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determined toreject me. That, alone, is enough. But seeing you here, by yourself, exhausted, drinking in the dark as if you just lost your best friend sends the miserable quotient over and above.”
    As controlled as he seemed, she recognized that he was in a towering fury. The sparks in his blue eyes could have started an inferno with a single blink.
    Given his size, she should have been frightened. She’d seen the violent side of a man before. No matter how far she’d come, those memories lingered. Probably always would.
    Yet, she felt no fear of Gil.
    Was it the Tae Kwon Do she’d learned? Was she so different from the impressionable girl she used to be? Or could it be the simple fact that the man before her was like no other in her life?
    He needed her for reasons she couldn’t begin to understand, so she had the power to hurt him.
    And the thought of doing so humbled her.
    â€œI’m not who you think I am,” she said, lifting her chin in challenge, knowing she had to warn him.
    â€œAnd isn’t that the problem? I don’t know you.” He moved closer, and her breath clogged in her throat. “I want to.”
    Continuing to see him without telling him about her past was lying, right? How could she look into that beautiful face and not spill every thought, need and emotion? “You’re too old for me,” she said in a rushed, last-ditch excuse.
    â€œYou’re ten times my age.” He took her glass from her hand, then set it with his on the counter behind her. “Or at least there are times it seems you’ve lived a hundred years.”
    â€œYou really know the way to a girl’s heart, Gil Sizemore. No wonder you’re forty-one and un married.”
    â€œI can’t hang on to the one woman I’m seriously interested in for more than a single night. How would you expect me to get married?”
    Sheila squirmed for the first time in years. “It’s not you. It’s me.”
    â€œClichés, huh?” Laying a hand on either side of her, he caged her against the counter. “I expected better.”
    With the heat pumping off him, met by her own desire, she couldn’t seem to remember her own name, much less why she was so determined to resist him. “It’s been a long day,” she said weakly.
    â€œHow about we make it better?” He dipped his head, brushing his lips across her jaw. “Come with me to Texas.”
    In her experience, happiness was flighty and intermittent, so why shouldn’t she grab some of it for herself? It certainly wouldn’t last, but protecting herself from the power of his smile didn’t seem to be an option anymore.
    He’d already dragged her under his spell.
    â€œAll right.” She laid her head against his chest. “Sure.” She inhaled the exotic scent of his cologne. “Okay.”
    â€œThree yeses, huh?” Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the top of her head. “I always get much more from you than I expect.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    O N F RIDAY AFTERNOON, S HEILA found herself on board Gil’s private plane headed to Texas.
    The luxuriously huge, soft-as-butter beige leather seats alone were enough to make her jaw drop, but there was also plush navy carpeting, flat-screen monitors on the walls and a table set up with an array of drinks, cheese and crackers, and a giant crystal bowl of fresh fruit.
    Gil introduced her to the other passengers, including Double S Racing’s chief engineer, CFO and operations manager. Sheila had seen them all at the diner at one time or another, but strangely enough no one seemed to find it unusual that she was there with their boss. Maybe he brought a different woman aboard every week.
    His sister, Marley, who served as sponsor relations director, was also part of the group.
    â€œWe’re so glad you’re coming with us,” she said quietly to Sheila when Gil slipped into the cockpit to speak to the