His head snapped back as though she’d slapped him. “Listen, I didn’t mean to...”

“Just stay away from me. I... I want Danni to work here. But you aren’t part of the deal. I don’t want you here at all.”

His arms hung at his sides, and his face went blank. “What have I done?” he asked simply.

What had he done? Her heart twisted with pain. Nothing, except to throw her emotions into a turmoil she didn’t think she could handle.

“It... it’s not you,” she whispered at last, her eyes asking him to understand. “It’s me. I can’t have you here. Please...”

He stared at her for a long moment, then finally nodded his head. “All right,” he said simply. “Don’t worry. I won’t ever bother you again.”

A sound turned both their heads. Danni had come out of the office and was watching them, eyes wide. It was obvious her young mind was having difficulty understanding what was going on.

“Let’s go, Danni,” Brett said, holding out a hand for her. He glanced back at Kendall. “What time do you want her tomorrow?”

Kendall tried to get her head straight. She felt like a fool. The two of them must think she was off-balance to take this so seriously. But she couldn’t help it. That was just the way it was.

“Three-thirty?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm and professional.

His blue eyes seemed to take in everything, all the emotions, all the doubts she had. “Fine,” he said quietly. “She’ll be here.”

He took Danni’s hand and started for the gate. Danni looked back at Kendall, her eyes troubled. “Brett?” she said. “Brett, don’t you think...?”

“Don’t worry about it, honey,” he said crisply. “Kendall knows what she wants, and what she doesn’t want. Everything’s okay.”

He didn’t look back. They went out the gate, and Kendall followed slowly to put the bar in place again. They didn’t wave as they drove off. But her heart was still beating like a wild thing in her chest. She’d never known a man like Brett Carrington. Perhaps she’d never known any man at all.

Danni arrived the next afternoon, just as Brett had promised.

“I love animals,” she said, excitement shining in her eyes. “What can I do first?”

“Learn how not to love animals quite so much,” Kendall told her, but she said it with a smile in her voice. “The very first thing you must do is get rid of the idea that these are pets who will respond to loving care. They’re not. They’re wild animals and they’ll hurt you if you’re not careful. Not because they’re cruel or angry. Just because they must always be on the defensive. That’s the way they stay alive in the wild.”

Danni tried to hide her disappointment but it showed. “I’m not allowed to stroke them or touch them?”

Kendall shook her head. “An elderly man named Bruno, a gamekeeper on my husband’s estate, once told me something I’ve never forgotten. And now I want you to keep it in mind all the time.”

Danni looked apprehensive. “Okay.”

“Here it is. Anything that has a mouth, bites. Period. We work with these animals, but we always keep an escape route in mind, we always watch to see what their mood is, we always act as though they could turn on us at any moment. That way, we all stay safe.”

Danni nodded.

Kendal smiled, relieved. The girl was going to be okay. Kendall spent the rest of that afternoon taking her around and introducing her to the animals, showing her how the food was prepared, how the cages were hosed out without getting the animals wet.

When Danni appeared the next day, riding up on her bicycle, her excitement had dimmed, but Kendall could tell by the determined set of her jaw that she’d decided she wanted to do well here at the shelter. That pleased her. The girl had spunk.

Within a few days Danni fit in as though she’d always been there. Her workers, Ernie and Pedro both liked her and taught her things about the care and feeding of wild animals she needed to know. Kendall found herself looking forward to afternoons. Danni’s youthful enthusiasm brightened up the place. Even the animals seemed to respond to her.

“I love it here,” Danni said one day, after Kendall had let her see the secret dark spot where Chelsea kept her cubs. “Could I stay longer? Could I help you shut them in for the night?”

Kendall glanced at her watch. “You’ve already stayed a half hour over. Won’t they be expecting you at home?”

Danni’s eyes had gone unusually stormy. “Brett is out of town and Sandi’s having her boyfriend over. No one will even notice if I don’t show up.”

“Sandi. I remember her. She claimed to be brewing a love potion the day I visited your house.” She smiled at Danni, expecting a smile in return, but Danni’s look of disgust surprised her.

“Love potion. That sounds like Sandi. All she can think of is Mike Turner. Tonight she’s trying to get at him through the stomach, like they say. She’s cooking something fancy.” She grunted. “She might as well go for the stomach; it’s a cinch she’ll never get him by appealing to his brain.”

Kendall wasn’t sure if it was Sandi or Mike that brought out Danni’s scorn. But it was a Friday night. Danni had no school to prepare for in the morning. “Tell you what,” she suggested. “You call home and ask if you can stay and have dinner with me. Tell Sandi I’ll drive you home later on.”

“Really?” Kendall was touched at how happy this seemed to make the girl. “I’ll call her right now. She’ll say yes. She’ll be happy to get rid of me.”

Kendall chalked her attitude up to mere age differences with her sisters, but as the evening progressed, she began to realize it might be more than that. Danni had not one good thing to say about any of her sisters, and nothing but praise for Brett.

“Our parents died when I was young,” Danni told her as they sat over a dinner of shrimp salad and cantaloupe. “Brett and Julie were the oldest, so they raised us. Then Julie got married and moved to Alaska. That was about three years ago. Brett has been taking care of all of us ever since.”

It was a homey image, totally at odds with the raw sexuality of the man. Kendall smiled and said faintly, “All those women and only one man. Poor Brett!”

“Oh, he loves it.” She made the statement with a touch of irony. “He’s always all involved with Anne’s career and Sandi’s education and her troubles with Mike.” Her voice lowered and her eyes seemed to be gazing at something far away. “Sometimes I wish I were older, like them. Then maybe he would take me seriously...”

Change the subject whatever way Kendall might, Danni always found a way to swing it back to Brett. Her feelings for her brother seemed to be a mixture of hero worship and resentment that Kendall couldn’t quite get a handle on. When Kendall finally drove her home, waiting until she let herself into the cheery house, she couldn’t help but wonder which of those upper windows was the one for Brett’s bedroom.

She felt a lot more secure at the shelter these days. She’d taken Brett’s advice, though she never would have admitted it to him, and asked Pedro to stay in a little trailer she had brought onto the property. He was happy enough to do so. He had no wife or family. All he had were his job and the animals.

So now she wasn’t alone at night any longer.

Still, the threats didn’t stop. Anonymous notes were taped to her gate in the morning. And the very next day the Johnsons called.

The call came late in the afternoon and Danni took it. Kendall was in the office at the time, going over accounts. She didn’t pay much attention as Danni cheerfully answered the phone, but as her voice became strained, she looked up. Danni looked at her and shook her head anxiously.

“No,” she was saying. “No, really Hiram, it couldn’t have been any of our animals. We don’t have any missing.”

Kendall jumped up to take the receiver from her but by the time she got to it, Hiram had hung up.

“He said something had ripped a big old hole in the fence to his henhouse,” Danni told her, her eyes huge and worried. “He said he was going to come on over here and shoot all our animals.”

For just a moment, the words stunned Kendall, and she felt the same fear she could see in Danni’s expression. Quickly, she suppressed it.

“He’s bluffing,” she said. “He wouldn’t dare. He knows he’d go to jail if he did anything like that.”

Relief lit Danni’s face. “I know. I’ll call Brett. He’ll take care of it.”

Kendall reached out to stop her from dialing his number. “No, don’t you dare tell Brett. I don’t want him to get involved in this. I can handle it myself.”

“But he’ll know what to do! He can go over to the Johnsons’ and order them to stay away from us. He’d do it, too.”

“No, Danni. No.”

Danni didn’t understand. Who could understand? Kendall wasn’t too sure of why she was so adamant herself. After all, if it would help protect the animals...

But no. She couldn’t let herself get tangled with the man again. Her reactions to him were too strong, too frightening. She thought of Gerald. She’d imagined herself in love with him once. And then she’d married him and found out a thing or two about the real world. Never again would she lay herself out on the line that way. Never again would she risk that sort of pain. She was her own master here. It was so much better that way.

Other than reinforcing the gate and warning Bernie and Pedro to be on guard, she did nothing extraordinary. The day passed and nothing happened. She breathed a little easier. But she couldn’t keep from looking over her shoulder. It was a shame that their peace of mind was shaken this way. But it seemed to come with the territory.

Brett Carrington waved to Mike Turner, the market manager, then put his six-pack of soda down on the conveyor belt and grinned at the grocery store cashier. “Hey, Bonnie, how’s it going?”

Bonnie Hampton shook out her blond curls and showed him her pretty dimples, flashing a flirtatious look as she expertly rang up his total. There were only a few people in the store and no one else in line. She had time to talk as long as Mike was busy elsewhere.

“Hey yourself, Brett,” she drawled provocatively. “Where you been lately? I haven’t seen you since that Fourth of July picnic.”

He shrugged his wide shoulders. “Here and there. I’ve been doing some consulting for the Department of Fish and Game lately, so I’ve spent a good deal of time out of town.”

“Really.” She bagged his sodas and leaned against the counter, smiling up at him. “You should come in more often. We could talk over old times.”

His rich laughter filled the air. “Old times? You mean like high school? That was a long time ago, Bonnie. Those are the days I’d rather forget.”

Bonnie was genuinely shocked. “Are you kidding? You were a football hero and class president and every little thing I can think of offhand. Glory days. Why would you want to forget that?” She took his bill and counted out change, handing it to him.

He took the coins and pocketed them. “There is life after high school, Bonnie. Didn’t you know?”

She sighed. “Not for me there isn’t. The last fifteen years have been a big fat waste as far as I’m concerned.” She leaned toward him again, fluttering her lashes. “Brett, tell me something. How come you never asked me out?”

His smile was in his blue eyes. “Why honey, you were always three deep in boyfriends. I could never get close enough.”

She leaned closer, flashing signals. “There’s nobody in your way now.”

Brett raised his eyebrows, subtly backing away. “What happened to Greg? I thought you married him.”

Disappointment clouded her gaze. “I did, but we didn’t make it. We’re getting a divorce.”

Amusement still simmered in Brett. He chucked her under the chin and grinned. “Tell you what, sugar. I never date married women. Call me when that divorce is final.”

She pouted. “I’ll probably be hooked up with someone else by then.”

He spread his arms wide. “My loss.”

Her frown was puzzled. It was apparent she wasn’t quite sure how he meant that. But his attention had wandered. Bonnie looked to see what had caught his eye.

“Oh her,” she said as she saw Kendall coming in through the automatic door. “Just wait until Mike sees her. Every time she’s in here he’s on her like a homing pigeon.”

“Is that right?” Brett’s gaze darkened as her prediction came true. Mike took one look at the floor and came bounding out of his office to pull out a cart for Kendall. They were too far away to hear what he was saying, but his ingratiating smile said it all.

“Well, what do you know?” Brett put his sack of sodas behind Bonnie’s counter. “Hold these for me for a second, will you, Bonnie? I’ve got something I’ve got to do.” He grinned at her. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to have a talk with that boy.”

Kendall had noticed Brett the moment she’d stepped into the store, noticed how good he looked in the gray slacks and white shirt, open at the neck, as though he’d just pulled off a tie and left it in the car. He must have been to a meeting somewhere, she surmised. She’d never seen him dressed for city business before. It made her wonder what he’d look like in a tuxedo.

She was glad she’d worn a dress, and had her hair loose. She felt feminine and pretty, and confident enough to face him, if she had to. She’d seen him look her way and instead of waving, she raised her chin and went on about her business.

But she’d also seen the cashier leaning toward him, flirting for all she was worth, and Brett leaning back, taking it as his due. For some reason she didn’t want to explore fully, that entire scene infuriated her. So when the store manager came running out to help her get a cart, she gave him her sweetest smile and hoped that Brett was still watching.

“Here you are,” the manager was saying, yanking apart two stubborn carts. “These can be a problem sometimes.”

“Thank you so much.” Kendall smiled again, feeling slightly foolish. After all, she’d been risking a wrestling match with a Bengal tiger just moments before. Shopping carts should be duck soup for her. “You certainly do know how to give your customers personalized service.”

“I try.”

She looked into his eyes and realized this was a mistake. He’d been attentive before, and she’d always been carefully cool, because that was the way she was with men. This warmth she’d just shown him would give him the wrong idea. She could see that right away. But she wasn’t sure how to take it back.

She couldn’t very well say, “Listen, mister, I didn’t mean that smile. Don’t get fresh.”

He was standing a little too close and looking a little too deeply into her eyes. She was trying to think of a way to edge gracefully out of the situation when Brett’s casual drawl came between them, making the manager jump away like a jack rabbit.

“Mike, old pal,” Brett said, humor salting his tone. “How are you?”

Mike may have been fine but he sure looked guilty. The two of them turned to look at Brett. Despite being glad someone had intervened with the manager and stopped any aspirations he might have had toward getting friendlier, Kendall was furious Brett thought he had a right to barge in this way. Who did he think he was, anyway?

“Oh, hi Brett,” Mike was muttering, running a nervous hand through his hair. His gaze shifted from Kendall to Brett, back to Kendall again. “I’m fine, I guess. And you?”

Brett shrugged broadly, the picture of a man at ease with his environment. “Great. Couldn’t be better.” He leaned back against the cart rack and grinned at them both. “I see you’ve met Kendall MacKenzie. Pretty, isn’t she?”

Kendall’s eyes widened in shock and color suffused Mike’s rangy face.

“Uh...well, yeah...” he managed to sputter, looking longingly toward his safe office. “Listen, Brett...” he began, but Brett was in control of this conversation and he didn’t pay any attention. He was busy looking Kendall up and down as though she were for sale herself.

“She’s pretty all right. I’ve noticed it myself. But you know what they say. There’s nothing more dangerous than a pretty woman, especially when she’s new in town.”

“What...?” Kendall began indignantly, but Brett’s hand came down on her wrist, squeezing slightly, and despite her outrage, she heeded his warning to be quiet for a moment, though she was seething inside.

“Hey, Brett,” Mike was saying, backing away, but finding himself up against a wall full of bags of potato chips with no clear escape. “Listen, I didn’t mean anything...”

“No, Mike. Of course you didn’t. You’re a good guy, we all know that.” Brett’s grin was wide, sympathetic. “It’s probably not your fault, the temptations being what they are.”

Kendall sputtered but his hand tightened again and she contented herself with glaring at him, and at the same time trying to pry his fingers from her wrist.

Brett paid no attention. His focus was all on Mike. “Say, did anyone ever tell you the story about the time Sandi was going with Ricky Taitano in eighth grade?”

Sandi? The name rang a bell in Kendall’s memory banks, but at first no clear picture came to mind.

But it was obvious Mike knew who Brett was talking about. He looked for help to the right, then to the left. “I don’t recall it,” he said weakly.

Brett nodded as though he’d known that all along. “Sandi found out old Ricky had given a valentine to another girl. Little Luci Allender, I think it was. Well, you know Sandi’s temper. She waited until Ricky was nature-swimming out at the reservoir, and she stole his clothes, leaving behind an old pink tutu from her ballerina days. Poor old Ricky had to wear that thing all the way back into Sweet Willow a route that took him right past Luci Allender’s.” He laughed softly, as though the memory were one of his favorites. “He sure did look silly in that thing. It took him years to live that one down.” He shrugged. “And of course, Sandi dumped him that very night. She couldn’t go steady with a laughingstock. You know how it is in junior high.”

Mike had finally wriggled his way around the potato chip display and he began to edge steadily toward his office. “That sure is interesting, Brett,” he said, looking like a desperate man.

“Isn’t it?” Brett wasn’t smiling any longer. “Sandi is very creative when she’s angry. I wouldn’t cross her if I were you.”

Mike nodded. “I’ll remember that.” He made it down the aisle. “See you later, Brett. You too Miss...” The poor man finally made good his retreat.

Brett turned to Kendall, looking very pleased with himself. “That boy will go far,” he mentioned chattily. “Yessir. He seems to know how to learn from his mistakes.” Finally, he released her wrist. “You were saying?” he asked pleasantly.

Kendall’s hands curled around the handle of the cart as though it were Brett’s neck. “Do you want to explain to me what that was all about?” she demanded, her heart suffused with anger.

His blue eyes were perfectly innocent. “What what was all about?”

She motioned, incoherent for a moment. “I walk in and see you flirting away with that... that cashier person. That seems to be perfectly all right. But when someone tries to flirt with me, he has to be reprimanded.” She was working hard to keep her voice down, but it was an effort. “Who made you arbiter of my social life? What business is it of yours whom I flirt with?”

Brett’s face hardened. He spoke softly, but his words stung. “Look, lady, I don’t care who you flirt with. You can do what you damn well please. But I do care when my sister’s man, the one she thinks she’s going to marry, starts flirting with you. That’s when I get the urge to pull in the reins a bit.”

Kendall suddenly realized the full picture. “Oh.” She looked toward the office, then back at Brett. “That was Sandi’s Mike?”

“That was Sandi’s Mike.” He shook his head. “God only knows what she sees in the man. But she seems to love him, so what can I say?”

“Oh.” She knew her cheeks were bright pink and she cursed them. She shook her head, at a loss. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

His face was friendly, warm. “I know you didn’t. You’re forgiven.”

The smile was back in his eyes. She knew it was time to grab her cart and pull away, but she hesitated, trying to think of a simple way to say goodbye. He spoke again before she could think of anything.

“You sure look pretty in that dress,” he said, looking up and down.

She flushed, pleased despite everything, and suddenly the urge to leave had fled. She liked that he stood up for his sisters, just plain liked him all around.

“You look sort of pretty yourself,” she said, cocking an eye toward his sharp apparel. It felt right, bantering with him here. There wasn’t an off note to it. “Where have you been?”

“Business.”

“That’s what I thought.” She hesitated. She really should move on. After the way she’d been treating him lately, he had no reason to want to spend time with her. But she had an urge to linger awhile. She looked at him, waiting for him to say something else to give her an excuse to stay. He quickly obliged.

“And you?” he asked her, his gaze caressing her bare shoulders. “All dressed up like that. What kind of business do you have?”

“It’s hot.” She shrugged and resisted the urge to fluff out her skirt. “I just decided to wear a dress for a change.”

Teasing humor twinkled in his gaze. “So you could cruise around town and make all the men fall in love with you?”

She found herself smiling and returning in kind, “Oh, absolutely. That’s one of my favorite hobbies. I just dress up and go around making men crazy. Right!” And this time she did swish her skirt and it felt great.

He chuckled softly. “I’ve got to say, you’re quite a tempting sight.”

She pretended to primp, feeling carefree and a bit giddy. “That’s me, old Tempting Tess here. I love to get men to ask me out just so I can turn them down.”

His smile faded. “Do you always turn them down?”

She nodded. “Always.”

He sighed in mock sadness. “Even if they’re sorta nice and presentable and lonely and really like you?”

She lifted her chin in sassy defiance. “Especially then.”

His eyes were suddenly serious. “What would make you say ‘yes’?”

She sobered as well. “That depends. Say yes to what?”

“Well, let’s just start with a simple date. Say... dinner.”

She was beginning to realize she should have fled when she had the chance. “I’ve eaten.”

“Tomorrow night.”

She hesitated, longing to agree to go with him. But she knew it was no use. How could she make him understand that there was no point to this? It wouldn’t be fair to let him start something that she couldn’t possibly continue.

She was standing very close to him and she looked up earnestly into his eyes. “Please try to understand, Brett. I don’t want a relationship. I don’t want a boyfriend. I don’t want a lover, or a husband. To say ‘yes’ to a dinner date means I might be open to any of those things. And the truth is, I’m not.”

His eyes clouded and she couldn’t read anything from his expression, but his voice was light. “A simple dinner date doesn’t have to lead to the altar,” he said softly. “I’ve taken women out to eat before, and it hasn’t happened yet.”

She shook her head. “Brett...”

He took her hand in his. “Have dinner with me some night. I promise I won’t ask you to marry me.” He put his other hand in the air. “Scout’s honor.”

Without knowing quite how it happened, she was laughing with him and saying, “Well, maybe...” and that seemed to be enough for him.

Mike came out of his office, saw them still standing there, and scurried back in again. Their eyes met and they laughed again.

“I really am sorry about that,” Kendall said, harking back to the confrontation over Mike. “I really didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t know.” He frowned. “You don’t know enough about this town. You’re such a babe in the woods.” He sighed and before she knew what was happening, he’d linked arms with her and taken over her cart. “Come on,” he said with weary resignation. “Let’s start your education.”

Kendall came along because she really didn’t have any other choice. Not only was he force-marching her through the store, he was also overwhelming her with his tall, strong presence. His tan skin looked rich and warm against the crisp white of his shirt. His blue eyes sparkled, too knowing, too sure of himself. The sense of his manliness was strong, flowing around her like a heady perfume. If this were a perfect world, she would close her eyes and sway against him and be lost in a sensual paradise she could only dream might exist. But things were hardly perfect. And she knew she had to protect herself. Nobody else would.

She knew how he affected her and that was why she’d vowed to stay away from him. But there wasn’t much she could do to get rid of him now. The deep temptation was to let herself enjoy him, just for a little while. Her heart raced and her skin glowed and she tried hard not to think of that night and that kiss...

“Here we go,” he was saying as they rounded the corner and entered the produce department. There were only a few people present. One was an older woman picking out Granny Smith apples. “Millie Jones, my ninth grade English teacher. She’s one of the most respected women in Sweet Willow.”

The woman was gray-haired, but her dark, snapping eyes suggested a mind as sharp as any youngster’s as she looked up when they approached.

Brett held out a hand to her. “Millie Jones, how are you?”

“Why Brett Carrington, you cute thing!” She took the hand and pulled him in for a hug, obviously delighted to see him. “How have you been?”

“Just fine.” He pulled back and grinned down at her. “I want you to meet someone. This here is Kendall MacKenzie. She’s the one who started that new animal shelter out on Chilao Road.”

“Oh.” She adjusted her glasses and looked Kendall up and down. Kendall tried to smile but suddenly she felt as though she were back in high school and had forgotten to get a hall pass. “Yes, I had heard something about that.” The tone was suspicious.

Brett heard it and nodded. “I just wanted you to meet her and see what a nice lady she is. I hope you and all your friends will listen to her point of view before you make up your mind about what she’s doing out there.”

Millie Smith frowned. “Well, I do have some reservations.”

“I’m sure you’d be welcome to come out any time and take a look for yourself. Wouldn’t she, Kendall?”

“Oh, yes. Of course.” Kendall made herself smile again. “I’d love to show you what we do at the shelter. Please do come.”

Millie’s eyes pinioned her. “Thursday a week at nine in the morning. All right?”

Kendall nodded, stunned. “Yes. Oh, certainly. That would be lovely.”

“All right.” The woman gave Brett another wide smile and moved on. “See you Brett. Nice to meet you Miss MacKenzie.”

Kendall turned to Brett, excited. “That’s such a good idea! I hadn’t thought of it.”

He motioned her to quiet. “We’ve got another one right here,” he said under his breath.

She turned and saw an elderly man with a white beard and wild white hair coming their way.

“Dr. Granger.”

“Brett!” The man’s face lit up. “How are you, boy?”

“I’d like you to meet...”

But Dr. Granger hadn’t seen her yet and he was looking critically at his patient. “Son, you ought to fatten yourself up.” He pinched Brett’s arm. “You could use some meat on those bones. You’re looking a bit peaked.” He grunted. “’Bout time you got yourself a good wife to make sure you eat right.” He turned and grinned at Kendall. “Did you know I delivered this boy? Him and all his sisters. I heard the first sound he ever made. I nursed him through measles and chicken pox. And a broken arm. And that time you went away to college and you caught...”

Brett cleared his throat with authority. “That’ll do, Doc. Kendall doesn’t want a rundown on everything that’s ever ailed me.”

“No?” He winked at Kendall. “Just come on by the office, Miss, if you plan to get serious about our boy here. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“Doc, this is Kendall MacKenzie. She’s the one who’s putting in that wildlife shelter.”

“Oh yes. I heard about that place.” He shook his full head of hair. “Don’t like the sound of it much.”

Kendall took over this time. “What is it that you don’t like?”

“Lockin’ animals up in cages. Isn’t right. They should be free to roam the hills, as was intended.”

“I agree with that totally. But you see, these animals I have were raised by humans, and now many of them can’t be set free. I have a lion who was declawed as a cub. He could never make it in the wild. I have a puma who’s too tame. She would walk right up to a hunter and beg for a snack. How could you say she would do better in the hills? She wouldn’t last a month. Others might be trained to return. We try to do that for them, get them ready to leave civilization. That’s what we’re all about.”

The doctor looked to be impressed. “Is that so? You know, I hadn’t heard this. I’m glad you set me straight. I’ll have to come out and take a look for myself.”

“You do that. Any time.”

They moved on toward the meat section and Kendall turned to Brett, her eyes shining but bewildered. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why not?”

“I could think of a lot of reasons, mainly because you’re as against the shelter as anyone.”

Brett met her gaze and smiled. “Let’s just say I like a fair fight.”

“I don’t buy that.”

He considered. “Okay. How about this? You look so pretty in that dress, I just can’t help myself.”

That made her blush. Was she really that pretty? She didn’t know. She’d always been average, feeling prettier sometimes than others. And then she’d married Gerald who had ignored her. She’d learned to dress well, to create an image that looked presentable in her own mirror. But her husband’s eyes had told her that she was inadequate. Over the years, she’d decided her looks were far from pleasing. Surely that was one of the reasons Gerald had ignored her so...

But Brett’s eyes told her something else entirely. Could she believe what they were saying? Was she misreading something? A part of her longed to take the plunge, to smile at him and believe, to take his compliments as gifts that she deserved. But experience told her to be careful. What if his eyes were lying? What then?

She blushed and looked away and pretended to do her shopping. He came along. As they moved through the store, he introduced her to two or three others, then retrieved his package from behind the counter and went home, leaving Kendall to wonder about his motivations. But whatever they were, he was certainly doing her good. She couldn’t fault him there.

She was still basking in the glow of good feeling he’d created when she drove up to the gate of the shelter and found Pedro waiting for her.

“Kendall,” he cried, running toward her four-wheel drive car. “Thank God you’re back. The male wolf is missing.”