When she woke again, the quality of the light outside the window had changed. Even through the overcast she could tell it wasn’t early-morning light anymore. Caroline lay in bed, thoroughly relaxed. The extra little nap had done her good, and she felt refreshed, almost…happy.

Let’s not go overboard, she thought wryly. Some would even say she’d made a huge mistake and was headed for trouble. Sleeping with your boarder was not a good idea on so many levels it wasn’t funny. When the affair ended, it was possible that he’d look for quarters somewhere else, and she’d have lost a very good boarder in exchange for some sex. Very good sex, it was true, but still.

Something impinged at the edge of consciousness, and suddenly she was aware of a regular noise that had been in the background a long time, coming from outside. Even while she’d napped there’d been the noise, she realized.

What was it? A regular, scraping noise. Caroline threw back the covers and dived for her dressing gown hanging from a hook on the bathroom door, hopping barefoot gingerly to her slippers. It was cold!

Pulling on the dressing gown, she made for the window but stopped in her tracks when she passed the mirror on the chest of drawers.

Caroline hardly recognized herself. Her hair was a wild reddish mass around her face, flying in every direction. She looked rumpled and unkempt and…incredibly satisfied. Her cheeks were flushed, her mouth looked slightly swollen from Jack’s endless kisses. There was a tiny mark on her throat that could only be—a hickey. My God, she hadn’t had one of those since high school. She was sure Jack hadn’t meant to give her one, but she distinctly remembered him sucking at her skin while he was coming.

The memory of that moment, of feeling him swell inside her, then explode, brought a bright flush to her face and neck and had her clenching her thighs. She could still feel him inside her. Seeing her face in the mirror, Caroline thought she looked like a woman still making love.

She would have been appalled if it weren’t for the fact that it had been so long since she’d seen her own face as anything but pale and pinched with worry. Now all she needed was a flower behind her ear, and she could have been a carefree tourist on vacation in Hawaii with her lover.

The swishing sound continued. Curious, Caroline glanced outside the window and saw him, methodically shoveling snow and doing a superb job of it. Somehow he’d found where she kept the shovel in the garage and had cleared a path almost to the street. It was a long path and the snow was deep. He must have shifted several tons of snow.

He’d not only cleared the walkway to the street, but he’d also cleared the driveway and found the bag of rock salt in the garage and strewn it over the paving stones so it wouldn’t ice over.

It would have taken Randy, Jenna’s nephew, five hours to do that job half as well, and it would have cost her $30.

As if there was an invisible thread connecting them, he suddenly stopped and looked up. Meeting his dark gaze was like a punch to the stomach.

She raised a hand in greeting.

He deserved more than that. He’d done a hard and disagreeable task for her without her even asking. Caroline threw up the window sash and stuck her head out into the freezing air.

“Thank you! Come in now, and I’ll fix you a warm breakfast, you must be freezing!” Her breath formed a cloud around her.

He only had that light denim jacket on, no match for the bitter cold. He didn’t even have gloves! Caroline made a mental note to buy him warm winter gloves as a thank-you for shoveling the snow. She’d love to buy him a jacket, but her budget wouldn’t stretch that far, and he probably wouldn’t accept it. He seemed like a proud man who wouldn’t like to be reminded that he couldn’t afford a winter wardrobe. He might accept gloves, though.

Jack waved his hand at her to get back. “Close that window! Don’t catch cold! I’ll be finished in a little while.”

He waited until she pushed the sash down, then bent to his task again. Caroline watched through the pane for a moment, admiring his economy of movement. He seemed to apply exactly the right effort for the job, movements regular and smooth.

Suddenly, she flashed on the memory of another moment when his movements were regular and smooth—inside her, pumping with the regularity of a machine. The memory sent a heat wave through her so intense her skin tingled, and she knew she was blushing furiously.

This was something Caroline was simply going to have to control. The man was no fool. He was observant and perceptive. Her skin was like a beacon signaling what she was thinking and feeling. She was remembering the sex, and it was out of her control. Amazing. Normally, Caroline had massive amounts of self-control and was always very cool and in command, the complete mistress of herself with men.

Jack, apparently, was the exception.

Well, she was going to have to learn fast how to deal with her wayward thoughts because Jack was going to be coming in very soon, and she had to be able to deal with him without turning red every other second.

Half an hour later, Caroline had showered quickly and cleaned up after last night’s dinner.

In the shower, she had resolutely thought of her bank account, the boiler, and the last payment for Toby’s funeral, which was due and would wipe her out financially for a couple of months. All things guaranteed to depress her spirits.

She needed that, because when she started washing herself, she was constantly reminded of how she’d spent the night. Washing herself between the legs had required particularly disheartening thoughts because before she soaped up, she could smell Jack and sex in the steamy cabinet and could still feel him between her legs, where she was slightly sore.

So while she dressed, went downstairs and proceeded to clean up, she was giving herself little pep talks about how she could remain cool when Jack walked back in. She could, she definitely could, why—

“Hello.”

Oh God, all it took was one word in that deep voice, and her stomach muscles clenched and every ounce of blood that wasn’t pooling between her thighs was rushing to her face. He’d come in so quietly she hadn’t even heard him, which was a miracle considering that the garage door’s hinges needed oiling.

“Hi.” Caroline winced inwardly. Her voice sounded strangled, and her face could probably substitute for a stoplight.

Jack was standing very still, just inside the door, the accumulated snow on his clothes starting to melt and drip onto the floor. They stared at each other, Caroline feeling flushed and awkward.

What was this? What kind of morning after were they having? A thank-you-for-the-bang-ma’am-and-I’ll-be-moseyingon-up-to-my-room-after-breakfast kind of morning? Was it a one-night stand, what they’d had? Were they starting a…a relationship, and how awkward would that be with a boarder?

It was only when Caroline saw that his hands were almost blue from the cold that she flushed even more deeply, only this time with shame.

Manners and concern for others had been drummed into her from childhood, and here she was, dithering about how she should react to Jack, while he waited patiently, hungry and tired. He must be freezing, he hadn’t had breakfast yet, he’d done her an enormous favor, and she was obsessed with what to call what they were doing

Caroline held out a hand. “Let me take your jacket, it’s dripping. You must be freezing! Go on up and take a shower and when you come down, I’ll have a nice hot breakfast waiting for you.”

He walked up to her, calmly, so close she started to take an instinctive step back before she stopped herself.

He looked down at her, smiling slightly. He’d noticed her instinctive movement. Damn the man, he noticed everything.