LITMIR.BIZ

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inhaled sharply, realizing how tough he could be and what risks he had probably taken. His terse answer led her to believe he didn’t want to talk about what had caused his wound. It had broken through the spell he had wrapped around her in the past few minutes.

      “I have to get dressed,” she declared. “You need to go.”

      “Ah, give me one more minute,” he said softly, and she knew he was going blithely on with his intentions just as he had the morning when he had hired her on the spot and gotten everything he wanted.

      Slipping his arm around her waist again, he lifted her curtain of long hair and moved it to one side. When he trailed kisses across her nape, she closed her eyes. Her breasts tingled, an ache deep inside her increased, and she had a fiery need to turn into his arms.

      With deliberation she stepped back and pointed at the door.

      “Now, leave my room.”

      His gaze drifted slowly over her, taking in every inch and setting every nerve in her body quivering. “If you insist,” he said. When he kissed her, he had dropped the T-shirt he had been carrying. He scooped it up and gave her another lingering, hot look. “I’m going to shower. Looks and smells like you just did. We could have done it together,” he added with a twinkle in his eyes.

      “You’re wicked, David.”

      With a cocky grin, he turned to saunter out of her room.

      She rushed to close the door behind him as if demons were after her and felt as though her own little demon of desire was threatening to catch her.

      Marissa moved around the room, getting dressed in fresh jeans and a blue shirt, thinking about the past few minutes, remembering the most fabulous kisses she had ever experienced, wondering what David was thinking.

      Breathtaking kisses or not, she had no intention of falling in love with him. He would be another heartbreak. He had made it painfully clear that he wasn’t into commitment. She wanted a relationship and she knew she wasn’t going to change. But what kisses! Her heart pounded as she remembered them. He was sexy and charming and he cared about Autumn, a baby he barely knew.

      Could she do what he had suggested—lighten up on life? Go dancing, kiss, walk away in a week or whenever the time came and not care? She knew she couldn’t. She sighed. He probably saw her as stiff-necked, fearful, holding out for a commitment. She didn’t know how he saw her, but she couldn’t stop being the way she was.

      If they parted tomorrow, how long would it take for him to forget her—a day, two days, a week? On the other hand, now that they had kissed, how long would it take her to forget him? A lifetime, she suspected.

      Marissa shook her head. Life wasn’t fair. But it would be a lot more fair to her if she took care to guard her heart the way David did his. His was locked in the deep freeze and no one woman was going to get close to it.

      In the past few minutes he had fixed it so she was in knots, and tonight would probably be dreadful. This past year she had been sleeping soundly night after night because she had gotten over the trauma of her divorce. And now she would have to do something to shut out memories of David’s kisses. But not quite yet. For a little while she could enjoy the moment and remember. They weren’t in love, and she wasn’t in any danger yet.

      “David,” she whispered, pulling on her clothes and turning to comb her hair.

      In the shower David washed his hair, letting his thoughts run free. He was going to talk Marissa into going out with him this Saturday night. He couldn’t wait to get her all to himself.

      “Slow it down, buddy,” he told himself beneath the splashing water. He knew Marissa’s whole intent would be marriage and he didn’t want that. Why couldn’t the woman just go out for a few dates? That’s all.

      The thought conjured up memories of her kisses, and the nether regions below his waist grew hot again, desire tormenting him as he remembered her soft body in his arms. The bath towel was too slight a covering, he had felt her warmth through it. When he had let his hand drift down to her waist, he had wanted to slide his hand beneath the towel, down over her bottom and back up. Just thinking about her, he was getting all hot and bothered again. David tried to shift his thoughts elsewhere to chores he needed to do on the ranch. Thoughts of cattle lasted about ten seconds until memories of Marissa nudged them away again.

      She was so scared of getting hurt that she had shut herself away from the world. Her divorce was two years ago—that was plenty of time for her to get on with life. David sighed and shook his head. Why was he having such a reaction to her? He had dated dozens of beautiful women and he hadn’t been all tied in knots by them.

      Marissa was different from all those women. There was a down-to-earth manner about her, a deep sense of nurturing where Autumn was concerned, a practical, no-nonsense approach to life. And there were her kisses that had all but melted him into a puddle. He couldn’t recall having as intense a reaction to any woman’s kiss as he’d had to Marissa’s.

      With a groan he finished showering and toweled off, dressing in clean jeans and a fresh T-shirt, moving automatically, lost in thoughts about his nanny.

      He wanted Marissa in his arms, in his bed. The thought revved up his temperature another notch and erotic images tormented him even though common sense told him that he would never get her into his bed without some promise of marriage. And that wasn’t going to happen.

      He thought about Ellen Drake, whom he had dated some since being home again. She was amusing, lighthearted, sophisticated, and she didn’t take things seriously. Ellen wanted to have a good time and to be seen in the proper places with the proper people. He suspected Marissa didn’t give a fig about such things. He ought to forget Marissa before he found himself caught in a sticky mess with a weepy female.

      Memories still too hot to handle rushed into his mind and he knew he couldn’t just forget Marissa or ignore her. He wanted to persuade her to go out with him, which he suspected would not be an easy task.

      A saint was what she said she wanted. Well, he wasn’t one. But since he had no intentions of getting deeply involved, why should it matter?

      Marissa was ruining his sleep as effectively as Autumn had her first night with him. He’d thought he would have long, peaceful nights. Now every night, sleep eluded him, and he wasn’t thinking clearly during the day. Females! Get a grip, he told himself. She was just a pretty face. If she went out with him, fine. If she didn’t, fine. Two weeks ago he hadn’t even known Marissa Wilder existed. Forget her.

      “Right,” he grumbled aloud, trying to ignore his eagerness to spend the coming evening with her.

      All evening Marissa kept him at arm’s length and David had another miserable, sleepless night. Tuesday he was up before dawn, putting on coffee,

      When he heard Autumn crying, he fixed a bottle and headed toward Marissa’s room. He knocked lightly on the closed door and heard her cheerful voice call for him to come in.

      “Good morning,” he said, swinging open the door. His gaze swiftly took in her jeans and red T-shirt that clung to her delectable figure. She looked as refreshed as if she had slept around the clock, but she had reacted intensely to their kisses, so he knew there had to be some effect. When he looked into her lively brown eyes, his body temperature rose.

      “’Morning, David,” she said happily. “Thanks for getting Autumn’s bottle ready. I’ll feed her in the kitchen.”

      He handed Marissa the bottle, aware of their hands brushing, wanting to wrap his arms around her and take up where they left off yesterday. Instead, he trailed into the kitchen after her and asked what she wanted for breakfast.

      While Marissa was busy feeding Autumn, he left, heading for her bedroom, where he crossed to the closet to quickly peek at the size in one of her dresses and to look at a pair of her shoes. Before leaving the room, he paused a moment, glancing around the bedroom that had been a guest room all his life and a room he barely recognized now. Gertie kept the house tidy

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