The Bronzed Hawk (Loveswept, #27)

Kelly would get her story and prove herself to her editor -- even if it meant using a bit of blackmail. She'd try anything to get dashing inventor-genius Nick O'Brien to take her along in his experimental balloon to Mexico. And though Nick saw through her ruse, he figured she'd provide a few distractions while they floated through the stratosphere... but even he never suspected the sparks their meeting would generate and the unexpected consequences of their fiery caresses. Nick had always trusted his fate to the four winds and the seven seas... until a feisty, golden-haired lady clipped his wings by losing herself in his arms. Kate McKenna is a photojournalist with a renegade reputation--and a fearless streak that lands her in an experimental hot air balloon, flying over the Rio Grande with the infamous Nick O'Brien. She wants to capture the real man behind the brilliant inventor, but to do that she needs to survive a crash landing in a lawless land and the ruthless bandits who take them hostage. As they conspire to escape their captors, Nick's fierce protective instinct ignites a deep, primitive desire. Necessity is the mother of invention, and Nick's working on a plan to get them out of harm's way. But he never anticipated the desperation he feels to keep Kate safe. Out here, they need each other to survive. But if they make it back to the real world in one piece, will the bond forged in crisis be strong enough to last a lifetime?