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and stepped right in. Her bare feet sank into the
thick, cream-colored carpet.
    A huge four-poster log bed with a dark brown
quilt on it sat close to the tall windows. Across from it, the wall
was stone with a big fireplace in the middle. She walked to the
window and plopped down on an L-shaped sectional couch in soft
brown leather.
    She could sit and watch the cozy scene for
hours. Darkness had fallen and the golden lights rimming the lake
made her nesting instinct kick in. She could get used to this.
Imagined playing house here, with Steele.
    No. She jumped up. She wasn’t ready for any
kind of long term. She had her career to think about first. She
walked past the sofa into a dark room and low lights popped on.
    “This can’t be real.” His bathroom was the
size of her whole apartment. Against the windowed wall, a giant
whirlpool tub nestled between the walk-in shower and the long
counter with double sinks. “Man, what I wouldn’t give to use that
baby.”
    “Oh yeah?” Steele’s voice came from behind
her. “What would you give?”
    She laughed, the sound echoing off the golden
tiles lining the walls and floor. “How about a year of acting
lessons?”
    He walked toward her, shaking his head. “I’ve
got no illusions that I can act. I can barely do my own music
videos.” He took her hand. “But it’s yours to use any time.” He
gestured to a cabinet. “My sister stocked it with lots of bubbly,
smelly, salty whatevers.”
    “Thanks. I will take you up on that.
Repeatedly.” She liked the feel of his hand holding hers. Jitters
reached her belly and her nipples puckered. She could become
addicted to the feel of him close to her.
    “Have you decided on a bedroom?” His voice
was low and sensual. Almost a caress. He looked into her eyes.
    She could dive in and live forever in those
depths. “Yes. This one.” The words were out before she could stop
them. She wanted this. Wanted him to pull her close and kiss
her.
    “One problem. You’d have to share it with me,
you know.” His mouth quirked up.
    She noticed the bruising around his mouth.
Damn. They should really talk through the mess from the studio
before they jumped into bed. Shouldn’t they? Maybe they could...
She banished the temptation. “You can have the couch, but I get the
bed.” She moved back a fraction.
    He nodded once, seeming to understand her
hesitancy. “C’mon. Let me show you the man cave.”
    “You have a man cave.” He seemed too serious
to play games and watch porn on a big screen.
    “What rich bad boy doesn’t?” He’d remembered
her comment. Holding her hand in his, he tugged her past the bed to
the back of the room where a circular room held a stairway that led
downstairs. In the middle, a fire station pole started at the
ceiling and went all the way down to the floor below them.
    “Are you kidding?” She’d never imagined he
had a playful side.
    His grin lit his face. “Watch.” He grasped
the pole, swung over and wrapped his legs around it, and slowly
disappeared below the floor. She leaned over to see him land on
what looked like a padded area around the pole.
    It might be fun, but with the way her luck
was going today... “I’ll take the stairs.” She stepped to her
right.
    “No. Come on, Tracy. Live a little. I’ll
catch you.” He banged twice on the pole. “You know you want
to.”
    Oh, man, did he ever have her categorized
correctly. She did want to. And after she did it, she would want to
run up the stairs and do it again. But she didn’t want to crash and
break a bone. On either one of them.
    “If you do this, I’ll even run your bath
water for you later.” His face seemed so young, so devoid of life’s
worries.
    Oh hell. Her luck had actually been getting
better as the day progressed. “Deal.” She grabbed the pole and
paused. How did she slide without giving herself a pole burn?
    “Go!” He drummed his palms on the pole,
sending vibrations up to her.
    “Catch me!” She wrapped her