LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Naw.” He grinned and she began to feel a little shaky. “I probably would have gotten around to shooting him once he caught up to you.”

      “Well, that’s comforting.”

      He only laughed at her snappish tone. “You okay?”

      “Swell. Thanks so much for your help.” The panic of the moment, coupled with the fact that she hadn’t had time to eat anything since breakfast, combined to make her feel a little light-headed.

      Zack walked closer to her, then frowned. “You’re shaking.”

      “I think I need to sit down.”

      To her complete chagrin, she swayed and would have fallen over if he hadn’t suddenly moved as fast as the cougar had—and with exactly the same lithe grace—and reached for her.

      He guided her to the soft meadow grass. “Here we go. Just sit here for a minute until you feel more like yourself.”

      She hissed in fast breaths between her teeth, thinking again of that terrible moment when she thought her number was up. Remembering it wasn’t helping calm her down, any more than having Zack Slater crouching so close.

      She knew she was trying to distract herself from her scare but she couldn’t help noticing his hard mouth, just inches from hers. A little wildly, she wondered what it would be like to have those lips on hers, how he would go about kissing a woman.

      “Deep and slow.” His voice broke through her thoughts, and she stared at him, suddenly terrified he’d read her mind.

      “Wha-what?”

      “You’re going to hyperventilate if you keep breathing so fast. Slow down a little.”

      Wrenching her mind away from any thoughts of the man’s kisses, she focused once more on the cougar. “Do you think he’ll be back? We should watch the calves.”

      “I think between the two of us, we’ve probably scared him clear to Cody by now.”

      They sat there for a moment longer until she felt she had enough control of herself to return to camp.

      To her amazement Zack had stuck close to her all evening, as if afraid she might have some delayed reaction to almost becoming cat bait. He was sweetly protective, even insisting on going with her to bury the remains of their food from any wandering bears.

      Later they sat around the campfire long after the Lawson brothers had gone to bed, talking softly while each glittering star came out and the wind mourned through the tops of the pines and the fire hissed and sputtered.

      She told him of her parents and her grief and how tough it had been after their deaths. He shared snippets of his own childhood, of moving from town to town with a saddle bum for a father and of being on his own since he was fifteen.

      And then, when the campfire burned down to embers, he walked her to her tent, pushed her hair away from her face with a work-hardened hand and softly kissed her.

      It had been worlds better than anything she could have imagined. Sweet and tender and passionate all at once. Just one kiss and he had completely stolen her heart.

      That had been the beginning. They were inseparable after that and had tumbled hard and fast into love. It had been the most incredible three months of her life, filled with laughter and heady excitement and slow, sexy kisses when her brothers weren’t looking.

      Until it ended so horribly….

      Cassie came back to the present to several depressing realizations. The water in the tub was now lukewarm, bordering on cool, and any bubbles had long since fizzled away.

      And, much worse, silent tears were coursing down her cheeks as she relived the past.

      Oh, cripes. Hadn’t she cried enough tears over Zack Slater? It was a waste of good salt. The man wasn’t worth it ten years ago, and he certainly wasn’t worth it now.

      She climbed from the tub, wrapping herself in a thick towel, then splashed her face with cold water to cool her aching, puffy eyes. She hadn’t indulged in a good, old-fashioned pity party for a long time, and she figured she must have been long overdue. But enough was enough. Now that it was all out of her system, she could move on.

      She put on her robe and decided on a glass of milk before bed. Just as she was opening the refrigerator and reaching for the carton, she heard a knock at the front door.

      Rats. It was probably Jean coming to check on her one more time. The last thing she wanted was to have company, with the mood she was in tonight. She thought about ignoring it, but the knocks only grew louder and more insistent. Gritting her teeth, she looked out the small window at the cabin next to her, thinking of the man who now stayed there.

      The man who now owned the whole blasted place.

      What if he decided to venture outside to investigate the commotion? She didn’t need another encounter with him today. Swearing under her breath, she went to the door and swung it open, then her breath seemed to tangle in her lungs.

      Well, she didn’t have to worry about Zack coming out to see who was banging on her door, since he was the one standing there, fist raised to knock one more time.

      Chapter 3

      As he’d expected, she didn’t look exactly thrilled to see him. Her eyes turned wintry, her mouth went as tight as a shriveled-up prune, and her spine stiffened, vertebrae by vertebrae.

      Even so, she looked so beautiful he had to shove his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching for her.

      She must have only just climbed out of the bath. Her still-damp hair, a few shades darker than normal, clung to her head, and she had wrapped herself in a silky robe of the palest yellow. The delectable smell of peaches wafted to him on the cool, early-summer breeze, and his mouth watered.

      Framed in the light from inside her cabin, she looked warm and soft and welcoming, just as he had imagined her a thousand times over the years.

      Her voice, though, was as cold as her eyes. “What do you want?”

      Just to see you. To hear your voice again. He shifted his weight, alarmed at the need instantly pulsing through him just at the sight of her. He would have to do a much better job of controlling himself if he wanted this plan to work.

      “I just spoke with Jean.” Despite his best intentions, his voice came out a little ragged. “She said you tendered your resignation.”

      He didn’t think it was possible, but that prune-mouth tightened even more. “What else did you expect?”

      “I expected you to show a little more backbone.”

      She stared at him for several seconds. In the porch light her eyes looked huge, those dark lashes wide with disbelief, and then she laughed harshly. “Oh that’s a good one, coming from you. Really good. Thanks. I needed a good joke tonight.”

      Okay. He deserved that. He had no right to lecture her about staying power when he had been the one who walked away just days before their wedding. Still, that was a different situation altogether.

      He plodded gamely forward. “So you’re just going to walk out and turn your back on Mrs. Martineau when she needs you?”

      Her gaze shifted to some spot over his shoulder. “Jean has nothing to do with this. You’re the new owner. That means I’m turning my back on you.”

      “We need to talk about this.”

      “No, we don’t.” She started to close the door, but his instincts kicked in and he managed to think fast enough to shove a boot in the space. Still, she pushed the door hard enough to make him wince.

      “We don’t have anything to say to each other,” she snapped.

      “I think we do. Come on, Cass. Let me in.”

      After a long pause

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