heard his low chuckle, saw a flash of that fabulous grin. He backed off enough to unfasten and strip off his jeans.
“Not a chance. I was a Boy Scout.” He jerked his wallet out of the discarded pants and pulled out a duo of condoms. In the second he used to break open one package, Willa stroked her hand up his thigh, underneath the hem of his pale blue boxers.
Instead of the smooth skin and firm muscle she expected, the flesh she touched was a landscape of ridges and valleys, hard and harsh.
Daniel froze, and she looked at him in horror. “My God,” Willa said. “Those are…scars?”
He nodded, then took a deep breath. “Sorry.” With an awkward shift of his hips, he started to move away.
But Willa came with him. “No. Daniel, don’t.” On her knees behind him, she put her arms around his shoulders and her head on his shoulder. “Don’t.”
His shoulders lifted on a deep breath. “I wasn’t thinking. I know what I look like. I shouldn’t have subjected—”
“Hush.” She sat back on her heels and grasped the hem of the T-shirt. He jerked, clearly wanting to escape, but she put a hand on his shoulder. “Stay.” Biting her lower lip, she deliberately peeled up the white T-shirt, uncovering the mutilated skin of his back. Tears rolled down her face as Willa studied the map of purple grooves and red hills she’d revealed.
“I’m so sorry.” She put a finger gently on one of the scars. “So sorry.” The pain he’d endured was unimaginable. How had he even survived? If Jamie had come back to her like this…how would he have felt? What would she have done?
“It’s okay.” Daniel pulled down the T-shirt again and shifted to face her. “I’m okay. Really. Don’t cry, Willa.” He wiped her cheeks with his thumbs, then bent to give her a quick kiss.
She understood he meant to leave without finishing what they’d started. But despite seeing the horrors he’d suffered, Willa didn’t want to let him go. Even as he drew back, she circled her arms around his neck.
“Stay.”
His eyebrows drew together, his blue eyes questioning, doubtful. “Are you sure?”
“Oh, yes.”
He squeezed his eyes shut for a second. “Thank God.”
And then he came back to her, stronger, more demanding than before. The room heated up, or maybe that was just her body, on fire everywhere Daniel touched her, everywhere he kissed. And that was everywhere. Finally, they lay together, skin to skin. He moved inside of her…gently, at first, then harder, faster, till the bed rocked and her body thrashed and her senses exploded into a brilliant climax. Before she could catch a single breath, Daniel gave a strangled cry.
And then he relaxed, falling to the side, drawing her with him into the shelter of the covers and his arms. Safe and sated, Willa plunged mindlessly into sleep.
SHE WOKE UP WINCING, WITH A headache thudding like a bass drum between her ears. Through one squinted eye she saw the yellow line of sunlight at the top of the drapes, which meant she must have slept much later than she’d intended.
In the next second, Willa realized she was naked under the covers. Then she remembered why.
With a gasp, she whipped her head around to see that the other side of the bed was empty. She had a moment to sigh in relief before her stomach revolted and sent her running for the bathroom.
After a few unpleasant minutes, she wiped her face with a cold washcloth. Unable to meet her own eyes in the mirror, she sat on the end of the bed she…they…hadn’t slept in, her fists clenched in her lap, and faced the shameful facts.
Last night, she’d abandoned the last ounce of good sense she possessed to have sex with a man she didn’t know, a man who hadn’t even stayed long enough to say “Good morning.” After fourteen years of marriage and three kids, she should know better than to take this kind of risk.
Every woman had the right to be stupid once in her life, especially as a teenager. Giving in to a boy’s persuasion—“If you loved me you’d do it”—was understandable when you were only sixteen.
But what excuse did she have at thirty-two? How could she have allowed her principles to be overturned by a sexy grin and a pair of sweet blue eyes?
Well, no more. As she jerked on her clothes, Willa swore to herself that she wouldn’t let Daniel Trent get to her. She would keep her distance, make him keep his. With any luck, he’d fail miserably in his attempt at ranching and be gone well before Christmas. All she had to do was wait him out…
…and never again give herself a chance to make a mistake like the one last night.
WHEN SHE FINALLY DREDGED UP the courage to leave her room, she found Daniel Trent leaning against the wall in the hotel lobby, scanning a newspaper.
“Good morning.” Smiling, he straightened and fell into step beside her. “Can you join me for breakfast?”
“No. Thanks.” She glanced at the people moving around them as if looking for someone, avoiding his knowing blue eyes. “I need to get on the road. I can’t afford to miss a whole day’s work.”
“Okay.” He folded the paper under his arm. “I thought I’d follow you out to the ranch, look around a bit. My stuff won’t be arriving until the end of the week, but I’d like to see the setup, get a feel for what kind of supplies I’ll be needing.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him shrug. “I’ve lived in army housing most of the time, so I don’t have much furniture. Outfitting a house is a new experience.”
Panic erupted in her chest. Without answering, Willa walked quickly outside, aware that Daniel was following as fast as he could. She didn’t slow down for him.
Somehow, though, he was right behind her when she opened her truck door. He put a hand on her arm as she started to climb in.
“Willa? What’s going on?”
She threw her purse into the passenger seat and jerked around to face him. “What’s going on is that I’ve made two horrible mistakes in the past twenty-four hours. I’m furious with myself and—”
“With me,” he said, interrupting.
“Yes.” She shook off his touch. “I should never have put that land up for sale, and I shouldn’t have let you talk me into this crazy arrangement we’ve got set up now. All that was bad enough.” Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady her voice. “But to know that I let myself get drunk enough to…to—” The words stayed stuck in her throat. How could she have been so careless, so disrespectful of herself?
Daniel didn’t have the same scruples. “Sleep with me?”
Willa clenched her hands into fists. “Stop that! I don’t want you reading my mind and finishing my thoughts.”
Daniel raised his hand and stepped backward, out of her reach. “Yes, ma’am.” His gaze had gone cold, and his mouth was a hard, straight line. “I will be following you as you drive home, however, because I have a contract that allows me access to the thousand acres of land I’m calling the New Moon Ranch. You should
