Page 299 of Sins of the Heart

---

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ROXY BRACED HER PALM against the mosaic glass tile

of the shower stall. She hung her head and let the water

pound her back, releasing the knots, easing the aches.

She’d shampooed twice, conditioned once, washed

every part of her body, then washed them again. But

she couldn’t seem to make herself turn off the tap and

wrap herself in the towel she’d laid out. The water just

felt so damned good that she wanted to extend the

pleasure, make it last.

And in a way, she wanted to hold fast to her moment of solitude. She wasn’t eager to face Dagan, not

with the bizarre intimacy between them now. Intimacy

implied trust.

She wasn’t so good at that.

She’d been on the brink of death, her chest ripped

open. He could have left her to die. He hadn’t. Did that

mean she could trust him? She honestly didn’t know.

She glanced toward the bathroom vanity. Steam

condensed on the glass shower door, blocking her

view, but she knew what was there: a second glass

beside hers, a second toothbrush in that glass. She

supposed he’d raided the stash she kept in the medicine cabinet.

Her toothbrush had been flying solo for more years

298

SINS OF THE HEART

than she cared to count. Safer that way. Now he’d gone

and messed things up.

He’d nursed her, cared for her, bled for her.

She ran her tongue along the edge of her teeth. She

knew his taste, uniquely his, familiar now. Too familiar.

---