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He’d cos and he had He’d learned all he needed tonight

He knew that he wanted toin a man’s arms—in his arms—could be like

His jaw clenched

And he knew that Harman had lied Whatever had happened on that Arizona mountaintop, Daould never have walked away and left her child behind

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

GRAY got to the coffee shop at twenty after six Daasn’t there yet so he fed the ht a cup of coffee and settled in to wait

He didn’t ht, how

she’d returned that last kiss with an innocence that hinted at the passion locked within her He could see it in her eyes, in her sht her glancing at him from under the sweep of her lashes Behind the fear, beneath the cool exterior, a woman waited to be set free And he wanted to be the man to do it His senses were filled with Dawn’s scent, with her taste, with the low, lovely sound of her voice

He’d never felt such intense need for a woman as he felt for her

Last night, he’d made a couple of phone calls, then tried to sleep After an hour of tossing and turning, the bed was a tangled ot up, showered, put on jeans and a T-shirt and went down to the casino He’d wandered around aiathered around a roulette table where ain the chips and tre with excitement He’d even fed a few bucks into a slot machine that promised a two million dollar payoff and after a few desultory pulls at the handle—not necessary, he knew, but at least it gave hies on the screen—the machine had suddenly belted out a series of electronic whoops and trills and regurgitated what looked like a ton of half dollars

“You won!” the wo the next machine shrieked

He had, to the tune of four hundred bucks And he had to admit, just for a couple of minutes, he’d felt a rush of adrenaline The lady on the adjacent stool leaned in, all but lay her boobs on his arm and asked him if he’d like to celebrate Gray took his first real look at her She was pretty More than that She hat any ht mind would have called hot, and her s

He hadn’t asked Instead he’d thought about a woman with a hesitant smile and a mouth as soft as silk

“Sorry,” he’d said, as alret “I appreciate the offer but I’ve had a long day” Then he’d nodded at the tray that held his winnings “You celebrate for me,” he’d said, and walked out, headed back to his roo about Dawn and hoould be to awaken her to desire

Just thinking about seeing her this et up after only a few hours’ sleep He’d even found hi he hadn’t done since his college roo another note