had to walk away in the end? If the choice were hers, she'd stay in this bed forever.
The thought sent her plummeting back into reality. Hers wasn't the only life at stake. Her father's well-being and recovery hung in the balance. She needed his bills paid, his mind clear and his way of life assured. Marrying Tom was the only solution… even if she loved Mac.
Unable to cope with that, she thought of him instead. To let him in now would only hurt him later, and he deserved so much better than that. Pushing him away was the only form of honesty she could give, so she reached between them and grasped him in her hand, surprised to find him hard and aroused again. 'You said something about 'this time'?' Her voice came out a husky purr.
Desire filled his eyes, but so did dismay. 'I know what you're doing.'
So did she. Distracting his emotions by turning him on. She wasn't playing fair, but in her heart, she was protecting him. She forced a smile. 'I should hope so.'
'Sam…'
She silenced him by stroking his flesh until he groaned and rolled her on top of him. His erection pulsed against her, making her wet, making her need him inside her.
She met his dark gaze. 'I want you again.'
He grinned. 'Don't sound so surprised.'
She'd meant to distract him and succeeded in arousing them both instead. She'd accomplished her goal, but instead of feeling good, she was aching inside for all that she wanted and all that could never be.
Not wanting to think anymore, she rubbed herself against him, coaxing him to do exactly as he suggested earlier. Sam lost herself with the man she loved, but couldn't claim as her own.
7
Mac woke with the sun, which meant he'd had little sleep the night before. Not that he was complaining. The naked woman now curled beside his equally naked body made a little lost sleep worthwhile. He stretched and rolled away from her gently. The sunshine beckoned. After pulling on his jeans, he went downstairs and walked outside, but the warmth he found there wasn't the same. Mac didn't care. The great outdoors offered him what he needed most.
Wide-open space and lots of it.
He sat on the wooden porch outside Bear's bar and stared at the empty stretch of road before him. Could a woman complete a man? Mac hadn't thought so, at least not before he'd met Samantha. But once his body had been held tight inside hers, with her wet, moist heat contracting around him, he'd revised his opinion. Not that he'd had the foggiest notion what to do about it except enjoy the moment, but he'd looked into her worried gaze and realized that the moment had passed. He'd have preferred to see passion or contentment filling her beautiful eyes. Instead she'd been troubled.
And then she'd spoken. Other women? He laughed aloud, the harsh sound echoing around him. Since meeting Samantha, he hadn't given other women a passing thought. Since making love to her, and that's exactly what he'd done, he didn't want to. But she sure as hell made it a point to remind him that he should.
He ought to feel slighted and was worried when he didn't. Because he understood Samantha. She wasn't like other woman he knew, which was what drew him to her in the first place. Figures. The first time he meets a woman who lacks pretense, who doesn't want anything from him, who likes the man he is and not the money he has, and she obviously wants nothing to do with him beyond…
Wednesday. Just a few more days.
Damn.
Understanding her the way he did, he knew the barriers she erected made her feel safe, so she raised them whenever he threatened her 'other' world, which he seemed to do with increasing frequency. But that was only fair since she threatened not only his world but his sanity. Until now, he'd not only let her get away with it, he'd raised a few bafflers of his own because she had never indicated she wanted more than what they shared now.
Mac didn't kid himself. He'd sensed something unique from the start, but he'd allowed himself to enter a purely sexual relationship, hoping to build more. He had, and together they'd progressed beyond anything either of them had envisioned. For the first time in his life, he was ready to deal with those implications. Most women would swoon at his feet in exchange for a ring. They would be pushing for undying declarations of love while convincing him to fly them to Vegas for marriage.
Thanks to his misguided bragging in his youth and the number of repeat female clientele, most women knew more about Mac than they should. Not his Samantha. At this point Mac had no problem telling her, either. But she wouldn't let him in.
Instead of trying to draw out his emotions, she hid behind sex. Which, he reminded himself, wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Most men would enjoy continuous and varied lovemaking with Samantha. Lord knows Mac did, just not when the lady in question was avoiding him in other ways.
He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back. From his reclining position, he could see the bottom of the balcony, and the memory of Samantha flinging her shirt over the rail replayed itself in his mind. He pushed himself to his feet, but he already knew he hadn't stumbled across the garment this morning.
'What kind of wildlife would be interested in a shirt?' he wondered aloud.
'You looking for this, boy?' Zee's laughter broke through the early morning air.
'I should have known.' Mac snatched the cream-colored top out of the old man's grasp. 'Don't you ever sleep?'
'Nah. Especially when I figured you could use a hand cleaning up after last night. How is she, anyway?'
He glanced up at the closed window and tried not to picture Samantha as he'd last seen her, naked, one bare leg and an even more enticing bare cheek sticking out from beneath the covers. 'Still sleeping.'
'Wore her out, did you?'
'Not now, Zee.'
The older man followed Mac up the wooden porch and leaned against the corral-style railing. 'So you finally fell in love. How's it feel?'
'Like hell,' Mac muttered, grateful to have a friendly ear.
'Welcome to the world, boy.' Zee grinned. 'Just don't tell Bear. Once he gets his woman, I want some grandbabies to bounce on my lap. But yours would be equally as good, so tell the lady the truth and live happily ever after.'
'I can't get her to relax enough to tell her my first name,' Mac muttered.
Zee shrugged, then placed a gnarled hand on Mac's shoulder, a gesture he'd done so often through the years. 'Maybe you haven't tried hard enough. If you want something, go after it. If you don't, you really don't want it that bad.'
Mac mulled over that piece of advice while he tossed her shirt into the bar and rejoined Zee on the porch.
'You clean up from last night?' the older man asked.
'Not yet.'
'Well, get outta here. I got Hardy and Earl coming by. They've got nothing to do, anyway, and they'll be more than happy to help.'
'I can't let you do my work for me.'
'You don't, and I'll tell Bear you're leaving ladies' lingerie all over the damn bar. If I had a sexy woman waiting for me, I wouldn't be down here soaking up sunshine. I'd be upstairs soaking up something else.' The old man choked on laughter at his own joke.
'Okay, but I owe you one.'
'Introduce me to the next lady you meet at The R-'
'So tell me, where's he picking up women, Zee.'
At the sound of Samantha's sexy voice, Mac turned. She stood in the doorway, hugging the frame.
'Well, hello, Sammy Jo.' After his greeting the older man grew silent. Unusually silent. For the first time, Mac witnessed Zee at a loss for words and realized the older man was protecting his secret.
'Details,' Samantha said. A spark settled in her eyes that Mac strove to comprehend. 'I want to know where
