Free Double Dare by Rhonda Nelson Page B

consecutive jumps.”
    Lou found herself torn between the reminder
she was only a client and thrilled because she seemed to have
impressed him. If she could impress a jaded adventurer like Sam,
then she must have truly accomplished something.
    She returned the grin. “I’m glad. This
adventure stuff is pretty cool.” She paused as they reached her
door. “Have you got everything arranged for tomorrow’s trip?”
    Sam frowned. “That’ll depend on whether Mona
finished with her psychic,” he said tightly.
    Mona? Her psychic? Lou squinted, confused.
“Come again?”
    Sam laughed. “Mon’s my assistant, the one you
met when you came to the office.” He looked away, a little grin
playing over his lips. “She’s rather…unique.”
    “ And she uses the advice of
her psychic to help her plan adventures?” Lou asked skeptically,
leaning against the door.
    “ Hardly,” Sam snorted. “She
calls her psychic on my dime and helps arrange adventures at her
convenience.”
    “ You’re right,” Lou agreed,
smiling. “She sounds intriguing.”
    “ I’m sure she’s got it all
worked out.” From his expression, she’d hate to be Mona if she
didn’t have it all worked out. “Since we jumped tonight, we can’t
fly. It’s going to be a long drive. Are you sure you don’t mind? We
could give it another forty-eight hours and fly.”
    No, for her purposes, they’d be better off
driving. She wanted to let the paparazzi do their stuff. A flight
could be tracked with very little effort. That’s probably how they
found her so easily the first time. No, they’d have to work for act
two of this bizarre play, Lou decided, suppressing a grin.
    “ I don’t mind the drive if
you don’t,” she told him.
    Sam shook his head. “Not at all. Be ready at
seven. I’ll help you with your luggage.”
    Lou grinned. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
    Sam’s grin dimmed as his gazed strayed to her
mouth. His gaze darkened and she likened the color to molten steel.
Emboldened, Lou deliberately licked her lips.
    Sam started and stepped back. “Er, Lou—”
    Oh, no. Not again. She’d be damned before
she’d listen to another lecture on the “no fraternizing with client
clause.”
    Lou slid her hand up over his neck and
quickly pulled his head down for another kiss. He groaned in
response, met her halfway and kissed her back until Lou’s knees
grew weak. Before he could come to his senses, she ended the kiss
with a lingering peck, then slipped into her room.
    Lou sagged against the door and did a little
hooray jab with her fist.
    On the other side of the door, Sam punctuated
it with a hot oath and his trademark, “Aw, hell.”

Chapter Eight
    Like a disoriented rat lost in a maze, Sam
wearily pushed his card down another grocery store aisle. Where in
the hell had they hidden the Fudgy-Nutty cakes? he wondered,
growing slightly perturbed.
    A dull pain began to build at the back of his
skull and he blamed Lou for this unnecessary trip. If she hadn’t
gotten under his skin, if she hadn’t kissed him again last night,
he wouldn’t have been compelled to eagerly munch through his last
box of snack cakes, and thus, wouldn’t have had to mush out and
locate an all-night grocery store at the ungodly hour of six
A.M.
    But he couldn’t spend three days in Key West
without his preferred snack, so here he stood, wandering aisle to
aisle, hunting the damned Fudgy-Nutty bars. Lou had better pray
that his mood improved, Sam thought crossly, otherwise, he didn’t
think he would be fit company to travel with.
    Then again, he supposed he couldn’t really
blame Lou for his powerful attraction to her. She held some sort of
mystic power over him, and he wasn’t about to resist it.
    And really, Sam told himself, so long as she
kept launching herself into his arms, how could he help but respond
to her? Any red-blooded male would. He didn’t lack character, he
simply reacted like any man with a healthy sex drive. The thought,
however lacking in