Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

scary.”
    “You think I’m afraid?” She gritted her teeth, continued her reps. “You don’t scare me, Booke, and neither do your stupid toys.”
    “I’m glad to hear that.” Voice cheerful, face pleasant, he finished off the mat routine and got up to do bicep curls. “I was a little worried, the way you took off.”
    “I didn’t take off.” She snapped it out and began to work on her triceps. “I left.”
    “Whatever.”
    “I had work to do.”
    “Okay.”
    She sucked in a breath and imagined what would happen to that dopey grin of his if she smashed her barbell in his face. “You may be the idle rich, buddy, but I work for a living.”
    “Absolutely. If you’re not worried about the energy spike the other day, I’d really like you to come back. Now that I’m up and running, it’ll help to re-create the event, or see if it can be re-created.”
    “Not interested.”
    “I’ll pay you for your time.”
    “I don’t need your money.”
    “That doesn’t make it less useful. Think about it.” He decided to cut his routine short and give her the time to do just that. “By the way,” he added as he replaced the weights. “Nice abs.”
    She merely peeled back her lips to show her teeth as he strolled out.
    Imagine, she thought as she finished out her routine, a dork like that accusing her of being afraid. If it hadn’t been so laughable, it would’ve been insulting. Then thinking he could buy her time for his ridiculous experiments or study or whatever the hell he called what he did.
    It was a shame, a damn shame that he was the best-looking and certainly the best-built guy she’d run across in months. If he hadn’t been such an irritating moron, they could have enjoyed some workouts of an entirely different nature.
    Instead, she was going to have to make the effort to avoid him whenever possible. It wouldn’t be easy, but she would make it her winter project.
    With her muscles comfortably fatigued, she went back in the locker room, showered off, pulled on her tank suit, and headed into the pool area.
    And realized, immediately, she should have known. He was already in the pool, doing laps with slow, almost lazy strokes. It surprised her to see that his tan covered every inch of him, or every inch she could see. The black Speedo he wore wasn’t hiding much.
    She wasn’t giving up her swim, even if it meant sharing the water with him. Tossing her fresh towel aside, she dived in.
    When she surfaced he was an arm-span away, casually treading water. “I’ve got an idea.”
    “I bet you’re just full of them.” She dipped her head andslicked the hair back from her face. “Look, I want to get in my laps and go. It’s a big pool. You stay on that side, I’ll stay on this one.”
    “Let’s not call it an idea, let’s call it a proposition.”
    “Booke, you’re going to piss me off.”
    “I didn’t mean—”
    He did flush now, a perfectly gorgeous combination with that manly stubble. The little twist of lust in her belly really put her off.
    “I didn’t mean to imply—” He took two careful breaths, knowing he would stutter otherwise. “I meant a race.”
    He knew he’d caught her competitive streak by the way her eyes glinted just before she turned in the water and swam to the side. “Not interested.”
    “I’ll give you a quarter-length handicap.”
    “Yeah, no question, you’re going to piss me off.”
    “Four lengths,” he continued, clamping onto the idea like a hound onto a bone. “If you win, I don’t bother you again. If I win, I get one hour of your time. One hour, against three months. Those are pretty favorable odds for you.”
    She started to brush him off. Wanted to brush him off. He couldn’t bother her if she didn’t let him bother her. There was only one slight hitch. She couldn’t resist a dare.
    “Four lengths, head to head.” She pulled swim goggles over her head, adjusted them. “When I win, you keep your distance, you don’t mention your project