Zach stopped and looked into her eyes, his gaze holding hers. "But after yesterday and the last few hours, I know that feeling's still there for both of us. You didn't say it but I feel like you still love me too. So here's my idea." His grip on her hand tightened. "Marry me, Maddie. Marry me and we'll run the ranch together. The money I was using to buy the place can go toward adding more stock or whatever else we decide needs doing around here." He lifted her hand to his lips, turned it over and kissed her palm. "What do you say?""M-Marry you?" She was stunned.During the long, erotic hours of the previous night she had wanted this so badly but by morning uncertainty had crept in. Now here it was, the thing she'd hardly dared hope for."Maddie?" Zach's voice had a slight tremor of uncertainty. "I love you, Maddie Mae. You fill my heart. I'll never forgive myself for hurting you but if you marry me I promise to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. So will you? Be my wife

It seemed no matter what she did, she couldn't figure out how to make it right. The killer was coming back one day early from a conference and finding him in bed with a woman she'd never seen before. She threw him out that night."But where will I go?" he whined, even as he was packing his suitcases. "Peyton, you can't just throw me out like this. Not after everything we've been to each other. Everything we are," he corrected himself."We can't be very much if you fell into our bed with someone the minute I was out of town.""I told you that was a mistake," he insisted."No." She was proud that her voice was even and uninflected when her insides were roaring like a volcano. "The mistake was mine, thinking we had something together. Anyway, I'm sure you'll find a willing woman to take you in," she told him, "You still have that charm you can pull out.""I don't know why you're making such a big deal of this," he grumbled, yanking things from the dresser drawers."A big deal?" She

He took a moment to note that her face was free of makeup, and he doubted it needed any to enhance it. Emerald-green eyes peered out from beneath lashes thicker than any manufacturer could produce. Her cheeks held a faint rosy tinge and a smattering of freckles. And that mouth - Yup. Good thing he was on a no-sex diet. He had one goal to accomplish here, and he couldn't afford to be distracted."I'm the tenant. I rented this place for the next month.""No. Wrong answer." She shook her head vehemently. "You must be in the wrong place. I rented this place for the next month."A little bubble of anger tried to work its way up through his system. He did not need this. He wanted to get settled in, go for a run, take a swim, and contemplate his future."I'm sorry. You must have gotten the address wrong." He stepped forward, figuring if he crowded her space, she'd retreat. She was nearly a foot shorter than he was."Address wrong?" she repeated. Then she held up the ring with two keys

They actually spoke very little on the trip for groceries. Peyton got the distinct feeling Dix Amendola wasn't up for conversation, and that was fine with her. She had a lot of her own thinking to do.How on earth had she ended up sharing her vacation spot with a total stranger? A hunk, at that, if she were ever in the market again. He was well over six feet, his muscular body well outlined in the jeans and T-shirt he wore. The hair that fell just to the neck of his T-shirt was a dirty blond, but the eyelashes fringing stormy grey eyes were much darker. His square jaw and high-cheekboned face wore about two days' worth of tempting scruff.If she hadn't been so irritated with him and the entire situation, she might even admit she considered him yummy. Sexy. Something certainly was sending hot signals to her pussy and her breasts and every pulse point in her body. But there was that whole latent hostility thing he exhibited. Plus, she had sworn off men of any kind, at least until her p

Dix tried to be as quiet in the bathroom as he could but, damn it, how silent could you be in a shower? He was quick about it, just soaping up and washing off the residue of lake water. He shut the water off as quickly as he could and toweled himself dry. When he looked in the mirror, he grimaced at the scruffy look of his face. He needed a shave but, one, he didn't feel like doing it now and, two, he might not do it at all. A lot of the SEALs grew beards and/or moustaches. So maybe he wouldn't shave while he was here.He wondered for a moment if Miss Gumdrop Nipples liked beards, but when that idea made his finally relaxed cock attempt to stand up again, he ditched the thoughts and slapped an ice-cold washcloth on his groin. Anyway, he was a gentleman, and Peyton Gerard didn't seem to be the kind of woman men made suggestive remarks about. In fact, there seemed to be a hesitant shyness about her in that area he definitely wasn't used to. Good thing sex wasn't going to be a part of th