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me he controlled your trust fund until your twenty-fifth birthday. How much money do you have, Gillian?"
    "None of your business.” The mention of her father killed her appetite. She shoved the plate away in disgust. "You can tell Aaron I'll survive just fine without his handouts."
    "I won’t be discussing your finances with Aaron."
    "You already have."
    As she tried to get up, he clamped his large hand on her shoulder, keeping her firmly rooted in her seat. "Eat your dinner or I'm not leaving tonight."
    Her scathing glare had no effect on him.  He inched the plate closer. Viciously, she snapped up a chip and bit down hard. He not only knew the reason for her sentencing, but the humiliating details of her personal life as well. A one sided version of her life.
     
    * * * *
    While Hawk made one last check of the house, Gillian cleaned her dishes and put them away. The sun began a flaming descent into the red and orange sky as she held the door openfor him to leave. He paused in front of her and took her hand, pressing something into her palm.
    She glanced down and saw the folded hundred dollar bill in her clenched fingers. Indignation coursed through her. She raised her trembling hand and stuffed the bill in his shirt pocket. "Contrary to what you may think about me, I draw the line at accepting money from men."
    Undisturbed, he removed the money and slid it down the front of her scoop neck dress. His fingers lingered longer than necessary along the lace edge of her bra, but she was too stunned to move. Shocked, not by his action, but her reaction.
    Slow warmth began where his hand rested and spread like wild fire through her. She gasped for the air that had been zapped from her body. No man had ever taken her breath away.
    She raised her head and met his gaze. His triumphant grin hit her like a bucket of ice water. He knew exactly what he was doing to her, and worse, he was gloating about it. She smacked his hand away. Before she could retrieve the money and throw it at him, he laced his fingers through hers.
     
     
    * * * *
     
    "If you try to give it back again I'll stick it down another piece of your dainty lingerie. You might not survive it the next time."
    The full impact of his words hit her after he’d made a timely exit. "You conceited snake," she yelled to him.
    "Please, you flatter me," he said. "Pay it back when you get a job."
    "You better believe I will."
    "It never occurred to me that you wouldn't." Hawk leaned against his car and grinned. "Don't take any wooden nickels.”  
    "You're the only around here who would give me one."
    Hawk started the engine.  A man would have to be crazy to offer her an imitation. Gillian was the kind of woman who always got the real thing. Strangely, she didn't seem to want what she had . When he was younger, he would have sold his soul for the chance to be part of the world she’d come from. His deal with Aaron meant he had .
    In theory, the current arrangement should benefit everyone. Aaron got his daughter away from her wild friends for the summer, Hawk got his foot in the door of the Governor's office and the reservation got a much needed teacher. He glanced in his rear view mirror. Gillian sat on the landing, with her arms wrapped around her bent knees. She looked way beyond lonely, and half way to lost. As he drove away, he couldn't shake the feeling that she was the one paying for what everyone else got.

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
    Gillian switched off the computer terminal and leaned back in the chair. Her first few days in front of her class had been a unique experience for both student and teacher, but she soon fell into a routine that left her feeling like she'd been teaching for years. The days passed quickly but the nights were too long. Thankfully, she only had tomorrow to get through before she would see Elena and Aunt June again.
    The six women involved in the pilot program were twice her age, but they showed her the respect due to a tribal clan mother. The