stayed right where she was, leaning back against his chest, listening to him point out the brilliant Jewelbox cluster and the dark nebula called Coalsack. His deep voice caused vibrations to echo through her body.
“I’ve always wanted to see Scorpio,” she said in a dreamy voice she scarcely recognized as hers. If he had let her go, she would have fallen over backward. But she knew he wouldn’t.
“Actually,” he said softly, his lips against her ear, “the hammock is a better place to watch the constellations.”
Scorpio flashed her a warning signal from four hundred light-years away.
“For you or for me?” she asked.
“It looks as if it’s big enough for two,” he suggested as they walked together toward the hammock.
She hesitated. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.” She looked up for a sign from Scorpio, but he seemed to be urging her on, asking her, “What harm would it do to study the sky for a few minutes?” Telling her it was a wide hammock, large enough for two.
But no matter how strong or how wide the hammock, when Josh settled down next to her, their bodies were pressed together, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip and thigh to thigh. He crossed his arms under his head and continued his lecture, apparently unaware of the heat waves he was generating in her body. How could he know he had started a chain reaction a few weeks ago in the marketplace that grew stronger and harder to resist every time she saw him?
The sound of his voice describing the location of the South Pole soothed her, and the constellations blurred before her eyes. She turned onto her side, her back to him. He stopped talking and shifted so that they were back to back. She sighed. She should tell him to leave now and go back upstairs, but it was so hot up there and the air was cool out here. So deliciously cool. And it felt so good to lie there, her back against his. She opened her mouth to tell him... what was it she was going to tell him?
“Do you know what?” she whispered.
“No.”
“You paid too much for the mangoes.’’ There, she’d gotten it off her mind.
Just before she drifted off to sleep, she felt his hand tousle her hair. “I know,” he said, “but it was worth it.”
When the rooster crowed, Catherine sighed and buried her head in her blanket. It took a long moment before she realized she wasn’t alone. She lay perfectly still, afraid to turn and see if Josh was awake. Maybe if she rolled over the edge of the hammock and onto the ground, she could pretend she really hadn’t spent the night as close to Josh Bentley as a person could get. Well, almost as close.
But just as she moved her leg over the side, she felt him shift his weight and drop one arm over her shoulders. She twisted around to face him. In the darkness she saw that his eyes were closed. The shadow of a dark beard grazed his face. A slight smile played at the corner of his mouth. He was breathing deeply. Still asleep.
She felt her muscles relax as she unconsciously matched his breathing with her own, mesmerized by the rise and fall of his chest. What had happened to her plan to slip away? Maybe Jacinda had put something in the wine. Some herb, some magic potion to rob her of her self-control. She wouldn’t put it past her. Jacinda was determined to push her into someone’s arms. Not just someone’s—Josh’s.
Before she realized what was happening, Josh tightened his arm around her shoulders and drew her to him, the half smile deepening. Taking a deep breath, she slid out from under his arm and rolled out of the hammock. A low moan escaped his lips, and Catherine looked down at him, her blanket over her shoulders, her hands on her hips.
“It’s time to get up,” she said firmly, ignoring the sight of his broad chest as he stretched lazily.
He gave her a sleepy smile. “I was in the middle of a dream,” he protested.
“Sorry,” she said briskly. “No time for dreams. The truck will be here in a few minutes. And I know you’re anxious to get to town and get your... whatever it was.”
“My hose.” He sat on the edge of the hammock and ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. His clothes were wrinkled, his face lined with sleep, and