She knew she and Ryder shared a connection in her past. She could feel it down to the tips of her toes, which had a habit of curling every time Ryder touched her. And what about Shelby…?

Ryder smacked the pen on the counter and swept the card key into his palm. “That should do it. We’re on the second floor.”

Following him upstairs, Julia wrinkled her nose at the musty smell from the carpet. Not exactly the type of place she’d want to have a secret assignation. She tugged on Ryder’s sleeve. “I hope the rooms are clean.”

“I think the place is old, not dirty. We can hop in a taxi and find someplace else if you want.”

“This is fine. There’s no guarantee another hotel will have any rooms available anyway, and I can’t face wandering around Durango looking for a place to stay. It’s just for one night.” Truthfully, the discoveries she made in Dr. Jim’s office and the slashed tires had taken their toll. She just wanted to sit and vegetate.

Ryder slid the card in the lock and ushered her inside. The small room held a queen-size bed with two nightstands, a bureau with a TV built in on the top and a desk and chair by the window. The bathroom had a fresh-scrubbed, antiseptic smell.

Ryder pushed open the door to the adjoining room, which had an identical setup with a blue color scheme instead of green. “Which one do you want?”

“I’ll take the blue room.”

He left the door ajar and gestured to the TV. “Want to join me for a movie?” He turned on the TV and clicked through the stations. “Aha, movie channel. Did you see that comedy from last summer? I heard it’s funny. I missed everything where I was, so it’s brand new to me.”

“Where were you?” She dropped to the edge of the bed and toed off her flats.

He pulled off his boots, plumped several pillows against the headboard and reclined on the bed, facing the TV. “Can’t tell you that.”

She sighed and wriggled back on the bed. “If Jeremy was anything like you, I probably didn’t have much to forget anyway.” She paused. “Was Jeremy anything like you?”

“Naw.” He grinned. “I’m a big, dumb cowboy from Colorado. Jeremy was a slick, sophisticated New Yorker with charm to spare.”

Julia rolled on her side, digging her elbow into the soft mattress and propping up her head. If Jeremy had more charm than Ryder, he must’ve been oozing it. “I thought he came from a poor family. Where’d he get the sophistication?”

“He studied it and then perfected it.”

“Is that why I fell for him, his charm?”

“Pretty much.” Ryder grabbed one of the bags from the nightstand, pulled out the jelly beans and ripped open the bag. “Like I said, you were in a rough place. Your father died less than a year before you met Jeremy. He charmed you, made you laugh, made you want to take hold of life with both hands again.”

“Then he betrayed me…and you.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Julia. We were all taken in by Jeremy, even the agency.” He held out a handful of jelly beans after picking out all the black ones. “You don’t like the black ones.”

He poured the jelly beans into her palm, and she pinched a purple one between her fingers. “Who killed Jeremy and why? And whoever it was, do you think they got the disc I brought to Jeremy?”

“Probably a foreign agency murdered him. Maybe the same agency he planned to sell the disc to. Maybe they didn’t want to pay him. Maybe they smelled a double cross. A million things could’ve happened. Even if Brody didn’t bring you out of your trance when he did, you may not have the answer.”

“Did anything happen after Jeremy’s murder? Was any information compromised?”

“Not that we know of. The movie’s starting. Do you want to watch it or continue poking around your brain?”

She shook her head and popped the jelly bean into her mouth, biting into the sweet grape flavor. “My brain’s done for the night.”

“Then get up here and get comfortable.” He punched a stack of pillows beside him on the bed.

She crawled up next to him and wedged her back against the headboard. “This better be funny because I’m ready to laugh.”

Giggling and snorting at the juvenile antics of the characters on the small screen with her thigh pressed firmly against Ryder’s, Julia experienced a comfort in her own skin that she usually felt only when holding Shelby in her arms.

When the movie ended, she didn’t want to retreat to her own room and a cold bed. “Do you want to watch the historical drama that’s on next?”

“Sure, do any heads roll in this one? I only watch historical dramas with lots of blood and gore.”

“It’s the French Revolution. I’m sure heads are going to roll.”

“I’m in.”

“I’m going to brush my teeth first.” She rolled off the bed and padded into the bathroom where they put the toothbrushes and floss. How long could she stall and make this moment last with Ryder?

When she returned to the room, Ryder had scrunched down farther on the bed, his long legs crossed at the ankles and his feet nearly reaching the foot of the mattress.

“Any blood yet?” She bounced next to him on the bed.

“Not yet, but it’s looking pretty good.”

She snuggled next to him, her cheek brushing his shoulder. If he took her in his arms right now, if he kissed her…well, she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions.

Instead he rubbed the top of her foot with his, and her toes curled again. If she couldn’t have the kiss, this was almost as good.

Warm, safe, secure. She remembered these feelings with this man. When would Ryder McClintock finally tell her what they had meant to each other in her past life? Maybe if she had a spine like the old Julia, she’d ask him.

SHE GRIPPED the handle of the car door and tugged at it, peering over her left shoulder at the man charging out the front door of the house.

“Julia!”

The explosion ripped through the little stucco house, a ball of orange flames ringed in black smoke huffing out to encompass the angry man shouting her name.

Now screaming her name.

“Julia!”

Her cheekbone throbbed where he’d punched her, and the heat from the inferno scorched her back. She had to get away. She had to protect her baby.

“Julia!”

The fire alarm cut through the smoke and flames, an insistent blaring sound that mixed with the man yelling her name.

“Julia!”

She jerked awake to find herself in a sitting position, clasped in Ryder’s arms.

“Julia, wake up.”

Her nostrils flared at the acrid smell of smoke and she thrashed her legs, kicking Ryder’s shin.

“We have to get out.” Ryder pushed up from the bed, his arm wrapped around her waist. He stuffed her shoes inside his boots and yanked them from the floor with one hand. “Let’s go.”

He half dragged her out of the room, while she rubbed her eyes. “What is it? What’s happening?”

Ryder grabbed her hand and pulled her down the staircase leading to the lobby.

“The hotel’s on fire.”