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al owed Cabe Rit er to become. She looked forward to corning to work because he was somehow bigger than life to her. His smile made her tingle, his vibrant masculinity chal enged and excited her, his dry wit made her laugh. Just being around him made her feel more alive than she'd ever been before.
    She'd had erotic dreams about him ever since that morning in his big Lincoln when he'd woken al her senses with his ardor. But that morning might never have been, because his new at itude was so determinedly busines . And Karol was very much in evidence now. Cabe almost seemed to flaunt her, as if he wanted to make sure Danet a didn't get any romantic ideas about him.
    She finished the let ers she'd been typing and put them aside, her slender fingers lightly resting on the stack. Perhaps he was even trying to freeze her out of his office. The thought made her uneasy. She'd gotten used to his moods and his tempers, and she didn't like the idea of working for anyone else. But if that was what he wanted.. He came in even as she was formulating distasteful plans for her future, and she jumped at the opening of the door.
    "Nerves?" he commented. "That's new. What's wrong?"
    She handed him the let ers with a hand that shook.
    "For God's sake!" he burst out. He put down his at-tach6 case, laid the let ers aside, and pulled her out of the chair, stil holding her hand. "Let's have it. What's wrong?"
    "Do you want me to quit?" she asked, her voice Uneven.
    Every trace of expres ion left his face. "Do you want to?" He threw the bal back into her court. She lowered her eyes to his nice white shirt. "It's a good job," she said stiffly. "But if you'd rather I left, I wil ."
    "I don't know what I'd rather," he said heavily. He'd tried not to be aware of her, he'd tried being cold, but it was backfiring. He'd hurt her again, and he felt terrible at her vulnerability. Why couldn't he forget that look on her face when he'd started to kis her? Why couldn't he find any solace in Karol's company?
    With a long sigh, he brought her slender hand against his chest. Under the thin fabric of his shirt, Danet a could feel his chest, the warmth of his body. Cabe was silent as he pres ed her fingers against him and he fought the need to do much, much more than that.
    She felt herself melting inside. His broad chest felt hard and warm under her hand, yet it felt soft there, too, as if he had hair on his chest. She'd never seen him stripped to the waist, but suddenly she wanted to. She wondered what he looked like under his clothes, and how it would feel if he put his arms around her and kis ed her the way he kis ed his women, the way he'd whispered to her that he would that morning at Harry Deal's rig.
    She drew in a slow* shaky breath. She couldn't seem to breathe properly anymore, and now she knew her mind was going, too. Only a crazy woman would al ow herself to be curious in that way about Cabe.
    His fingers stroked her neat nails, smoothing over their silky tops. He heard her breathing change and marveled at the way she stood against him, so docile and quiet. It had flat ered his ego when Ben Meadows and his father had suggested that shy young Danet a had a crush on him, then it had floored him when he'd made that involuntary pas at her in the car. He hadn't counted on her effect on him, any more than he'd expected her contempt for his life-style—or rather what she thought was his life-style. He'd often wondered what Danet a would do if he made a real pas at her. He'd been tempted a lot in the past few weeks, thanks to his father's constant remarks about Danet a, bringing her vividly to his at ention. She was pret y and she'd begun to disturb him physical y. He'd tried ignoring her, but that only made it worse. Now he was touching her, and he knew even as he did it that it was his most regret able mistake to date.
    "Your fingers are like ice," he commented, his voice deep and husky because she smel ed of lavender and her softnes made such a contrast to