Feeling the Heat (6 page)

He knew she was trying to figure out if Olivia had come before or after her. “Close to five years now.”

“Oh.”

So far everything he’d said had been the truth. He just wasn’t elaborating. It was his choice and his right. Besides, he was giving her something to think about.

Deciding she’d asked enough questions about Olivia, he said, “You might want to rest awhile. We have a long flight ahead of us.”

And he intended on sharing every single hour of it with her. It wasn’t a coincidence that the last seat on the military jet had been next to her and that he’d taken it. There hadn’t been any assigned seats on this flight. Passengers could sit anywhere, and, with the help of the flight attendant, he’d made sure they had sat everywhere but next to Kalina. The woman just happened to know that
New York Times
bestselling author Rock Mason, aka Stone Westmoreland, was Micah’s cousin. The woman was a huge fan and the promise of an autographed copy of Stone’s next action thriller had gone a long way.

Micah kept his eyes closed but could still inhale Kalina’s scent. He could envision her that morning, dabbing cologne all over her body, a body he’d had intimate knowledge of for two wonderful months. He was convinced he knew where every mole was located, and he was well acquainted with that star-shaped scar near her hip bone that had come as a result of her taking a tumble off a skateboard at the age of twelve.

He drew in a deep breath, taking in her scent one more time for good measure. For now, he needed to pretend he was ignoring her. Sitting here lusting after Kalina wasn’t doing him any good and was just weakening his resolve to keep her at a distance while he let her get to know him. He couldn’t let that happen. But he couldn’t help it when he opened his eyes, turned to her and said, “Oh, by the way, Kalina. You still have the cutest dimples.” He then turned to face straight ahead before closing his eyes once again.

Satisfied he might have soothed her somewhat, he stretched his long legs out in front of him, at least as far as they could go, and tilted his seat back. He might as well get as comfortable as he could for the long flight.

He’d been given a good hand to play and he planned on making the kind of win that the gambler in the family, his cousin Ian, would be proud of. The stakes were high, but Micah intended to be victorious.

* * *

So Micah had known the woman during their affair. Did that mean he’d taken back up with her after their time together had ended? Kalina wondered. He said he and the woman were only friends, but she’d known men to claim only friendship even while sleeping with a woman every night. Men tended not to place the same importance on an affair as women did. She, of all people, should know that.

And how dare he compliment her on her dimples at a time like this and in the mood she was in. She had to work with him, but she was convinced she didn’t even like him anymore. Yet in all fairness, she shouldn’t be surprised by the comment about her dimples. He’d told her numerous times that her dimples were the first thing he’d noticed about her. They were permanent fixtures on her face, whether she smiled or not.

And then there was the way he’d looked at her when he’d said it. Out of the clear blue sky, he had turned those gorgeous bedroom-brown eyes on her and remarked on her dimples. Her stomach had clenched. It had been so unexpected it had sent her world tilting for a minute. And before she’d recovered, he’d turned back around and closed his eyes.

Now he was reclining comfortably beside her. All man. All sexy. All Westmoreland. And seemingly all bored…at least with her. She had a good mind to wake him up and engage in some conversation just for the hell of it, but then she thought better of it. Micah Westmoreland was a complex man and just thinking about how complex he could be had tension building at her temples.

She couldn’t help thinking about all the things she didn’t know about him. For some reason, he’d never shared much about himself or his family. She knew he had several brothers, but that fact was something she’d discovered by accident and not because he’d told her about them. She’d just so happened to overhear a conversation between him and his good friend Dr. Beau Smallwood. And she did know his parents had died in a plane crash when he was in college. He’d only told her that because she’d asked.

Her life with her military father was basically an open book. After her mother had died of cervical cancer when Kalina was ten, her father had pretty much clung to her like a vine. The only time they were separated was when he’d been called for active duty or another assignment where she wasn’t allowed. Those were the days she spent on her grandparents’ farm in Alabama. Joe and Claudia Daniels had passed away years ago, but Kalina still had fond memories of the time she’d spent with them.

Kalina glanced over at Micah again. It felt strange casually sitting next to a man who’d been inside her body…numerous times. A man whose tongue had licked her in places that made her blush to think about. Someone who had taken her probably in every position known to the average man and in some he’d probably created himself. He was the type of man a woman fantasized about. A shiver raced through her body just thinking about being naked with him.

Up to now, she had come to terms with the fact that she’d be working with Micah again, especially after what he’d said in his office earlier that morning. He didn’t want to become involved with her, just as she didn’t want to become involved with him. So why was she tempted to reach out and trace the line of his chin with her fingers or use the tip of her tongue to glisten his lips?

Oh, by the way, you still have the cutest dimples
. If those words had been meant to get next to her, they had. And she wished they hadn’t. She didn’t want to remember anything about the last time they were together or what sharing those two months with him had meant to her.

And she especially did not want to remember what the man had meant to her.

Having no interest in the movie currently being shown and wanting to get her mind off the man next to her, she decided to follow Micah’s lead. She tilted her seat back, closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Four

M
icah awakened the next morning and stretched as he glanced around his bedroom. He’d been too tired when he’d arrived at the private villa last night to take note of his surroundings, but now he couldn’t help smiling. He would definitely like it here. Kalina’s room was right next door to his.

He slid out of bed and headed for the bathroom, thinking the sooner he got downstairs the better. The government had set up a lab for them in the basement of the villa and, according to the report he’d read, it would be fully equipped for their needs.

Twelve hours on a plane hadn’t been an ideal way to spend time with Kalina, but he had managed to retain his cool. He’d even gone so far as to engage in friendly conversation about work. Otherwise, like him, she’d slept most of the time. Once he’d found her watching some romantic movie. Another time she’d been reading a book on one of those eReaders.

A short while after waking, Micah had dressed and was headed downstairs for breakfast. The other doctor on the team had arrived last week and Micah was looking forward to seeing him again. Theodus Mitchell was a doctor he’d teamed with before, who did excellent work in the field of contagious diseases.

Micah opened his bedroom door and walked out into the hallway the same time Kalina did. He smiled when he saw her, although he could tell by her expression that she wasn’t happy to see him. “Kalina. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Micah. You’re going down for breakfast?”

“Yes, what about you?” he asked, falling into step beside her.

“Yes, although I’m not all that hungry,” she said.

He definitely was, and it wasn’t all food that had him feeling hungry. She looked good. Well rested. Sexy as hell in a pair of brown slacks and a green blouse. And she’d gotten rid of the ponytail. She was wearing her hair down to her shoulders. The style made her features appear even more beautiful.

“Well, I’m starving,” he said as they stepped onto the elevator. “And I’m also anxious to get to the lab to see what we’re up against. Did you get a chance to read the report?”

She nodded as the elevator door shut behind them. “Yes, I read it before going to bed. I wasn’t all that sleepy.”

They were the only ones in the elevator and suddenly memories flooded his brain. The last time they had been in an elevator alone she had tempted him so much that he had ended up taking her against a wall in one hell of a quickie. Thoughts of that time fired his blood.

Now, she had moved to stand at the far side of the elevator. She was staring into space, looking as if she didn’t have a care in the world. He wanted to fire her blood the way she was firing his.

The elevator stopped on the first floor and as soon as the doors swooshed open, she was out. He couldn’t help chuckling to himself as he followed her, thinking she was trying to put distance between them. Evidently, although she’d pretended otherwise, she had remembered their last time in an elevator together, as well.

A buffet breakfast was set up on the patio, and the moment he walked out onto the terrace, his glance was caught by the panoramic view of the Himalayas, looming high toward a beautiful April sky.

“Theo!”

“Kalina, good seeing you again.”

He turned and watched Theo and Kalina embrace, not feeling the least threatened since everyone knew just how devoted Theo was to his beautiful wife, Renee, who was an international model. Inhaling the richness of the mountain air, Micah strolled toward the pair. The last time the three of them had teamed up together on an assignment had been in Sydney. Beau had also been part of their team.

Theo released Kalina and turned to Micah and smiled. “Micah, it’s good seeing you, as well. It’s like old times,” Theo said with a hearty handshake.

Micah wondered if Theo assumed the affair with Kalina was still ongoing since he’d been there with them in Australia when it had started. “Yes, and from what I understand we’re going to be busy for the next two weeks.”

Theo nodded and a serious expression appeared on his face. “So far there haven’t been any more deaths and that’s a good thing.”

Micah agreed. “The three of us can discuss it over breakfast.”

* * *

Kalina sat beside Micah and tried to unravel her tangled thoughts. But there was nothing she could do with the heat that was rushing through her at that moment. There was no way she could put a lid on it. The desire flowing within her was too thick to confine. For some reason, even amidst the conversations going on—mostly between Micah and Theo—she couldn’t stop her mind from drifting and grabbing hold of memories of what she and Micah had once shared.

“So what do you think, Kalina?”

She glanced over at Micah. Had he suspected her of daydreaming when she should have been paying attention? Both men had worked as epidemiologists for a lot longer than she had and had seen and done a lot more. She had enjoyed just sitting and listening to how they analyzed things, figuring she could learn a lot from them.

Micah, Theo and another epidemiologist by the name of Beau Smallwood had begun work for the federal government right out of medical school and were good friends; especially Beau and Micah who were the best of friends.

“I think, although we can’t make assumptions until we have the data to support it, I agree that the deaths are suspicious.”

Micah smiled, and she tried downplaying the effect that smile had on her. She had to remind herself that smile or no smile, he was someone who couldn’t be trusted. Someone who had betrayed her.

“Well, then, I think we’d better head over to the lab to find out what we’re up against,’ Micah said, standing.

He reached for her tray and she pulled it back. “Thanks, but I can dispense with my own trash.”

He nodded. “Suit yourself.”

She stood and turned to walk off, but not before hearing Theo whisper to Micah, “Um, my friend, it sounds like there’s trouble in paradise.”

She was tempted to turn and alert Theo to the fact that “paradise” for them ended two years ago. Shaking off the anger she felt when she thought about that time in her life and the hurt she’d felt, she continued walking toward the trash can. She’d known at the start of her affair with Micah that it would be a short-term affair. He’d made certain she understood there were no strings, and she had.

But what she couldn’t accept was knowing the entire thing had been orchestrated by her controlling father. The only reason she was here in India now was because the general was probably too busy with the war in Afghanistan to check up on her whereabouts. He probably felt pretty confident she was on vacation or assigned to some cushy job in the States. Although he claimed otherwise, she knew he was the reason she hadn’t been given any hard-hitting assignments. If it hadn’t been for Dr. Moore’s baby, chances are she wouldn’t be here now.

She was about to turn, when Micah came up beside her to toss out his own trash. “Stop being so uptight with me, Kalina.”

She glanced over at him and drew in a deep breath to keep from saying something that was totally rude. Instead, she met his gaze and said, “My being uptight, Micah, should be the least of your worries.” She then walked off.

Micah watched her go, admiring the sway of her hips with every step she took. His feelings for Kalina were a lot more than sexual, but he was a man, and the woman had a body that any man would appreciate.

“I see she still doesn’t know how you feel about her, Micah.”

Micah glanced over and saw the humor in Theo’s blue gaze. There was no reason to pretend he didn’t know what the man was talking about. “No, she doesn’t know.”

“Then don’t you think you ought to tell her?”

Micah chuckled. “With Kalina it won’t be that easy. I need to show her rather than tell her because she doesn’t believe anything I say.”

“Ouch. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you then.”

Micah nodded. “I do, but in the end it will be worth it.”