Matt watched as Cassandra’s eyelids grew heavy. They needed to get some rest. It had been a hell of a day, one she no doubt regretted. He couldn’t say the same. Their time together on the trail, and ending up in this cabin, were memories he would carry for a very long time. She’d made the best of a bad situation, teasing, throwing mud with him like school kids, even playing the silly card game, Fish.

Nothing like the spoiled princess he’d called her.

Now that the cabin was warm and cozy he was getting tired himself, but this place wasn’t exactly set up for guests. Other than the bed, which he had a feeling Cass wasn’t about to share, there was a folding cot about five inches too short for his six-foot-three frame. It could have been worse, at least they weren’t spending a miserable night in the rain.

He should stoke the fire. He set his cards down and rose.

Cassandra stared up at him with sleepy eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Matt smiled, tenderness making his voice gruff. “You win, you’re the official Go Fish champ.” He gently tugged the cards out of her hand. “It’s late, we better get some sleep. You take the bed; I’m just going to add some logs to the fire.”

Cass gazed uncertainly from him, to the bed, and back again. “What about you? Where will you sleep?”

He turned away from the temptation of smooth silky skin and cherry red lips. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

“Matt.”

He stopped, his stomach clenching at something in her tone. He cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“We can share. The bed I mean,” she stammered, her cheeks giving away her embarrassment.

Bad idea, buddy. Very bad.

His conscience wouldn’t let him, though he was unbearably tempted.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he murmured. Then, before he could stop himself, “Do you?”

Cass flushed more, if that were possible, and rose, pretending to busy herself with gathering the cards and replacing them in the package. “It’s not like we’re going to do anything. Except sleep, that is.” She tossed the deck down and straightened to meet his gaze. “We’re adults here. I’m sure we can control…” She waved her hands between them as though fanning a flame. It was working, too. “This… this thing between us. It’s just a normal male, female attraction. Nothing to worry about.”

She stomped over to the bed and threw back the covers before climbing in, her barely-clothed bottom torturing him as she wriggled across the mattress. Once she was settled and covered from chin to toe, she pointed triumphantly to the empty space beside her.

“See, lots of room. You can have the top cover and it’ll work out fine.” She patted the bed awkwardly, inviting him over.

Matt nodded jerkily, hardly believing he was going to agree to this insane idea. Neither one of them was going to get a wink of sleep, but he couldn’t say no, either. There was an invisible cord tugging him ever closer to his doom. It didn’t matter. He might never have another chance to lay with her, whether it was innocent or not. He was taking it.

“I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t wait up,” he said, giving Cassandra a last chance to change her mind, though he’d regret it if she did.

“No fear of that,” she yawned. “I’m bushed.” Then, for all the world as if this were a regular occurrence, she rolled over and gave him her back.

Matt grinned.

Damn, he liked that girl.

* * *

Cassandra lay under the blankets barely daring to breathe. What was she thinking, inviting a strange man into her bed? This was possibly the dumbest thing she’d ever done, other than agreeing to a false engagement, that is. What was it about this man that tempted her to live outside the box? She’d always been a by-the-book kind of gal, now here she was, on a ranch in who-knows-where Texas faking a love life she didn’t have. And didn’t want to have.

Really.

She could hear Matt preparing for bed, the intimacy of him doing all the safety checks—locking the door, closing the curtains, blowing out the light—filling her with a weird mix of anticipation and trepidation. What should she do if he tried anything?

You wish.

Sad thing was, she kind of did. The longer they spent time together, the more she was drawn to him. Her engagement to Jeff seemed part of another world now. This, this felt all too real.

He sank onto his side of the bed and she froze, listening as his boots hit the floor. Plop, plop. Then he was there, his weight making her body roll towards him on the sagging mattress. She stiffened, trying to avoid touching him, and gasped when he reached out and tugged her close, back to front.

“Relax,” he murmured in her ear, his breath causing a wild fluttering inside her chest. “I’m not going to hurt you. We’ll stay warmer this way.”

Oh, she didn’t doubt that for one moment. Her body was on fire, and every inch that touched his felt electrified. His hand rested just under her breast, his arm a warm weight anchoring her to the bed. So much for sleep.

What if she rolled over in the night? They’d be face-to-face, sharing the same pillow. The same air as their lips touched, mingled, ravished. Her heart jumped.

“Go to sleep, Princess. I’ve got you,” Matt’s words were slurred, as though it took too much effort to talk. His chest rose and fell, his breaths deepening as he slid into dreamland.

Men. How could he go to sleep in a situation like this?

Cass huffed out a frustrated sigh.

All wound up and no place to go.

It took a few minutes to get over it, but then she started to see the humor. Here she was worried about Matt attacking her maidenly body, and all the while he had nothing more on his mind than shut-eye.

Talk about an over-inflated ego. Apparently, hers had just been deflated.

She closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile on her lips.