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across at him, her heart pounding. An ache was forming in her throat, and she swallowed hard, fighting back sudden tears.
    Jim leaned back, quietly assessing her mobile features. “Did he abuse you?”
    Storm’s lips tightened, and she fought hard against the tears she refused to let fall. “Stop asking me personal questions,” she whispered painfully.
    Jim shook his head and sat up, holding her shadowed blue eyes with his own. “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to do this to you. I only wanted to try to figure out why you’re so damn hostile.”
    “I suppose you’re a qualified therapist, too,” she hurled back bitterly.
    He managed a half smile. “Despite some opinions to the contrary, I think I’ve got a pretty good bedside manner. I make it my business to know my pilots, and right now you’re one of them. I have to know ahead of time how you’ll react under stressful situations, that’s all.”
    Stunned by his cool appraisal, Storm realized she had completely lost her appetite. “You remind me of a surgeon who cuts up people just to see how they tick. That’s horrible.”
    “There you go again,” he said. “Don’t think it’s fun for me to sit here and watch you on the verge of tears because I blundered on the truth.
    “I’m sorry.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. “Here—your mascara will run if you don’t dry your eyes.”
    Storm blinked, forcing the tears away. She took the handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. She hadn’t meant to cry. What was it about Jim Talbot that touched her heart? The main course arrived, and they fell silent until the waiter left. Jim began cracking crab legs methodically. He looked up at her.
    “You better eat.”
    She made a face. “I’m not very hungry.”
    He sighed deeply and studied her for a long moment. “Look, there are going to be times in the next three months when you will be plenty upset, but you’ll have to eat. Hunting season is the worst for us pilots and the medical team. We’ll be operating on just four-to-six hours of sleep a night. You have to learn to eat on the run. Now, come on, get a little nourishment into you. You’re pale as hell.”
    She looked down at the steaming orange-and-white crab legs. The odor made her mouth water, but her stomach was still tight from their previous conversation. Yet she allowed herself to be moved by the concern in his voice and hesitantly began digging for the succulent, sweet meat of one large leg. Storm knew that if he had taken any other tack with her, she would have balked like a stubborn donkey and refused. He had handled her as delicately as that jet aircraft he had talked about earlier, and it left her breathless with amazement and wanting to know more about him.
    Their motel was a sumptuous three-story building near a large inland lake. Dan Bradford may have wanted them to watch their expenses, but he did have a taste for elegance. She followed Jim out of the elevator on the third floor and waited for him to unlock her door.
    “It’s all yours. Go ahead and get your beauty sleep. I’ll make sure Rickson’s gear is stowed aboard the plane tomorrow.”
    Storm frowned. “And I suppose you’ll tell Dan that I couldn’t do my share of work down here, and that will be the first black mark against me. No thanks, Talbot. I’m going with you.” She brushed past him.
    Suddenly, she found herself being spun around. Storm gasped, her hands coming to rest against Jim’s broad chest. His fingers were gentle about her arms as he leaned down, anger flashing in his gray eyes.
    “What’s the matter with you, Reynolds? Can’t you take a little pampering from a man?” His breath was warm and moist against her face, and her heart raced.
    She tried to struggle free, but his grip tightened. “Let me go.”
    “I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered harshly.
    She stood within his grasp, her blue eyes wide with disbelief. His grip relaxed, and his hands moved