Chapter 16

Zane swallowed a sigh and pushed himself out of his chair. "How about if we go out on the porch. We can watch the rain from there. It's covered so we won't get wet. Rain always used to make me feel better."

When I was a kid and not a wreck of a person.

Dara gave him a skeptical look, but when he waved at the porch, she headed toward the door. The air had a clean, fresh smell to it, the kind that rain always brought with it. Zane wished the storm could cleanse his brain the way it did the landscape. He took Dara's hand, feRafeng the fragility of the bones. It was a wonder the wind out on the bay hadn't just blown her away.

He was careful not to hold her hand too tight. He was at a loss how to proceed because he had no idea what things he might do that would send frightening signals to her. He closed his eyes in an effort to center himself and bam! Out of the blue, an image of Dara, naked, snapped into his brain. She was on her knees, head bowed, her rich sable hair falling over her f