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fool.
    He sat in silence, stunned at the revelation, furious with himself for not seeing it coming. Maybe all along he’d suspected, but he hadn’t wanted to know. She was so beautiful. So right for him. Who sent her? Who put those shadows in her eyes? The wariness on her face? Because of you. What exactly did that mean?
    He kept his features expressionless while he studied the situation from every angle. If she’d been sent there to kill him, she would have done it already. If she was spying, she would have tried to get into his office and he would have known. He didn’t believe in coincidence, so just how much danger was he in? And how much should he tell the others? He’d kept everyone away from Saber, purely for selfish reasons, although maybe he’d known the truth all along.
    “What? No comment? You’ve gone awfully quiet, Jesse, and you always have some little lecture to pull out of your long list of them. I guess the truth is, I wanted to feel something for someone. He seemed like fun in the bar. Good looking. Somewhat intelligent.”
    He’d been a creep. She’d purposely gone out with a sleaze, just as she always did, because she didn’t want to hurt a really nice man. Wherever she was currently calling home, she knew she could never stay. She wanted to do all the normal things a woman would do when she pretended she was living life like everyone else, but she never wanted anyone hurt on her account. She’d already caused enough hurt for a lifetime.
    She sighed and punched her fist into the bubbles. “It was stupid. I won’t be doing it again.”
    “It was stupid,” he agreed. “And no, you won’t be doing it again.”
    She glanced up at his face. It looked as if it were chiseled from stone. That was Jesse on the outside. Jesse on the inside was…mush. A slow grin spread over her face and amusement slowly lit her eyes. “You’re so bossy. How does anyone stand you?”
    “Not very well, which is why I’ve lived alone until you came along. Even my parents avoid me.” He flashed her an answering grin and, using the bars, pulled himself from the hot tub to the platform he used for drying off.
    For a moment all she could do was stare in awe at the power in his arms as he lifted his body. Realizing she was ogling him again, she hastily jumped out, turning away from him to shut everything down.
    “So what’s with the T-shirt, angel face?” Jess idly toweled his hair.
    “I always wear a T-shirt swimming.” Saber shivered as the cold air hit her wet body. She strove for the ideal tone. Nonchalant. Breezy. She could do breezy—she’d honed that to perfection. “You know I do, it isn’t anything new.”
    “I know, but you can’t exactly get sunburned indoors,” he pointed out, and reached for his thick, terry cloth robe. “I’ve explained that before, but you didn’t take much notice.” He paused in the act of putting on his robe. “Where are your sweats?”
    “I forgot them.” Saber was drying herself off as fast as possible.
    “Come here,” Jess ordered softly in exasperation.
    “I’m all right,” she assured him, looking anxious.
    “It’s a hell of a lot easier for you to come over here than it is for me to go over there, but if you insist.” Jess shifted his weight, reached behind him for his racing chair.
    “All right already,” Saber was beside him in an instant. “Do you always have to have everything your way?”
    He grinned mockingly, and without preamble caught the bottom of her T-shirt and pulled it right over her head. Saber froze in place, her heart thundering in her ears, but Jess was already enfolding her in his warm robe.
    “You already know the answer to that one, baby.” With the ease of long practice and the help of strategically placed bars, Jess lifted himself into his chair.
    Saber pulled the robe close, tightened the belt around her small waist. “Someone spoiled you, Jess. Patsy?” She named his older sister.
    “Patsy!” He groaned the name.