Secret Sins by Lora Leigh

centered on cutting out the mountain instead.
    The view wasn’t as incredible as many of the scenic routes were, but neither were
     they as dangerous as the one now named in honor of the Callahans who had died on it.
    Callahan’s Peak, the sharp curve that had taken Crowe Callahan’s grandparents, and
     then his parents, uncles, and their wives, was a treacherous stretch of road when
     even the lightest of snows fell.
    She wasn’t on that road, but the decisions she faced felt nearly as dangerous as that
     cliff had become. And she felt as though her situation was just as precarious.
    What was she going to do now?
    No doubt she wouldn’t be able to afford the exclusive, boutique-only underwear and
     gowns she preferred for a long time, she thought in rueful amusement.
    She would be lucky, if she could make the money she had stretch to afford dinner on
     a daily basis until she began getting paid.
    “Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me?” Archer asked again as the Tahoe passed
     over the small stone bridge that spanned Corbin Creek and marked the last mile to
     the city limits.
    He’d made the offer when he first picked her up.
    She’d turned him down then, too.
    “That’s okay, Archer.” Shaking her head, she stared straight ahead, loath for him
     to see the confusion and indecision she knew would show in her eyes.
    Or the tears.
    She was still battling those hated tears.
    “Why?”
    The question made her pause.
    Turning to him, Anna called up the only defense she had against the emotions and fears
     weakening her.
    Anger.
    “You didn’t want me there two weeks ago, so why would you want me there now?” she
     asked him, the hurt from that night still lying inside her, brought fully to the surface
     by the rejection of her family.
    “I didn’t say I didn’t want you there, Anna.” The golden brown of his gaze, the mix
     of colors reminiscent of an eagle’s, touched her as he glanced at her with predatory
     intent. “I said I wanted you to be certain, damned certain, of coming to my bed, before
     you made that decision.”
    Her lips pursed bitterly. “You pushed it pretty far before making the offer. You could
     have at least let me orgasm to be certain, one way or the other, before rejecting
     me.”
    She hadn’t stopped aching for him.
    If the hurt building inside her weren’t so brutal, so filled with anger, then she
     would still be aching for him.
    Hell, she was still aching for him. Aching to be held, to be touched—God, she was dying to live
     for a change rather than keep herself in some kind of abyss to prove her love for
     her family.
    Archer didn’t say a word. Flipping on the turn signal, he took the turn that led into
     town rather than turning into the hotel parking lot as they passed it.
    “I didn’t say I was certain I was ready to go to bed with you,” she reminded him pointedly.
    “I have a guest room.” The shrug of his muscular shoulders indicated he didn’t care
     either way, but the heat in his gaze told another story. “You can stay there until
     you’re sure.”
    “I heard you have a cat that loves to shred leather purses, too,” she retorted, sitting
     back in the seat and letting go of the seat belt latch she’d been prepared to unbuckle
     when the hotel came into sight.
    “Hmm, only when he gets thrown out of his bed.” A grimace pulled at his lips as he
     glanced at her, his gaze filled with mirth. “Come on, don’t tell me you already heard
     about the cat?”
    “And Marisa.” And how jealous she had been.
    She’d wanted to scratch the other woman’s eyes right out of her face, and might have,
     if she’d known who she was. All Anna had heard was her name, as her grandfather’s
     maids laughed over the rumors of the other woman’s attempt to move in with Archer.
    “Marisa’s not there, Anna. She left. And Oscar’s a big ole lap baby,” he told her
     as he glanced back at her with a grin. “He just wanted to keep his pillow at the foot