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“I love you,” she heard him vow again and again. Listening to the wonderful sound, she smiled and curled her body close to his to fall into a deep, exhausted sleep.
* * *
It was barely dawn when Tiffany awakened. She reached for Zane, but he was gone. The bed sheets were cold. Thoughts of the night before began swimming in her sleepy mind; then she heard him walk back into the room.
“Zane?” she murmured, groggily trying to focus her eyes.
He came to the bed and sat on the edge near her. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”
He was completely dressed, as if he were leaving. “What’s going on?” she asked, glancing at the clock. It was only five-thirty. Even Mac didn’t start work until after six.
“I have to go.”
“Where?”
“Back to San Francisco.”
She looked into his eyes and saw the sadness lingering in the gray depths. “Why?” she asked, forcing herself into a sitting position. She tugged at the comforter to cover her naked breasts and then leaned forward so that her face was near his. Something was wrong. She could feel it. In the course of a few short hours, Zane’s feelings toward her had changed. Her heart, filled with love of the last few hours, twisted painfully.
“I have things I have to do,” he said. “You’ll just have to trust me.”
“Does this have anything to do with Dustin?” she asked, shivering from the cold morning air.
“I don’t know.” He placed a warm hand on her shoulder. “Just trust me, okay?”
She nodded and forced a frail smile. “You’ll be back?”
He laughed and broke the tension in the room. “As soon as I can. If I’m not back in a couple of days, I’ll call.”
“Promises, promises,” she quipped, trying to sound lighthearted. He was leaving. Her heart seemed to wither inside her. “I left the phone number of my hotel on the note pad in the kitchen. If you get lonely—”
“I already am.” Lovingly she touched the red scratch on his face. “My hero,” she whispered with a seductive smile.
“Hardly.”
She curled her hand around his neck and pulled his face next to hers.
“Look, lady, if you don’t cut this out, I’ll never get out of here,” he growled, but a pleased grin stole over his angular features to charmingly display the hint of straight white teeth against his dark skin.
“That’s the idea.”
Zane let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, Tiffany, what am I going to do with you?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured against his ear as her fingers began working at the buttons of his shirt. “Use your imagination.”
An hour later he was gone, and Tiffany felt more alone than she ever had in her life. She was more alone than she had been on the morning her mother had abandoned her, for then she had still had Edward, and when her father had died, she had married Ellery. When Ellery was suddenly killed, Tiffany had relied on Dustin.
Now, as she cinched the belt of her robe more tightly around her waist and stared out the window at the rain-washed countryside, Tiffany was completely alone. She had no one to rely upon but herself. She shivered more from dread than from the morning air, and she watched as Zane’s car roared to life and disappeared through the trees.
Chapter Twelve
After Zane had gone, Tiffany found it impossible to return to bed. Instead she dressed and walked outside, stopping only to scratch Wolverine behind the ears. The dog responded by wagging his tail enthusiastically.
“Some hero you are,” Tiffany reprimanded fondly. “Where were you last night when I needed you?”
She refilled Wolverine’s bowls and walked to the stallion barn. The rain had become no more than a drizzle, but the ground was still wet. and when she ventured off the pavement. her boots sank into the soaked earth.
Mac was already up and checking on Moon Shadow’s injury.
