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body, marveling at the perfect fit. Their tongues mated, swirling and rubbing together.
    Judith’s head was spinning at the sensations he created inside her. She clung to him, the abalone package still in her grip. Through his thin shirt his shoulders were warm, almost hot, and the muscles solid and hard. The scent of sea salt and pure male lingered on his skin, imprinting on her brain. His chest crushed her breasts, and her hips and thighs met his intimately. Her breath was already nonexistent while his was a sensual sound in her ear.
    They seemed to break away at the same moment, as if Paul had come to his senses the second she did.
    He stared at her, wide-eyed. Horrified by her abandon, she could only gaze back like a fawn caught in headlights.
    “Who are you?” he asked.

THREE
    “What—what to do mean, who am I?” Judith stammered. “I told you already. My name is Judith and I’m on vacation.”
    Paul cursed his curiosity, but the look of fear passing over her face had been clear. He couldn’t help his next words. “Here? In an
ejido?
”
    “I like the cove and there was a place for rent.” She blazed with righteous anger. “What about you? Why are you, an American,
living
in an
ejido
? You can’t even own the house, you told me so yourself, and you aren’t on vacation! So who are
you
?”
    She turned the tables so quickly, he could only gape at her for one telling second. When he realized he must look as surprised and guilty as she did, he clamped his mouth closed, then said, “I told you, I rent this from my uncle.”
    She sniffed in disbelief. Paul wanted to shoutat her not to be an idiot. His situation was entirely different from hers. The world had no place for him any longer.
She
, however, was in trouble.
    “We’re talking about you, not me,” he said.
    “Why can’t we talk about you?” she asked. “What are you trying to hide?”
    He glared at her. The last thing he wanted to do was confess all his sins. “I thought you were leaving.”
    She must have wanted to escape their conversation as much as he did, for she said, “Yes, of course.”
    She stepped out the open door, looked at the foil-wrapped abalone in her hand, and in a flat voice said, “Thank you.”
    “You’re welcome.” He pulled the sliding door shut behind her, cursing himself again for his idiotic reaction to her kiss. He might as well have bodily pushed her away. He had vowed not to pry, yet that was all he had been doing since his first contact with her.
    Dogs sending up a flurry of barking had him slamming open the patio door again. He ran down the short slope to the storage yard, belatedly remembering he had originally meant to walk down with her. Sure enough, Judith was standing very still in front of his guard dogs.
    “
Detenganse!
” he snapped, ordering the animals off.
    After one last defiant bark, the dogs stopped,holding as he ordered them to do. They weren’t the brightest of animals, but they were better trained than most in the village. He sent them off and they went, growling, unsatisfied with the intruder.
    She slumped in relief. “I thought I was about to be shredded.”
    “I’m sorry,” he said. “I did mean to come down with you.…”
    His voice trailed off as he regretted the reminder of their confrontation. He cleared his throat, to get out what threatened to stick in it. “I asked something I shouldn’t have. Why you’re here is none of my business. I promise I won’t probe again.”
    She smiled. “I won’t either.”
    He nodded.
    The silence grew awkward. She shrugged finally, halfheartedly holding up the package. “Well, I better go and put this away.”
    “Oh, yes, sure.” He opened the wire gate.
    “Thanks again for everything.” She slipped past him.
    He watched her go down the hill toward the village. Her T-shirt hugged her derriere like white gauze, giving him a terrific view as she walked. He wondered how long it had taken her to cultivate that elegant, unhurried sway she