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anticipation. For some reason, it bothered her to think he’d truly belonged to another woman. Not that he belonged to her, of course, but lying securely in his arms she could imagine what it would be like to have this man to herself forever. Shit. She did not want to continue with that train of thought.
    “Never married, but I was engaged briefly.” His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm as he continued stroking her hair. “I met Erica in college and it was love at first sight. Well, lust at first sight anyway.”
    “But you didn’t marry her.”
    “Nah. We were hot and heavy pretty fast, then she got pregnant.”
    Dane had a kid?
    “She didn’t want a family, so without telling me, she got an abortion.”
    “I’m so sorry.”
    He huffed against her temple. “Yeah, well, turns out it wasn’t my baby. She was so against settling down that as soon as she got my ring she started sleeping her way through the dorm.”
    Sara pushed on her elbow and looked him in the eye. “Her loss.”
    “Hmm.” He rolled off the bed and plucked the wine bottle from the nightstand. “Want some wine? It’s a sweet red.”
    She gave him a crooked grin. “Absolutely.”
    In all his naked glory, he climbed out of bed and crossed the room, filled two plastic cups with the burgundy liquid, then carried them back to the bed. Her gaze was drawn to the way his lips curled around the rim of the plastic, drawing in the wine. She’d never thought of drinking as erotic but, while watching him lick the wine from his upper lip, her clit ached for his touch.
    He caught her gaze and winked. Damn he was sexy.
    By silent mutual agreement they set the cups to the side. Their lips met and he curled her into his arms. When they broke apart, she slid back into her position at his side.
    He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Why did you decide to move to Bandera?”
    She shrugged. “I needed to get away.”
    “Family too meddlesome? Stalker boyfriend?”
    She swirled her fingertip around his nipple. “A little of both actually. Mom and Dad couldn’t understand why I wanted to be a teacher instead of working in the family business. Teachers make no money, but strip club owners can make millions if they play their cards right.”
    “Wow, a strip club? What was that like growing up?”
    A smile touched her mouth. “When I was younger, I thought it was great. I watched my mom practice pole dancing. Of course, I didn’t realize what it meant at the age of six, I just thought my mom was beautiful and the most talented woman around.” She snuggled closer. “As I grew older and my friends learned what she did, I was tormented. The boys all wanted me to dance for them.”
    “You don’t think they just wanted you to dance because they thought you were hot?”
    “I guess there could have been some of that, too. Anyway, they wanted me take over and I just couldn’t do it. I needed my own identity away from them.”
    His thumb stroked her temple. “And so you became a teacher? Talk about from one extreme to the other.”
    Sara laughed. “I wanted to pick something so far from their business and why not be a teacher? It’s an honorable profession. And turns out, I actually do enjoy being around the children.”
    “Why not, indeed?” he murmured, his hand sliding up her arm to toy with her nipple. Goosebumps broke out over her flesh. “What about the stalker boyfriend?”
    “Ah, Ben.” That subject embarrassed her more than talking about her parents. “We were engaged for a year. He thought that, with my background, I would be some kind of sex goddess. I thought the sex was pretty good, but when I refused to participate in threesomes and orgies, he accused me of being a cold fish. Then he cheated on me with one of my girlfriends.”
    She swallowed hard against the remembered pain. “I figured he wasn’t the right guy for me. His cheating just sealed the deal. If he had asked me to do anything other than share him, I would have done it. I