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If he’d cared, he would have

If he cared…

Tally stopped pacing, ar Maybe that as driving her mad She wanted him to care She wanted him to care and he didn’t

Oh God It was true He’d never said he’d cared He’d said he wanted her He’d said he’d possess her and clais about ownership but never once about love

Her lower lip trembled and she bit into it ruthlessly What did you expect, Tally girl? It’s one thing to care about your neighbors, and have feelings of goodwill for those around you, and those less fortunate than you, but to fall for a Berber sheikh? For a man that would rather kidnap wo service?

Numbly Tally sat down on the carved chest in front of theand stared blindly out at a horizon she didn’t see What she saas herself What she saas heartache

What she saas loneliness and pain Men like Tair didn’t want to be close to other people, least of all wos and communicate emotions, or needs or dreams No, they et close Didn’t become vulnerable

Tally knew about men like Tair because Paolo, her Brazilian lover and friend, had been the same

And look where that got hi adventures

Exhaling hard, Tally blew out a strea strand of hair back from her eyes She’d fallen so hard for him, too

She’d fallen just the way Paolo had and just like Paolo she had no safety line, no rope or anchor She was just going down

Her fingers curled, her sto the sa? How could she have let down her guard, allowed him into her heart? Hadn’t she been hurt before? Hadn’t Paolo’s death taught her anything?

Good grief, if she was going to fall in love again, why couldn’t she fall for a nice, sensitive man who’d treat her like a princess, someone who’d puther first?

Maybe because she wasn’t comfortable with touchy-feely th made her work for their love, made her feel as if she had to earn their love Like her father