About ten minutes later, Melanie set a plate in front of me filled with scrambled eggs and three slices of bacon. “I hope you’re hungry.”

I wasn’t sure when I had eaten last, and I found that I was famished. I gobbled up the food in short order.

I didn’t want to bring up Melanie’s kidnapping, but I did need to know what was going on. “Have the police contacted you again? Do they have any idea what happened?”

“No. I haven’t heard anything. It hasn’t been very long yet. I’m just hoping they can find the place where I was held. I gave them a detailed account—well, as detailed as I can remember, with my adrenaline freaking me out—of where I had driven from when I escaped.”

“It’s too late now. You won’t be hearing anything more tonight.”

“Oh.” She stood. “Totally forgot something for us to drink. I suppose it’s too late for a pot of coffee, although that’s what this meal screams for.”

“There’s probably some orange juice in the fridge. Or we can drink water. Or make some tea.”

“OJ sounds perfect.” She rooted around in my kitchen again until she found two glasses.

The scene before me—Melanie in my kitchen, making herself at home—looked more than good to me.

It looked right. It felt right.

If only I hadn’t failed her.

She set a glass of orange juice before me, and I drank it down in one gulp. When was the last time I had drunk something? The martini with Talon last night. I was clearly dehydrated.

I was restless. Being with Melanie had given me some solace, but I had no right to ask her to make love again. There was only one other thing that would give me the peace I craved—a midnight swim.

“Would you like to go for a swim with me?” I asked.

“It’s dark out. And isn’t it too cold?”

“You’ve been in my pool before. It’s heated. But if you’re too cold, you can get in the hot tub while I have a swim.”

She looked at her palms. “I guess my hands will be all right. I’ll need more Band-Aids.”

“As I told you, I have tons of first aid supplies.”

“I have to admit, swimming would be great for my ankle in its condition. Of course, I don’t have a suit…”

I laughed aloud. “And we’ve been through that before too. This is my house. No one’s going to interrupt us.”

“That’s what you said the last time.”

She had me there. And that was what had led to—

I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to get into my swimming pool and enjoy the night with the woman I loved.

“Will you be all right in here alone then? I really would like to swim.”

“I’m being silly, aren’t I?” She shook her head. “It’s just that…when Jade and Talon showed up, and I got embarrassed, that’s why I left, and then… It was all so silly, really. But this was all my fault, Jonah.”

Her fault? It was my fault. I hadn’t answered her phone call. “This is not your fault. That man had no right to do what he did. And if it takes me the rest of my days, I’ll find out who did it and why, and I will make sure that he rues the day he ever laid a hand on you.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Who said you were asking?”

“Jonah, your plate is so full already with running the ranch and trying to unravel Talon’s history. You can’t take mine on as well.”

“Who says I can’t? We will figure it all out, Melanie. I promise. But right now, would you please take a swim with me?”

She smiled, and her beautiful emerald eyes lit with green fire. “All right. Like I always tell my patients, if you fall off the bike, get back on.” She stood and came to me, gazing down. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here for a while.”

“Please don’t worry about that. I want to help. It’s the least I can do.”

If she only knew.

I stood beside her, and together we walked out onto the deck and down the walkway to my swimming pool. I shed my jeans and dived in naked. The water was warm yet crisp against the night air.

I rose to the surface. Melanie was shyly touching her toes to the water.

“Go ahead and get in the hot tub if this is too cold for you. I’ll join you in a while.” I was aching to do a few laps and work off some of this tension.

“It actually feels good.” She tentatively shed the robe and laid it on a chaise longue. Then, instead of going in slowly via the steps as I expected her to, she walked to the edge, only limping a bit, and executed a perfect swan dive into the water.

When she rose, her blond hair slicked back against her head, her breasts bobbing on the surface, I said, “I thought you said you weren’t much of a swimmer.”

She laughed. “I’m not. But I’m a pretty good diver.”

“So I see. That was perfect.”

“Not exactly perfect, but it will do.” She started swimming forward.

I followed, doing several laps of the front crawl and then switching to the backstroke.

After a couple laps, Melanie rested on the side of the pool, sitting on the steps, while I continued swimming.

When I was sufficiently winded, I joined her near the side. “Ready for a dip in the hot tub?” I asked.

“Sounds heavenly.” She followed me to the tub.

As we stepped into the hot water, it occurred to me that I had never had a woman in my hot tub. I’d had women in other places in my house, but never out here. I was happy that Melanie would be the first. If only she could be the last.

She took a seat in one of the shallower seats, stretched her arms out on the railing, and inhaled. “This feels great. The only thing missing is—”

“Lavender?”

“Yes. How did you know what I was thinking?”

“Maybe I know you better than you think I do.” I hoped that was true.

She closed her eyes, inhaling again. “Wow, this could relax the tension out of anyone. And boy, do I need that.”

I leaned over and kissed Melanie’s forehead. “Just relax all you need to, baby. No one is going to bother us.”

And then a voice.

“Joe?”

Chapter Sixteen