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Having arrived at his destination, he rested his cane against the canvas wall and, drawing the flap aside, he ducked his head and walked in

‘Excuselook he remembered so well ‘I’ll call you in when I’m free’

‘Oh, no, no, please,’ the wo up to make way for him

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Jess de emerald fire his way

He would have known those flashing eyes anywhere, and those lips that fore to taste the creamy perfection of Jess’s rain-washed skin and rasp his stubble against its soft perfection was overwhelht now But he had business to transact ‘I’m here to cross your palm with silver and your lips with a bottle of water,’ he explained

‘You’re asking me to tell your fortune?’ she asked with surprise

Having put the bottles down, he delved in his pocket for some coins to toss on the table, but his casual air was halted by a bolt of pain

‘You’d better sit down,’ she said ‘Where’s your cane?’

‘Thank you for re me’

The look she gave him told him she understood what it must have cost him to come here today with his cane, in front of all these people And yet as pride when there was a deal to be done? They measured each other for a few moments and then she reached out to take his hand Fullher coht save the faruts, and to spare, he reflected

‘Are you sure you want this?’ she asked

‘I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,’ he assured her, while his senses prompted him to take her somewhere where they could be alone ‘Why does that surprise you?’

‘I can’t believe Señor Acosta is incapable of predicting his own future’

‘Oh, but I can’ He held Jess’s gaze locked in his and was rewarded when she blushed deeply

‘You crashed the line,’ she scolded

‘I did,’ he agreed with a shrug How beautiful she was, even hat looked like a piece of Christlowed like fire in the soft light of a lamp, over which she’d draped a piece of red chiffon, while her eyes were deep pools of unfathoreen

‘Stop staring atyou, not the other way around’

‘Then get on with it,’ he suggested

She reached across and rattled an old biscuit tin that had an opening cut in the top ‘Put your money in here—those pieces of silver,’ she reminded him

‘Of course’

He added a few more coins to those he’d already tossed down on the table She still held out the tin ‘A twenty should do it,’ she prompted bluntly

‘Twenty?’ He pulled his head back with surprise

‘Can’t you afford it?’

Her lips curved in the first real shter That was the Jess he reo—feisty and free to speak her ht be her father’s last hope when it ca the farm He preferred this Jess

‘Every penny goes directly to charity,’ she explained ‘Nothing I take in this tent will be kept for the farm’

‘Then you can have allhi out a wad of notes He fed them into her tin ‘This had better be worth it,’ he warned

But fortune-telling wasn’t on Jess’s ,’ she said with concern ‘You really ree to treatment Please don’t be stubborn if the appropriate therapy is offered to you, or you could be left with a permanent limp’

‘Did you see that in your crystal ball?’ he deain

‘I don’t need a crystal ball to see that I’ with injuries like yours Which is why I can tell you with authority that you can’t afford to leave this any longer,’ she added before he could get a word in

‘Well, thank you for your advice, Skylar,’ he gritted out, ‘but that’s not what I’ you for What can you see in that crystal ballif anything?’

‘A very difficult man,’ she fired back

They glared at each other, and for a good few o, it seemed they were destined to strike sparks off each other whenever they met

‘You’ll have to be quiet or I can’t concentrate,’ she said