“Is it working?”
Cara laughed. “Yes, it is, actually. It just scares me to think that someone wants us dead so badly. I worry for Zerina and Broni; they are all alone. I’m lucky to have you.” Cara sent him a soft smile.
Jericho felt his throat tighten in fear. He didn’t want her to depend on him. He didn’t want her soft smiles or the love shining out of her beautiful eyes.
His chair scraped back from the table, and he started to rise from his chair to leave the room in order to get the hell away from the unwanted feelings.
A hurt look entered Cara’s eyes. She knew he was about to run, and she wasn’t going to say anything, only let him go. She understood.
Jericho felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. When he turned, he didn’t see anything, but he still felt the touch. It was as if it was telling him to stay, as though, if he left the table, there would be no going back.
Jericho felt like he was at a crossroads between his old, lonely life and a new one filled with love. With Cara.
As he broke out in a cold sweat and began to shake, the imaginary hand tightened on his shoulder, giving him strength.
He had built his physical strength so that he would always be able to protect himself, but he had ignored his heart. It was weak, afraid to trust and love. He didn’t know how to be with someone day after day. He wasn’t sure he could. To have someone around constantly, wanting to be with him, someone who could take away the loneliness and the pain of his past … if he just could be strong enough to let Cara love him...
“Would you like some more bread?”
Cara shook her head, not mentioning that there was plenty on the table.
“Okay.” He nodded his head as he scooted his chair back under the table then added more spaghetti to his plate.
Cara looked down at her plate and tried not to cry. She knew how hard it had been for Jericho not to run. She was going to have to go slowly with this man of hers. He was skittish and afraid of her feelings for him. Nevertheless, there was one lesson her father had taught that she was going to take to heart …
“What are you thinking about?”
Cara looked up, smiling. “Patience is a virtue.”
Chapter 12
“You cheated!” Jericho accused.
“I did not.” Cara tried to keep a straight face yet was unable to hold back her giggles.
Cara stared at the shirtless Jericho seated at the kitchen table and attempted to look innocent, which was hard to do when she was guilty as hell. Who could blame her with the body the man had?
When he had taught her poker, she had easily learned the game, though she had become bored. Sensing her apathy, Jericho had raised the stakes and taught her strip poker. Now, boredom was the last thing on her mind, and since he was the better player, she had learned to become devious.
“You did! I saw you pick up an extra card and hide another.” Jericho gave her a disdainful look. “You’re not even a good cheater.”
Cara gave him what she hoped was a sexy look.
“Are you sick?”
“No, I was trying to give you a sexy look.”
“Baby, all you had to do to accomplish that was to let me win. There’s nothing sexier than you naked.”
“Yes there is; you naked.”
He leaned back in his chair until it rested on only the back two legs. “If you wanted me naked, all you had to do was ask.”
Cara smiled at his easy teasing. Over the last week, she had fallen even more in love with the man. He had become everything she had ever dreamed about in a lover. He made her hot merely by staring at him, shirtless with his faded jeans hugging his lean hips.
Cara was amazed at how relaxed he looked. He had slowly let down his guard and let her in. His soul was just as dark as before—that couldn’t change—but the hardness in his eyes and expression were gone. He made her feel special, like she was loved, whether he would admit it or not.
“Have you heard the phrase ‘cheaters never prosper’?” Leaning back farther in the chair, he gave her a hard stare. “You seek to cheat the Indian? At one time, your hair would have been prized. You might even have been taken captive and made to become my woman.”