Free A Little Surprise for the Boss (Mills & Boon Desire) by Elizabeth Lane Page A

then, his gaze was drawn to Terri. With her hood flung back, her wet hair streaming, her eyes bright with excitement, she was so wildly beautiful that she took his breath away.
    The realization hit him like a gut punch. He’d had her once and vowed it wouldn’t happen again. But right or wrong, he wanted her back—in his arms, in his bed.
    Heaven help him, was he falling for his right-hand woman?
    * * *
    With the canyon shadows deepening, the raft crunched onto the broad sand strip below the camp. George was waiting to catch the tether line Buck tossed him and help pull the raft partway out of the water. Terri waited in the stern while the four men climbed out onto dry land—Eeny, Meeny, Miney and Moe. By now she couldn’t have remembered their real names for ten thousand dollars. Her body ached from holding herself steady against the pounding current of the river. Her face, hair and rain clothes dripped with muddy water.
    The sight of the glowing fire on the high, grassy bank and the aroma of grilling prime rib eye steaks reminded her that she was also hungry. The way the four sheikhs dragged their feet climbing up to the camp gave her hope that they were worn out, too.
    Buck had waited for her by the raft. He gave her his hand as she climbed over the inflated bow and jumped to the ground. “Good work, Terri. Thanks for coming along.”
    “You didn’t exactly give me a choice.” She was too tired to be gracious.
    “Is everything all right? You sound a little ragged around the edges.”
    “Just unsettled, that’s all, and worried about all the things we had to leave hanging. I don’t trust Bob’s ability to run the office while we’re both away. Quinn wanted me to come by. And I didn’t even get a chance to check on my grandmother.”
    “I did ask Bob to call Canyon Shadows and let them know you’d be away.”
    “Does Quinn know where we are?”
    “She was asleep when I got home last night and still asleep when I left this morning. But I spoke with Mrs. Calloway. They’ll be fine.”
    But Quinn won’t be happy. You should have at least talked to her. The words hovered on the tip of Terri’s tongue, but she bit them back. There was nothing to be done now. They couldn’t make phone calls from here. The rafts could communicate with each other by two-way radio. But there was no cell phone service in the canyon. Until they made it up to the South Rim, they’d have better luck calling from the moon.
    Supper was eaten around the fire, sitting on camp stools and eating off sturdy paper plates. Eli and George were superb camp cooks—the prime steaks, hot buttered biscuits and roasted corn were all delicious. The three sheikhs Terri had dubbed Meeny, Miney and Moe were polite and pleasant. But Eeny—Abdul, the jerk who’d patted her rump—was already complaining.
    “My grandfather lived better than this with his camel herd in the desert. Sleeping on the hard ground in a tent the size of a tabletop, no showers to wash off the mud, no laundry service—and everybody sharing that unspeakable latrine. We at least expected some kind of lodge, with beds and bathrooms.”
    “This canyon is one of the natural wonders of the world.” Buck gazed across the fire, his voice weary but patient as he gave his stock answer. “There are rules we follow to preserve it. The most important rule is that when we leave here, nothing can be left behind. Whatever we bring in has to be brought out—the equipment, the trash, down to the last soda tab. And nothing goes in the river. Even pissing on the bank will get you slapped with a citation.” He glanced around the circle of faces. “When you climb off that mule on your fourth day you’ll be as tired, sore and filthy as you’ve ever been in your life. But you’ll remember this adventure forever.” Like a lawyer resting his case, he rose and walked away from the fire, back toward the tents.
    Terri’s pulse skittered as the realization struck her. There were six small dome