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She shoved open the door, hoping to scare away any critter that didn't belong. Instead, she found Thorn standing insideand she knew he didn't scare easily. |
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His shoulders flexing beneath his loose shirt, he was placing a straw mattress on the rope-strapped wooden bed frame that Mariah had seen in there before. |
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"Oh," she said stupidly. Maybe he was sleeping here that night for some reason. "Excuse me." She turned to leave. |
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"Where are you going?" he demanded. |
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"Since you've given up your own bed, you weren't about to do something else foolish like sleeping outside tonight, were you?" He straightened his tall, broad torso. |
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Why did he often make her feel like an irresponsible child instead of a grown woman who could take care of herself? |
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Maybe because this grown woman didn't know how to take care of herself. Not here. Not now. |
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But she wouldn't admit that to him. Again she shrugged. "I can sleep in the common room in a chair. I've slept sitting up before." The last time was on a jet, in a comfortable, reclining seat. But she wasn't about to tell him that. |
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Nor was she too keen on being somewhere Zeb could find her alone. |
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"No need. This is for you." He pointed toward the bed he'd just fixed. |
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"Really? Thanks." She felt a shimmering of pleasure that she quickly tamped down. The man had no interest in her comfort. He simply didn't want her to be in his way at the inn. |
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"You're welcome," he replied. |
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The silence grew disquietingly long. He watched her with brown eyes as unfathornable as the depths of the Ohio, and she found herself unableunwillingto look away. |
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Why was it she felt so uncomfortable around him at the same time she yearned to throw herself into his arms, to beg him to be her friend in this strange place? |
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He'd kissed her more than once, had shown an undeniable, intriguing physical interest in her, but he'd not made the tiniest overture about becoming her friend. |
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And yet, there were times when he was so caring, so sen- |
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