pants pockets, uncomfortably close to his groin.

  “Hey!”

  But she already had his GPS in hand.

  “Bella—wait. Don’t….”

  She hurled it against the closest rock where it smashed with a satisfying crack.

  “Turnabout is fair play, right?” she demanded. “Right?” She glared at him through the damp tendrils that framed her face, waterdroplets dripping from their ends.

  Damn, she was furious. Did she think he’d broken hers on purpose?

  “Madelyn’s going to be pissed, you know.” He swiped a hand through his own wet hair to push it back from his face.

  “That’s not my fault!” She met his gaze, eyes wide, and he knew she was picturing the director’s reaction to this chain of events.

  “Think about it. The GPS maker has to be a
sponsor of the show.”

  With a wild groan, she covered her face with her hands. “Shit.”

  Chris cleared his throat. “I’ll give Madelyn a call. See what she wants us to do.” He stepped away down the trail a bit and the rest of the crew trailed after him, forming a semicircle around him as he pulled out his cell phone and hunched his shoulders to keep it safe from the rain. Evan sat down on a nearby boulder, ignoring the dampness that soaked through his pants, and motioned Bella to join him. She did so, slowly, her reluctance evident on her face.

  “What do you think she’s going to do?” she asked.

  “Oh, I bet she’s got a hundred more GPS’s with her. We’ll probably have to start all over again. Tell me,” he said, then leaned back and peered down at her as a raindrop slid down the bridge of his nose, “what’s with you not being able to take the slightest bit of help from me?”

  She snorted and folded her arms across her chest. “Help? Like you weren’t going to mess my GPS all up and program the wrong coordinates in it? Right—you’re such a saint you were going to help me win those millions.”

  “I could beat you handily, even if I did show you how to work the GPS, you know,” he said. She was close enough she brushed his arm when she shifted her weight, and the touch reminded him of her earlier onslaught, the way she’d searched his pockets as if he belonged to her.

  He’d like to belong to her.

  He shrugged that errant thought away, but as he searched for something else to say, he couldn’t help reaching out and wiping a drop of rain from her face.

  She turned in surprise. “What are you doing?”

  A glance down the trail told him the crew were still occupied, Chris gesticulating as he talked into his cell phone. “This.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. He’d wanted to do that for twenty-four hours. Her small cry of surprise made desire surge within him, and he laced an arm around her, pulling her in close as he kissed her again.

  She didn’t fight him. It was as if for one second she acquiesced in his attempt to forget the show, the crew, the rain, and their separate lives, and decided to enjoy the moment. He deepened the kiss and her lips parted, allowing him entry. She snaked a hand up to his shoulder and encircled his neck, pulled him down and matched his hunger with her own.

  A silence behind him alerted Evan that the crew must have seen them, and he pulled away. Bella sucked in a breath at his sudden removal.

  “Sorry,” he whispered. “They’re watching, aren’t they?”

  She glanced over his shoulder. “Just setting up their cameras.”

  As if in silent accord, they leaped apart, Evan to pace the trail and Bella to retie her damp shoelaces. A muttered curse from Andrew told him the crew hadn’t managed to film them. He caught Bella’s eye and winked. When she smiled back reluctantly, he thought the sun must have just dawned.

  *

  Five million dollars was slipping through her fingers and she was smiling like a fool because her enemy had kissed her.

  Bella turned back to her hiking boots and tied the wet laces with shaking fingers. Thank goodness the crew hadn’t captured that searing kiss on camera. Was it the long days in the fresh air, or the disturbing nights in the cramped tent with Evan, then alone when he made his break for wide-open spaces, that made her feel so off-balance?

  I’m tired and at the end of my rope, and he took advantage of me, she told herself. If he wins this contest, he’ll get the right to take advantage of me for an entire year. Her smile vanished and her throat constricted. She would not think of the sexual implications of that statement. Bad enough she’d lose her veterinary practice and all the animals in her shelter if she didn’t win. Not to mention the fact she’d have to move to some city where she knew no one, and be at Evan’s beck and call for a year. What would she do when he didn’t need her? Just sit at home with her hands folded in her lap, waiting for his phone call? Who would care for the rest of Chance Creek’s pets and strays? Suddenly, she understood what Evan’s claustrophobia must feel like. She dropped her head in her hands and waited for the rushing sensation to ebb away.

  “You okay?”

  Evan dropped a hand on her shoulder and she flinched away. “I’m fine.” But she wasn’t. This was her chance to get a lock on the lead, and so far she’d proven an idiot at using her GPS. What would she do when Madelyn unleashed the big guns at her? It was obvious the woman somehow knew about Evan’s claustrophobia—how else to explain the tiny tents and gondola ride? Did she know about Bella’s terror of horses? Would she exploit it?

  Just the thought made her stomach roil.

  “Need some water? You don’t look so hot.” He crouched beside her and lifted a hand as if to check her temperature. Bella surged to her feet.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Okay. All right—just trying to help.” He stood up, too, and backed away, hands held out to placate her.

  “How many times do I have to tell you I don’t need help?” She knew her voice was rising with each word and knew the cameras were focused on her, too, catching all the drama, but she couldn’t stop herself. “I’m a capable, grown woman and I don’t need anybody interfering in my life—especially you. Just leave me alone!”

  “Cut!” Madelyn stalked around a bend in the trail, followed as usual by Ellis and several other crew members, and Bella had the horrible sensation that the woman might have seen more than just the drama. Had she seen them kiss? She hoped not.

  The director faced them. “I’m glad you guys are salvaging something from this travesty. You two have got to be the lamest excuses for contestants that I’ve ever had on this show. Evan, you realize Bella wants to walk away with five million dollars and leave you hanging? And Bella, you realize that Evan wants to make you his wife,” she emphasized the word like it was dirty, “for a full year? You two are contestants. You are mortal enemies. Your job is to win. So why are the two of you behaving like losers?”

  Bella stood absolutely still, afraid to catch Madelyn’s attention by the slightest hitch of breath or dart of eyes. If the director got too angry at them, she’d dig deep into her bag of tricks to punish them. That meant she’d find a way to throw horses into the mix if she somehow knew about Bella’s phobia.

  Madelyn shook her clipboard at them. “Lucky for you guys I have two more GPS units. It’s well past noon and the two of you bozos have managed to find less than half of your geocaches. Less than half.” She pointed first at Bella, then at Evan. “I know you two can barely find your way out of a paper bag, but as an added incentive to try to complete this course, I’ll give the first one of you who locates all ten caches dinner at the Little River restaurant, the finest in Jasper. Dinner and a hot shower, not necessarily in that order.”

  Bella did glance at Evan this time, at his dripping hair and clothing. The path was turning into a slick river of mud under their feet and in his eyes she saw reflected her own greedy desire to win this prize. Real food? She was there. After the ups and downs of the last few days she needed a dose of normalcy.

  Madelyn fished two new GPS units out of her pockets. “Here you go.” She handed one to each of them, along with replacement cards for their directions to the next cache. “May the best contestant win.”

  This time Evan didn’t try to help her program her coordinates into her GPS. With a glance at Madelyn Bella couldn’t decipher, he only hesitated a moment before he punched some buttons on his own gadget and jogged off along the trail. Bella didn’t waste time analyzing the disappointment she felt as she watched his receding back. Instead, she focused on her own GPS, programming her set of coordinates into the little machine and hurrying off in the direction it indicated. She thought she had the hang of it now.

  At least she hoped so.

  ***

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  When the headlights of an SUV heralded Bella’s arrival at their campsite, Evan’s shoulders slumped with relief. He had managed to finish the course by midafternoon, and had been whisked off to
a motel for a hot shower—actually a hot shower, followed by a long, hot bath, followed by a nap in the luxurious comfort of a king-sized bed—after which he joined Madelyn for a steak supper with several glasses of wine, and returned to their campsite feeling clean, refreshed, and more rested than he’d been in days.

  Only to find Bella still hadn’t finished the GPS course. While the afternoon’s rain had tapered off, and the setting sun appeared in between long streamers of scudding clouds, apparently she and her increasingly furious camera crew were still stomping around the wilds of Jasper.

  The base crew was tracking their movements and Madelyn had just decided to send in a rescue team when Bella changed course and made a bee-line toward camp.

  “Bet Paul finally wrestled that thing out of her hands,” Evan said to Madelyn, standing next to the portable table she’d set up as a workstation.

  “She’s stubborn, all right.” Madelyn cocked an eyebrow. “Stubborn enough to win this thing if you don’t watch out. Ellis, send someone to pick them up.”

  The contented feeling drained right out of him. Damn it, Bella was supposed to win—and he was supposed to be helping her—so why had he rushed off to find the geocaches like a hound of hell was chasing him all the way?

  Madelyn smiled, and the good feeling deserted him all together.

  She knew.

  This was Madelyn’s way of telling him she wasn’t going to let him throw the contest. A shower and a good meal—a bribe guaranteed to make him forget all about his good intentions? What else did the old bat know?