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important to me because of my situation, but to someone else—”
    “It doesn’t represent the kind of fortune they’d go to extreme lengths to get their hands on.”
    “Exactly. So what’s the explanation?”
    Roark shook his head, as much at a loss for a motive as she was.
    Samantha stared at him. Though she hadn’t been aware of it happening, he was seated beside her on the bed…too close. She was conscious again of all that expanse of naked chest. “How can you go around like that? Aren’t you freezing?”
    “I’m warm enough.”
    “I’m bundled in a coat, and I’m still like ice. My hands are, anyway.”
    By the time she realized her admission was a mistake, it was too late. He had already captured her hands between his own.

    “So let me share some of my heat.”
    His strong fingers began to massage her hands, briskly at first and then more slowly and deeply. She should have stopped him, but his treatment felt too good, as soothing as a warm bath.
    “Better?”
    “Mmm.”
    Another error probably, because he must have read her languid acknowledgment as an invitation. His performance became decidedly sensual, his hands stroking hers with a series of caresses that could only be defined as seductive. Her gaze met his, searching his eyes that had become so dark a blue they were like midnight, intense with his unmistakable arousal.
    “What are you thinking?” she challenged him nervously.
    “That I’d like to share more than just the heat of my hands.” He leaned toward her, his mouth mere inches from hers, his voice low and raspy. “What are you thinking, Samantha?”
    He was so close now she could feel the male heat radiating from the sleek flesh of his naked chest, searing her with his desire. In another moment his mouth would cover hers, their breaths mingling as he devoured her with his lips and tongue. She had never been so tempted, nor so terrified of the consequences.
    “I’m thinking,” she answered him firmly, removing her hands from his and pulling away from his potent nearness, “that I’m not going to risk getting burned.”
    He stared at her for a long minute, frowning. She could see he was trying to understand. “What just happened? Because I’ve got to tell you, I thought you were as interested as I was in getting—”
    “Intimate?”
    “Well, yeah.”
    “You’re a cowboy, Roark. You may be a PI, but at heart and in soul you’re a cowboy.”

    “What’s wrong with cowboys?”
    “I don’t get involved with them. Ever.”
    “Why? Why do you have this resistance to everything connected with ranching? And don’t tell me it’s because of the sour relationship you had with your grandfather. I don’t buy it. There’s a better explanation than that.”
    “I’m sorry, but it’s the only explanation I have.” She got to her feet, needing to get away, needing to escape from her treacherous susceptibility to him. “I’m going back to my room. I think we should both try to get some sleep with what’s left of the night.”
    And that wouldn’t be easy, Samantha realized. Not with her emotions threatening to betray her every time she came within touching distance of Roark Hawke.
     
    C ONCEALED IN THE SHADOWS , he stood on the slope above the ranch house and watched the light go out in her window.
    He had missed an easy opportunity tonight. If the PI hadn’t rushed to her rescue…
    Hawke was a frustration all right. Always there, guarding her. A definite problem. Never mind, there would be other opportunities. He would wait for them, and he would get to her in the end. But he had to be careful. No one must guess. An accident would be best. If he could arrange an accident…
    Whatever it took. Because she had to be eliminated before the end of the drive. Everything depended on that.

Chapter Four
    There was a mist in the valley where they gathered in the chill dawn.
    “It’ll burn off when the sun clears the horizon,” Roark said, studying the sky. “We should have