“He’s blind.”

Drew turned around to find Josie standing behind him.

She blinked, apparently seeing something in his eyes that startled her.

“I’m sorry. I knocked, but you didn’t answer. And the door was unlocked.”

Foolish of him.

Even more foolish was the way he wanted to envelop her in his arms.

“Who’s blind?”

She gestured toward the street. “The trumpet player. Clarence has been blind all his life.”

If the man was blind, then there was no way he could have been looking at Drew.

Just the same, Drew sensed that not only had he been spotted, but also that he’d been seen. The same way Anne-Marie had seemed to see him.

The same way Josie saw him now.

He found it difficult to swallow as his gaze swept over her beautiful face.

Damn, but the woman did strange, unfamiliar things to him. The instant she came into view, everything else disappeared, leaving only her and him.

His desire for her was so strong it seemed able to bridge whatever gap lay between them. Only there was no gap between them now, at least not physically. She stood near enough to touch. And he wanted to touch her with an intensity that set him off balance.

“Is Philippe watching the desk?”

Josie’s gaze lingered on his mouth. “Philippe never made it in today. Sick.” She licked her lips, her eyes shifting to look into his. “I put the Closed sign out.”

He remembered hearing the sound of other voices a little earlier. “Are we the only ones in the hotel?”

She slowly shook her head. “No. Frederique came back with another…friend. I, um, told her to close the door when she leaves.”

Drew reached out and stroked her silky cheek. “Now that the police are gone, it’s back to business as usual?”

“No. I mean, yes, but…”

Drew was as drawn to her as she apparently was to him. He could barely force himself to think of anything or anyone else. Only Josie, and how much he wanted to stroke her amazingly supple body. Lose himself in the feel, smell and touch of her.

She stepped into his arms, her smaller body somehow fitting perfectly against his larger frame. The move chased all air from his lungs. Not because of the impact, but because of her nearness. Up this close, he could smell the subtle scent of night-blooming jasmine that emanated from her skin. Absorb the welcome heat of her body. Feel the way her breasts pressed harder against the wall of his chest with each breath that she took.

She didn’t play coy. Didn’t ask questions or make nervous comments. She merely acted on an instinct that was purely primal, that made him respond in kind.

Drew smoothed his hands over her slender back then reached to tip her chin up so he could kiss her.

Damn, but she tasted better, sweeter, than anyone he’d ever met before. Like freshly picked fruit. Like cayenne pepper and milk-laced coffee and sugarcoated doughnuts. Like heaven and sin all at once.

The sound of the trumpet continued outside the open doors, and the squeak of bedsprings in the room next to his spoke of their neighbors’ activities. All of it a backdrop to the steady thrum of blood through Drew’s veins as he kissed the woman in his arms.

And prepared to make love to her for as long as she’d let him.

NO MATTER HOW HARD Josie tried, she couldn’t seem to draw in a breath deep enough to clear her mind. Then again, air probably had nothing to do with her light-headed state. She suspected Drew was completely responsible for that. The gentle way he held her. The soft, knowing stroke of his hands over her back and her face. The growing hardness against her stomach.

He gripped her chin in his hand and kissed her deeply, stealing the bone from her knees and rendering her helpless to his sensual onslaught.

Yesterday had been all about urgency. By closing the hotel for the first time in its recent history, she’d guaranteed that tonight would be all about slow and sure.

Drew’s tongue stroked hers. If she’d harbored any doubts about coming to his room, they all but disappeared. She wanted this. Needed to feel grounded, real, and in control. It was strange that she should feel that when she seemed to have no control over herself the instant Drew touched her.

Everything in her life was spiraling out of control. She stood on the brink of losing her hotel. Someone was taking extreme measures to try to frighten her. And out there somewhere was a killer who could strike again anytime.

Drew’s hand rested at the base of her neck, his index finger caressing as if monitoring the quickening of her pulse there. Then he was working that same index finger under the thin strap of her slip dress, doing the same with his hand on her other shoulder, so that the light material whispered down over her breasts and hips and then puddled around her ankles. Josie stepped out of the circle, gloriously aware that she was completely exposed while Drew was fully dressed.

She was about to remedy that when he swept her up and carried her to the bed. Whatever he’d had on top thudded to the floor and then he was laying her down, only momentarily breaking their long, leisurely kiss.

He climbed onto the bed with her, positioning himself between her legs then prying open her knees with a slow nudge. His thigh slid against her throbbing womanhood, causing her back to come up off the mattress. He took full advantage of her momentary distraction and ran his tongue along an engorged nipple before sucking it into his mouth.

The bed beneath Josie was soft and cool, while Drew above her was hard and hot. She reveled in the contrast as he lifted to kiss her again. At the opportunity, she went to work on the buttons of his shirt, tucking her fingers inside the edges so that they brushed against the warm steel of his stomach. She reached the bottom and pressed her palm flat against his abdomen, just above his erection. She savored his low hiss before pushing the material from his wide shoulders. There. She wanted to kiss him there. She placed her lips against his shoulder, swirling her tongue against the salty, manly taste of his skin. And there. She kissed his collarbone. And there…

Everywhere she kissed him left her wanting more.

Drew moved so that both his knees were between hers. He lay against her so that his long, rigid hardness was cradled between her legs. She grasped his hips, holding him there, swimming in the anticipation that shuddered through her.

The slow burn was quickly turning into something more powerful. Josie braced her hands against his shoulders then turned him over so that he was lying on the mattress and she was above him. She kissed him long and hard, her right hand slinking down over his torso toward his slacks. She popped the fastener then tugged down the zipper, dipping her hand inside his boxers so she could cup his silken length. So long…so thick…so hard. She pulled her mouth from his, her breasts swaying as she repositioned herself between his knees. She caught him watching the movement. She grazed her nipples against his chest, first one way, then the other, rubbing them against his. His eyes darkened and he grasped her hips, shoving down her panties to bare her fully to his gaze. She dragged her breasts down the remainder of his abdomen, then pressed them against his hard ridge before lifting to rid him of his slacks and boxers. But rather than returning to kiss his mouth, she straddled his leg. Sitting straight up, she cupped her breasts in her own hands, squeezing her nipples, knowing he was watching her raptly. Then she wantonly rubbed her wetness against the prickly hair covering his thigh, nearly causing herself to climax right on the spot.

He grasped her wrists and groaned. “Come here.”

She stretched and grasped his hands, then drew his arms above his head.