Nightwalker by Unknown Page B

to, and then she bit
    into her own half. She refused to speak to Justin.
    "Bailey didn't even notice the cat," Justin observed after a few
    moments.
    "Probably thought he belonged to me," Cassie said shortly. "Justin, I
    meant what I said earlier. I want you to leave."
    "Why didn't you ask Bailey to throw me out, then?"
    "Because you probably would have made a terrible scene and beaten the
    poor man to a pulp, mat's why!"
    "Probably." Justin shrugged, losing interest in the matter. "How's the
    leg?"
    "It hurts."
    "Yeah, it will for a day or two, I imagine. After we eat I'll go upstairs
    and see if that east bedroom is really habitable."
    "You needn't bother," she told him stiffly.
    "You're hardly in any condition to do it yourself."
    He had a point there, Cassie realized unhappily. The leg was still
    causing her pain and standing on it would be unpleasant, to say the least.
    "Hand me some of those books. I'll read while you do the housekeeping. Be
    sure to check for signs of mice or other varmints," she added darkly.
    "Hopefully, the cat has been doing his job," Justin said, rising to his
    feet. He handed her the stack of books, his expression making it plain
    what he thought of them, and went upstairs to carry out his self-assigned
    task.
    Cassie opened Poetry from the Heart in Ten Easy Lessons and stared
    unseeingly at lesson one. All she could think about was how she was going
    to get rid of Justin Drake.
    As she tried to read during the afternoon, Justin came and went on
    silent feet, bringing her tea, asking her what she wanted for dinner, telling
    her he'd gotten the bedroom into some semblance of order. She was
    half-amazed at his attentiveness and half-frightened by it. It was
    becoming increasingly obvious that he had no intention of leaving that
    evening. By the time he brought in a predinner glass of wine and rebuilt
    the fire against the chill of another rainstorm, Cassie knew she was going
    to have to make defensive plans for the coming night.
    "You're not going to make this easy, are you, Justin?" She sipped her
    wine broodingly and watched him work on the fire. He looked right at
    home illuminated by flames. Justin Drake was living in the wrong century.
    He belonged to an earlier era. Cassie realized that she had grown less wary
    of him by daylight. His rescue and care of her had undoubtedly
    contributed to that relaxation of caution. But now night was coming and
    already he was appearing far more dangerous to her. He was, indeed, a
    creature of the night.
    "Cassie, be honest. You wouldn't want to be alone tonight in this old
    house and you know it. You probably wouldn't even be able to get upstairs
    to the bedroom by yourself."
    "My leg feels much better," she contradicted loftily.
    "I'm staying, Cassie," he said flatly.
    "I'm not going to sleep with you, Justin. I swear it! And if you try to
    force me…"
    "Relax. I made up two bedrooms this afternoon," he told her coolly.
    "You did?" She hadn't realized that.
    "I know when to push and when not to push," he assured her
    sardonically. "And tonight, after your disaster this morning, is not a time
    to push. You can lie all by yourself in that huge four-poster bed and
    wonder what it would be like if I wandered into your room."
    Her head snapped up defensively. "I can guarantee you that I will not
    spend my time wondering about that! Furthermore, my leg should be
    much better by tomorrow morning and I want you gone by noon!"
    "We'll talk about tomorrow when it gets here. Ready for dinner?" He
    gave her his twisted smile and took her empty wineglass from her hand.
    Cassie shuddered as she looked over at the cat. "What am I going to do,
    cat?" she asked when Justin had left the room. "He scares me in more
    ways than one." But he excited her, too, in a new and unfamiliar way.
    Cassie remembered his kiss and told herself her own reaction to the man
    was the most dangerous element in the tangled web he was weaving
    around her. Why couldn't she hate him the way he