Chapter One

And here she thought things couldn't get any worse.

Surrounded by rowdy animal rights activists, journalist Cathleen Nichols rolled her eyes heavenward and wondered who the hell she'd pissed off in a past lifetime to deserve this. As if standing on a picket line outside the Iowa Research Center in a deluge of cold autumn rain with her makeup smeared and her hair plastered to her forehead wasn't enough to top off a perfectly shitty day, she'd spotted him.

The man who despised her.

The man who'd be thrilled to see her in such a predicament.

The same man who'd been starring in her fantasies for the past six months.

Oh hell.

Who knew the article she'd written about the Iowa Research Center's sexual experiments would draw so much attention? Negative attention, that is.

For him.

From behind the lobby doors, his piercing blue eyes sifted through the crowd and settled on her. Oh boy! Desire thrummed through her veins as their gazes collided. On her date rating scale this man scored a triple "A." Anywhere, anytime, anything. . . .

She'd been living across the courtyard from "not-so-nerdy" scientist Sam York for a little over six months. Except for the day he'd helped her carry in packing boxes, they'd barely spoken. She'd come to learn he dedicated his spare time to his work and didn't have much room in his life for other luxuries.

Luxuries like having her writhing beneath him on his king-sized bed. Her pulse leapt into action as she played out that provocative image. Cripes! This wasn't the time to indulge in her rich sexual fantasies.

She'd al