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seductive way she ran her tongue along her lower lip, she knew exactly what effect she had on him. Well, maybe not exactly the effect , he thought as he forced his bear to stay calm, but if she wasn’t careful, she was going to find out.
    “I’m glad I could help.” He crossed the room, and despite the fact that he knew exactly how dangerous it was to be in close proximity, he took his glass of wine and sat next to her on the couch. “Are you enjoying your time at the Ridge so far?”
    She nodded but then shook her head.
    “You’re not?”
    “No,” she said quickly. “I am. But I couldn’t help but wonder where you were today?” She bit her lip and Axel had to look away to keep himself from biting it, too.
    “I was working.” He took a healthy swallow of wine. “But I’m here now.” And he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. He’d been a fool to stay away from her all day. Yes, keeping his hands off her was going to prove to be challenging, but just being in her presence tamed his bear in a way that it’d never been before. It would be worth the effort of behaving. “Is there anything I can do for you to make your stay even more enjoyable?”
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    Y ou could throw me down on this couch, slide those big hands up my body and kiss me like I was the last woman on earth. That might make my stay a little more enjoyable.
    Harper swallowed hard and forced herself not to look away. She was playing way outside her comfort zone. Maybe it was the wine giving her just enough courage, or the wildness of the mountains, or the fact that she really had nothing to lose, but she’d never been very good at flirting with men—or doing anything with men, really. Staying married to Trent had done a number on her self-esteem and in the not so distant past, she would never have considered such open flirting with a man. But she’d never had a man like Axel in front of her before. He brought out something totally different in her. Something she wanted to explore further.
    “You look like you want to say something,” he said after a moment. His dark eyes sparkled with humor. He knew damn well what she wanted to say.
    She took another gulp of wine, set the glass down and turned to face him. Here goes nothing. “I think it would make my stay a lot more comfortable if you kissed me.”
    The second the words were out of her mouth, Harper could hardly believe she’d said them. But it was almost as if speaking her desire gave her more power because, to her surprise, she wasn’t even remotely worried about his response. Especially because the moment she spoke, his eyes darkened with desire. Before she could spare another thought for how he might react, he reached out, wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her toward him until their faces were only inches apart. “I think I might be able to help you out with that.” His voice was low and deep and caused a rush of heat through her body. And then his lips were on hers, hungry and hot. A sound, something between a sigh and a moan, escaped her lips. It only seemed to encourage him, and the kiss deepened.
    This could get out of hand very quickly.
    Perfect.
    She reached up with the desperate need to run her hands through his hair and tug him closer, but before she could, he jerked away. Seconds later, Nina’s voice rang out in the hallway above them.
    “Harper! Where are you? You’ve got to see this.”
    She stared at Axel. Had he heard Nina coming? How was it even possible? She wanted to ask him, but before she could get the words out, he hopped up off the couch.
    “I’m sorry,” he said.
    “Sorry?”
    He bent down, so only she could hear him. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
    “Shouldn’t have—”
    “There you are.”
    Harper turned away from Axel to see Nina running down the stairs. She turned back, but Axel was at the fire, his strong, broad back to her as he fed more logs in. Shouldn’t have done what? She wanted to scream. He should have done exactly that.