The next time she woke, Mack was leaning over her, tucking a blanket around her shoulders. “Sorry I woke you. I wanted to make sure you didn’tgetcold.”
“Thankyou.”
“Are youthirsty?”
“Alittle.”
“I’ll be right back.” He returned with a large cup of water. “Don’t drink ittoofast.”
She took the cup. After a tentative sip, she tookanother.
“Since you have to stay for a few more days, I’ll talk to my brothers and we’ll split up the bed and breakfast chores. We were going to have to do that anyway afteryouleft.”
A tinge of guilt wound its way into her heart. He’d trusted her to do a very important job and she’d walked out on it. She’d never shirked responsibility before, but she’d been too afraid of what Ben might do if he came back lookingforher.
“I can’t stay.” She placed the glass on the nightstand next tothebed.
“You heard what she said. You have to stay at least three days. If you leave now, you might be risking thebaby’slife.”
Her heart skittered in her chest. “Ben’s going to come back looking for me. He already tried to run you down with a truck. What’s to stop him from finding another way tokillyou?”
“I’ve dealt with men like that before. Ignorance makes normally docile men into gun-wieldingfools.”
“It sounds like you’ve encountered thisbefore?”
He pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and sat. “Every few years, a new guy moves into town and finds out that we can shift. The guy thinks we’ll make a great trophy for his hunting wall, so he comes out here looking for an easy kill. Well, that doesn’thappen.”
“Has anyone ever gottenclose?”
“Once. My brother Logan got shot a few years ago. The bullet missed his heart by a few inches, otherwise he would have died instantly. We captured the hunter and took him to the sheriff. The guy’s in prison now for attempted murder, but there will be others. We’re vigilant about safety. We havetobe.”
“Maybe that’s why Logan tries to come on so strong. Almost dying has to changeaman.”
He nodded. “Yeah, Logan never chased thrills or women the way he does now. That near-death experience messed up his brain. All sense of responsibility and good judgment went out the window. Sometimes I wonder if he has adeathwish.”
“I hope he finds someone who cantamehim.”
Mack chuckled. “Youneverknow.”
Her eyelids drooped. “I’m so tired and my ankle is killing me. I must have twisted itgoingdown.”
“I have just the thingtohelp.”
“What?”
“How about afootrub?”
She smiled. “You sure know how to make it hard towalkaway.”
He grinned. “Once you’ve had my hands on your feet, you’ll never want to leaveagain.”
“I highlydoubtthat.”
“Challengeaccepted.”
He dragged the chair toward the bottom of the bed. As he slipped his hands under the blankets, she couldn’t help but remember the rough scrape of his thumb across her clit. Forget the foot rub, she knew exactly what he could do to make her feel better. But she couldn’t ask for that, not if she still planned on leaving inthreedays.
He grasped her right foot in his warm hands. Kneading, massaging fingers of bliss worked across the pad on the bottom of her foot. Her toes tingled with energy. Each caress heightened her awareness of the tension in her feet. Her entire body had been tense for so long, but Mack seemed to have all kinds of ways torelaxher.
