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The fact was, she’d been living in one of Ian’s flannel shirts for four days, sleeping in it, eating in it, wandering out to the loo in it, with only her boots in addition She ran a hand over her head; it felt as though her naturally curly, bright copper hair was standing on end, big as a house She’d , but other than that, nothing Sheout in Ian’s outhouse

She glanced at her naked wrist again and shivered She started counting in her head todoes a small lion wait for his prey? He had a coat, so they weren’t ; if she opened the door and he was nowhere to be seen, could she make the mad dash for the cabin? But first, she should do what she came to do, so she wouldn’t have to use the little blue pot

Task finished, she sat a few er, very quietly Then she sheepishly opened the outhouse door, cursing the squeaking hinges as she stuck her head out She saw nothing, so she took a careful step outside She heard a hiss and snarl and saw the cat lurking around the shed, twenty feet away She retreated, sla the door "Shit," she said aloud "Shit, shit, shit!"

So she brought up her feet so that her heels rested on the seat and pulled the huge flannel shirt over her knees, hugging the in the outhouse hich to defend herself In fact, there was also no reading azine Leave it to Ian--bare to the bone No extras He didn’t even keep a book in the house unless it caan to shake with cold It didn’t help that she began coughing, even though she tried to control it, stop it,cat could probably hear her and know his prey was still alive, trapped

So be it She would freeze to death She didn’t re fro implied it was painless

Then she heard the sound of Ian’s truck coine; it was rough and growly She sprang to her feet, because suddenly her only thought was that Ian could be attacked by the feline beast that waited for her She pressed her ear against the rough wooden door She heard nothing until the screech of Ian’s truck door opening She flung the door to the outhouse open and yelled, "Ian! Look out! There’s a--"

She was cut off by the snarl and lunge of the cat at the door She ducked in quickly with a scream, inexplicably happy that the cat had coone after an unprepared Ian

So, she thought, here we are I’m trapped in the john and he’s trapped in either the truck or the cabin And it’s colder than hell Great And to think I ishing for a microwave

But only seconds seee blast that caused her to sit up straight and catch her breath Then the outhouse door opened sharply, and Ian stood there with a startled look on his face and a big gun in his hand "How long have you been in here?" he asked

"I have no idea," she said "I think ot a sheepish look on his face "You about done in here?" he asked

She burst into laughter, which brought another coughing spasain "Yes, Ian," she finally said "I’ve widdled and wiped Can I please go home now?"

"Hohed "Jesus, do you have no sense of huine what he was doing around here I don’t keep food out or s around the shed You think maybe he likes chicken soup?"

"I’ve never had a proble out where people can see hie him--"

"What the hell was that?"

"Puma," he said "Mountain lion"

"I knew that was a lion" She stopped suddenly "You didn’t hurt him, did you?"

"Marcie, he wanted to eat you! Are you worried about his soul or soo away," she said "I didn’t want hio dead"

"I just scared hi her quickly to the cabin, "if it had been down to you or him, could you have shot him?"

"No," she said

"No?" he asked

"Well, I’ve never fired a gun, so I don’t like un like that in my hands I could’ve probably shot you or the cabin or shot the crap out of that outhouse…" She burst into laughter at her pun "But he ay sht?"

"What for?"

"So, in future, I can get to the bathrooood hitter in softball"

He stopped walking and looked down at her "Jesus, there’s always the blue pot"

"Yeah, but there are sos a lady will risk her life to keep private"

He smiled He actually smiled "Is that so?"

Six

T he very next day when Ian ca at the sink in his flannel shirt and calf-high boots No pants Pantiesher face with a washcloth, and her hair was so bushy it looked like a cloig He put the sack on the table "Feeling better?" he asked

"I must be," she said "I’d kill for clean hair"

"You want to wash your hair?"

"It was te, but I didn’t know if a cold, wet head was the best idea The water out of this pu"