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deal more on the subject, but something had stopped him. He had gallantly swallowed the rest of his outrage, glanced meaningfully at his watch and suggested gently that Katy use the bathroom first.
    When she had come hesitantly out of the bathroom in her expensive new peignoir, she had found Garrett pacing back and forth across the pink carpet. He had stopped abruptly when she appeared, and his eyes had skimmed over her silk-draped figure with a degree of hunger that was startling. Katy realized she was too accustomed to his restraint. Then, with a brief, surprisingly gentle smile, he had vanished into the bathroom.
    Now she was waiting for him, and it seemed easier to wait in darkness.
    He loved her, Katy thought forcefully. He had to love her. She couldn't have misjudged him completely. The problem was simply that he wasn't the type of man who was good with words of intimacy. But when he came out of the bathroom and made love to her, she would be reassured. Her doubts would be put to rest once and for all.
    In the bathroom Garrett dried himself quickly, fiercely aware of the sexual tension that now gripped his entire body. He couldn't remember ever feeling that much throbbing sensual anticipation. The ache in his loins was almost painful. It was as if an invisible barrier that had been in place for the past two months had, crumbled completely today.
    For the past eight weeks he had been thinking of a hundred different things, of his new home, of the future of his business, of how well Katy would suit him, of how satisfying it was to have Harry Randall's approval. Garrett knew he had been thinking of everything except about what it really meant to be marrying sweet, gentle, tractable Katy Randall.
    Tonight he was no longer thinking of anything else except the most personal, intimate side of marriage, and the results of that thinking were evident in the pulsating hardness of his body. He felt as if he were suddenly and without any warning at the edge of his self-control.
    His fingers shook slightly as he opened the bathroom door.
    Garrett stood for a moment in the doorway, a towel draped loosely around his waist, and blinked to accustom his eyes to the unexpected darkness.
    Then he smiled to himself as he realized what the absence of light meant. He should have known Katy was going to be shy at this stage.
    "Hey," he said softly as he moved forward into the room. "Are you out there somewhere, honey?" His bare feet sank deeply into the carpeting.
    "I'm here," Katy whispered from the bed.
    He heard the nervousness in her voice and instantly wanted to soothe her. "I thought maybe you'd been turned into pink candy floss by some mysterious force in this room."
    "Not quite. Maybe by morning the transformation will be complete." She sounded a bit more relaxed, as if his small attempt at humor had reassured her. "You'll wake up next to a big wad of sticky cotton candy."
    Garrett grinned to himself. At least she hadn't frozen up completely on him. He halted beside the bed and stood looking down at her. He wasn't sure he would have known what to do if her natural shyness had caused her to panic and go ice cold.
    She was just a little nervous, he told himself. It was only natural. Hell, he was feeling a bit strange himself. A tense, restless desire was beginning to pour through him. It was as if something in him had recognized that the waiting was over. After all these years, everything was at last over. After all these years, everything was at last in place. He had his business, his home and his woman. His future was waiting for him to claim it.
    Slowly he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at his new wife as she lay waiting for him in the shadows.
    Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness he could see her more clearly in the pale light filtering through the curtains. Her hair was as he had imagined it would be, a dark, silky fan that framed her face on the pillow. The dim light washed out the color of her eyes but he