The shower was small and the water cool. It was heaven. I scrubbed with an old bar of soap and a clean washcloth I’d removed from a small basket on the only shelf in the bathroom. I washed until my skin was raw. I used soap to massage my scalp around the bandage and felt halfway human again. The only downside of being free of the grime was a lack of a razor. For some reason having a clean body made the stubbles on my body more irritating. Within another day or two I’d have monkey armpits to go with my hairy legs. The small personal grooming kit in my bag at least had shampoo, comb, lotion, toothbrush, and toothpaste. I brushed the fur from my teeth.Combing my hair was a little harder. If I had something to pull my hair back with, the bald spot most likely wouldn’t show. No such luck and it would probably cause a more severe headache than I already suffered. My sudden sense of vanity needed to take a flying leap into the cold dark pit it had come from. I pulled an old familiar t-shirt

Breakfast was incredible. It was the first real food I’d had since the attack. I no longer felt nauseous and my head didn’t ache at all. I needed to train.Laying down my napkin, I looked into Brack’s sexy eyes. “Will you object to me jogging on the shore after my food settles?”“No jogging.” He took a last bite of his food.My entire body tensed in anger. “You can’t be serious. I need to train. You have no idea how far back these last few days have set me. I also need something to take my mind off sex. I’m a red-blooded American female with needs.” I batted my baby blues for good measure. “I don’t even have a vibrator for Christ’s sake. If you don’t want me humping your leg, I would suggest you change your mind about the running.”I could tell he fought a smile when he bit his lip to stop it from forming. “Do you only think about sex?”This was fun. I lowered my voice to a sexy whisper. “I think about winning. I think about what it takes to win. And, I think about sex. I like sex. No

It took about ten minutes to adjust to the smaller court, racquet, and three walls. I had two distinct bruises on my left arm from taking solid hits that stung. Brack had several more than I did. He finally figured out I was aiming at his balls and protected them. He was smarter than his muscle-bound jock looks indicated.I was down by four, dripping sweat, and trying to keep my frustration under control. He was good and had obviously played for a while. I was better than this, though. No one had a backhand like I did. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t my game. I owned every court I walked onto.I made a perfect serve and Brack missed. Another serve and the battle was on. I scored again. Two down. Brack took my next point away and it was his serve. I jumped to the right and backhanded the ball. He missed. My serve.I shut him down after that and won the game.We both breathed heavily with him bent double. I wasn’t a wimp. He had bulky muscle and probably didn’t run as much as he shoul

A slight breeze came off the ocean and even in the sun, grilling the steaks wasn’t bad. No sign of Brack, though. For a few minutes it had me worried. Then I saw him walking along the shore coming toward the hut while holding his shoes in one hand and talking into his cell phone with the other.I wore a bikini top and my only halfway clean shorts. I really needed to wash my things later and hang them up. I’d ignored his dictate about washing out my clothes that morning. Brack stuck his phone in his pocket and headed my way. If I read his scowl correctly, he wasn’t happy. He glanced at the steaks before heading into the hut and going straight to the bathroom. He never said a word. Of course, neither did I. The door shut behind him and the sound of the shower running came next.When he came out, I had everything set up on the table. I’d cut up some fruit because it was better than nothing. The steaks were big and with the fruit, it should be enough. Brack strolled over dressed in his je

After pulling a t-shirt over my swimsuit, I placed a bottle of water on the table for each of us. We sat down.Mack barely glanced at me before turning to Brack. “There’s been no change. I’ve run extensive computer searches on all her friends. Nothing out of the ordinary pops up. We know he’s close to someone connected to her inner circle and…”I cut him off. “I’m right here, you know? I’m a person and you’re talking about me.”His eyes flashed to mine and his cheeks went pink. “Sorry.”“Go on,” Brack said to Mack as he cast an irritated look my way.“The senator…” Mack looked at me. “Your father is not making things easy.” His gaze returned to Brack. “I need you to call and talk him down.”Brack didn’t blink. “Sure. What else?”Sure. What the fuck? No one talked my father down when he was on a roll. I couldn’t believe Mack and Brack thought it would be so easy. I held back a giggle over their rhyming names. I’d save that for a time I needed a good insult.“We’re monitoring her…” now