'That was the old me. The new me is way more sophisticated.'

He chuckled and helped himself to a handful of tissues. 'd.a.m.n I hope not. I liked Jane, she had b.a.l.l.s.'

Robyn went still. 'She did, didn't she?'

'It's OK, I like multi-o.r.g.a.s.mic Robyn too.' He covered her hand with his own and squeezed. She found herself smiling. 'I like her a lot.'

Dakota cleaned up as best he could and went into the bathroom to finish off. As he washed, he eyed the tiny bath and shower. Would he and Robyn fit in there together? With a grin he turned on the water. He was prepared to risk it.

'Hey, Robyn, come shower with me.'

There was no answer from the bedroom so he poked his head around the door to call her again. She sat cross-legged on the end of the bed, head bowed, shoulders slumped. She looked so frickin' vulnerable. Had he done the right thing getting so close to her? A wave of protectiveness threaded through him.

'Robyn?'

She looked up. Her smile was slow in coming.

'Do you want to shower with me?'

'Just shower, no funny business?'

He tried to look offended, hoped she wouldn't notice the sudden interest stirring in his loins. 'Cross my heart.'

She took off her new bra and walked toward him. He couldn't help but watch the sway of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s crowned with tight dark nipples.

'Dakota . . .'

'Yes, ma'am.' He snapped his gaze back up to her face.

'You're blocking the doorway.'

He grinned and stepped back, inviting her into his steam-filled lair. She brushed past him and stepped into the tub while untying her braid. Sighing, she separated out the heavy strands and shook her head. It was the first time he'd seen her hair down. It was so long it reached the small of her back.

He unsnapped his shirt, pulled his T-shirt over his head and dispensed with his jeans. Two seconds later he was beside her in the narrow shower. Normally he hated small s.p.a.ces, but with a live wet s.e.xy woman vying for elbow room, things suddenly seemed a lot more bearable.

She faced the shower spray so he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her fingers were busy in her hair leaving his the freedom to wander at will. He lathered them up with peach soap and cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

'Dakota!'

'I'm just trying to help out here.'

'Yeah, right.'

His thumbs glided over her nipples, felt them harden along with his c.o.c.k. He nipped her ear. 'You still like me right, Robyn?'

Her fingers stopped moving on her scalp. 'G.o.d, you're so needy. I never said I liked you.'

'Sure you did.' He tweaked her nipples between his fingers and thumbs. 'When you came all over my hand.'

He grunted as she twisted and dug her elbow into his gut. With great care, he continued to soap her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, concern for her muting the urgent thrust of his desire.

'We don't have to do this if you don't want to,' he said.

She turned so suddenly he had to step back. 'Why do you do this?'

'What?'

'Second-guess everything, overa.n.a.lyze, nit-pick, whatever you want to call it.'

'Because I want to make sure you're OK with what we're doing.'

She widened her beautiful eyes at him. 'I said I was, didn't I? What's up with you that you have to make sure everyone's happy all the time?'

He stared at her. Was that true? He always hated to be in the wrong or to have his actions misunderstood.

Robyn sighed. 'If you try to please everyone, all you do is make yourself miserable.'

He frowned down at her. 'I'm not miserable. What's wrong with making sure things are OK?'

'Because you are not responsible for other people's happiness.'

'Yeah, right, that's bulls.h.i.t. Tell that to my mom and stepdad, my half-sisters, my c.r.a.ppy father's other sons. Someone has to try to keep the peace.'

She touched his cheek and he jerked his head away. 'Dakota, you can't be everything to everybody. I've tried and it just exhausts you.'

Anger burnt in his gut and he forced a smile. 'You've tried? Christ, Robyn, you're probably the most selfish person I've ever met.'

Her stricken expression made him want to punch himself or persuade her to do it for him.

'I didn't mean that,' he said.

She pushed the wet hair away from her face and moved past him to step out of the shower. He waited as she wrapped a towel around herself.

'It's OK, you're probably right. I am selfish, but it's about time. I spent years trying to keep everyone happy and paid the price.' Her smile was forced. 'Perhaps I've gone a bit too far the other way, but at least I'm putting myself first for a change.'

She walked into the bedroom and shut the door quietly behind her. Dakota let out a string of curses and smashed his fist against the tiled wall. Would he ever learn to keep his big mouth shut? And what the h.e.l.l was he doing acting like her moral superior? He had no idea what she'd been through, no idea what had brought those stark shadows to her eyes.

The thing was, she'd bugged him with her remarks about him trying too hard to keep everyone happy. What else was he supposed to do if he wanted his family to thrive and succeed? He turned off the shower and got out, found a discarded towel to rub himself dry.

OK, so sometimes he did feel as if he used up all his energy making stuffhappen for other people, but what was wrong with that? His dreams could wait a while. There was no rush or need to be selfish. There were way too many overachievers in his family already.

He draped the towel over the bath and headed back into the bedroom. Robyn sat on the bed watching the TV, her arms wrapped around her knees, long dark hair now confined in her usual severe braid. She'd put on a new black T-shirt and a pair of shorts that displayed the length of her legs.

Dakota rummaged in his bag for another T-shirt, clean boxers and then slipped on his jeans. He wanted to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be OK, but she'd probably accuse him of trying to make her happy or something. There was no way in h.e.l.l he was going to apologize again for being who he was.

'Would you like something to eat?'

She turned her head toward him, her expression polite and neutral. 'I thought there was nowhere to eat in the evenings here.'

He picked up one of the bags. 'There isn't, but while you were shopping, I picked up some ready-cooked stuffand salad. We can reheat it in the microwave.'

'There's a microwave?'

'Yeah, in the main office. It'll only take me a minute to run over there and back.'

Robyn sighed and uncurled her legs. G.o.d, he looked so cute standing there, offering to make her dinner, especially after the way she'd chewed him out. But she wasn't going to apologize; he was too good to be true.

'What is there?'

'Nothing fancy. Noodles and sauce, Mac and cheese, meatloaf . . .'

'That would be great.'

He smiled at her properly for the first time since their shower. 'Which one?'

'Any of them, all of them.'

'OK, I'll be right back. How about you deal with the salad?'

'I can manage that.'

He gathered up the bag and left, leaving Robyn staring at the remaining bags. Inside she found a mixed salad with dressing, a carton of orange juice and four tubs of chocolate pudding. Of course there was nothing to put the food on or to eat it with, but she was sure they could manage.

In Dakota's absence she decided to sort out the rest of her new clothes and put them into the backpack she'd bought, ready for the morning. She worked her way through the bags, cutting off tags, trying stuffon to check the fit and generally enjoying her cheap purchases. Amazing how much she'd been able to buy with the money Dakota had given her.

Lent her, she reminded herself sternly. When she got back to LA she was going to demand her sister and mom pay back some of the money they'd borrowed from her over the years. It was about time she got something from them to help pay the bills. Her mom, in the role of her manager, had screwed Robyn over financially and emotionally. As a young adult dependent on drugs and alcohol, she'd let herself be taken advantage of over and over again.

She started on the last bag of stuff, found a large box of condoms buried amongst the make-up and cleanser she'd bought. Perhaps she shouldn't have got them after all. What right had she to tell Dakota how to live his life? Despite his over-nice streak he seemed pretty together. She sighed. At least she'd stopped being a doormat to her family and her lovers. Perhaps running away had been the answer all along. It had given her a breathing s.p.a.ce to sort the truth from the lies and remember exactly what was important to her. At least now she could go back and focus on Leda's needs.

'Hey, I borrowed some plates and cutlery from Dorothy, so we're all set.'

Robyn fixed a smile on her face and hurried across to the small table where Dakota had placed the food.

'Sorry, I was putting my stuffaway. I'll get the salad.'

'It's OK, I can get it.'

She s.n.a.t.c.hed the bag from him. 'I can do it!' She ripped into the plastic so hard that half the leaves ended up on the table.

'Thanks for tossing it so well.'

She looked up, her teeth hurt from grinding them together. 'I'll have that bit. You can have the rest.'

He held out his hands in a placatory gesture. 'No worries, it's only salad.'

'I know!' Robyn sat down abruptly in her chair, her anger evaporating as rapidly as it had arisen. 'I can fix it just fine if you'd stop interfering.'

'OK there's no need to go nuts.' He sat opposite her and a muscle flicked near his jaw. 'Dammit, woman, are you going to eat your dinner or not?'

She fluttered her eyelashes at him. 'It depends. Are you going to get mad at me?'

'Nope, I'm going to eat my food and shut up before I say anything else stupid, all right?'

He glared back at her, actually glared, and Robyn found herself smiling.

'Good because if you do shut up I might be persuaded to do something interesting later with that chocolate pudding you bought.'

His eyebrows rose and he settled back in his seat and picked up his fork. 'Shutting up.'

Chapter Seven.

Dakota put down his fork and looked at Robyn, who sat opposite him at the diner. Despite taking a shower, he still smelt like chocolate. Four tubs of dessert had turned the night into a series of sucking and licking chocolate from each other's orifices until the bed was smeared with sweetness and they were both giggling like school kids.

Despite the closeness, he hadn't come inside her, yet. Her mouth, yeah, but not the full works. He was still waiting to be asked nicely. His mouth quirked up at the corner. As if that would ever happen, with the p.r.i.c.kly contrary individual sitting opposite him. But that was what he wanted, her begging for him, begging for his c.o.c.k . . .

'Why are you staring at me?'

'What?' He blinked hard at her as she swiped at the corner of her mouth.

'Do I have egg on my face or something?'

'Nope, I was just thinking.'

She snorted. 'I bet I know what about.'

He smiled into her suspicious eyes. 'My truck, of course.'

'Yeah, right.'

'I'm hoping those guys will be able to fix it today so we can get going.'

'That would be cool, so I'll forgive you for lying.'

He picked up his coffee and swallowed half of it before looking back at her. 'Actually, I was thinking about you begging me for s.e.x. Of shoving my c.o.c.k inside you while you screamed for more.'

'Dakota!' Color rose on her cheeks and she put down her fork.

'What's up, honey, are you getting shy on me? You certainly weren't shy last night when I ate that chocolate right out of your . . .'

'More coffee, sir?'