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cabin with you for one night, much less a week.”
    Connor sighed and reached to carefully place the canvas bag on the top step. “I see. I suppose I could just go along with that stupid idea...after pointing out, of course, that most women would consider spending a night out here alone a whole lot less appealing than sleeping under a roof with me.”
    She smiled sarcastically. “Bragging, Connor?”
    â€œI said under the same roof, not in the same bed,” he reminded her, unleashing a slow grin of his own. “But if you’re interested in something more...”
    â€œI’m not. Believe me.”
    â€œIn that case, as I was saying, I could mention the fact that you never know what might crawl out of those woods after dark, or how cold and damp the nights can get this close to the lake, even in June.”
    Gaby shivered in spite of knowing that was exactly how he wanted her to react. “I happen to enjoy the night air,” she said defiantly.
    â€œDo you also enjoy cuddling up next to a raccoon?”
    â€œMore than some creatures I can think of.”
    â€œTouché.”
    â€œThen it’s settled,” she said, already wondering what she had gotten herself into.
    â€œNot quite. I said I could mention all those things to you and then sit back and wait for you to put on your little rebellious-pioneer-woman act until you got tired or hungry or scared enough to admit you were wrong and come inside. But we’ve both already been through a lot today, and I’m not going to let you put us through that little charade, too. So for your sake as much as mine, I’m only going to say this once.” He took a step toward her, his indulgent smile vanishing. “You walk into that cabin on your own right now, or I swear I’ll haul you in there.”
    She met his gaze without blinking, and for one long, torturous moment Connor was convinced she was going to call his bluff and that he was going to have to grab her, toss her over his shoulder and carry her kicking and screaming into the cabin. Thoughts of how he would keep her there were even more troublesome. He’d included rope with the supplies he brought up earlier and he was prepared to use it if he had to. But God knew he didn’t want it to come to that.
    What he wanted was to sit down and calmly explain everything to Gabrielle and have her understand and tell him he had done the right thing in snatching her off those church steps. Hell, he wanted her to tell him he’d done the only thing he could have done, given what he knew. Maybe she would even be grateful to him for stopping her from making what might be a huge mistake and maybe, for just a second, she might even look at him with something other than contempt.
    He didn’t expect any of that, of course. Or deserve it, he reminded himself. That was just the way he wanted it to happen. Realistically speaking, he would be grateful if Gaby simply went into the house as he’d requested.
    It was a major relief when, after making him sweat for what seemed hours, she did precisely that. Lifting her chin and sweeping him with a look of silent indignation, she strode past him and up the stairs, going out of her way to kick the knapsack as she passed.
    Connor smiled ruefully and bent to catch it as it tumbled down the steps. Hopefully that would be the extent of her retaliation. Gaby had never struck him as a vengeful woman, and Lord knew she had cause to be. As he recalled, she was stubborn as hell, however. If he couldn’t get her to listen to reason and persuade her that what he was doing was in her and her son’s best interest, it was going to be a very long week.
    He watched as she walked to the back door of the cabin, taking note of the fact that she didn’t so much as glance toward the corner of the deck where there were a couple of lounge chairs and a barbecue grill, the old-fashioned kind that used charcoal instead of propane gas.