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twice before accusing him of something he hadn’t done.   
     
    And who would Stanley believe then?
     
    Christ, how’d he get into this mess, anyway? He’d holed up on Overlook Mountain for a reason: to keep the rest of the goddamn world away. They would have all been better off just leaving him the hell alone.  
     
    With an impatient tap on the brakes, he switched the old transmission out of two-wheel into four-wheel drive. “Wake up,” he called.  
     
    A backward glance revealed that she was still out cold, her head lolling in a way that guaranteed a crick in the neck. “Hey.” He reached over the seat and lightly shook her knee, keeping a wary eye on the dog, who looked to be part German Shepherd. “Wake up,” he repeated, smoothing the roughness out of his voice.   
     
    She came awake with a frightened gasp followed by a moan as she grabbed her neck. He started forward with a lurch, ignoring a stab of pity for her. “We’re here,” he said, tackling the steep gravel track to his cabin.  
     
    Her pallor and her wide-eyed silence assured him she’d realized by now he wasn’t the knight-in-shining armor she’d first taken him for. He knew he ought to explain what had happened to his original plan with Cougar, except that he didn’t want to discuss it. Didn’t want to contemplate what sharing his space with her would entail.
     
    He had never agreed to be a babysitter. Hell, he would never have answered Stanley’s call for a favor if he’d known he would have to bring the woman back with him.
     
    The guys on his team would laugh their asses off.
     
    His decision to quit the war and abandon his teammates had obviously come full circle. Right now, karma had him by the balls and it wasn’t letting go.  
     
     
     
    Eryn looked wildly around them. Having fallen back asleep, she had had no idea where they were, other than the fact that they were obviously in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She’d seen signs to Skyline Drive and to a ski resort earlier, but she couldn’t pin her location on a map to save her life.
     
    She prayed to God she wouldn’t have to.  
     
    Ike was driving her up a forested mountain on a road that only a four-wheel-drive vehicle could handle. Through the light foliage on her left, she could just make out a clear creek tumbling over a rocky streambed. To her right, a precipitous drop gave way to a vivid green valley dotted with tiny farmsteads and circumscribed by blue-tinged mountains. A view she would certainly have enjoyed under any other circumstances struck her as threatening for its unfamiliarity.
     
    She had to flex her jaw to clear the pressure building in her ears. Her mouth felt like it had been swabbed with cotton. She needed a bathroom and a glass of water, in that order, but would Ike Calhoun provide her with either?
     
    Negotiating a hairpin turn that threatened to send them careening over the precipice, he sped them onto a bit of level land, where they came to a stop.
     
    There in front of them stood a rustic cabin under the shade of a mammoth oak tree. A log pile and a rusty tin bucket littered the yard. Blooming forsythia and cherry blossoms added color to the otherwise depressing setting. This is it?
     
    As he killed the engine and went to let the dog out, she pushed out of the rear seat and discovered that her legs refused to hold her. Clinging to the door, she waited for the unexpected weakness to pass.  
     
    Winston bounded into the yard, found a patch of buttercups and started rolling in it.   As far as he was concerned, they’d arrived in heaven.  
     
    “You coming?” Ike called, heading for the house.
     
    Eryn hiked her purse higher. Shutting the truck door, she willed her legs to carry her toward the listing front porch. Please, God, let this place have indoor plumbing.
     
    Ike stood at the open screen door, watching her progress through narrowed eyes. Unlocking the inner door, he shoved it open. “I never expected company,” he