She clung to a rock a few feet to the right of the waterfall, breathing heavily. Her heart was pounding out of control, both from the adrenaline of stripping in front of Reed and the sure knowledge that he would follow her into the water. That they would make love this time, not merely have sex. Her emotions had been stripped raw by Reed’s story. Not merely the details of Mikaela’s sad life, as harrowing as they were. What really devastated Cassie was the desolation she’d heard in Reed’s voice. He’d truly cared about that girl, a girl he hardly knew. A few times over the years, Cassie had cringed at what appeared to be Reed’s cold attitude toward the people he dealt with on the job. Cops had a tendency toward gallows humour that made one question their sensitivity at times. But tonight the emotion thickening his voice had told her there were deep wells of pain beneath his easy-going surface, a capacity to care about people that caused him real agony. In the face of that knowledge, Cassie knew she wouldn’t be able to keep her own feelings locked safely away if she let her husband into her body.
