He had no idea why he felt so compelled to help this woman. She had nailed it when she said that she and her daughter weren’t his responsibility. Any sane man would boot them out the door and wish them luck. But Jeb couldn’t do that. He’d felt drawn to Amanda from the start. Maybe, if he were honest with himself, she was also right about his motives. Way down deep, was he hoping that if he helped her, she would reward him with her love and all the physical privileges that came with it? When he searched his heart, he knew his motives were selfless. If Amanda came to love him, he would count himself a lucky man, but he would never try to force her into it. He could only pray that he didn’t awaken in the morning to find Amanda and Chloe gone. Though he felt he’d done a good job of reassuring Amanda, he had to be realistic. Asking her to accept that much money from him, and believe there would be no strings attached, was expecting a lot.
