Gift of Gold

of the spa room, Laura’s shoulder-length brown hair gleamed with health. In fact, her whole body looked quite sleek and trim and bursting with energy, as befitted the manager of a spa. She was three years older than Verity and occasionally took a somewhat protective attitude toward her.
    Laura was not above trying to matchmake for Verity and had made several futile attempts to pair her friend off with a carefully chosen up-and-coming type who was vacationing at the spa. To date, all of Laura’s efforts had failed, so it was not surprising that she found the sight of Verity in a man’s arms quite interesting. Verity stifled a groan and finished drying herself.
    “Don’t rush out on my account,” Laura said hastily as Jonas hauled himself lightly out of the pool. “Feel free to stay as long as you like. Verity and her friends aren’t subject to the same rules as the guests.”
    “That’s all right,” Jonas said, his eyes on Verity as he reached for a towel to wrap around his waist. “Something tells me it’s time to call it a night. Ready to go back to the cabin, Verity?”
    Verity cleared her throat. “Yes,” she said firmly, “I am. Good night, Laura.”
    Laura’s smile was beatific. “Good night, Verity. Nice to meet you, Jonas. I’m glad Verity was able to solve her staffing problems so quickly. Good help is so hard to get.”

 
    Chapter Three
     
    Jonas got out of bed Monday morning with a feeling of pleasant expectation. The No Bull was closed for the day and he intended to use the free time to finish settling into his new home. It looked like he was going to be around for a while, he thought, as he padded barefoot across the cold wooden floor to the small, chilled bathroom. The notion gave him an unfamiliar sense of satisfaction.
    He glanced at the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that lined every wall of the small cabin and wondered where he would put his few personal items. Someone, presumably Emerson Ames, had already turned the place into a long-term storage facility for a private library.
    Well, Jonas reminded himself as he considered the limited room available, he didn’t need much space. He’d been traveling light for years. A man on the run didn’t let himself get weighed down with too many belongings.
    He studied himself critically in the cracked bathroom mirror while he ran water into the sink. There was no getting around the fact that he did not appear too prepossessing in the mornings. The dark stubble of his beard gave his lean face a shadowed, menacing look. Jonas wondered if Verity would mind.
    Ah, well, she would get used to it. After all, he had.
    He worked up a lather and applied it to the stubble while he contemplated the mental image of Verity in the mornings. Jonas decided she would look pleasantly tousled and flushed with sleep, all her normal barriers lowered.
    Those barriers had begun to crumble quite nicely last night in the spa pool. Jonas felt another wave of satisfaction go through him as he picked up his razor. Given a little more time, he would have had that prim swimsuit off of her. Verity hadn’t been fighting him. In fact, she had seemed as caught up in the moment as he had.
    It was too bad about Laura Griswald’s interruption, but Jonas was philosophical. He had plenty of time. He’d been in a rush to locate Verity, but now that he’d found her, he could afford to take things easy. He hadn’t even tried to pick up where he’d left off in the pool last night after he’d walked Verity back to her cabin. He had enough sense to know when to push and when not to.
    He felt he had all the time in the world. It was a pleasant feeling. The idea of getting to know Verity slowly and intimately filled him with a throbbing excitement. The only major problem Jonas could see was the very practical one of how long he could restrain himself physically. After last night, it was going to be hard to let things take a slow, leisurely course toward bed. But he was determined to try. The last thing he wanted to do was rush her.
    Verity deserves a proper courtship.
    Jonas frowned into the mirror, wondering where that thought had come from. Was that what he was doing? Courting Verity? No, not quite. He wanted to learn her secrets, but that wasn’t the same as wanting to marry the woman, for Christ’s sake.
    Jonas finished shaving and took his shower. By the time he was dressed and had water on the stove for instant coffee, the cabin was finally beginning to get warm. He