A Little Surprise for the Boss (Mills & Boon Desire) by Elizabeth Lane

behind.” She stumbled against him, wincing.
    “What’s wrong? Did you hurt your foot?”
    “It’s just a sticker. I can get it out.”
    They’d reached the tent. He raised the flap for her to duck inside, then followed her. “Sit,” he said, reaching for his flashlight and switching it on. “I’ll have a look at that foot.”
    Terri didn’t argue. Still dripping, she lowered herself to the space on the floor of the tent. Buck wiped the mud off her feet with a towel from his bag. It was easy to find the cactus spine that was stuck in the ball of her foot, but it was in deep. She gave a little yelp as he pulled it out.
    “Are you okay?” He sponged away a drop of blood, then salved the spot with the antibiotic cream he kept in his kit.
    She nodded. “Just cold.”
    “You can’t sleep in those wet clothes. You’ll need to hang them up to dry.”
    “I know. You, too.” She hesitated. Her show of modesty was ludicrous, since he remembered the sight of her, half-naked and straddling his hips. But they both seemed to have decided not to mention that.
    “Here.” He switched off the flashlight, leaving the tent in darkness. “For privacy, that’s the best I can do. You first. I’ll give you some space.”
    He moved back into a corner of the tent, crouching in the cramped space as he listened to the small sounds of Terri getting undressed—the slide of a zipper, the rustle of bunching fabric, the little grunt of effort as she peeled her wet pants over her hips. The mental picture was enough to bring him to full arousal. He battled the urge to seize her in his arms for a repeat performance of that morning in his room. This wasn’t the time or place. The tent was too small, its walls too thin and it was too close to neighbors. If he made love to Terri again—and the need to make that happen was driving him crazy—he wanted to do it right.
    She draped her clothes on the tent frame, then snuggled down into her sleeping bag. “All clear,” she said.
    Buck felt chilled, too. He stripped off his clothes, hung them up and crawled into bed. They lay side by side, zipped into their sleeping bags, both of them still too charged with adrenaline to sleep. Realizing she was awake, Buck decided to take a chance.
    “Should I apologize for this trip?” he asked. “I had good intentions, but I know it’s been rough on you.”
    She rolled over to face him in the darkness. “There’s no need to apologize for the trip. I enjoyed the good parts and survived the bad. What I’m unhappy about is that you lied to get me here.”
    “I know. But I was desperate to bring you. Since I knew you wouldn’t come willingly, it was either tell a fib or tie you up and throw you on the raft.”
    “No comment.”
    Waiting for Terri to say more, Buck studied the faint outline of her face in the darkness. He remembered watching her today on the river, as the breeze fluttered a strand of chestnut hair across her sun-freckled face. Even after a third day of roughing it on the river, she was beautiful—not like the pampered women he usually dated, but strong and graceful like a wild mare or a soaring hawk. He’d always thought she was pretty. But not until this topsy-turvy week had he realized how magnificent she was.
    Was it too late to stop himself from falling in love with her?
    For years, he’d told himself that Terri was off-limits as anything but a friend. She was Steve’s sister, and he’d promised to care for her like family. But she’d broken out of that box, and he could no longer deny the power of his growing feelings for her.
    Don’t go, Terri. Stay here. Give us a chance to see what might happen.
    Buck knew better than to say the words. Terri deserved a better life than she’d found in Porter Hollow as his right-hand woman. If she wanted to go and find it, who was he to stop her—especially since she’d already made up her mind to leave?
    She’d fallen silent. “Are you getting sleepy?” he asked.
    “A little.