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  “I’ll do everything within my power to protect you.”

  “I know you will.” Their gazes met and held. The look they exchanged silently voiced his concern and her appreciation. “Take the room across the hall from mine. It has its own private bath…and if anyone comes upstairs, they’ll have to pass that room before they come to mine.”

  “Try to sleep,” he told her. “Take something, if necessary.”

  She moved up the staircase, then paused after a few steps, but she didn’t look down at him. “I don’t have anything I can take. Nothing except the pain pills. I never have a problem sleeping.”

  “Then maybe you won’t tonight. I’ll see if I can rig something up to cover the broken pane in the back door and then I’ll be on up. If you need me, just call out and—”

  “And you’ll come running?” Annie asked as she climbed the stairs.

  “Yeah, honey, I’ll come running,” Dane said so quietly that he knew Annie didn’t hear him.

  Dane tossed and turned, flopping from one side of the bed to the other. He reached out in the darkness, groping on the nightstand in search of his watch. Grabbing it in one hand he held it up and checked the time on the illuminated face. Three forty-five!

  Dane didn’t think their attacker would make another “house call” this soon. The guy was probably holed up somewhere, nursing his wounds and either trying to figure out his next move or putting in a call to his superior. If he had a superior. And that was the problem—the main reason Dane couldn’t sleep. If the guy who’d broken into the Harden house—the guy in the woods—was working for someone else, then the boss man could have already called in another employee.

  Until a security system was installed, this house remained vulnerable to unlawful entry by anyone from a petty thief to Annie’s stalker. But even if he fell asleep, there was little chance anyone could enter the house and come up the stairs without his hearing them. He was a light sleeper, awakened easily, and trained by years as a bodyguard to listen in his sleep.

  When Dane laid his watch back on the nightstand, his hand encountered his hip holster. His instincts told him that they were safe—for tonight. But regardless of his certainty, he couldn’t sleep. He hated the idea that Annie was putting herself in more danger than necessary by staying here. But he understood her reasoning and admired her courage. There wasn’t anything weak or fragile about Annie. She didn’t run from her fears—she met them head-on.

  Dane laced his fingers together and cupped the back of his head with his palms. He kicked the sheet and lightweight blanket down to the foot of the bed and stretched. His toes touched the footboard of the antique bed. He tried to concentrate on relaxing, but the harder he tried the more tense he became.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about Annie. The way she’d laughed and smiled aboard the Sweet Savannah. The way the sunlight had highlighted the silky blue sheen of her jet-black hair. The way her eyes widened when she was angry. The sweet feel of her body pressed against his. And the hot, hungry way she had returned his kiss.

  Dane’s body grew hard as blood pumped heavily below his waist. He supposed Ellen Denby had been right when she’d said he needed to have sex. It had been quite a while since he’d been with a woman. But just any woman wouldn’t do. Not now. Not since he’d meet Annie. The most stubborn, independent little cuss he’d ever known.

  What was it about her that got him all hot and bothered just thinking about her? She was pretty. She had a nice figure. She was intelligent. But he’d known his share of women who possessed those same attributes. No, Annie was different. She was smart and sassy. Independent and alluring. Poised and passionate.

  And every time she looked at him, he knew she wanted him. She might not like it much, might even hate the very idea of it, but it didn’t matter. She could no more control her feelings for him than he could his for her. Even though they shared common backgrounds, Annie had made it perfectly clear that she despised the traditions and customs of the society into which she’d been born. And he embraced his heritage. He followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and countless Carmichael men before him. He was proud of his lineage and felt comfortable in the role of a Southern gentleman.

  But a Southern gentleman needed a true Southern belle as his mate. Lorna had been his perfect counterpart. She had been all that was sweet and gentle and pure.

  Annie Harden was nothing like Lorna. But then, he had no intention of mating with Annie for a lifetime. Wanting to make love to a woman didn’t mean you had to make a commitment. And he was sure Annie would run from any permanent entanglement with him. But they could become lovers. An affair for as long as it lasted. Until the fiery passion burned itself out.

  Dane shot up, turned on the bedside lamp and ripped off his pajama bottoms, which he’d only worn as a concession to his duties as Annie’s bodyguard. He unzipped his bag, yanked out a pair of old jeans and shimmied them up his legs and over his hips.

  He couldn’t have an affair with a client! It was against all the rules, against his own principles. Getting personally involved with Annie could endanger both her life and his. He needed to be thinking with his head and not his groin.

  Annie prayed for sleep, for just a few hours of rest. No worries, no troubles, no thoughts. But her mind wouldn’t shut off and her body wouldn’t relax. She had gone over everything that had happened since Halley’s telephone call. Nothing made sense. Nothing added up. Nothing except the fact that Halley had disappeared and ever since she had gone to Point Clear four days ago in search of Halley, someone had been trying—repeatedly—to kill her.

  What had she overlooked? she wondered. There had to be something, some clue, to help her solve the mystery. How had Halley’s kidnapper known who she was talking to that night? Redial! Annie thought. Or had the man already been in Halley’s room and listened to their conversation? Just what did these people think she knew? Whatever it was, had it cost Halley her life?

  It has put your life in danger, an inner voice warned Annie.

  What would she have done that night on the beach if Dane hadn’t been there? And later, in her hotel room, what if Dane hadn’t come back to check on her? And what if he hadn’t suspected that there might be a bomb under her rental car? And what if she’d been alone at the Robinsons’s lake house when the shooter had opened fire?

  You’d be dead! she told herself.

  She owed her life to Dane and all she’d done since she’d run into his arms on the Point Clear beach was argue with him, resist his kindness, and fight the urge to surrender to him. She hadn’t shown any appreciation at all.

  Her mother was paying him a small fortune to protect her. This was just a job to him. She didn’t owe him anything! Okay, so he’s strong and brave and fearless, but he’s not a man you want to get involved with, her conscience warned her. No way, no how. You’ve been down that road before, Annie ole girl. And you know where it leads—straight to heartbreak. To-die-for good looks and courtly manners and impeccable breeding can camouflage a domineering tyrant or a philandering playboy.

  But you want him, that inner voice taunted her. You want him so bad you’re—

  Annie sat straight up in bed. Perspiration moistened her body, causing her coral silk gown to adhere to her skin. Her femininity throbbed. Her nipples peaked. You’re just horny, she told herself. You haven’t been with a man since—

  She turned on the bedside lamp, hunted down her coral house slippers and matching silk robe. No use wearing out the bed, she thought. And no use lusting for a man who was so very, very bad for her. But there was also no use trying to pretend that she didn’t want to go across the hall and climb into bed with Dane Carmichael!

  Once out in the hall, she paused by Dane’s open door. Tiptoeing into the room, she held her breath. His bed was empty. Where was he? Had something happened? Maybe he couldn’t sleep, either. Maybe he went downstairs to get a drink or find a book to read or…

  She made her way down the stairs. Not a sound. Then she notic