Shiver

don’t care. You could have a baseball bat in your pants and it wouldn’t mean anything to me.”
    “I’m just trying to explain—”
    “Explain what ?”
    “Why I’m backing off here. Why us having sex isn’t going to happen.”
    Sam almost sputtered. “Like I thought it was? Like that was even a possibility? Listen, Mr. Criminal in Federal Custody,you seem to have a pretty skewed idea about how much you appeal to women. Maybe you ought to try getting real.”
    “Come on, Sam. After the way we were last night, of course you would naturally expect—”
    “Naturally expect? I didn’t naturally expect anything. So last night we made out. So what? No big deal. It was an accident, practically, and it was never going to go any further than that. Believe me.” So she was lying, probably; he couldn’t know it.
    He fixed her with a level look. “Now who needs to get real?”
    She bristled. “Meaning?”
    “Meaning it was completely obvious where last night was going. If we hadn’t gotten interrupted, we would have wound up in bed. I figured today you’d be expecting us to pick up where we left off, and I wanted you to understand why that can’t happen.”
    Sam wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that steam was coming out of her ears. “I understand why that can’t happen, all right. Because there’s no way in hell I’d ever wind up in bed with you. Not last night, not today, not ever.”
    “We’re on the same page then.”
    Now, that calm statement was infuriating. Sam tried not to let it show.
    “Absolutely we’re on the same page.”
    A smile just touched his mouth. “So why are you so mad at me?”
    “What makes you think I’m mad at you?”
    “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because last night you kissed me like you were dying to crawl into my bed and when I showed upin the kitchen this morning you made big bedroom eyes at me and now here you are spitting fire and yelling at me?”
    “I am not spitting fire. And I am not yelling.”
    “Yes, you are.” His voice went very soft. “And just for the record, baby doll, I think it’s cute.”
    Sam saw red. “You know what you can do with that, right?”
    “Easy.” He actually had the gall to smile outright at her. “All I’m trying to do here is make sure you and Tyler stay safe.”
    “You keep talking like you’re the one who’s supposed to do that.” Sam was practically speaking through her teeth by now. “News flash: you’re the reason we’re in danger, remember? Keeping us safe is why there’s a U.S. Marshal in the next room.”
    “Sam—”
    Whatever he had been going to say next was lost as Tyler came bouncing back into the room. Marco quit talking. His mouth closed into a firm line. Sam tried to wipe all negative emotion from her face.
    Luckily, Tyler seemed happily oblivious to the tension between the adults. His gaze slid past Sam toward the sliding glass doors as he asked, “Mom, can I go outside now?”
    Hostilities instantly—and very temporarily, at least on Sam’s part—set aside, she found herself instinctively shooting Marco a quick, inquiring look.
    “Hang on a minute,” Marco said to Tyler. Scooting his chair back, he spoke to Sam. “I don’t see why not, but I’ll check out the backyard.”
    “Shouldn’t we be getting Sanders—the U.S. Marshal—to dothat?” Okay, so there was still some bite—a lot of bite—in her voice.
    If Marco heard, he ignored her, getting to his feet with the combined help of the table and the chair back. From the way he grimaced, Sam was sure he was in pain, and found herself wondering sourly how many pills he was going to have to swallow to control it. Enough to make him “loopy” again? Even thinking about that was infuriating—and, if she was honest, a little humiliating. The idea that while she’d been going up in flames in his arms he had been too bombed out of his mind to know what he was doing made her nuts.
    I want you so much I’ve got a hard-on right now . . .
    Arggh. She could still almost hear him saying it.
    I’m not going to think about that. I’m not going to think about him. And I am not going to look at the front of his pants. I’m going to be smart for once in my stupid life, and keep sex out of it, just like the rat bastard said.
    “Here, Trey.” As Tyler darted into position to hand over Marco’s crutches, one at a time, clearly eager to be of help, Sam turned her back on them and crossed to the sliding glass doors to look outside for