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details of the coming exploration. Dan glanced at his watch and then over at her. She stood at his shoulder, elbows planted on the map, a notebook in front of her with scribbled notes in it.
    “It’s nearly eleven o’clock,” he said.
    Libby’s eyebrows moved up in surprise. “Already?” Where had the time flown? She stood, suddenly finding that she had been in one position far too long. She pressed her fingers against the small of her back, arching to ease the tension in her muscles. “I guess time goes by quickly when you’re having fun,” she murmured, picking up the notebook and closing it.
    He snorted, rolling down his sleeves. The trailer had grown cold and he walked over to a stool, dragging his denim jacket off of it. “I don’t exactly call this fun,” he growled. “A lot of time is going to be wasted because of the damn licensing demands.”
    “Modern-day chess game, I’m afraid,” she responded, meeting his gaze. “I know you don’t like games. Now I can understand why you were so angry when you came to my office.’’
    “I’m still angry and I still don’t think this is necessary.”
    She leaned over, picking up her newly purchased coat, which had an inner lining of goose down. In one of Dan’s brief letters he had included a list of items she should buy before coming to the mountains. She was grateful now for his instructions. “I wonder if I’ll ever get used to being unessential,” she commented dryly, suppressing a smile.
    Dan walked to the door, opening it for her. “Lady, as far as I’m concerned, these next weeks will be like a vacation. I play tour guide and you do the work. Come on, let’s get you bedded down for the night.”
    Libby stepped past him, barely brushing against him as she slipped through the narrow door. She was wildly aware of the heat radiating from his body. It was as if he were a rock that had been warmed by the sun all day and now, in the darkness, gave off the heat in return. She took the steps one at a time and stood at the bottom, watching Dan come down. Her attention was drawn to the sky, and a gasp of pleasure broke from her lips.
    “Oh,” she said softly, turning to catch the panoramic view above them.
    “What?” Dan halted at her shoulder, looking down at her.
    “The sky,” she whispered in reverence. “Look at the stars! They’re so much closer.” She raised her arm, fingers extended upward. “I’d almost swear I could touch them from here. Isn’t it beautiful?”
    Libby felt a thrill. The stars hung like scintillating crystals on a blue-black velvet background. The shadowy shapes of the mountains were black silhouettes against the sky, adding a sense of grandeur to the scene before her.
    “What I’m looking at is beautiful,” Dan returned huskily. He felt pleasure course through his body, taking delight in her discovery of a world he loved fiercely. Dan gave Libby a quizzical look: was his imagination playing games on him? She looked like an ancient Celtic druidess instead of a city woman. Her darkly golden hair paled beneath the starlight, an almost incandescent glow touching the untamed tendrils that framed her ethereal features. He had to stop himself from reaching out to see if Libby was real or a figment of his imagination.
    She was too enthralled to catch the inflection in his words. “I’ve never seen stars like this before! Oh, they never look like this in San Francisco,” she bubbled.
    “You are a child,” he mused quite seriously.
    Libby turned, lips parted, eyes wide and luminous. Her heart thudded as she saw the undisguised hunger and intensity in his look. She swallowed, suddenly very shy, lowering her gaze. The silence lengthened tensely between them. Finally, as if realizing her discomfort, Dan said, “The reason why the stars look bigger and brighter here is because of the elevation and the lack of pollution.” And then he added, “I can’t believe a doctor of biology would get so excited about this.”
    Libby