Perfect Partners

company to run back in Seattle.”
    “It can survive without us for two days.”
    There was no use arguing with him. Letty could see that. She could also tell that it was highly unlikely he would confide in her right now. He was throbbing with anger, and it was all focused on that little trio they had left behind in the restaurant.
    Tomorrow morning she would try to find out exactly what the bad blood was that ran between Joel and the Copelands. The inquisitive librarian in her would not rest until she knew what had happened fifteen years ago.

    Several hours later, Letty came awake with a start. She sat straight up in bed and listened to the sounds from Joel’s room. He was moving about on the other side of the wall.
    Letty reached for her glasses on the bedside table and peered at the clock. It was one in the morning. She threw back the covers and got out of bed. She padded over to the connecting door, put her ear to the wood, and listened carefully.
    He was definitely getting dressed; she could hear the zipper of his carryall sliding open. Letty rapped softly on the door.
    “Joel? What are you doing?” she called through the door.
    The connecting door opened, and Joel, dressed in jeans and nothing else, scowled down at her. “What the hell are you doing up?”
    Letty stared at him, ignoring the question. “Oh, my God. You’re going to run, aren’t you?”
    “Yeah. Go back to bed, Letty.”
    “Joel, it’s one o’clock in the morning, and there is no private road anywhere near this motel. I will not have the CEO of Thornquist Gear dashing up and down the main street of Echo Cove at this hour. Anyone who sees you will think you’re crazy. You’ll probably get picked up by the police.”
    “Don’t worry about it, Letty.”
    “Think of the company image,” she insisted. “Think of your personal image as a representative of Thornquist Gear.”
    “Right. Image. That’s a real big issue with me, all right. Believe me, Letty, the good people of Echo Cove couldn’t think any worse of me now than they did when I left town fifteen years ago. Now go back to bed.”
    “No.” She pushed past him and stalked into his room. The cotton skirt of her prim white nightgown flounced around her bare ankles. “We’re going to talk about this.”
    “The hell we are.” Joel took two strides toward her, put his hands on her shoulders, and yanked her up against him.
    “
Joel
.”
    He kissed her roughly and then raised his head, eyes glittering with menace. “If you don’t want me to run down the main street of Echo Cove tonight, you’d better think of some other way for me to burn off a little energy. Got any ideas?”
    Letty stared mutely up at him through fogged glasses. She touched her mouth with curious, wondering fingertips, and then she touched his bare chest. “No. No, I don’t actually have any alternative suggestions.”
    “Well, I sure as hell do.” He started to lower his mouth to hers once more.
    Letty was suddenly finding it very difficult to catch her breath. She fumbled awkwardly with her glasses. “Uh, Joel, I’m not at all certain you want to do this.”
    “I’m certain.” He brushed his mouth across hers. His mood was altering with blazing speed from anger to passion. The kiss was not at all rough this time. It was slow and full of exciting promise. “Real certain.”
    Letty put her arms slowly around his neck. She shook her head slightly. “It won’t work, you know. You can’t control me this way.”
    “I’ve got a better plan.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Why don’t you try to control
me
with sex?”
    The thought of wielding that kind of sensual power over him or any other man was so ludicrous that Letty started to laugh. It was a nervous, giggly kind of laughter that, to her horror, she could not seem to stop once it had gotten started.
    But Joel knew how to stop her. He covered her mouth with his own.

7

    J oel eventually raised his head. When he did he was breathing heavily. Letty opened her eyes and looked up at him through tilted, steamed lenses. His face was a foggy blur. But then, she felt a little blurred herself.
    “Joel?”
    “Let’s try it without these.” Joel gently removed her glasses and set them on a nearby table. He cradled her face in one hand and lowered his mouth once more to hers.
    His mouth felt good, Letty decided. Very good. Not wet and sloppy like Philip’s. She sighed softly and wrapped her arms more tightly around Joel’s neck. Craving more