Free On The Texas Border by Linda Warren

her clotheswere soaking wet from sweat, as was her hair, which hung in rattails. She must look awful. Jonas didn’t seem to notice. He was gazing at her with… Was that concern? Was he worried about her?
    “Are you all right?” he asked in a gentle tone, and she knew that he was. There was a heart in that beautiful chest. Oh, yes!
    She licked dry lips. “Could I have some water, please?”
    He moved to the small refrigerator in the corner and grabbed a bottle of water. With one twist of his strong hand, the cap came off, and he handed her the bottle. She drank thirstily, then rested the cool plastic against her cheek.
    “Thank you,” she said. “It’s cold. That’s good. I’m so hot and…”
    “You’re probably dehydrated.”
    She glanced down at her soaked clothes. “Yeah, I think I lost a gallon of fluid.”
    He leaned against his desk and folded his arms across his naked torso. His muscles bulged, and her eyes were mesmerized by the action.
    “What happened, Abby?” he asked in his deep, husky voice. He said her name just the way she had wanted him to, the way she had dreamed he could—his voice was sensitive, caring and filled with passionate undertones that made her envision…. Damn, was she light-headed? Jonas Parker didn’t want anything to do with her, and she liked it that way. So what was wrong with her?
    She took a gulp of water and gathered her wits. “I’m not sure,” she replied. “I was sitting on the floor behind one of the filing cabinets reading Delores Alvarez’s file, when I heard the door shut. I guess someone thought I had gone home.”
    “Your car is outside,” he reminded her.
    “Oh, yes.” He’d made short work of that logic. Now she had to consider the other possibility. “You think someone closed it on purpose?”
    Jonas nodded and hoped she was getting the message. Someone didn’t want her to find Delores Alvarez.
    “Who would do that?” she asked.
    He had to be honest with her. “I told you that when you start digging into the past, you’d better be able to handle the consequences. And there are a lot of people who won’t want you to find this…this daughter.”
    She thought for a minute. “I went home and got something to eat and drink. When I came back, I saw Edna Kline’s car at the mansion. Maybe she saw mine, too.”
    “She’s certainly one person who wouldn’t want a daughter to surface. I’ll have a talk with her and try to sort this out.”
    An obstinate light entered her eyes. “I appreciate the offer, but I can talk to her myself.”
    “Under the circumstances, I think it would be best if I did.”
    She swallowed more water. He was right. Edna disliked her and probably wouldn’t tell her a thing. For the first time, the idea of accepting Jonas’s help appealed to her.
    “Thank you,” she said appreciatively. “How do you plan to handle it?”
    “Don’t ask so many damn questions.”
    “It’s the only way to get answers, and you justsaved me from suffocating to death. Don’t I owe you my firstborn or something?”
    He grinned. He actually grinned. And the effect was mind-boggling. It softened his masculine features and made him seem more approachable.
    “I don’t want your firstborn,” he answered with that grin still on his lips. Then his face sobered. “What I want, you’re not willing to give.”
    “How do you know until you ask?”
    Your body, Abby. I want to enjoy every inch of your gorgeous body.
    Of course, he didn’t say that. What came out of his mouth was “Give up this crazy quest to find this fictional daughter.”
    She pushed damp hair away from her face. “Jonas, don’t ask that of me.”
    He looked directly into her eyes. “Think about this, Abby. Someone locked you in that room for a reason—to scare you, and it’s only a start.”
    “I can take a little scaring,” she said stubbornly.
    “Then, why are you still trembling?”
    She tried to squelch the tremors inside her, but without much success.