The sound of him clearing his throat grounded her thoughts. "I asked if you're here to watch or to play?"

She met his gaze. Amusement glittered in his eyes, but so did desire. Naked, unabashed desire. For her. At that moment, Sam realized she might have come seeking passion, but she'd also come looking for something far more important.

For once in her life, she wanted to be desired for herself. For the unique woman she'd become, not the obedient little girl she'd always been. Not for what services she could give to her company, or for how she could salvage her father's life, or worse for how lovely she'd look on her fiancé's arm, since she knew any beautiful woman would do. She wanted a man to need her, Samantha Josephine Reed, for the woman she was.

Mac did. He offered her that and more. Sam would always be eternally grateful for the gift.

Beads of water poured over his deeply tanned skin. Just watching him caused a quickening inside her. "I most definitely want to play," she answered.

"Thank God." She grinned, and Mac's heart squeezed tight in his chest.

He wasn't anybody's white knight, least of all Samantha's. He was a man, and right now he lacked the strength to say no. They'd been building to this moment from the second they met.

After pushing the shower curtain aside, he held out his hand. She slipped her fingers around his and stepped into the tub. All white and creamy skin, untouched by the sun's rays, broken only by darkened nipples and an even darker triangle of curls, she joined him. He let out a groan, thankful for her courage. He'd had his doubts this time would ever come.

He'd been wrong. Although he couldn't miss the signs of nervousness, the inability to meet his gaze and the slight tremor in the hand she placed in his, he sensed her certainty as well. She came toward him at the same time he gripped her waist and pulled her forward so she could join him under the warm, pelting water. He fused his lips to hers, her breasts, stomach and thighs melding with perfection against his already-rock-hard body. As satiny skin rubbed against him, her soft hands gripped his back and her mouth greedily worked at his.

She purred like a lost kitten having found its way home. The sexy little sounds and moans turned him on, and his erection pulsed against her stomach. Gripping her backside, he held her firmly against him, but her body glided over his, writhing and moving, seeking deeper, more intimate relief. He knew just how she felt. All he had to do was touch her and he needed so much more.

He figured there were two ways to go about this, short and quick or slow and deep. Damned if he wanted their first time to be fast and unmemorable, but if she kept up that squirming, that's just what it would be.

He glanced around the stark tub. His friend Bear wasn't into luxuries, and the shower offered none of the amenities Mac's did at The Resort. His gaze traveled upward. Except for a shower massage. A resourceful man, he'd make do.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her eyes. Violet eyes glazed with passion stared back. "You came to play."

"Yes." The word came out a breathless shudder.

"I'm glad."

Her answering smile was nothing short of beautiful, but it contained all the pent-up anxiety she must have been feeling. Mac cursed himself for not dealing with it sooner. The minute she'd walked into the bar, he'd sensed the contradictions warring within her. She was a lady down to her dusty toes, which made the act to come all the more exciting and made his next move that much more important.

Soap and foam covered his hands. Instead of rinsing them off, he knelt at her feet and began lathering his way up her legs, her calves and knees. When he reached her thighs, she sucked in a deep breath and nearly lost her balance. "Brace your hands on my shoulders," he told her.

"I'm not so sure…"

"I am." He tilted his head backward. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Yes." She answered without hesitation.

"Then do it… so we can play."

She gripped his shoulders with her hands and he bent back to his task, working his soap-slicked hands up her thighs, toward the damp curls just waiting for his touch. There wasn't a sound except for muted music and water beating against the tub floor as he moved his hand and cupped her intimately.

"Oh, Mac." Her entire body shook in reaction.

He suppressed a shudder of his own. Tamping down on his desire in favor of hers, he slipped one finger inside her wet, warm heat. She moaned and dug her fingernails into his back. She jerked against his hand. The movement fed his desire, but he had other plans for Samantha.

He withdrew his finger, ignoring her disappointed cry and continued soaping up her skin. When he reached her rounded breasts, he nearly forgot his plan and lingered there for a while, fondling, holding and arousing them both. He dipped his head and captured one nipple in his mouth, tugging and pulling until she cried out his name and reached for his straining erection with her hands.

He grasped onto her wrists, halting her movement.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?" she asked.

"She tried." He lifted her hair and nuzzled the damp skin behind her neck. "I wasn't any good at it. But I never minded taking turns, and this one's mine. Yours will come later."

Reaching behind him, he pulled the shower massage off the hook on the wall. "First we have to clean off all that soap."

A smile played around her lips. "I thought we were going to play." Her light tone told him she'd relaxed, which pleased him.

"Oh, we are." He grabbed hold of her leg and lifted it onto the side of the ceramic tub, then turned the jet spray to a light pulsing rhythm.

Her eyes opened wide.

"You said you trusted me."

"I do."

"Still?"

She nodded. "Considering you've been sleeping beside me without making a move… I think you've earned it."

She had no idea how damn difficult that had been. Another thing he loved about Samantha was her innocent lack of awareness. She had no idea how much she turned him on.

He focused the spray on her legs, rinsing off the soap he'd spent so much time applying. "Back to the nice-guy thing again?" He didn't want to spook her. Keeping things light seemed the safest bet.

Angling his wrist, he directed the spray upward. Water sluiced down from the middle of her thigh, cleansing her skin. "You might want to hang on to me about now," he said.

She gripped his shoulders at the same moment he let the spray hit her intimately. Samantha whimpered, her body arching against the pulsing water jets. Her wanton response made him more determined to complete her pleasure.

He lowered them to the tub floor, settling her between the vee of his legs. Bracing her against his side, he nudged her legs apart and slipped his finger inside her, beginning a rhythmic sliding motion she picked up easily. Her body tightened and relaxed around his finger, which he eased in and out, pushing deeper with each successive thrust. Her jerking motions worked with him, while he used the other hand to let the shower massage pound against her swollen mound of flesh.

He wished he could see her face, but instead had to settle for the soft sighs and reflexive movement of her body rocking insistently against his. The constant friction of her back against his erection was almost more than he could stand. Damn, but he needed to be inside her, stretching her and filling her… Without warning, she cried out her release, and the incredible sound triggered a climax of his own, one he hadn't expected and could not have imagined, not without actually being inside her.

With another cry, she collapsed against him. Mac dropped the handle and let the shower massage fling back until it hit the corner of the tub, its spray narrowly missing them both. He lay back, leaning his head against the wall. Water pounded around them, similar to the way his body still throbbed with aftershocks.

Samantha hadn't uttered a word. She hadn't looked him in the eye, either. He didn't blame her. How the hell had he taken such advantage without thought to her feelings? Because he'd stretched his patience and need beyond reason, Mac thought. Which was no excuse. "You're too quiet."

"Am I?" she murmured. "I was just thinking about a certain cliché. It's true, you know."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her damp hair. Feeling her soft body against his gave him more pleasure than any man should have. "What is?" he asked.

Her giggle vibrated against his chest. "Nice guys do finish last."

He tightened his grip on her and laughed, relieved at her response. Damn but he loved her. But he knew that wasn't something she wanted to hear.


* * *

Wrapped in a thick towel, still chilled from the remnants of a shower that had turned cold, Sam joined Mac in bed.

She forced herself to look at him, at this special man she'd allowed liberties she'd never imagined existed. "I just want you to know…" Embarrassed, she stopped. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, but she had to continue. For all the time they'd spent together, they'd never actually discussed anything intimate.

"I want you to know I don't go around sleeping with…" She stopped again. Technically they hadn't slept together… yet. "Seducing…" Had she been the seducer or had he? She shook her head. "Showering with…" That was literally true, but the things he'd done transcended the definition of a shower. "I don't sleep around."

His hand cupped her chin, his dark eyes boring into hers. "Sweetheart, I never thought you did. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say this was your first… shower." He grinned, and she couldn't help but smile back. Mac had such a disarming manner, his very presence relaxed her.

"I enjoyed it," she admitted.

Rolling over, he pinned her body to the bed with his. "I could tell."

"There's something else."

He propped himself on his hands, taking his weight off her chest. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I'm… safe. I just thought you'd want to know."

He raised an eyebrow. "So I don't need protection?"

"Yes. No. I mean, you do… need it. I'm safe in the medical sense." Her marital blood test had proved that fact. "But not in the pregnancy sense." Stupid, she knew. Though she'd come down here planning on sleeping with a sexy, sensual man, she'd also planned on making him use protection. So she'd be sure. She'd also planned on buying some herself, after she'd made her decision.

Then she'd fallen into a routine with Mac, one that came easily and without thought. She'd forgotten to worry about protection. She'd forgotten to worry about anything at all.

He grinned, obviously not the least bit put off or insulted by the topic of conversation. "You don't have to worry about me, either, except…"

"What?"

"I don't have any here."

"That's not a problem. Well it is, but…"

"We'll have to hit town."

She'd been wrong about something else, too. Their first time together hadn't made her want him any less. She sat up in bed, making a belated and unsuccessful grab at her towel. He laughed, and she was chagrined to discover that even his laugh aroused her. He coaxed her back against the pillows and ran a hand over her bare breast. "Slow down, sweetheart. We have time."

It was Sunday afternoon. Suddenly she felt like she was counting down instead of looking ahead to the rest of their week. Stupid, Sammy Jo. His finger drew lazy circles around her nipple. Without making contact, the pull went straight into her stomach, making her nipple contract and harden, begging for his touch.

She had less than four days to get this man out of her system so she could get on with her life. Alone.


* * *

"Hey, honey, another round over here."

Sam eyed the men at the table in the corner. They'd been drinking steadily for the last couple of hours. She wondered how long they could keep it up. With each successive drink, their mouths became looser, their hands freer. As if they thought talking dirty and violating her personal space would turn her on. What it turned was her stomach. The last few nights had shown her these type of men weren't the norm around The Hungry Bear.

Forcing a smile, she glanced their way. "Coming right up." She dodged a wild hand and headed for the bar where Mac stood mixing drinks.

An emergency favor for Zee had dragged him out of bed almost immediately after the shower episode. She still blushed a deep red just thinking about it. He'd returned in time to open the bar. Sam had used the time to savor Arizona and attempt to convince herself she could walk away from Mac with her heart intact. She still didn't believe it.