LITMIR.BIZ

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running yourself ragged,” he said.

      “Do I look that wrung out?”

      His expression turned rueful. “Sorry. That came out wrong. It’s not what I meant.”

      JACK DRAGGED IN A BREATH and let it out, thinking he was out of practice when it came to women. He’d told himself he didn’t care what they thought about it. At the moment, he cared—a lot.

      “I’m making a mess of this.”

      “No.”

      He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Actually, I’m trying to get you to do me a favor.”

      “Like what?”

      “My brother dragged me here because he wanted me to see this expensive house that’s too big for one family, but he’s probably going to buy it anyway. You can see he doesn’t need my approval, but I came in his car, so I can’t leave on my own.”

      “Inconvenient.”

      Going for broke, he said, “If you get me out of here, I’ll buy you dinner.”

      “That’s a very tempting offer.”

      “Good.”

      He strode to the steps, and called up. “Sara and I are leaving. See you later.”

      “What?” Ted called down.

      “We’ll talk later,” Jack answered, then turned back to Sara. “Come on, before Ted puts up an argument.”

      “Are you sure it’s okay?”

      “Yes,” he answered, knowing it wasn’t true. Ted was going to be pissed off. He liked things to work out the way he planned, but Jack was going to accommodate him only so far. He’d come along in an attempt to be brotherly. Now there was something else he’d much rather do.

      “I’ve got to get my purse.”

      He watched Sara head for the kitchen, noting the feminine sway of her hips. She was a very pretty blonde with blue eyes and a trim figure. His type. Well, that had been his type, when he’d felt better about himself.

      Sara hadn’t stared at the scars on his face. What would she think about his mangled leg? He stopped himself from going down that road. At least he had two legs and the important parts between them. A lot of guys had come back in much worse shape.

      Besides, he was getting way ahead of himself with Sara. He’d just met her. Yet he couldn’t banish the tempting picture of the two of them in bed together.

      He strove for a neutral expression as she came back with a leather bag slung over one shoulder.

      They walked outside together, and he looked at the two cars that had been parked at the property when he and Ted had driven up. A Mercedes and a Honda.

      “I’m guessing you picked good gas mileage over luxury.”

      “And also utility. I sent the truck back to my warehouse with the boys.” She gave him a direct look. “Actually, I’m living there for the time being. It’s a good way to save money.”

      “Is that legal? Living in a storage facility?”

      She shrugged. “The management didn’t ask. And there wasn’t anything about it in the lease. It came with a bathroom. And a little kitchen area, actually, so I can function there very well.”

      “Okay.” He held out his hand. “Why don’t you let me drive?”

      HAD SHE DRIVEN LAST TIME this scene had played itself out? Or had he? She honestly couldn’t remember. Back then, she was focused on getting to know Jack. Now everything had more than one meaning. And one of her jobs was to keep from saying anything that would put him off.

      “Sure,” Sara answered, fishing her keys out of her purse and handing them over. When he unlocked the door, she climbed into the passenger seat, and he slid behind the wheel, then adjusted the seat to give himself enough legroom. She was glad the car was neat. Sometimes the back was full of items she hadn’t needed for a staging.

      “Where do you want to eat?” he asked.

      She thought for a moment. He’d asked her last time, and she’d suggested a place called the Pasta Station in Lisbon. Could she start changing their history by changing the venue? “There’s a little restaurant and bakery in Ellicott City. Genevieve’s,” she said, naming a place that was miles from the one where they’d eaten last time.

      Ellicott City was an old mill town with a commercial area that hadn’t changed much in two hundred years because there was nowhere to expand. The antique buildings on either side of Main Street hugged the sides of a rocky ravine. Capitalizing on that disadvantage, the town had long ago transformed itself into a quaint shopping and restaurant area.

      “I’ve passed it and wanted to go in.”

      “The food is good, and the prices aren’t high.”

      She leaned back, ordering herself to relax as she slid her eyes toward Jack, watching him put the car into gear and head down the driveway.

      It was amazing to be sitting so close to him again. Amazing that they had this time together. In fact, she felt like every second was a gift from God.

      The interior of the car was filled with his scent, so dear and familiar to her. She watched his strong hands as they clasped the wheel, somehow keeping herself from covering the closer one with her palm. She ached to touch him. Kiss him. Do all the things that she’d thought she’d never do again. Now he was tantalizingly within reach.

      Of course, he wasn’t aware of any of her longings. For him, this was their first meeting.

      He turned right, out of the development where the lots were supersized and the custom-built houses vied with each other for presence.

      They were at the far edge of the county, and she hadn’t thought about the route to Ellicott City until Jack turned onto a major cross-county road.

      Route 108.

      Familiar scenery sped past. She tried to place it, then drew in a quick breath.

      “Sorry, I guess I’m going too fast,” Jack said, completely misinterpreting her reaction.

      “You’re fine,” she managed to say, but her mind was racing and her chest felt like it was being constricted by heavy bands.

      She knew exactly where she was. This was the stretch of highway where she’d slid down the long hill in the snow. Where she’d hit the pickup truck and…what?

      She couldn’t say for sure what had really happened. Would it happen again? Now?

      Was this what fate had in store for her? A cruel joke? A few minutes with the man she loved—then blackness.

      “No,” she whispered.

      Reacting to the alarm in her voice, Jack looked toward her, just as a car rounded the curve ahead, passing another vehicle illegally and coming straight at them.

       Chapter Three

      Sara grabbed the handhold above the door.

      “Watch out.”

      Jack swore under his breath, his attention snapping back to the road as he yanked the wheel, moving them to the right so that he hugged the edge of their lane. When the car remained on their side of the road, he honked the horn and muttered, “What is that fool doing?”

      Slowing their speed, he bumped onto the shoulder. Sara wanted to close her eyes. Instead she couldn’t take her gaze from the other car. Leaping back to its own side of the road, it passed them with inches to spare, but Jack was already too close to the edge of the shoulder.

      The right-hand wheels were skimming the margin of the gravel now, and he was having trouble steering.

      Looking

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