"You've heard about it?"

"It's all Mrs. F can talk about. She's worried that it won't work for her, so she made Mr. F say three times, 'I wish for grandchildren.' Any day now I expect Lanny to tell us he's knocked up some girl."

"Hope it's not Isla," Gemma said, and they laughed.

As Rachel climbed into her UTV-this one in green camouflage-Gemma said, "I haven't heard from Colin in days. Nothing bad happened at the fire, did it?"

"We've not heard anything either," Rachel said. "But Colin flies a helicopter, so they keep him pretty busy. Are you missing him?"

"It's just that-" Breaking off, Gemma shook her head. "I just want to know that he's okay."

"How are you going to choose between Colin and Dr. Tris?"

"Tris is just a friend, that's all. I hardly know him. Colin's a friend too and I don't know him very well either, but-" When Rachel started grinning, Gemma decided to shut up.

"Friendship is great, isn't it?" Rachel said, then sped off toward the house.

Absolutely no one was helping her keep her distance from Colin!

The next morning Gemma awoke at 4 A.M. and couldn't go back to sleep. For the last several years she'd started her day with an energetic workout, and now the lack of activity was making her restless. At five she gave up the struggle and got up, dressed, and went to the kitchen to make herself breakfast. It was still dark outside, so when she heard a tap on the gla.s.s door and saw what looked to be a man wearing a mask, she jumped. It took her a few moments to realize it was Colin. She went to the door, turned the latch, and opened it.

"I'm glad to see you did lock it," he said as he stepped inside.

He looked awful! The "mask" he was wearing was soot and smoke, so thick on him that she couldn't see his skin. "Come in and sit down. You look exhausted."

"No. I don't want to dirty your furniture. I dropped Pere off and I was going home, but I saw your light on and wondered if anything was wrong. What's that smell?"

"Oh!" she said as she hurried to the kitchen. "It's turkey bacon."

When she turned back to him, he had a look of hunger in his eyes. "How long has it been since you ate?"

"I don't know. Yesterday sometime." He put his hand on the door. "I need to get home and-"

"I cut up red peppers and onions, and I have cheese and eggs. I make a great omelet. And I bought some of Ellie's seven grain bread. It's a few days old but if I put enough b.u.t.ter on it you won't be able to tell."

She could see that he was giving in. When she motioned him toward the kitchen, he went to a stool by the bar, and sat down. She quickly poured him a gla.s.s of orange juice and he drained it in one gulp. Toast lavished with b.u.t.ter kept him busy while she whisked four eggs. She'd already chopped the peppers and onions and sauteed them in oil. She put them with the cheese on the omelet and put the plate in front of him.

He didn't say a word until all the food was gone.

"Better?" she asked when he looked up.

"Much," he said, then gave a huge yawn. When he tried to cover it, he smeared the dirt on his face.

"How long has it been since you slept?"

"I think it's three days now." He started to stand up. "Gemma, you're a real treasure. Thanks for this. I've got to get home so I can get cleaned up. My skin is itching. And I need to sleep."

When he took a step and stumbled, she was afraid for him to drive. Gemma put her hand on his back and pushed him toward her bedroom. "Shower's on the right. Take your time."

"Clothes . . ." he said.

"I have a jersey so big you and Shamus together could wear it, and I have matching sweatpants. Go on! Once you're clean, I'll drive you to your place and you can sleep."

When he gave her a one-sided grin, his white teeth stood out against the dirt on his face. "Ten minutes," he said.

Gemma watched him leave the room, and when she heard the shower running, she couldn't stop the desire she felt. Colin, naked, and just a few feet away. She scrambled a couple of eggs for herself, ate, then cleaned up the kitchen. When she heard the water turned off, she realized she should have found the clothes beforehand and laid them out for him. Maybe while he was drying off, she could slip into her bedroom and get the clothes.

She glanced inside and saw that Colin was lying facedown across her bed, clean, a towel wrapped around his middle, and he was sound asleep.

She took a few steps toward the closet, but the sight of Colin's nearly nude body sprawled across her bed was not to be ignored.

It was dark in the bedroom, but a soft light from the kitchen highlighted his deep muscle and made his skin appear golden. He was damp from his shower and she very much wanted to feel his warm skin.

For a moment she closed her eyes as she inhaled the fragrance of him. It was as though his sheer masculinity filled the room. She could smell it, feel it, taste it; it surrounded her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that Colin was looking at her, his eyes only half open, shaded-and they were as full of desire as she felt.

He held out his hand to her, beseeching her to take it.

She couldn't resist as she touched his palm with her fingertips, then felt her hand enclosed by his much larger one.

When he turned onto his back, he pulled her toward him and her other hand fell onto his chest.

"I've wanted you since the first moment I saw you," he whispered.

"Me too," she said as he pulled her into his arms. When his lips touched hers, his kiss was everything she'd hoped it would be. Too often, she'd caught herself looking at his lips and wondering about them. When he moved his lips to her neck, she put her head back. She was wearing the loose-fitting clothes that she worked in, and they came off easily as Colin's big hands went under her shirt.

"Beautiful," he murmured as his mouth sought her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Seconds later she was nude and her arms were open to him. When he moved on top of her, she gasped from the weight of him-the wonderful, heavy male weight of him. She clasped her legs about his waist and moved as he entered her.

There were a few quick, hard thrusts and then it was over.

"Thanks, babe," Colin said, and collapsed onto her. Instantly, she could feel his soft breathing on her neck. He was asleep.

Gemma lay still for a moment, decidedly unsatisfied, but Colin's skin against hers felt good.

After a while, she thought she should get up, but it wasn't easy getting him off of her. She pushed on his shoulder, but she may as well have been trying to move a boulder.

"Colin," she said softly, but he didn't respond. "Colin!" she said louder. He still didn't move.

She did her best to scoot out from under him and when she did, she felt a sharp pain in her side. "Great," she murmured. "Torn st.i.tches."

Frustrated, she elbowed him in the ribs. With a grunt, he rolled off of her, but his right arm looped around her as though she were his teddy bear, and he pulled her close to him.

"Come on, Jean," he said. "Let me sleep." He turned his head away from her.

She stopped moving. "I am Gemma," she said clearly and rather loudly.

"Ah, Gemma," Colin said. "Smart and brave."

If she'd heard those words an hour ago, she would have been pleased, but now they were both naked, they'd just had a quickie version of s.e.x, and worst, he'd called her "Jean."

It took some effort, but she managed to disentangle herself from his arm and stand up. She stood beside the bed, looking down at him, and she felt disgusted with herself for allowing her desire to override her common sense. Gemma knew that she was the only single woman she knew who'd never had a one-night stand. One friend said it was the only way to go. "No complications. Get in, get it done, then leave," was what she preached.

But Gemma had never been like that. Maybe it was because she seemed to live in a world of history, but she believed that s.e.x should mean something more than just the physicality of it.

Today, she'd broken her own code. She'd allowed plain old l.u.s.t to make her forget herself.

She stopped thinking when she felt something warm run down her side. She couldn't see in the nearly dark room, but when she touched it, she felt her wet bandage. d.a.m.n! She'd reopened her wound.

As she went to the bathroom, all she knew for sure was that she had to leave the guesthouse immediately. She quickly pulled on her clothes, not paying much attention to what she put on, grabbed her bag and car keys, and went outside. Once she was in the car, she wasn't sure where she was going, but it seemed sensible to go to the doctor to have her side looked at.

When she got to Tris's office, it was still early and there was no one on the streets. Now what? she thought. Did she sit in her car and wait for the town to open up?

When someone tapped on her window, she gave a little yelp. Leaning toward her was Tris's beautiful face, a hot coffee mug in his hand. She put the window down.

"Are you all right?" Tris asked.

"My side is bleeding."

"Come inside and I'll look at it." He opened the car door, and when she stumbled, he took her arm in his. Minutes later she was sitting on an exam table, her shirt pulled up, and he had removed her bandage.

"It's okay," he said. "This dampness isn't blood and you're healing well. It looks like the gauze got wet. Did you take a shower or get in a tub this morning?"

"I . . ." Gemma began and found herself fighting tears.

"Did something happen?" Tris asked. "Gemma?" He took a step back. "I'm going to call Colin."

"No!" she half shouted.

Tris paused. "Okay. No Colin. How about some whiskey?"

Gemma managed to give him a half smile. "Thanks, but no."

When she started to get off the table, he helped her, and he didn't let go of her hand. Tris led her to the big chair and had her sit down. He moved a chair to across from her. "Now tell me what's made you so angry at our ill.u.s.trious sheriff."

"I . . ." She hesitated, but there was something earnest in Tris's beautiful face that made her confide in him. It took her only minutes to tell him everything. She told about her days spent with Colin, and how much she liked him. "He showed me the house he'd bought before anyone else knew about it. When he left to fight a fire, he called me from there. I was beginning to think there was something between us, but then he called me Jean. And everyone talks of them like they're about to get married but Colin never mentions her-except to say she's going to help him buy furniture." She put her hands over her face. "I don't know what's going on. And now this!"

She told him of her very brief s.e.x with Colin.

To her consternation, Tristan grinned. "Good!" he said.

"Good?" She could feel anger rising in her. "You don't understand! Mrs. Frazier dismissed one of the job applicants because she slept with Lanny. If she hears what I did, she'll fire me and I've just begun the work, and-"

"I've known Alea Frazier all my life, and Lanny too, for that matter. Colin told me his mother hired you because you were interested in the research. Besides, if she let everyone Lanny had slept with make her decisions for her, half of the county would be eliminated." He took his cell out of his pocket. "I'll call Rachel and she'll get Colin out of your place, then you and I can go out to breakfast."

"I've already eaten."

"Then you can have some decadent, sugary thing. Or better yet, something chocolate."

Even the thought made her feel better. "You're a good girlfriend," she said, then was shocked. "I didn't mean-"

Tris put up his hand. "It's okay. My last woman friend said I was a 'latent h.o.m.os.e.xual' because I didn't want to marry her."

"Saved her pride."

"Didn't do much for mine," he said, then spoke into the phone. "Rachel? Hope I didn't wake you, but Gemma and I need your help." He went into the waiting room to finish the call.

Twenty minutes later Gemma was sitting in Ellie's grocery at a table across from Tristan. The store wasn't open yet, so Tris had led her through the back. Around them was a bustle of employees as they replenished goods and produce. Ellie had been too busy to attend to them, but it seemed that Tris being there so early was a regular occurrence, and he knew where to get what.

On a plate in front of Gemma was a pastry that had chocolate in and around it, and there was a mug of some thick goo that was nearly pure chocolate. After four big bites and two gulps, she felt a great deal better. "You're a good doctor," she murmured, her mouth full.

"I learned about chocolate and women in my first year of med school. It's never failed me."

He was eating an egg burrito that she had an idea Ellie made just for him. Gemma couldn't help noticing that every female worker who walked by made sure Tris saw her. Gemma had received many up-and-down looks as though to ask what about her made her rate. "I don't think it takes chocolate to make you successful with women."

With a self-effacing look, Tris glanced down at his plate. "So tell me, Gemma, what kind of birth control are you using?"

She stopped chewing, paused, then started again and swallowed. "I, uh, ran out."

"And haven't bought more," Tris said.

Gemma started eating again. "The whole episode was too quick to produce anything."

"Spoken like a teenager," Tris said.

"It's okay," Gemma said. "I've done enough research with my boys to know about the right time of the month. This isn't it."

"All right," Tris said, then was silent for a moment. "Tell me about your research."

"Mostly, I've been trying to add to Joce's genealogy. She's a friend of-" She cut herself off. "I'm forgetting where I am. You must know Jocelyn."

"I helped deliver her twins."

"Then you know a great deal more about her than I ever want to," Gemma said, and Tris laughed. "I haven't done as much work as I'd like to."

"The Fraziers driving you crazy?"

She didn't think she needed to say more about her and Colin. She'd said too much already. "The family does visit rather often."

"With or without their clothes?" Tris asked.

"It's too early to laugh about it," Gemma said, but she did smile.

"You want more chocolate?"

"No, that was enough. I better get back to work-if Rachel's had time to remove Colin, that is."