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She strained closer to him, pushed by the building pressure inside. Passion was something she had always known she possessed, but the feeling had never been this intense.
    Momentarily unnerved by it, Laura pulled away and ducked under his arm. At a half-run and half-walk, she crossed to the fountain’s perimeter wall, secretly glad that only she knew how shaky her legs felt. Several seconds passed before she heard the scuff of Sebastian’s shoes on the concrete, signaling his approach. He halted on her left and faced the massive fountain. Her whole body tingled with an awareness of him.
    “If that’s the way you thank someone for the loan of an item, remind me to loan you something else.” His voice had a disturbed huskiness about it.
    She laughed, mostly because she didn’t completely trust her voice yet, and focused on the artfully lit statue of a sea god aboard his shell-shaped chariot being pulled by spirited horses.
    “Is he Neptune or Poseidon?” Laura asked in a deliberate change of subject. “I can never remember which is Greek and which is Roman.”
    “Neptune.”
    “Neptune,” she repeated as if that would somehow help her to remember, and slipped her evening bag’s gold chain off her shoulder, then opened the beaded purse to search its contents. “Will paper money do, or does it have to be a coin?”
    “The legend has always referred to a coin.”
    “In that case . . .” Laura snapped her purse shut and held out a hand, palm up. “I’ll have to borrow something else from you. One coin, please.”
    His mouth slanted in amusement as he dug in a pants pocket and came out with a coin. “Here you go.” He dropped it in her palm.
    Her fingers curled over it as Laura turned toward the semicircular expanse of water. “Here’s to my return visit to Rome.” Leaning across the wall, she pitched the coin far into the pool. It hit the water with a faint plop. Small concentric waves radiated out from its landing point. Satisfied, Laura straightened away from the wall. “Now my return is guaranteed.”
    “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Sebastian cautioned on a teasing note.
    “Why not?” She tilted her chin in challenge while a smile played with the corners of her mouth.
    “I’m not sure it works with a borrowed coin.”
    “Now you tell me!” In a mock huff, she turned her back on the fountain and began gathering up her long skirt.
    “What are you doing?” A curious frown flickered over his smooth forehead.
    “I’m going to go get it, of course,” Laura replied, then paused to cock her head at him, holding her skirt almost up to her hips. “You surely don’t think that I throw away money for nothing, do you?”
    “No. I . . .” Sebastian faltered at the sight of the shapely length of leg she had exposed.
    “Good, because I don’t.” The material went higher, revealing the lower curve of a cheek. Abruptly she let go of it. “Oh no, you don’t. Turn around.” She waggled a finger in a turning motion. After a second’s hesitation, Sebastian pivoted so his back faced her, his mind still replaying that tantalizing image of womanly flesh. “No peeking, either.”
    “So you expect me to cover my eyes as well?”
    “If you want.” There was laughter in her voice.
    An instant later his imagination ran wild when he heard the gliding whisper of a zipper. The sound was followed by the rustle of material.
    “You will tell me when I can look, won’t you?” The want was strong in him, but he was willing to play along with her game for the time being.
    Her answer was a laugh, alluringly low and rich with amusement, the kind of laugh that said she knew the things that were in his mind.
    With the fading of her laughter, only faint sounds came from behind him, too indistinct to tell him what she was doing. His impatience grew in direct proportion to his curiosity.
    A loud splash came from the reflecting pool. Sebastian spun in its general direction. His eyes fell immediately on the nude