The Adventurer

fingers locked around her wrist. "You think you know it all, don't you?" he muttered. He drew her inexorably toward him, playing seriously with the idea of dragging her down onto the bed. It would be so easy. She was so small and delicate.
    "Gideon?" Her eyes were very wide now.
    "Somebody ought to give you the lesson you need."
    "You may be right," she agreed tremulously. "But, please, not tonight. I'm not sure I could handle it." She leaned down and gave him a quick, fleeting kiss on his cheek.
    Gideon jerked back as if he'd been burned. Unthinkingly he released her. Sarah instantly sailed on past him into the safety of her bedroom. Gideon rubbed his cheek and scowled into the darkness as her door closed softly behind her.
    Intent on inducing a little healthy fear in her, he had been expecting a struggle, not the small, gentle caress he had received. Her reaction had startled him and he'd let her go before he'd realized quite what he was doing, he told himself, thoroughly irritated.
    He lay there for a moment, aware that he was breathing a little heavily and feeling baffled. Then he rolled onto his back and stared at the shadows on the ceiling. This must have been how poor old Machu Picchu had felt in the first days after Ellora's arrival.
     
    S ARAH ROSE AT DAWN the next morning, feeling very much her normal cheerful, optimistic self again. After several intense hours of close thought during the night, her mind was clear and serene once more. She was back on track at last and she knew what had to be done. Hurrying over to the wooden chair in the corner, she grabbed her robe, slipped into it and opened the bedroom door.
    Gideon was still asleep, sprawled on the sofa bed, the sheets and blankets bunched at his waist. He was lying on his stomach and the sleek expanse of his well-muscled back was a riveting sight in the early light. Sarah longed to stroke him, the way she would have stroked one of his cats.
    But she knew that would be a mistake. He would only assume she was still trying to seduce him for her own nefarious purposes. Which she was, of course, she thought with a grin. She was determined to make him fall in love with her. But the seduction was going to take a slightly different form than originally planned. This was not the time to be obvious.
    She hurried through her morning routine in the bathroom, trying not to use up all the hot water. Gideon would not appreciate a cold shower. On the way back to her own room, she saw that he had not moved. She took one last, wistful look at his powerfully built shoulders and went to finish dressing.
    A few minutes later, wearing jeans and a shirt, her hair tied up out of the way at the back of her head, she made her way into the kitchen. It didn't take long to locate the pans she needed. She opened the refrigerator.
    Within minutes she had filled the cabin with the inviting aroma of fresh-brewed coffee. The counters were cluttered with utensils, plates and a frying pan she had set out.
    She was humming to herself as she whisked pancake batter in a large bowl when she realized she was no longer alone in the kitchen. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Gideon standing in the doorway. He had put on his jeans and nothing else. He scanned the kitchen, rubbing absently at the dark shadow of his beard.
    "Do you always make this much of a racket in the morning?" he asked.
    "Uh-huh. Are you always this grouchy?" She put a pan of syrup on the stove to heat.
    "One of the things about cats is that they don't complain about my mood in the mornings. What are you making? Pancakes?"
    "Yep. With real maple syrup. None of that caramel-colored sugar water for us. Run along and take your shower. Everything will be ready as soon as you get out of the bathroom."
    "Why?"
    "Why what?"
    "Why the fancy breakfast?"
    She debated briefly how much to tell him and then decided he might as well know what he was facing. "Because it's the first step in the courtship, if you must know the truth."
    "
Courtship
." He looked dumbfounded. "What the devil are you talking about now?"
    She stopped whisking the pancake batter and turned around to face him. "I figure your problem is that I went too fast."
    "My problem, huh?"
    "Right. Thanks to our conversation last night and all the thinking I did afterward, I have a much better idea of how to handle you now."
    His eyes flashed with something that might have been amusement. "That's certainly a relief to hear."
    "Laugh if you must, but it's true." She