LITMIR.BIZ

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hell,” he scoffed. “I’m terrified down to my little toes.”

      She grinned. He was being sweet, and she appreciated the gesture. “You know, there is a sensible solution. I could sleep in your sister’s old room.”

      He hesitated, considering the possibility. “Too dusty. It took me half an hour to get this room ready.” He yawned heartily. “How much longer are we going to argue about this?”

      Disappointment dampened her spirits. She’d enjoyed the brief flirtation, but apparently she wasn’t that irresistible. Like the good girl she’d always been, she crawled back into bed.

      The truth was, she didn’t want to have to talk to anyone else tonight. Or disrupt the whole house by trying to sneak back in this late.

      The sheets were nice and cool compared to the heavy quilt. She slid between them, and then shrank close to the wall to give him as much room as possible.

      After Mitch got in beside her, he pulled her back to lie on his chest again. But this time there was no fabric between her cheek and his smooth taut skin. She fisted her hand, afraid she might unconsciously grope him.

      He stroked her back. “Am I crowding you?”

      “No.”

      “Then relax,” he whispered.

      She thought he might have kissed the top of her head, but she wasn’t sure. “I have one more question and then I promise I’ll shut up.”

      “What’s that?”

      “Did you get a good look at her?”

      His hand stilled; she missed the soothing motion. “Who?”

      “The woman.” She cleared her throat. “The blonde who was with Dennis.”

      “No,” he said reluctantly.

      “It happened so fast that I—” She couldn’t seem to clear the obstruction in her throat. “I know she had blond hair, that’s about all.”

      “Does it matter?”

      “I guess not,” she said softly.

      “The guy is a friggin’ dirtbag,” Mitch said hotly. “And an idiot.”

      She smiled, knowing Mitch’s fervor burned in her defense. “And a lousy kisser. That’s quite unforgivable, actually.”

      Mitch caught her off guard by hooking a finger under her chin. As he forced her to look up, he tilted his own head back. “Any man who doesn’t take the time to kiss you thoroughly isn’t worth his salt.”

      She held her breath. Was he simply making a point or was he going to kiss her? At this angle she couldn’t be sure, but she could feel the tension in his body, like a tiger restraining himself from pouncing on his prey.

      He gently brushed his lips across hers. “You deserve better, Kate,” he said quietly. “You’re pretty and smart and kind and—”

      “A real girl next door, huh?” Her shoulders sagged. He wasn’t going to kiss her. He was patronizing her again. “Guess the only way I’m ever going to light a fire is with a book of matches.”

      He chuckled. “And you have a sense of humor.”

      “Yeah, I’m hilarious.”

      “Ah, Katie, I am sorry about what happened tonight. But don’t let that guy do this to you.”

      “Deep down I think I’ve known for a couple of weeks what I had to do, but I hadn’t wanted to face it.” Damn, but she had to stop trembling. “I probably owe Dennis a thanks. He saved me the trouble of having to call off the wedding myself. I always did have a knack for picking out the wrong men. I should just plain give it up.”

      

      MITCH STIFFENED. She wasn’t thinking clearly, that was for certain. It wasn’t like her to indulge in this kind of self-pity, even though she deserved to wallow. And here he’d been about to take advantage of her vulnerability. Hell, it was only going to be one kiss. Still, bad timing. But he knew she was feeling unwanted and unattractive, and it wasn’t right. He hated that the ass had her second-guessing herself. A kiss from him wasn’t going to fix that.

      She’d get over the betrayal, since the Kate he remembered was too bright and sensible to let a man determine her worth. But it would take some time for the fog of pain to lift. In the meantime, the best thing he could do for her was be a friend.

      “Mitch?” She was looking up at him, most of her face in shadow, but the slight tremor in her voice told him more than he could read in her eyes. “Are you going to kiss me?”

      He should’ve let her go, he realized. Urged her to leave the minute he’d arrived home. She’d be safely tucked away in her own bed right now, asleep, after having indulged in a cathartic crying jag. Then, tomorrow she could get on with the grieving process. Leave it to him to mess up everything.

      Mitch kissed the tip of her nose, and then each eyelid.

      He lowered his hand from her chin. “Get some rest, Kate,” he said, before extricating his arm from beneath her shoulders. It wasn’t easy but he rolled over, giving her his back and letting one arm dangle off the bed.

      Best thing for everyone concerned was for him to stay the hell away from Kate Manning.

      4

      MITCH WAS STRETCHED OUT on the hardwood floor beside the bed when she woke. His pillow was beneath his head but he had no sheet or anything else to keep him comfortable. Kate winced, but there would be time later for kicking herself for being so self-centered. The muted dawn light coming through the window told her she had to get home fast. Never mind the embarrassment of facing Mitch in the light of day, her girlfriends would be leaving for the Houston airport soon.

      Carefully, she crawled to the foot of the bed where she could avoid stepping on him. Suddenly, she remembered the pink tote—it held her clothes and it was sitting on the floor near the door. She tiptoed toward the bag, snatched it up and kept walking until she reached the bathroom. For all she knew, she’d awoken him, but she hadn’t dared turn around. It wasn’t even so much the skimpy black teddy barely covering her bottom that had her anxious to disappear, although that would probably haunt her later. It was the idea that she’d for even a mere second thought she could find comfort, or worse, validation in Mitch Colter’s arms.

      She slipped quietly into the bathroom and changed in record time, her skin clammy with the residual effects of a bad dream. The kind you wake up to and feel intense relief that the events hadn’t been real. She should have reconsidered before coming here. The tequila couldn’t be blamed for her poor judgment because she hadn’t touched a drop. Yet her reckless actions had been atrociously akin to the time when one of the cowhands had come off a bender and deemed it smart to climb on a newly acquired wild mustang. He’d ended up breaking an arm and a leg. Maybe she should consider herself lucky. Then again, she might prefer broken bones to her shattered pride.

      Fortunately, she made it out of Mitch’s house, and back to the Sugarloaf without incident. Several men were out near the barn doing their morning chores, but the house was quiet, even the kitchen. Kate had given their housekeeper the week off after all the extra work she’d done for the party, so Kate started the coffee and then hurried upstairs to get out of last night’s clothes and grab a shower.

      The place was eerily quiet. Normally Joe and Clint would have been up already, eating a quick breakfast and slurping down coffee before they went outside to work. But Kate hadn’t expected them to lapse into routine this morning. Not after hooking up with two of her friends over the weekend. Even Jessica, her third college roommate, had found an unlikely connection with Ben, a friend of the Manning family. How ironic that the three of them had come all the way to Texas to help her celebrate her engagement and each ended up finding someone.

      Kate hated that she was jealous. But Dennis had never once looked at her the way Joe had gazed

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