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Much later, when it was quiet and dark and she was in bed reading, she noticed a noise At first it sounded like the beat of a heart: pa-dum, pa-dum, pa-dum Nice and even and slow

She sat up, listening It was a horse, running along the fence line Coyotes?

Putting on a robe, she got up and hurried to her bedroomThe dark ranch lay stretched out before her Even with thehorse Renegade

He was only a shadow fro the rail in an easy lope She sensed him more than saw him; all she could really make out was a hat, colored by the moon to look like bone, set on hair too dark to be seen

She knew she shouldn’t go, just as she knew she would Tightening her terrycloth belt, she went down the stairs and crossed the yard, careful to stay in the shadows

Dallas was riding Renegade bareback

Only riding seemed too ordinary a word Vivi Ann couldn’t believe how effortless hewith ht she couldn’t see how he did it

“Hey, boy,” Dallas said quietly “You reet”

Vivi Ann stood hidden in the shadows for almost an hour, unable to look away, until finally she heard Dallas say, “Whoa, Renegade”

The horse cale fluidthe bridle for a halter, he petted the horse for a while, and then walked away, up the hill

At his cabin, a light cahthouse that both showed erous shoals

And then she washim With each step, she told herself that this was ain him that wasn’t there, but none of that , as if the choice had been o

Without bothering to knock, she opened his cabin door and saw hi a beer “Just once,” she said, hearing the cracked pleading in her voice, the fear and the exciteht felt impossible, as if she’d found this place that lay parallel to the real world, that had all its tastes and smells and desires, but none of its rules In this neorld she could be brazen and sexy and bold Just for this one night “We’ll do it once and get it out of our systems No one will ever know”

“I’ll be your dark secret, huh?”

Vivi Ann nodded, moved toward him