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gone. She slid down until her head touched the pillows and Josh pulled the covers up to her chin. Her eyes were already closing.
    “Pleasant dreams,” he said in a soft voice. He leaned down and brushed a kiss over her forehead, turned off the bedside lamp and walked out of the room.

Chapter Three
     
    The car was coming at her faster than a jet and she couldn’t make her car move. Her foot pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor but her car was stuck on the pavement while more than a ton of metal hurtled at her. She tried to open her door to get out but she couldn’t move the leg with the cast. In a minute…
    “Stop! Stop, stop, stop!”
    “Vanessa.” Someone’s hand was on her shoulder, shaking her.
    “I can’t get out,” she cried.
    “Ness, wake up. Come on. You’re dreaming.”
    She forced her eyes open, blinked against the sudden light in the room and almost screamed again when they landed on the man sitting beside her on the bed. What was Josh McCann doing in her apartment? She pushed at him, not sure if she was more disoriented by the dream or his presence.
    “You awake?” He was holding her hands. “Good. You screamed the house down and nearly gave me a heart attack.”
    She took in a huge gulp of air and let it out slowly, hoping to calm her racing heart and pull herself together. “What are you doing here?”
    “I didn’t want to leave you alone.” He dredged up a smile that Ness figured melted most women’s panties. It would melt hers if she wasn’t careful.
    “I told you.” She loosened her hands from his grip and pushed her hair back away from her face. “I’m fine. I appreciate everything you did, including the wine before bedtime, but I can take care of myself.”
    “Uh huh. It sure didn’t sound like that a minute ago.”
    A flush of embarrassment heated her cheeks. “I apologize. This isn’t like me at all. I’m really much more…together.”
    Why didn’t it seem odd to her that she was sitting in her bed having a conversation with a man she’d know for barely two days? She shifted her position in bed, inching slightly away from Josh, and a groan escaped as her muscles protested even the smallest movement.
    “You’re hurting.”
    Was that real concern in his voice or just an act?
    “I’ll be okay. Really.”
    “Let me get you some ibuprofen.” He stood up. “Is it in your bathroom?”
    “Yes, but—” She certainly didn’t want him rummaging around in her personal items, but he was already striding toward it. She tried to think if she’d left anything lying around that would embarrass her but before she could get her brain in gear he was back with a glass filled with water and two tablets in his hand.
    “Take these. They’ll help.”
    “If I do will you finally go home?” But her hands trembled so badly, the aftereffects of both the dream and the accident, that she dropped the pills and nearly spilled the water.
    Josh picked up the caplets and handed them to her again. “I don’t think you’re ready yet to be alone.” He sat again on the edge of the bed, waited until she finished drinking and took the glass from her hand. “You’ve been in two bad accidents in a very short amount of time, you haven’t even recovered from the first one, and you’re still shaken up.”
    Ness looked down at her hands. This was so very unlike her. She never showed weakness and it embarrassed her to do so now. “You should go, Josh, I’ll go back to sleep and be okay when I wake up.”
    “Let’s make sure, okay?” He eased her back down onto her pillows, pulled the covers up to her chin and walked around to the other side of the bed.
    What is he doing?
    Why was he being so wonderful, especially since they hardly knew each other? Of course guys like him were sometimes very solicitous in the beginning. It was only when the thrill of the chase and capture waned, when they realized the two of them had different views of “relationships”, that they boogied so