Chapter 283

Joanna stretched languidly in bed, forgetting for a brief moment where she was and how she'd come to be there. She opened her eyes at the sound of a rumbling male voice nearby and bolted upright, staring about the sparsely furnished bedroom in the little hunting lodge. The events of the night before came back to her. Someone knocked on her door.

"Time to wake up, Joanna," Rafe called. "Kincade is seeing to your horses. You have time to eat some breakfast, and then you must leave."

"I'm awake," she called and climbed out of bed. For the first time in two days her body wasn't stiff, and for that she was grateful, yet she felt a twinge of disappointment in not being able to sleep out-of-doors with more ease.

Perhaps I am too soft. What if Brock married her and later decided he wanted a stronger, more hardy Scottish lady, someone who could sleep with him outside beneath the stars without complaint?

No, don't think like that. He chose you; he wants you.

She cleaned her teeth, washed he