When he final y moved away from her, he was pale and utterly exhausted, his face harder than she'd ever seen it. He got up and reached for his robe, slipping into it without looking at her. He couldn't. She probably didn't realize that he'd just given her his soul. But he did, and he was scared to death. She owned him now. He'd do anything for her.

  She got back into her own things, feeling a lit le ashamed and nervous. "Are you. .are you al right?" she asked hesitantly.

  "That's my line, isn't it?" He was smoking a cigaret e. He turned, and looked down at her, his eyes quiet and intent on her wan face. "Yes, I'm al right. If you can cal being shaken to the core of my soul being al right. Are you?"

  She nodded, lowering her eyes to the floor. Her body tingled with new knowledge, with the faint sorenes his hunger had expres ed physical y. She pleated her gown. "Arc you sorry?" she whispered.

  He wasn't sure if he was or not. He was too shaken to think about it. He hadn't realized that he was capable of so much emotion, of such a deep, aching hunger for only one woman. "I don't suppose so," he said noncommit al y. He look a long draw from the cigaret e, unaware of the faint panic on Danet a's face because of his remotenes . "We'd bet er go inside."

  She started toward the door. What had begun as sweet mid sensual and earthshaking had turned into cold, stark reality. She'd just given herself to a man who was a self-pro fes ed bachelor. A man who didn't real y believe in marriage or commitment, despite his uncontrollable hunger for her minutes before. He'd satisfied his hunger, now he was probably regret ing the whole thing. He knew that she didn't sleep around. Probably he hadn't meant a word he'd said to her, because he'd been too aroused to think. She wanted to die. She was so ashamed of herself, and what in the world would she do if she got pregnant? Her careles nes was going to give her hel . She went out the door ahead of him, her eyes downcast, her face pale and miserable. She didn't look at him, not once. He hadn't noticed the effect his coolnes was having on her. He was too shaken by his own discoveries to notice much at al . He smoked his cigaret e in silence al the way to the house without saying a word.

  It was only when they got to the door of the room Danet a was staying in that he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks.

  "Here, now," he exclaimed softly, catching her arm.

  She shook off his hand. "Good night," she said on a broken sob. She slammed into her room, catching him off guard, and locked it. He stood there feeling like ten kinds of a fool. "Oh, my God," he breathed huskily. "Danet a!" But she didn't answer him, not even when he tapped on the door. With a heavy sigh, he went back to bis own room and closed the door. He'd been so wrapped up in bis own shock that he hadn't realized how cold he must have seemed to her. She'd given him her chastity, and he'd taken it without a single word afterward about how he felt or how commit ed he was. She was crying and it was his fault.

  The look on her face would haunt him until morning. He only hoped he could straighten things out in time. It was bad enough that she was going to spend the night hating herself and him for what she'd be sure to think was premeditated seduction. Especial y after the hurtful things he'd said to her on the pier. He tossed and turned miserably. His conscience was kil ing him. Of course he wanted commitment! After an experience like that, only an idiot wouldn't realize that love was at the bottom of it.

  Final y he closed his eyes and forced himself not to worry about the damage he'd done. He'd talk to her in the morning. Somehow he'd make her understand how he felt. He got up earlier than usual and rushed downstairs, stil tucking his blue chambray shirt into his jeans, when he noticed that Eugene and Cynthia and Nicky were at the table and Danet a wasn't.

  "Where's Danet a?" Cabe asked curtly.

  Eugene grimaced. "Wel , son, she came downstairs al picked and ready to go, picked up Norman and got a cab back to Tulsa before any of us were up. She left this note." He handed it to Cabe. It was brief and to the point. Had to go home. Thanks for your hospitality. Danet a Marist. Cabe sat down heavily at the table. He'd sure fouled everything up now!

  Ten

  Danet a rode back to Tulsa in a daze, trying not to think about what the fare was going to be. She'd already asked the driver if he'd take a check, and because she looked so distraught and miserable, the driver had broken a lifelong rule and agreed. Thank God she had her checkbook with her. She didn't want to think about what had happened to her in the garage with Cabe. A lifetime of honorable living, and she'd blown it al in one night because she'd let her body dictate to her mind. She cringed trying to imagine how she was going to tel her parents if she became pregnant. She wondered how Cabe was feeling, and decided that her impulsive action had probably saved him a lot of embarras ment. He'd shown last night how he regret ed what he'd done, even if he hadn't cared enough to at least apologize for it. Probably he thought she'd gotten what she deserved for let ing him go that far, and she couldn't put al the blame on him. She could have said no.

  Hie cab pulled up at her apartment building. She wrote him a check, smiling wanly as she thanked him and handed it to him. He carried her suitcase and Norman's carrying case to the door for her, a kindnes that had her in tears. He even looked reluctant to leave her there, although he hadn't been reluctant to leave the iguana. Creepy kind of pet, he thought as he went back to the elevator. But a real nice young lady.

  She unlocked the door and walked in, and came face-to-fuce with Cousin Jenny.

  "Surprise, it's me!" Jenny grinned, and then stopped dead at Danet a's expres ion. "Why, honey, what's wrong?" she asked in a gentler tone. Danet a put Norman and the suitcase down and closed the door before she collapsed against the wal in tears. Jenny hugged her, without asking questions, and then made her sit down in the kitchen while she made coffee.

  "Norman.. " Danet a began brokenly, wiping at tears with a hem of her blouse.

  "I'l let him out," Jenny said, swal owing hard. She Hipped the catch and opened the door, quickly standing back. Norman, always happy to intimidate people who were afraid of him, almost seemed to have a grin on his lizardy mouth as he sauntered out of the cage and fixed Jenny with mi oddly birdlike upward stare.

  "Now, Norman," Jenny coaxed, backing away, "let's not look at me that way."

  "He's a. ." Danet a began.

  ". .vegetarian," Jenny finished for her. "Explain to him what a vegetarian is while I pour the coffee." They drank black coffee and Danet a said nothing for several minutes.

  "Why are you back?" she asked Jenny. "And what kind of plan do Eugene and.. and Cabe—" she almost chokedf on his name "—have in mind?"

  "A real y good one, pet," Jenny told her, leaning forward, her soft blond hair dancing around her shoulders as she moved. "We're going to plant some information and let the bad guys act on it. You see, what we think they wanted in here when they tore the place up was my map of the strategic metals vein we think we've found."

  "The map!" Danet a sat straight up. "But how did they know about it?"

  "You told them."

  "Now wait a minute, I only mentioned it to Ben," the younger woman began, and then flushed. "Oh, no, he wouldn't!"

  "Oh, yes, he would," she was as ured. "Haven't you noticed that he drives a Jaguar? Think about it, you must know what Cabe's executives get paid."

  "I never connected it. Ben, mixed up in theft?"

  "Ben didn't do it," Jenny told her. "He doesn't even real y know what he's into. He's been told that he's helping to find a new oil field, and he's being wel paid for dig-; ging out information about it. He has no idea that foreign agents are involved."

  ' 'How can foreign agents get their hands on metals in this country?" Danet a wanted to know.

  "Pet, you can't be that naive," Jenny said gently. "Haven't you ever heard of foreign investors? Al they have to do is quickly buy up the land we're prospecting on."

  "Can't you do it first?"

  "It's not profitable to buy land on speculation, especial y this kind of land. Even to bid on it would arouse-comment, because it's apparently just scrub. People might not catch on that we had mining interests in it, but they might suspect that we wanted it for a nuclear waste dump in something, and we'd be backed against the wal overnight."

  "Now I understand," Danet a replied. "Wel , what are we going to do about Ben?"

  " You're going to give him some information when he comes back next Friday from his sales trip." Dannet a hadn't even thought about the long week ahead, When she'd have to see Cabe every day, have to face him hi in what they'd done together. Her hands gripped the

  .coffee cup like a lifeline. How was she going to bear it?

  "Then what, after I tel Ben?" she asked Jenny.

  "We wait for results," Jenny replied. "Remember hearing. Eugene talk about Mr. Hunter?"

  " I get cold chil s remembering what Eugene mentioned about Mr. Hunter," Danet a replied. "He's some sort of lop level troubleshooter in the organization. He actual y mounted a commando raid on one of their offshore rigs in the North Atlantic when it was at acked by terrorists." Jenny nodded. "He came back with some nasty scars, but he's a hard man to kil . Anyway, he's going to be on the frontl line when we set this up."

  "Do we get to meet him?" Danet a asked, al eyes.

  Jenny shifted restles ly. "I've already met him," she said with uncharacteristic discomfort. "He hates me, in fact."

  •' What did you do to him?"

  "'Nothing, that's the puzzling thing. I gues I remind him of somebody, or maybe he just hates blondes. He seems to be the soul of courtesy with everybody else. You'l probably like him."

  "I like most people," Danet a sighed. She sipped her coffee.

  "Why are you home alone? I thought you were staying with the Rit ers." Danet a blushed furiously.

  "Another run-in with the boss?" Jenny asked wit pursed lips. "Oh, Dina, what am I going to do with you?'

  "Help me find a new job," Danet a said. "Because I'm going to need one. I can't work for that. . that womanize another day!"

  "So he final y made a pas , huh?" Jenny grinned at tn other girl's discomfort, blis fully ignorant of what ha real y happened. "You can't blame him. He's ruggedly masculine and you're a pret y lit le thing. I expect your innocence was like a breath of spring to him."

  That was very likely true, but it hurt to hear it.

  "What's that?" Jenny asked, frowning as she listened!

  Danet a heard it, too. Loud, furious footsteps that came to a sudden stop just outside the apartment, followed by angry muttering and a fierce knock on the door.

  "I'l give you two gues es who that is," Jenny said sweetly and got up to answer it.

  Cabe didn't even bother with a formal greeting. His blue eyes were shooting sparks. He looked very Western in jeans and a freshly pres ed chambray shirt, and a black Stetson on his thick hair. "Where is she?" he asked hotly.

  Jenny had good instincts. She stepped aside. "She's in the kitchen with the giant lizard," she informed him. He stormed in, his footsteps as furious as the expres io4 on his broad, dark face. And for once, he didn't even notice Norman, who was doing his spit ing-cat imitation wit great fines e. Cabe walked right past him without a down ward glance. So Norman relaxed his dewlap and went to sleep. Danet a resisted the urge to jump up and run. She sat very stil , gripping her coffee cup, her soft gray eyes looking up at Cabe with pure anguish. He started to demand an explanation. Then he saw that tearful expres ion, that wounded look, and every last bit of anger went out of him in one long sigh.

  "Oh, honey," he said softly. "I'm so sorry."

  She burst into tears, and he went down on one knee in front of her, gathering her head gently onto his broad shoulder, his hands tender in her unruly hair.

  "Now, now," he murmured. "It's al right."

  "No, it's. .not," she hiccuped. Her hands wrapped around his strong neck and she buried her face in his shirt. It smel ed of fabric softener and cologne, the spicy scent he always wore, and it was heaven to have him close and warm mil not hating her.

  He stroked her hair with his hand, noticing that Jenny had discreetly removed herself from the room and closed the door. He wondered what, if anything, Danet a had told her.

  "Why did you run away?" he asked her. "You know."

  "No, I don't." He forced her wet face out into the open and looked into her red-rimmed, drowning gray eyes. Rain gray, he thought, or doves-wing gray. So pret y. "Or maybe I do," he amended quietly, and his face grew solemn. "I didn't mean to give you the idea that I took what we did together for granted. I was upset." She lowered her eyes to his hard mouth. "So was I," she .aid. She traced his collar idly. "I've never done anything like, wel , like. . that. .before. I thought you were sorry about it, that you'd just wanted me and then when it was over, you wanted to get away from me." She shifted in his embrace. "I thought maybe you'd feel bet er about things If I just left quietly, without a fus ."

  He drew in a long, slow breath and his eyes closed. "You don't understand. I don't know how to make you underhand what I felt. I'm thirty-six, and in al my life, al my encounters with women, I've always been in control. Then last night I let it get out of hand deliberately, and with a! virgin, of al people. I was ashamed of what I'd done. Guilty. Maybe a lit le afraid," he added tersely. "That much emotion is a bit unset ling."

  She bit her lower lip, staring over his shoulder at the wal . Wasn't he saying that he regret ed what had happened?

  "Wel , you don't have to worry," she said with quietly pride. "I won't embarras you or anything____" He drew back, searching her soft eyes. His thumb came up to wipe the tears away while he chose his words very carefully. "I'm not embarras ed," he said softly. He managed a tender smile. "But I think you are."

  She blushed, remembering the way it had been, the feverish need, the expres ion on his hard face when his body; had convulsed with pleasure. She dropped her eyes with lit le gasp.

  He caught her hand in his and brought its soft palm to hi mouth. "Don't be shy," he said, leaning forward to nuzzle his face against hers. "I don't have any intention of making suggestive remarks or teasing you about what happened. It isn't the kind of thing a man makes light of." That gave her enough courage to lift her eyes. She'd been terrified that he was going to make fun of her embarras ment. But he wasn't smiling, although there was a soft, quiet glow in his pale blue eyes.

  "You mis ed breakfast," he said gently. "Want to go somewhere with me and have waffles?" She hesitated. "I can't leave Jenny."

  "Then suppose we make some waffles."

  She blinked away the rest of her tears and wiped her wet eyes. "Cabe, I don't have a waffle iron." He gave her an exasperated stare. "No waffle iron? What am I supposed to live on, if you can't make me waffles?" He felt and looked thoroughly confused. She lifted a slender hand to push back her long, light brown hair. "I can make pancakes," she faltered.

  "I like waffles," he said firmly. "I do not like liver and onions or turnips, so don't ever fix them. I like my coffee him black and strong, and I'm partial to spaghet i, rare steak, macaroni and cheese cas erole and fried ocean perch, and apple and peach pies."

  This was get ing confusing. Her gray eyes searched his. "Do you want them al right now?" she asked.

  "I'm just listing the most important things," he explained. "Later we can go into specifics, like how I do not like my eggs cooked. Oh, and don't ever make quiche because I read in this book that real men don't eat it." He grinned.

  She felt a smile tickling her mouth and gave in to it. She'd never known him like this. "Okay."

  His chest swel ed with pure delight as he looked at her. It was going to be al right after al . He could win her over, If he worked at it very carefully. But he had to pace it right. he couldn't rush her, or move too fast. He'd already made One big mistake by let ing things go too far last night. Now he had to prove to her that it wasn't just physical with him. He had to reas ure her that his emotions were every bit as involved as his body. Waking up and finding her gone this morning had terrified him to his very bones. He'd been cold with the fear that she might mean to disappear where he couldn't find her. And here she sat, waiting. Sort of.

  "Meanwhile," he said, "we'l go out and get some waffles. Jenny can come, too. Why don't you go and get her."

  "I could fix us something here," she tried again.

  "Honey, I'm dying for a waffle," he sighed.

  She gave in. "I'l just find a sweater. I hadn't unpacked."

  His eyes went to her suitcase and back to her wan expres ion in time to see the faint glint of fear in her face. "It's al right," he said quietly. His hand brushed over her cheek lightly. "Don't be afraid. We won't go over the line again, I promise."

  She swal owed. "What do you want?" she asked because she had to know.

  "You," he said simply.

  "But you. ."

  "But I what?" he asked, his voice deep and slow and velvety soft. "But I had you, is that what you're trying to say?" He smiled gently. "I jumped the gun and almost ruined everything, but I want to start again. This time, I'l get it in the right order."

  She looked up at him in total confusion.

  "We'l take it one day at a time," he said. "We'l go places together, I'l send you flowers and candy, I'l cal you at two in the morning just to talk, and we'l make love—

  although," he added ruefully, "we won't let it go al the way again. Not until we know each other wel enough."

  "And then?"

  He took her by the shoulders and shook her gently. "An then, what do you think? That I'l drag you back to nr, place and make love to you until you can't walk for thre days?

  God knows, it's what I'd like to do right now. But! I'm wil ing to wait until you're ready for that, until you understand that I'm not trying to make you into one of nr Saturdaynight specials."

  "In other words," she said, fighting tears again, "you want me to be your mistres ."

  His thumbs grew idly cares ing on her upper arms and he studied her for a long moment. "Why is it so difficult for you to believe that I could want you permanently?

  I told you long ago that I wasn't a playboy."