Dangerous Tides by Christine Feehan

me."
    "What else did I say?" Pure suspicion was in her voice.
    "That I'm brilliant. Which I am."
    "This isn't funny, Ty. We never had the conversation. I don't date."
    "Yes, you do. You dated that idiot doctor from the C.D.C. You remember him. He had a toupee."
    "He did not. That's his own hair. And he wasn't an idiot." She narrowed her eyes, pinning him with her gaze. "How would you know I dated him?"
    "Sam. He's a fountain of information. Remember, he told you I eat Cracker Jacks? And the C.D.C doc was too an idiot. I had one conversation with him and that was enough to tell me he got his position through family connections or politics."
    Libby sighed. "Well, I don't really go out on dates so it isn't possible I said yes. And I only went to dinner with him once."
    "Because he was an idiot," Ty insisted. "Come on, Drake, tell the truth. He was boring, he only talked about himself and he didn't have a brain."
    "Whatever. You know darned well we didn't have a conversation in the hospital."
    He put a hand over his heart. "I can't believe you'd pretend otherwise. You came into my room and told me to hang on, I had to live because I was so valuable."
    Her eyebrow shot up.
    "Okay, so you said my brain was valuable, same thing, Drake, whether you want to admit it or not."
    "And I said you were brilliant." Sarcasm dripped from her voice.
    "Well," he hedged, "not in so many words."
    "I'll just bet not in so many words." Libby spun around and started back up the stairs. She couldn't remember anything about that day at the hospital. Elle had told her about her conversation with Irene. Irene's purse hadn't done the damage. Libby had collapsed all on her own. Elle had known she was in trouble, but no one would be able to tell her if she'd really had a conversation with Tyson Derrick. "You were unconscious."
    "No, I wasn't."
    "You were in a vegetative state."
    "It was a miracle, according to Dr. Shayner. Maybe just you whispering all those compliments turned me around."
    "You're so full of it." There was laughter in her voice again. "You're making all this up."
    There was something about her laughter that affected him more than he cared to admit. It wasn't just that she made his body tighten and every cell come alive, it went deeper than that. He analyzed data, and she was messing with more than his hormones. When she laughed, his insides churned and his heart felt lighter. It didn't make sense, but she was nearly a drug in his system. Just being around her gave him that same rush of adrenaline he was so addicted to.
    "Do I look like a man who makes things up?" he countered.
    She paused again on the stair above him, turning to look up at his face. Her bottom brushed across his groin as she turned and the dull ache turned into a full-blown pain. He caught her by the arms and held her in front of him.
    The smile faded from her face. Ty didn't realize he was so close, his head bending down towards hers. Her mouth was sinfully tempting, her lips full and soft and parted just that little bit. He saw her eyes widen in shock and then his mouth took possession of hers. He wasn't thinking. If there hadn't been an earthquake before, there sure as hell was one now.
    The earth moved. Maybe it spun. He didn't know. He didn't care. He kissed her again, his tongue teasing and dancing until she opened for him. Her mouth clung to his. The kiss deepened. He couldn't let go, gathering her closer, turning the kiss into something not so gentle. Blood heated, rushed and pounded as if he'd been injected with a potent testosterone-laced drug. He pulled her closer still, needing to touch her soft skin, to feel her heat, to feast on her addicting taste.
    Her body moved against his and he forgot all about his ribs and his smashed chest. He forgot all about the new drag and wondering why his safety harness had failed. He simply felt, his body totally alive, every nerve ending sizzled as if he were dangling fifty feet off a rope over a blazing forest fire, intense