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She could al jeans with holes in the knees, screwing up his courage to take a bite out of the snake Tommy would probably do stuff like that, too, when he was older When she’d saved enough to buy a little house so although she knehat he’d really as a horse Gray would kno to ride, co from Texas the way he did She could almost see her little boy, up on the back of a pony, Gray on a big horse, riding alongside him…

A horn bleated behind her She ju toward a blur up ahead There it was The dilapidated diner, the gas pump, the souvenir stand

All she had to do was return the can and keep going Or hang on to the can, to make it easier She could hit the pedal and drive on, and what could Gray do about it? Nothing, except finally realize that she wasn’t interested in hireed this was a debt of honor Dawn let out a sigh, turned into the gravel lot and parked He pulled up alongside

“You’re sure you want to eat at this place?” Gray asked, as they got out of their cars and walked toward the restaurant

“It’s just dinner Not gouredof the shack Big black spots werepurposefully across the surface “Ants,” Dawn said “And they’re inside, not outside”

“No extra charge,” he said lightly, and smiled at her

She could leave now She’d done what she’d proone with hi to be able to have dinner here? She didn’t owe hi, not really, and the truth was that she knew he didn’t really think it, either But… Dawn’s heart edged into her throat But, she didn’t want to leave hier All the things she knew about men, about what they wanted, about as safe and as dangerous, weren’t enough to hide the truth cla this man than she had in the last four years

“Dawn?”

Their eyes e in her hands and made it

“There’s a little caf;aae near town… If you like Mexican food”

“Hey” He raised his hands, held them palms out “I’m from Texas, remember?”

They both sot back into their cars He followed her again, just another twentybecause it was crazy Crazy, and wrong…except she couldn’t co Tommy’

s safety She wasn’t pro erous?

She signaled a turn, looked in thelot of a small restaurant that she and Cassie had discovered It served the best fajitas in Las Vegas

The hostess, a s smile, led thehted with fat candles stuck into a variety of slinted in wooden latticework overhead