A Seductive Proposal Read Free Page A

chance to take pictures of the red towering buttes. Camcorders and cameras filled her rearview. Even Brad Hansen lifted a digital and took some shots.
    Quint appeared to have little interest in photography. She felt his hand settle on her arm. Her gaze shot back to him. He leaned so close that her lungs ceased working.
    “Problem?” he asked, his eyes half-lidded. He glanced down at his hand and gave her arm a squeeze.
    Ooo, that mountain lion appeared again.
    She scrambled another breath. He stroked her arm and her gaze fell to his lips and his half-smile. Desire tightened within. She struggled to find a protest but instead shook her head.
    “Good,” he murmured.
    How was this in any way wise?
    His lips twitched. He searched her eyes for a long moment. When Brad’s laughter floated forward, Quint released her arm and sat back in his seat.
    Carly focused on the road ahead as she once more stepped on the gas. Too many thoughts jammed her mind to do much more than recite a few pieces of trivia about javelinas and their penchant for eating prickly-pear cactus.
    She pulled over several times on the jolting drive up the hill to allow for pictures. Quint took possession of her arm each time and still she couldn’t find a protest with which to rebuke his sudden ownership. Instead, she found herself searching for new places to pull over.
    What was she thinking?
    Once.
    Tina’s wicked encouragement had taken hold of her mind.
    When she pulled over again, his hand slipped off her arm and drifted in lazy circles over her stomach. Her bra felt too tight and her jeans chafed her. Her skin prickled like she had a mild sunburn. Now she really couldn’t breathe.
    If they’d been alone, she would have started pulling her clothes off and begging.
    At last on the Rim, she had thought to remain by the Jeep. Maybe she could cool off. Maybe there was still a chance she could be rid of these overwhelming sensations. However, Quint, who had taken several steps from the vehicle turned back and waved her forward.
    Her feet moved without one hint of reservation, a pair of traitors.
    When she reached him, he took her right arm and wrapped it around his, then, as he held her gaze, he pulled her right glove off. He slipped the glove over his belt then took her bare hand in his. He smiled.
    Damn. He had so just claimed her.
    He led her away from the rest of the group and took her to the edge. He never let go of her hand, but laced his fingers through hers.
    He shifted his gaze to the view beyond. She heard a deep murmur of approval as he scanned the beauty rolling for miles and miles to the distant horizon.
    She knew the view, every bold, magnificent butte and the layers of peaks unfolding one after the other. This time of day the sun sat low in the west and cast a violet haze over the back-and-forth of the canyon below. It was a primeval land of soaring red, mountainous outcrops, of tall Ponderosa pines climbing the steep canyon walls, of terrain that bore the unique stamp of ancient seas that once covered this part of the world.
    The view never failed to thrust her out of her life and demand more of her. Her heart swelled.
    How unexpected to be sharing this with Quint, a stranger who held her hand.
    “Everything seems possible up here,” she said.
    He looked down at her. She turned to look up at him and smiled. He squeezed her hand. “I love possibilities. My favorite thing.”
    A man who loved possibilities.
    Inordinate desire and longing swamped her again. The beauty of nature, possibilities , and a mountain lion tore through her spirit and rearranged all her thoughts. He squeezed her hand once more. She wanted to fly, straight into the wind, and ease along the drifts and eddies that traveled Oak Creek Canyon.
    Fearing she might be lost forever, she shifted her gaze back to the sunset, which now added a fading orange-violet palette to the canyon.
    After a few minutes, Quint turned into her, caught her gaze and asked, “You live in