"I resent your insinuation that Fulton is a coward," she said. "He's a very fine man." Suddenly, Steven stopped right in the middle of the trail. Emma, who had just built up a good head of steam, collided with him--hard. For a long moment, Steven held her to him without even using his arms. No, it was the look in his eyes that gripped her, that made her feel as if something warm was spilling over within her. "If he's such a fine man," he reasoned, his voice hardly more than a rasp, "how come you're out here with me?" Emma was so flabbergasted by the question, and by the obvious answer, that she just stared up at Steven's face. She felt like a field mouse looking into the eyes of a tomcat. "Well?" Steven prompted, his lips just a hair's breadth from hers. Coming to her senses at the last second, Emma leaped backward, causing her handbag to thump painfully against her thigh. "I'm here with you because we have a bargain, Mr. Fairfax," she blurted out. "You promised to leave Whitneyville forever, remember?" "If you still want me to," Steven pointed out, and then he was forging his way through the wilds of that overgrown island again, dragging Emma after him. He"