She rinsed out the washcloth. “I said, you should see your doctor.”

“I’ll be fine.” But would she? What would have happened if he and Jim hadn’t come along?

God, there were so many questions he had all of a sudden. He wanted to know why someone like her was in this line of work. He wanted to know what harshness had brought her to the place she was at. He wanted to know…what he could do to help, not just tonight, but tomorrow and the day after that.

Except none of that was any of his business. More to the point, he had a feeling that if he pressed her for details, she would close up on him.

“Can I ask you something?” he said, because he couldn’t help it.

She paused with the cloth. “Okay.”

He knew he shouldn’t do what he was about to, but he could not fight the overwhelming draw of her. It had nothing to do with his mind and everything to do with his…okay, heart was too stinkin’ melodramatic. But whatever was driving him came from the center of his chest.

So fine, maybe his sternum was really into her.

“Will you have dinner with me?”

The door to the locker room swung wide, and the flame-haired prostitute who’d triggered Devina’s exit strode in.

“Oh! Excuse me…I didn’t know anyone was in here.” As she stared at Vin, her bright red lips widened into a false smile that suggested she’d known exactly who was in the locker room.

Marie-Terese moved away from him, taking her warm cloth and her bowl of water and her soft hands with her. “We were just leaving, Gina.”

Vin took the cue and stood up. As he cursed the redhead’s interruption, he caught an eyeball full of all the makeup on the counter and reminded himself that she had more of a right to be here than he did.

Marie-Terese went into the bathroom, and he imagined her cleaning out the bowl and rinsing the washcloth off, then snapping free the gloves. She was going to come out of there and he was going to say good-bye and…she was going to take off that fleece and go back into the crowd.

Staring at the door she’d gone through, while the prostitute next to him chattered away, the strangest feeling came over Vin. It was like a fog had gathered on the floor and sent tendrils up his legs and over his chest and all the way to his brain. He was suddenly hot on the outside and cold on the inside….

Shit, he knew what this was. He knew exactly what was happening. It had been years, but he knew where this constellation of sensation went.

Vin grabbed onto the stool and let his ass fall back upon it. Breathe. Just breathe, you big dumb bastard. Breathe…