Lover's Gold by Kat Martin

wire and dangling from the trapeze, but his words were little comfort. Only when the none-to-modestly dressed sequin-clad performers were safely on the ground could she release her sigh of relief and clap loudly for their death-defying skills.
    Morgan held her hand off and on throughout the afternoon and she found its gentle warmth reassuring. It seemed to add just that extra touch of pleasure the wonderful day demanded.
    When the show came to a close, Elaina felt almost as exhausted as the entertainers. She’d walked through a cage of wild beasts, been slung from a trapeze, been nearly crushed between the giant pad of an elephant’s foot, stood bareback on a beautiful dapple gray steed as it circled the ring, and been shot from a cannon. Other than that, it had been just a typical sunny spring day.
    “You look pleasantly exhausted,” Morgan told her as he helped her aboard the buggy.
    “I had the most wonderful time. I’ll always remember this day, no matter how old I get.”
    “And I’ll never forget the pretty lady I took to the circus for her very first time.” He pinned her tawny eyes with his light ones. Then, as if needing to break the spell, added, “Or the look on your face when that clown tossed his bucket of confetti at you. You were sure you were about to be drenched.”
    She poked him in the ribs, and he grunted and hugged her against him playfully. Forgetting his promise, he dipped his head and captured her lips, feeling them warm and pliant beneath his mouth. He felt them part and tasted the sweetness of her breath. When his tongue slid between her teeth, the contact sobered them both.
    “You promised!” she exclaimed, tearing herself away. He could feel her pulse racing, matching his own, and sighed resignedly. “I guess I did, but somehow I didn’t think, surrounded by a pasture full of people, one little kiss would put you in danger.”
    She glanced around, saw all the people leaving the circus just as they were, and rolled her golden eyes skyward. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m a little keyed up from all the excitement. I didn’t mean to cause a scene.”
    “And I didn’t mean to kiss you.” He grinned and clucked the mare into a brisk trot. “You’re even harder to resist than I thought.” They moved onto the dusty road behind other wagons departing the grounds. “I apologize for forgetting myself, even for a moment.” He hoped his eyes didn’t betray the fact that he wasn’t sorry at all. He only wished he could have explored her sweet mouth further.
    She seemed to forgive him and nestled her head on his shoulder, the heat of the day and all the excitement beginning to take their toll. The gentle sway of the buggy and the clip-clop of the mare’s hooves against the dusty road lulled her, and she drifted to sleep.
    Morgan looked down at her trusting face as she slept peacefully against his shoulder. Protectively, he eased his arm around her, hoping she wouldn’t awaken till their arrival outside of town. He couldn’t have seduced her today, even if he’d had the chance. Not when she’d trusted him so completely, not after the hours they’d spent together—not unless she’d wanted him to. Pressing against him, her shining hair spilling across his chest, she stirred feelings in him he hadn’t known he had.
    Again his past rose up to haunt him. Was he always this way with a woman he desired? He hardly thought so. This one seemed different, special somehow. A nagging suspicion he’d known her at some other time haunted him, but that possibility didn’t fit into the past he was beginning to remember.
    It was all a tangled web, but one he hoped to untangle soon.
    “It’s time to wake up, pretty lady. We’re getting close to town. I think you’d better take the buggy the rest of the way alone.”
    Elaina roused herself, yawned, and smiled. “I wasn’t much company, was I?”
    “Better than you might think,” he assured her gallantly. He drew the buggy to the side of the