struck her—Boone hadn’t consummated the marriage, which ensured it would be easier to end things with an annulment.
When she tugged the door handle and found it locked, a man came out of the darkness and punched in a code to open it for her.
“The doors automatically lock at sundown.”
Her mind seized on that tidbit of information, and the prospect made her stomach twist in fear again.
“Thank you,” she said as she passed the guard. As soon as she stepped inside, she took a look around. Seeing no one, she set off through the house, deliberately choosing a path that led away from her room.
If ever there was a time to explore, it was right this minute. Black and the other staff members would believe her if she told them she’d lost her way going to their suite today. Later on, exploration would prove much more difficult.
She turned down a dimly lit corridor, feeling the walls close in around her like a haunted funhouse at Halloween. When Boone reached their room and found she wasn’t there, he’d probably lecture her on safety.
Right now, she wasn’t concerned about her physical welfare—she was more afraid of being alone with Boone in a bedroom.
Chapter Six
Boone swept his gaze over the empty room and cursed.
He was tired, and still semi-hard with want for a woman he shouldn’t lay a damn finger on. Hell, he was also apparently married to a woman who didn’t know her right from left when it came to navigating the ranch.
He whirled back to the door and stopped short of bashing into Lauralee.
His muscles hardened with irritation while his heart gave a sputter of relief that he didn’t have to go searching for her.
Closing his fingers around her wrist, he leaned over her for a heartbeat, about to ask if she had any sense of direction. This wasn’t the place to hold such a conversation, where any of the staff might open their door and overhear them, so Boone pulled her inside.
He shut the door and twisted the lock.
When she walked straight to the bag she hadn’t yet unpacked and pulled out a garment without a backward glance at him, he didn’t bother to muffle a low grunt of annoyance and stepped into her path.
“Where were you?” he asked in a whisper.
“Having a look around.”
His eyes widened. “What? Alone? Jesus, Lauralee.”
“I had the chance, so I took it.”
“You mean you took chances with your personal safety.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re overreacting. Did you know the security system locks the doors at sundown?”
Her question threw him off course. “What? Yes, I knew that.”
“Hmm.” She didn’t expand on her response and sidestepped him.
He caught her arm. “What are you doing? We’re having a discussion.”
“I’m hot, grubby, grimy, exhausted and you’ve grabbed my arm one too many times today.” To prove her point, she stared at the place where his fingers wrapped around her forearm, just above a mosquito bite that had become an angry welt.
The woman must be sensitive to bugs. And pollen.
And his questing fingers between her thighs.
His lips wrapped around her uber-sensitive nipples.
Hell, now he was hard as well as ticked off.
Releasing her, he stepped aside. “Take your shower, but dammit, we’re having that talk, and it’s going to touch on you wandering through the house without anyone to watch over you.”
She threw him a “whatever, Boone” look similar to those from WEST’s office and shut herself inside the bathroom.
The noise of the shower had his teeth clenching instantly. Imagining her stripping off her clothes and stepping under the hot water made him a little crazed.
Shit, he’d forgotten to check in with Ross.
In a funk, he kicked off his boots and tossed them haphazardly into the corner of the room. He removed his shirt and went for his belt, when he realized he couldn’t risk being naked and alone with Lauralee.
The shower stopped.
He swung to stare at the door. Had she finished already? He knew birds who took longer baths in his momma’s garden puddles than that.
His mind lit on images of water streaming off her skin, her hair darkened even more. And his tongue stroking over the droplets, catching each on the tip and tasting her sweet flesh…diving between her legs.
Hell. Ross would get a big, angry piece of his mind when they returned to Stone Pass. How was Boone supposed to keep his mind on the job with a woman like Lauralee within grabbing distance? Kissing distance?
He clamped off the artery of thoughts spurting far too many