Sam for the first time in quite a while was flustered.  He was confused as to how things had taken such a turn when they’d seemed to be so good . . . so nice.<br/><br/>“Well . . . yeah it is . . . I told you that . . . but not about you Irene.  I work for the court . . . more accurately . . . for the Judge . . . and yes I’m serious . . . I do want you . . . and as I said earlier today, not just in bed.  I didn’t come here to check you out . . . no . . . no.  The Judge thinks you got a raw deal in the investigation...and so do I.”<br/><br/>He didn’t like the way she’d stepped away from him and seemed to be closing herself off from him.  He decided to lay it out for her as he’d been trying all day...at least in his mind...but apparently not in hers.<br/><br/>“Irene . . . us today here . . . me and you has nothing to do with anything . . . with anything else other than you and me.  From the moment I came here and met you I wanted to know you . . . and then . . . I wanted you . . . I didn’t design or plan it . . . it just happened . . . Irene . . . I like who you are . . . I like how you make me feel . . . I like making love with you . . . yeah love.  It’s not about fucking you . . . though I do like it with you . . . so much I can’t stop wanting you . . . and yes...I know about your husband . . . how he was killed.  I’m certain that you’d nothing to do with it.  There’s never been a question or doubt in my mind about that . . . I want to help you get some justice . . . if you’ll take my help.  That’s all the Judge asked me to do was to offer you my help.  This . . . ” he looked around her rooms . . . and at his naked body and then at her, “this is all apart . . . separate from that . . . an impulsive desire on my part to get to know you . . . cause I think you’re damn appealing . . . and not just naked . . . though you’re highly appealing naked.”<br/><br/>Sam stood with his arms spread and his hands open and he spoke quietly.<br/><br/>“Irene . . . this . . . our day . . . even now for me has been all about you . . . wooing you I guess.  I wanted you to like me enough that you’d be open about maybe more than liking me.  I’ve been as honest with you as I can be . . . sometime after walking in your door all I’ve wanted is you in my life somehow . . . it’s the truth Irene.  I’m good at my job, so good that aside from it I have no life . . . I want a life away from the job . . . I want a life with without the guns and the endless riding and everything that’s been so much of my life.  You’re a decent lovely woman Irene . . . despite the tough shell you put up to keep people at their distance . . . and how you use your job as a definition of who you are . . . like anybody gave you a chance to have any other kind of a job . . . I was a Texas Ranger . . . now I’m a bounty hunter for the court . . . That’s not the definition of who I am . . . it’s only what I’ve been good at and made a living at.  Anyway . . . I was hoping to be your exception and that you’d be mine . . . that we’d at least give the idea a chance. Well that’s it . . . looks like I’ve made a fucked up mess of things . . . yep it surely looks like it . . . if you want me to go I will . . . but I hope you won’t cause I want to stay . . . and not just the night.”<br/><br/>He was an emotional wreck inside.  He’d wanted her so badly and now it looked like that was just a dream . . . a puff of smoke . . . here and then gone.  He sat on the edge the tub and shook his head as he stared at the floor.  He couldn’t take the look of horror he’d seen in her face when things seemed to go horribly wrong nor could he deal with the likelihood of her sending him packing<br/>