Page 28

What would it be like to have a man like Jacques touch her? Would he be gentle? Would his passion send him over the edge and turn him into the animal most men could easily become if left unchecked?

She closed and locked the bathroom door, her heartbeat hammering against her eardrums. For a long moment she leaned against the door, dizzy with what? Desire?

Impossible.

She breathed in and out, willing her pulse to steady and her equilibrium to return.

When she could breathe normally again, she stripped off her clothing, turned on the shower, adjusted the temperature and stepped beneath the spray.

The water droplets pelted her skin, igniting her nerve endings and making her wonder what they’d feel like beneath the strong hands of a gentle lover.

She squirted liquid soap into her hands and rubbed it across her body, forming a lather that slipped over her skin, across her breasts and down to the juncture of her thighs. Heat coiled at her center, spreading outward.

In the other room, on the other side of one door, was a man who’d promised to protect her—a man who made her want to be touched.

The idea both frightened and excited her in the same breath. How could she stay in the same apartment with him while her insides whirled and her body burned for something she hadn’t felt in a very long time?

Desire.

She wasn’t even sure she could make love with a man again. What if she panicked and fought her way free?

Why was she torturing herself with such thoughts when his job was to protect her, not make love with her? He’d seen her at her worst. What man would want a woman who cowered in the dark?

Danny spun, jerked the faucet handle to the cold setting and stood beneath the chilly spray, tamping down the heat she wasn’t ready to claim.

Her living arrangements were temporary, like the families waiting to return home when it was safe.

After washing her hair and applying conditioner, she rinsed it off with cold water and turned it off. She wrapped her body in a towel and rubbed her skin dry.

The cold shower had done its trick. By the time she’d dressed and combed the tangles from her hair, she wasn’t lusting after her temporary roommate. Well, not much.

Leaving her damp hair hanging long and straight down her back, she left the bathroom, avoided staring at Jacques’s perfectly made bed and entered the living area. The scent of food made her stomach rumble, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since she’d snagged a couple of French fries early that afternoon.

Jacques glanced over his shoulder as he removed a steaming food tray from the microwave and set it on the small table next to another.

“I hope you’re hungry,” he said. “These smell pretty good and taste even better. I get them all the time.”

“They do smell good.” She looked around the kitchenette. “Where can I find silverware?”

“In the drawer beside the sink,” he said.

She found forks and knives and set them on the table.

“Wine or beer?”

She cocked an eyebrow. “You have both? I thought most bachelors only stocked beer in their refrigerators.”

Jacques’s lips twisted as he opened the refrigerator door. “Caught,” he said. “I only have beer in the fridge.” He pulled one out to demonstrate. “But I have a bottle of red wine under the sink, as red should be savored at room temperature.” He winked.

His simple, playful gesture sparked that heat at her core all over again.

Short of jumping back in a cold shower, she had to pretend he didn’t affect her and act normally when she felt anything but normal.

Jacques held her chair for her.

Danny hesitated for a moment, then forced herself to sink into it, careful not to brush against the hands holding it.

“I take it you’d prefer the wine?”