“To a friend’s. We can stay there, and I can work for our keep on his ranch.” He breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t question him further. He didn’t want to tell her where he’d be, didn’t want to chance her coming back into his life and tempting him again. Because it wouldn’t take much for him to throw caution to the wind and take the chance of loving her. His resolve was growing weaker with each passing minute.

She nodded. “I guess this is it, then. Thanks for trying, Cole. You did everything possible, but we just weren’t good enough.”

Her lips pressed together, she held out her hand and he glared at it. He wanted to kiss her, to taste her sweet mouth once more, to savor her body pressed against his. But there was no sense in torturing himself again. He’d pretend to go to sleep, spend all night thinking about her, then walk out of her life without a backward glance. It was the only way he could save her.

Not responding to her offered handshake, he stalked into the kitchen, trying to drown his frustration by gulping a glass of cold water. It didn’t work.

He glanced around the cheerful room, suddenly feeling trapped. He couldn’t stay another night, couldn’t take the chance of weakening. Mandy would sleep just as well in the truck and he could drive all night. It was better than staring at the ceiling for hours while he wrestled between the right and the wrong of his life.

Returning to the living room to tell Darci his decision, he froze when he saw her seated on the couch beside his daughter. Mandy was sleeping, and Darci was watching her with a naked longing that tore at his insides.

He stared at the two of them, Darci’s blond head bent toward Mandy’s darker one. And he knew, without a doubt, that the time had come for him to leave.

Darci tucked a blanket around Mandy’s chin, stroked the little girl’s hair and came over to stand beside him. The silence stretched between them. When Darci turned to him, the anguish in her eyes hit him in the gut like a runaway bull.

“I could love her, Cole. I could raise her as if she were my own daughter.” Her soft voice carried a faint waver. “I think it’s best that you leave soon, before I do something stupid again—before I let myself care about her too much.”