The Cabin by Carla Neggers Page A

one of the mar-
    ble gargoyles.
    Susanna didn’t move. His dark eyes were on her. He
    had on his white cowboy hat, a suede jacket, jeans and
    cowboy boots, and she thought he was the sexiest man
    on the planet.
    But she fought a visceral, inexplicable urge to bolt.
    Not that she’d get far if her husband meant to talk to her,
    but this was her office, her city, her space. His presence
    felt like an invasion—yet it was what she’d wanted. For
    months, she’d dreamed of him coming to Boston, tell-
    ing her he wanted her back in his life. Wooing her, Mag-
    gie and Ellen would call it. But that wasn’t it. She
    wanted to know she mattered to him. She wanted him
    to tell her. She wanted him to ask her to tell him all her
    secrets, one by one, to understand all of them. To admit
    his own fears and secrets, finally, she thought. To talk.
    Well, sometimes that was what she wanted. Other
    times she didn’t have a clue, except a certainty that some-
    thing had gone wrong between her and the man she loved.
    Of course, none of that was why Jack was here. He

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    Carla Neggers
    was here because of her phone call last night. Because
    of Alice Parker.
    Susanna made sure her legs were steady under her
    before she resumed walking up the street. She peeled
    off her gloves, stuffing them in her coat pockets.
    “Hello, Jack,” she said calmly. “Have you been wait-
    ing long?”
    “Thirty minutes.” His Texas drawl was slow and not
    at all casual, curling up her spine, oozing in like smoke.
    She felt self-conscious, aware. He kept his gaze pinned
    on her, revealing nothing of what he felt. “Your door-
    man wouldn’t let me in.”
    “Smart doorman.”
    “An unarmed doorman and a couple of ugly gar-
    goyles. That’s not much security.”
    “I don’t need much security.”
    He moved off from the gargoyle. If she wanted to get
    into her building, she’d have to go around him, not just
    past him. Her opportunity to do an about-face and get
    out of there had evaporated, if it had ever existed. He
    tilted his head, taking her in with those trained eyes,
    more Texas Ranger right now than husband. But then
    he said, “Your nose is red.”
    “I’ve been out walking.” She pulled off her scarlet
    scarf, aware of him watching her hair fall. “I had meet-
    ings this morning. I was taking a break.”
    “Sam said I should tell you he tried to get me to call
    ahead.”
    “I’ve always liked Sam.” The wind gusted again, but
    it didn’t feel as cold this time. “You’re here because of
    Alice Parker.”

    The Cabin
    99
    He kept any reaction tightly under control. “I’m here
    because of you.”
    “Because you’re annoyed at me.”
    He took a step closer, close enough that she could
    feel the heat and warmth of him. “Very.”
    “I’ve wondered what it would take to get you on a
    plane.” She cleared her throat, wishing she could con-
    trol her response to him. Twenty years of sleeping with
    him hadn’t done a thing to dampen her desire for him.
    And it had been so long since she’d had him next to her,
    loving her. “Um—there’s a coffee shop down the street.
    We can talk there.”
    He smiled knowingly. “What’s the matter, Susanna,
    you don’t want to be alone with me?” He skimmed a fin-
    ger across her cold cheek and along the curve of her jaw,
    sending warm currents through her. “It doesn’t matter.
    I can kiss you right out here on Beacon Street.”
    “Jesus, Jack,” she breathed, “you could be more
    neutral.”
    His dark gaze stayed on her. “Not where you’re
    concerned.”
    “All right,” she said briskly, furious with herself for
    wanting him to kiss her—right now, right there on a
    cold, busy street in downtown Boston. “We can go up
    to my office. It’s on the fourth floor.”
    “I’d like to see it,” he said simply, and her throat
    caught, because maybe it was true. Maybe he did want
    to see her office.
    The lobby was small, elegant with its marble floors,
    brass trim and dark,