The Bachelor's Northbridge Bride. Victoria Pade

another few minutes of silence that she let lapse to make it clear she didn’t appreciate being coerced into something she didn’t want to do, Kate used the damp towel while it was still warm to rub the oil off his back, hating that it gave her a tiny thrill to do it and to hear his sighs of satisfaction when she did.

      And now her time with him wasn’t going to end here, she thought, knowing that it was also not a good sign that that excitement she’d been trying to dress up as dread in anticipation of his massage had returned with the prospect of taking him with her to Hector Tyson’s house.

      But the massage and taking him to Hector’s house were one-time and one-time-only occurrences, she told herself. After this, there wouldn’t be any reason for her to even see Ry Grayson, let alone spend time with him. Or touch him.

      If she could just get through the next hour or so, this would all be over with and she could go back to her single-minded husband-hunting.

      That meant going home to her apartment to check the two Internet dating services she’d joined, and looking through the catalog of men she’d received in the mail today from Partner-Finders—the matchmaking firm she’d signed up with in Billings.

      Stubborn determination—that’s what she had. Stubborn determination to find herself a mate.

      And she wasn’t going to let Ry Grayson get in the way of it.

      Even if the feel of every taut tendon and hard muscle of his back seemed burned indelibly into her brain.