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"There’s a control panel inside as well This sets the temperature, the water pressure, howyou the works You’ll like it"

He disappeared into a stadium-size closet and returned with a terry-cloth robe "Leave your clothes here I’ll toss the"

"Such service," she said lightly, trying not to think about being ned in Matt’s house or who else had worn this robe Did he have it laundered after each use or were there Electra cooties still on it? She decided it would be better not to ask

He pushed a button and the water in the shower came on "Just leave your clothes next to the towels," he told her and left

She stared after hi her in the shoouldn’t have been a question Of course, that had been a long tio, when they’d both still been in love and all that ether

She s

Jesse stripped quickly, left her clothes where he’d said and stepped into the shower The water was hot and steamy and seemed to come from every direction Sore muscles were soothed, smoke washed away It was a little piece of heaven

Fifteen minutes later she was clean and sed to turn off the water before stepping out and grabbing one of the towels Her clothes were gone, which meant Matt had been in the bathroom while she’d been in the shower Had he looked? Or maybe he hadn’t even been te time for her…five years to be exact, but that wasn’t the reason she kept thinking about theether It was more because Matt had been the only one to touch her soul She’d loved hi off and picked up the robe It smelled of fabric softener rather than soood She didn’t want to think about the other women in his life

She put on the robe and used the blow-dryer to get most of the wetness out of her hair, then walked into the bedroom fro aof coffee He handed it to her

"I put your clothes in the wash," he told her

"I saw that Thanks" She sipped the coffee, feeling aard and exhausted The night was a blur of fire and smoke and shattered dreams Except oing to work out

There was so much to do, so much to think about She set down the coffee and rubbed her te to explode"

"You don’t want that," Matt said He guided her to the bed "Come on Try to sleep At least for a couple of hours"

He pulled back the covers The sheets were beige and striped and looked expensive Had he bought thener or did one of his wo Maybe the nice secretary she’d met at his office helped out And how many women had there been in the past five years? A few? Many? Herds?

How could he have done that? Slept with them? Hadn’t he missed her at all? Hadn’t he loved her like he said, or had they just been the age-old words et what they wanted?

"Don’t cry," Matt said, touching her cheek and wiping away tears she hadn’t felt fall "You have a plan with the bakery That’s whatseeht she was only upset about the bakery How just like a guy

"I’ed to murmur "It’s a lot to take in"

He nodded and stepped back

She stood by the bed feeling broken and alone, knowing she’d better get used to this because it wasn’t going to change Until thatabout the bakery andwith Nicole, had all been crap Sure, it was important, but it hadn’t been the real reason she’d come back She’d come back for Matt She’d co between them because she couldn’t seem to move on No other man had interested her and plenty had tried She’d come back to see if he still loved her

Looks like she had her answer

It shouldn’t hurt so h her She shouldn’t be surprised He’d never co for her, so of course he’d moved on Still, a part of her had wondered if maybe, deep down inside, he’d felt it, too

She’d been a fool

There was no way she was going to sleep now, but her clothes were in the wash, so she was stuck for the next hour or so Better to be alone in his bed than trying to make conversation with hi I can borrow?" she asked, hoping the twisting in her stomach went away soon

He went into the jumbo closet and opened a built-in drawer, then returned with a soft, orn Seahawks T-shirt He started to hand it to her, then swore, tossed it on the bed, grabbed her by the collar of the robe, dragged her close and kissed her

It wasn’t a gentle kiss It was deter as ue to arouse her and, da toward hi him as intensely as he kissed her She put her hands on his shoulders, then his upper arth of hi them both He broke the kiss and stared at her

"You’re just standing there, so calm and reasonable," he said, his eyes dark with passion "You’re naked, Jess, and that’s not so a robe"

"My robe How do you think that irls’?