Walking on Air by Catherine Anderson

Author:Catherine Anderson [Anderson, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780451418333
Amazon: 0451418336
Barnesnoble: 0451418336
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Ever aware that his days were numbered and his fate might be less than pleasant if he didn’t accomplish all the tasks assigned to him, Gabe had, from the start, been keeping a mental checklist. He’d been told to hire a Pinkerton agent. Done. He’d been told to make Nan the sole beneficiary of his will. Done. He’d been told to make her trust him. Almost there. By never touching her intimately in bed without an invitation—which, damn it to hell, he hadn’t yet received—he’d succeeded in convincing her that she needn’t anticipate a physical attack every time the lamp went out. His second great move had been forcing her to be present while he had Hamm draw up his will. Immediately afterward, Gabe had regretted doing that, but in retrospect, he knew that visit to the attorney’s office had erased all fear in Nan’s mind that Gabe was after her money. Also, by signing documents that protected her assets and then transferring ten thousand dollars into her bank account, he’d given her financial independence and the ability to flee if she chose. Those three actions had gone a long way toward convincing Nan that not all men wanted or needed to be in complete control of a woman. Though Gabe couldn’t yet say Nan trusted him completely, he believed she was coming close.

Two things remained on his to-do list: making Nan fall in love with him and then seducing her. Even in the shack, when Gabe had first heard those conditions, he’d had some serious reservations. What kind of man deliberately wooed a woman, tricked her into loving him, and made use of her body when he knew from the start that he couldn’t stay with her? And how was it right to pretend he loved a woman with the sole aim of getting between her legs? The angels had strongly disapproved of Gabe’s former practice of paying women to satisfy his male urges, but to Gabe’s way of thinking, that had been an honest exchange, money in return for service. And he’d always been generous, leaving more than was asked. It had been his way of paying tribute to his mother.

Not that he wasn’t coming to care for Nan. The more relaxed she became around him, the more she tugged on his heartstrings. The fact that she didn’t know she was doing it made it all the more poignant. There was no artifice about her. She was real. If he’d known he could spend a lifetime with her—loving her, protecting her, and providing for her—he would have gladly let go and moved beyond mere affection to a deep and abiding devotion. What man in his right mind wouldn’t? But the remainder of Gabe’s life was numbered in days, not years.

The big question that troubled him was, just how far was he willing to go in order to save his own ass? He’d done plenty in his life that didn’t make him proud, but deliberately setting somebody else up for a world of hurt wasn’t one of them.

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