Page 36 (1/2)

So she'd never expected When he'd walked in on her, she'd feltsexy

Tess had been in, but neither had she ever felt really coht it was because she wasn't pretty, or because her deafness made intimacy difficult

Today Jack had set her to wondering about all that From the mohtning Strong, undeniable sexual currents had been loosed in the roo back and forth between them like a live wire She knew Amarylis was physically pretty; she'd seen that in the mirror But that didn't o that beauty was on the inside

But today, in Jack's eyes, she'd seen her own beauty Seen her own desirability

It stunned her even now to realize how much that , she'd been on her feet, clutching that ridiculous cotton towel to her dripping body as if it protected her modesty

His eyes had drawn her, left her powerless to resist their dark, hypnotic pull It shouldn't have surprised her, this deep, al she'd thought she was drawn to his pain or his heartache or his need Now she saw the truth: she was drawn to so beyond the pain To the man himself

For the first time she'd seen him not as a father, or a

89

man in pain, or an adversary Today he'd been sihtened deaf loner, or the makeshifttoward a man who attracted her

She'd race she'd never before possessed, looked at hiined

And when she'd touched hi little brush of skin on skin that lasted no longer than a heartbeat?she felt as if she'd touched fire

What on earth had possessed her? She knew he hated his wife, had known it from the moment he first looked at her

But now she knew so andHe wanted her

And evenwas the fact that she wanted him, too "Mama!"

The shrieked word ripped Tess froht her head up and saw Savannah and Katie skidding to a stop in front of her