Nordic Heroes: In the Market and a Wholesale Arrangement by Day Leclaire Page A

unwanted rush of regret. Did she act as beaten as she felt? She sighed. “He explained why we can’t win.” She turned and met his compassionate gaze. “Don’t get too excited. I’m not convinced. Yet.”
    If he noticed how much she betrayed with her final qualifying word, he didn’t show it. His eyes gleamed with gentle mockery. “You’d disappoint me if you were.”
    She lifted her chin in a gesture of defiance. “You don’t see any white flags flying, do you?”
    He chuckled and started the engine. “Not a one.” He backed out of the driveway and headed away from Magnolia. They drove in silence, though not an uncomfortable one. Within minutes they were approaching Cornucopia. “Where should I drop you off?”
    “Home. It’s the house behind the store.” She’d check Cornucopia later. She needed time alone. Time to think.
    He stopped in front of the house and a huge marmalade tomcat jumped onto the hood of the car. Rainer’s eyebrows shot upward. “What is that?” he demanded.
    “That’s Scratch. He’s part cat, part mountain lion, and owns this part of town.”
    “I guess.” He dismissed the cat and turned to study her, concern reflected in his voice. “You look so . . . defeated.”
    “What do you want?” she asked. “A fight? Fine. Put ’em up. We’ll duke it out.”
    “Tempting, but I’ll pass, thanks.”
    “Then what?” she demanded, shaken.
    “You already know. I’m after Cornucopia. Nothing will alter that. Even so, I’d rather not destroy you in the process. Change is inevitable. How you adapt to change is up to you.”
    “In other words, adapt or die? Never,” she declared. A rush of fierce anger rose within her, jerking her from her lethargy. “I won’t give in.”
    He reached for her, ignoring her attempts to evade his touch, and captured her chin in his hand. “I didn’t bring you along today to fight.” A tiny grin softened his mouth. “And though I enjoy our little battles, they aren’t meant to wound. Don’t keep battering yourself against me. I make a rough barrier. You’ll hurt yourself.”
    She believed him. Like a human wall, everywhere she turned stood Rainer, cutting her off, wearing her down, straining her to the limits both emotionally and physically. She’d almost run out of angles. The threat to Cornucopia, a threat she’d once thought ridiculous, grew slowly, inevitably, more and more real.
    His hand shifted from her chin to cup the side of her face. “Relax,” he urged. “Enjoy today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.”
    She shook her head, unable to dislodge his hand. “If I don’t think of tomorrow, who will?”
    Something flared deep in his eyes, the turbulent blue darkening. “I will.”
    He eased her closer to him, a strange tension visible in the set of his jaw. His fingers slipped deep into her hair, tangling in the thick, dark curls. He placed his free hand on her waist, his palm warm and heavy through her cotton shirt.
    “If you’d let me,” he murmured, “I’d take care of today and tomorrow and all the days after that.” His mouth caressed the corner of hers, tasting, nipping, inching along, until he finally staked full claim.
    Jordan sighed, her lips parting, savoring the faint taste of mint tea on his breath. She slid her hands across his chest and then around his back. His grip on her waist shifted, his hands straying toward her hips.
    The magic of his touch began again, first on her back, tripping along her spine, then to her side and along her abdomen. She couldn’t catch her breath. Her skin quivered beneath his fingers, and she clutched his shoulders, struggling for control.
    “Jordan,” he groaned into her mouth. “This is how we should always wage war. Here we both win.”
    She didn’t want to hear his words, didn’t want to think. She knew what he was—a warrior, his battles fought long and hard and relentlessly.
    Even as the thought passed through her head, she could feel herself giving ground,