the bedroom. There he stood, next to her bed, dressed in leather and denim, taking up too much space and too much oxygen, namely hers.
Heaven help her, how was she going to get through this weekend?
"I'm ready," she muttered, and shoved the toiletry bag into the tote.
His lips twitched. "Think of it as a broadening experience."
"The only reason I'm going is because I've seen the first batch of your photos."
He grinned. "I must be too good to resist."
"You're right," she said, stomping down the stairs. "The public won't be able to resist you." But she would. She had to. He led the way outside, and Jill locked the door behind her. "How far away is the ranch?"
"About a hundred and sixty miles," he said. "We can use the microphones so you don't get bored."
"Microphones?"
"Microphones so we can talk while we're riding on my bike," he said, putting her bag in a compartment in the back of the motorcycle.
She looked at Tyler's big black bike, and that was when it hit her. In the back of her mind she had known she would be joining him on the bike, but she must have pushed the fact that her body would be pressed intimately against his for over two hours from her mind. She quickly calculated miles and time and bit her lip.
Two and a half hours of being wrapped around Dr. Tyler Logan. Trina would be in ecstasy. Jill would be in hell. She was beginning to think that Tyler was to her what kryptonite was to a certain superhero. Disaster.
During the first thirty miles, Jill played mind games with herself. Tyler was everything she didn't want in a man, she told herself as her fingers curled into his taut abdomen through his T-shirt. She didn't like the way his back felt against her breasts. She didn't like the way he smelled, a seductive mix of musk and masculinity. She didn't like the way his dark hair curled slightly at his nape. For that matter, she didn't like the way the man breathed.
"Tell me about Gordie."
She heard his voice through her earphone and blinked. "Gordie?"
"Yeah, the guy who sent the flowers and the bad picture."
"The picture wasn't bad," she said, defending Gordon.
"It wasn't?" He chuckled. "Poor guy."
"That wasn't nice. Gordon is a kind man. He's very stable, very even-tempered, very—"
"Boring."
"That's not fair."
"But true. What do you like about him? That he's not threatening? That he doesn't ruffle your feathers?"
"I appreciate his intelligence and stability. He's very loyal."
"I told you he sounds like a gelding at the ranch."
Jill just groaned.
"Looks like he wants to be more than your boss," Tyler said. "How do you feel about that?"
Jill shifted uncomfortably. "Gordon has many wonderful qualities. Any woman would be fortunate to be involved with him."
"Which means you're not interested."
"I didn't say that."
"Yeah, but you weren't enthusiastic. You still could have been talking about the gelding or a faithful dog. No passion."
The wind whipping at her face and hair, Jill glared at his back. "Passion is overrated."
"If you had experienced true passion you wouldn't say that."
"I suppose you have."
"I've gotten close. But I've seen the real thing in action between my brother and his fiancée. You'll see what I mean when you meet them. They're getting married in a few weeks."
"Does she have a ranching background?" Jill asked, thinking that would be necessary for marriage to a rancher.
Tyler chuckled. "None, zero, zip. Felicity lived in Manhattan her entire life, but now she has seen the light and she realizes Texas is the best place anyone could live."
Jill's lips twitched at his state pride. "Have you ever been to Hawaii?"
"Nice place to visit, but Texas is the best place to live. Keep your eyes open and you might see the light, too."
Jill kept her eyes open for the rest of the ride despite the monotonous landscape. By the time Tyler pulled into the long driveway, she was more than ready to dismount the bike.
Her knees buckled when she slid over the side, and Tyler caught her.