The Reluctant Heiress. Sara Orwig

stared at him—broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs, thick brown hair, handsome. The man took her breath and set her heart pounding.

      “Good night, Garrett,” she said softly. She closed the door and switched on lights while her lips tingled. Desire was a scorching flame. Garrett Cantrell. She would be with him again in just hours and yet she couldn’t wait.

      Her cell phone’s tune signaled a call. She looked at the number with curiosity as she answered. Her heart missed a beat when she heard Garrett’s deep voice.

      She laughed. “You do know that we just parted?”

      “We did. It now seems like a serious mistake. Tell me more about growing up, your dreams, your day tomorrow.”

      Smiling, she sat in a rocker in her bedroom, gazing at her shelves of familiar books and pictures. “I grew up in Houston. I’ve always dreamed of painting and having my own gallery. Tomorrow—”

      “Wait a minute. Back up. You grew up in Houston. House? Apartment? Best friends through your school years or did you move a lot? Tell me about your life, Sophia.”

      When he said her name in his deep drawl, her pulse beat faster. “It can’t possibly be that fascinating. I grew up in one house, went to neighborhood elementary schools and then private schools later. I had the same close friends through elementary and then new friends in the private school. See? All very routine and ordinary.”

      “There is absolutely nothing ordinary about you,” he said, stirring another thrilling physical reaction in her that threw her completely off base. She wasn’t used to feeling like this because of a man.

      “What about you? You said you had it easy growing up?” she asked.

      “I always went to private schools. I’ve had the same best friend all my life since I was too young to remember. Our fathers were best friends. I’ve had the same family home my whole life. I’m an only child.”

      “We’re so much alike, I’m surprised we can stand each other, Garrett.” When he laughed, she felt her stomach drop, like she was in free fall. He was turning her inside out with just the sound of his voice.

      “You’re already living your dream. Do you feel fulfilled, complete?” he asked.

      “I think people always want more and keep striving. I am very happy with my life, though, and what I do.”

      “Surely there’s something else you want.”

      “Another successful gallery in Taos. I’d like to live in Santa Fe. But I already have a home and studio, and I have a cabin in the mountains near Questa, where I go for solitude to paint.”

      “The Questa cabin sounds isolated.”

      “No cell phone reception whatsoever, which is a plus. I have a caretaker. He and his family have a cabin close to mine, so there are people nearby. He has four dogs. Two take up with me when I’m there, so that’s a bit of company. It’s a good place to work with no interference—a good place to improve my skills as a painter.”

      “I’d say you can settle for how well you paint right now.”

      “No, I can definitely improve. So tell me about you, Garrett. Do you really dream of building furniture someday?”

      “It’s pushed to a burner so far back, it will take years to get to it.”

      As they talked, she moved to the window, switching off a lamp and gazing outside at the full moon. By the time she glanced at the clock, she was shocked to see it was half past three.

      “Garrett, we have to get off the phone. It’s after three a.m., and you’re picking me up at seven.”

      “All right. Sophia, you’re a remarkable woman,” he said in a solemn tone. She suddenly had a funny feeling that he had expected something different from her.

      “And you are a remarkable man,” she replied softly. “Good night, Garrett. I will see you soon—very soon.”

      “Night, Sophia,” he said, and was gone.

      She turned off her phone and crawled into bed, Garrett dominating her thoughts completely. “Garrett,” she whispered, enjoying saying his name while she thought about his magical kisses. She had never expected to meet someone like him tonight. This wasn’t a time in her career to be distracted, yet he made her feel things she had never felt before. Morning couldn’t come quickly enough. She was already anxious to be with him again.