I didn’t know how I was able to function.

Six weeks of wild, hot sexual indulgence had taken me to some plane of transcendence where I didn’t even know if I was coming or going.

Six weeks of Brooke and her gorgeous, perfect body—her gorgeous, perfect body I couldn’t stop thinking about. Fuck, I was certain I would end up going insane, like one of those babbling fools in the movies who’d lost their mind over a beautiful woman.

Thank God work wasn’t that busy or strenuous, and thank God my problems with Aria seemed to have worked themselves out.

Sure, I was still worried about her being with Brad, but somehow I’d gotten used to them. Brad had even started coming over for dinner some evenings, and I’d met his parents. Nice people, older, like most of his friends’ parents, but hey, I’d never cared about that. I loved my girl and that was all that mattered, not how old or how young I was.

I woke up in my bed after another night of Brooke. Most nights I stayed at her place until about two A.M then I’d come back home.

Our pipe story had lasted all of three weeks then I’d told Aria I was working on a case and would mostly be coming home late. I hated lying, but I didn’t think I could tell her about Brooke just yet, purely for the reason that Brooke hadn’t voiced any thoughts about it.

The other thing was I was totally sneaking around like I was the sixteen-year-old hiding from my parents.

I went into the kitchen to get coffee and stopped when I saw Aria sitting at the breakfast table. She normally rose early, but not this early, and on a Saturday morning—no way. It was bright outside, like it could be a little later, but it was only six.

She smiled when she saw me, and I noticed she had a folder out in front of her, along with a stack of poetry books.

“Morning, sunshine.” I moved over to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. “Are you okay?” Maybe she was sick.

“I’m fine.”

“You aren’t normally up so early.”

“Dad, you think I’m not up this early, but I’ve been waking up at five every day to study. By the way, my report card is over there.”

I’d seen it come in the mail the day before but hadn’t opened it. Her grades had been awful the previous semester, even worse than the semester before it.

Now I opened the envelope, and my jaw about hit the floor when I saw A’s for everything—literally everything. I had to double-check the name.

“Fuck.” I hissed and covered my mouth quickly when I realized I’d sworn.

She giggled and shook her head at me.

“How’d you…?”

“How did I manage it?” she filled in.

“Please don’t think I’m putting you down in any way. I’m just shocked.” Shocked to the point where my skin was tingling.

“I know. I was too. Brooke helped me study, and she gave me her old study plan. I decided I’d implement it before prom and it worked.”

I rushed over to give her a hug, and she hugged me back. She hadn’t hugged me like that in months.

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Really? You are?” She beamed up at me and looked at me like it meant a lot for her to hear me say that.

I moved back and pulled up a chair to sit in front of her.

“Yes. I’m super, super proud of you.”

To my surprise, a tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and smiled. I reached for both her hands, which still felt so small in mine, just like that first day I’d held her. I’d never forget the day she was born and how she’d immediately felt like mine.

That was the feeling I got now.

“Don’t cry, sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry. I just never thought I’d hear you say that.”

“I’ve always been proud of you. I’m just happy you’ve achieved such a big accomplishment. I was never an A student.”

“Really?”

I mostly never talked about anything to do with me and school because aside from playing football, spending my days in the sea, and getting in trouble, I hadn’t done much.

“No, not by a long shot—not at all. In fact, I never had a hope in hell of going to college.”

“You wanted to join the Navy, though. It wasn’t like you didn’t have a plan. Then I came along and…you took care of me instead.”

I was beginning to feel like I’d walked onto the set of The Twilight Zone. This couldn’t be the same girl who’d smart-mouthed me only weeks before—or maybe I was still asleep. Then again, she’d been behaving similarly for weeks—ever since we’d known Brooke.

“I did.”

“Thank you, Dad.” She pulled in a little breath and smiled. Then she held up a letter that was next to the folder.

“What’s that?”

“My acceptance to Camp Hentaka as a counselor.” She beamed.

My eyes widened. “What?”

“Well, I want to build up my skills and test some stuff out. I applied to run a classical literature workshop there, and they were blown away by my article on Lord Byron and Romanticism.”

On who and what? I brought my hand to my chin and rubbed it over the stubble.

“Say that again.” I needed to hear it again because I couldn’t believe what she’d just said.

She pretended to pout and chuckled, shaking her head at me. “You heard me, Dad. So anyway, I wrote a ten-thousand-word piece on how Romantic authors like Byron were different than the authors who lived during the Post Romanticism era and were trying to hang on to life before the industrial revolution.”

My lips parted and I wanted to comment and say how good that was, but it wasn’t just good—it was phenomenal.

“I don’t know what to say first. Is that what you learned in school?” I didn’t recall going into such depth, not that I would have remembered if anyone asked.

“Some. We’re reading Lord Bryon and also Frankenstein. Byron and Mary Shelley knew each other. Brooke told me that and I was like no way, and then she started telling me about Romanticism and oh my gosh Dad, post-romantic poetry—there are no words on earth to describe it. I’m hoping I can take a mini course online before camp so I can include it in the workshop.”

“Online course?” I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head to the side trying to assess her. Did she mean online like she’d have to study outside school? Her?

“Yes.” She started laughing like she could read my mind. “Yale does some online courses you can take over the summer, and if they accept you, it counts toward your credits, which means you wouldn’t have to work so hard.”

“Yale.” That was all I heard. Aria was talking about Yale.

“Yeah. The course is really good. I applied and Brooke gave me a recommendation because she’s on the honorary list of alumni. She also gave me a good list of books to get through to make sure my workshop’s a success, and she said it will help with my public speaking and I have a professional manner anyway. I want to sound like Julia Roberts when she accepted her Oscar for Erin Brockovich. Or, Halle Berry when she won hers for Monster’s Ball but less emotional.”

“Okay.” It was too much for my nerves, but it was so good, and I could have almost cried.

“So, is it okay for me to go to the camp? I was thinking I’d cut my visit to Aunt Freda short and go.”

The time had gone by so quickly. Only weeks before I’d been worried about prom, and now it was almost time for summer break. She normally went to spend a week with Freda, Olivia’s sister, in New York then came back home. We usually went on a separate trip with my parents and made the most of the time together.

“That would be fine.”

“Will you be okay without me for so long?” She actually looked concerned.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Please God, no more Mindys.”

Something pinched my heart. “You don’t want me to date?”

“Are you kidding? I don’t want you to die in here by yourself on the sofa watching something like Cops, or America’s Most Wanted. Of course I want you to date. Also, it would be nice if it was a little more than that…with someone decent.” Something twinkled in her eyes, and I wondered if she knew about Brooke and I.

“Someone decent? Like who.”

“I don’t know, just not Mindy. Aim for someone like Brooke. Someone like her would be great, although nothing compares to the real thing. You’d get on her nerves though with your oafish ways.”

I had to laugh. “Oafish? You think I’m oafish?”

“It’s the cop thing. Must be that. I’ll tell you what, I’ll ask her to check on you.” She nodded and there was that sparkle again.

I wouldn’t say anything, but I was willing to bet she was suspicious.

“Thank you, Aria. That’s so nice of you.”

“I know right?” She giggled.

“I think…you deserve a treat for all you’re doing.” She definitely deserved that.

“A treat, like a tattoo?” Her eyes sparkled.

“No, not like that.”

“Like ice cream?” She gave me a deadpan expression.

“Ice cream can be included. How about we go shopping?”

“Us?”

My shoulders slumped. “Yeah, you and me. Us.”

“Hmmm, all right, but I don’t want to go to Wal-Mart or Sears.”

I laughed. “I was thinking of taking you to Neiman’s.”

She pulled in a sharp breath. “Oh God. Oh my God. Thanks Dad!”

She jumped off the chair and hugged me.

I knew as she did that I would probably spend a fortune, but as Brooke had said, I’d sell the house if it made Aria happy.

I’d never forget those words, those words that had come from a woman who barely knew us but had opened her heart with kindness.

Six and a half months was all we had left of Brooke.

It wasn’t very long at all.

One blink and the time would go by. Then she’d be gone.

A week later, I was still thinking about the little time I had left with Brooke.

We’d taken Aria to the airport that morning so she could start her journey to New York. Then I’d be without my girl for the whole summer. Six weeks.

Six weeks was something I normally would have freaked out about, but this time I wasn’t. I was excited, excited to see what my life would be like as a guy who was free from parenthood for the whole summer.

The idea probably excited me more than it should have.

After the airport, I took Brooke sailing and we stayed out for the whole day then came back to my house.

My house, which she hadn’t slept in yet.

Of course with Aria around, we kept sex at Brooke’s place except for the three times I’d managed to indulge in her in my office. I’d taken one hell of a risk, but it had been one of those times when neither of us could help it. We’d both gotten lost in the call of lust. It was an animalistic call we were both helpless to.

Now we were here. It was late and I planned to indulge in her all over again.

There was just one other thing on my mind, something else besides the fact that we’d been sleeping together, fooling around for the last seven weeks, and we were still together.

That thing was something else that had been on my mind, something I’d pushed to the back of beyond because it was an eerie thought.

Brooke would be the first woman to sleep in the house since Olivia. She’d be the first I’d sleep with in my bed since, and while I knew I shouldn’t have been thinking about it that way, I was. It bothered me, because I was sure Brooke would think it was weird or completely inappropriate for me to be thinking of my dead wife and not her.

The strange thing was, Brooke had the power to empty my mind of everything, even Olivia.

“You are a million miles away.” Brooke smiled, pressing her hands against my chest.

We were in the sitting room. She liked it in there because of the view of the sea and the boardwalk. It was similar to hers, but mine was a little more scenic.

I gazed down at her beautiful face and leaned over to give her a gentle kiss.

“What are you thinking about, Ryan?” she whispered against my lips. “If it’s Aria, I know she’ll be fine.”

I appreciated the reassurance.

“I’m thinking about you.” I kissed the bridge of her nose.

At first she smiled, but then concern filled her eyes.

“This is the first time I’ll be staying over.”

It was amazing how insightful she was. Sometimes it was scary.

“Yeah.”

“Relax—I swear I’ll remember where I leave my clothes and I won’t trash the place. It will be in perfect order—orderly, definitely not disorderly.”

I chuckled. “You know I don’t give a crap about stuff like that right?”

“Of course, it’s just fun to tease you in your de-rebelled state. Plus, I can only guess what’s on your mind if you don’t tell me.” She gave me that smile of mischief. “I’m sure I’ll be no different than your other lady friends.”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “What lady friends?”

“I don’t know, you could have them. Look at you—you’re gorgeous. I’m pretty certain you have your pick.”

I didn’t know what bothered me more, the fact that she could say that with such ease or that she would assume I was seeing other women apart from her.

“I’m not seeing anybody else, Brooke. Are you? I’m still suspicious of Noah, although I know he has Vanessa. It’s a clever ruse in my book.” I was jealous as hell of Noah, but I wouldn’t share that with her.

She probably already knew that anyway.

“Don’t be suspicious of him.” She laughed.

“It’s not funny.”

“Okay, I won’t be mean to you tonight.”

“You didn’t answer the question.” I was suddenly eager to know if she was seeing other guys. Of course I would be.

“What question?”

“Are you seeing anybody else?”

She gave me a deep, penetrative stare and brought her dainty hands together. “No. I’m not.”

For a few moments that could have been forever, we stared at each other. We stared until I noticed the slight flush of her cheeks and I reached out to cup her face.

“Will it scare you if I tell you you’re the first woman to spend the night here in a very long time?”

She held my gaze. “No, because it might make me crazy if you told me I was Saturday’s girl, woman—whatever.” She looked like she was going to continue on her tirade but then she stopped and seemed to be thinking hard about something.

“What, have you changed your mind?” I chuckled.

“No, I just got it.” She searched my eyes.

“What? Got what?” I got the feeling her insightful side was kicking in.

“How long’s a long time?” She looked me over, her blue eyes shining like cobalt as they filled with a wealth of concern. “How long has it been since you had someone here?”

Thinking it in my head was just manageable; saying it was something else. I brought my hand up to my chin and tried to regain my composure.

“Not since Olivia.” It was the first time I’d ever spoken her name to Brooke.

“That’s her name,” she said, more to herself than to me. “You never talk about her unless you have to or really want to, huh?”

“Yeah.” I sighed, not knowing what to say. It felt like I’d just put a damper on the rest of the evening.

“It must have been hard. I can see it was hard.”

“It was. It might have been a long time ago to most people, but it was hard.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

At least I could smile. It wasn’t a smile because what she said was funny; it was more of a smile to shrug off how I truly felt—not fake, but not genuine either.

“I appreciate that you asked, but it’s just something I can’t talk about, not to anyone. Yet.” I didn’t think I could ever have the strength it took to tell anyone what I felt like on the day Olivia died and that I held her until the light left her eyes and the life I loved so much left her body.

Then she was no more.

I couldn’t explain that part to anyone. She fought a long hard battle and I was right by her side. But, it felt like it was for nothing. Felt like my heart stopped beating that day.

“I understand. I do.” Her eyes searched mine again.

“After she died, I found it difficult to accept that it had happened and I kind of shut down. It was better not to talk about what happened.” Those were probably the most words I’d said to anyone who wasn’t Aaron. I couldn’t even talk like this to my parents. It was harder to talk to them for some reason. Maybe because I knew they grieved with me and for me. Aaron was similar, but different. I guess it was the way he spoke about her, as if she went somewhere far away. Like she didn’t die. I was surprised that the other person my mind choose to speak to was Brooke. “Moving on was easier that way. Not talking about it like it never happened. This room used to be filled with family photos.”

Now it didn’t have anything. Except for a few keepsakes on the mantelpiece, there was nothing on the walls or over the fireplace like there used to be.

The living room had pictures of Aria, and I’d made a separate album for the pictures of Olivia.

“Ryan, if it’s hard for me to be here, I can go. I understand. Or we can go to my place.”

I reached for her. “I like your place, it’s nice, but I want you in my bed. That’s the only place I haven’t had you, and the place I see you most in my fantasies.”

I didn’t think I’d ever said anything like that to anyone.

A smooth sensual smile lifted the corners of her sexy mouth.

“Then take me, Ryan Donovan.”

Take me. It was the best thing I’d heard all day.

I bent my head to kiss her and as I did, she slid her hands up my chest, up until she could wrap her arms around my neck.

I didn’t waste any more time. The image of her perfection in my bed fueled me, and I picked her up and carried her to my bedroom. When I set her down on the bed, I had to take a second to admire her against the silk sheets, just like that: perfect and beautiful, inside and out.

She pulled me toward her and we fell back onto the bed together in a crumpled heap of desire. We kissed the clothes off each other. I could have continued to devour her, but like always, I wanted to savor her and relish every single second I was with her.

Devouring and savoring were two different things. I loved doing both to her, but sometimes I just wanted to savor, to go slow and commit every part of her to memory, everything I learned from Brooke 101.

She smiled up at me as I hovered over her, gazing down at her perfect breasts with her perfect nipples hard and ready to be sucked. I leaned down onto my elbows and took her left nipple into my mouth, sucking and definitely savoring the taste of her. The hum of satisfaction that slipped through her lips enticed me and encouraged me to continue. I alternating sucking on each breast then made my way to her perfect pussy.

Fuck. She was already wet and ready for me. Feeling her like that immediately took away the element of slowness I had in mind. It changed the game and made me want to devour her.

I buried my head between her thighs and licked her until she writhed against me, yielding to the grasp of her orgasm. Her sweet, beautiful nectar flowed into my mouth and I drank her. At least I got to relish that part.

Before she could fully recover, I flipped her over to her hands and knees, my favorite position.

“Hey, I wanted to be on top.” She giggled, voice husky as she tried to catch her breath.

“Next time, baby. I need you like this right now.”

She moaned as I held her waist and slid into her. The sound made me crazy and I couldn’t control myself. Every time was like the first time when I’d wanted her so badly I ached.

Every time was like that, and this was no different, not even a little bit. Perhaps the only difference between then and now was we both knew how to pleasure each other more.

I started with a slow pump at first so she could adjust to my width, but the second I was buried to the hilt, that fast rhythm we both got lost in took over. In the long mirrors on the mahogany wardrobe, I caught sight of us, and that sent me into overdrive. I was watching what I was doing to her, her perfect tits bouncing and that mass of hair falling over her face as I fucked her.

Then the sound. The room was filled with the hot sexual sound of our bodies slapping together within the erotic lock of passion, passion and desire I’d only ever felt with her.

The thought struck me and hit hard, hit me hard deep in my soul and filled me. I’d only ever felt like this with her.

That definitely caught and grabbed my attention. Seven weeks of this woman and my world hadn’t just changed; it’d highlighted what I’d never had.

I managed to hold my release back for as long as possible, but then the tight walls of her core pulsed against my cock and I lost complete control.

“Ryan, I’m coming…” she moaned. “I’m coming.”

“Come for me, baby,” I growled.

The orgasm that took her took me too. It grabbed me and sent me over the edge. Something raw and primal took over and I started rutting into her like an animal, jackhammering to a desperate release then exploding inside her. Weeks before we’d abandoned condoms and relied on her birth control. Coming inside her without restriction felt amazing, and as I did, electricity licked at every single nerve in my body. It rippled through me, and I couldn’t even catch my breath.

She collapsed first then I followed. Lying next to her, I pulled her into the lock of my arms. She turned to face me and gazed into my eyes.

As I looked at her, it was the strangest thing: it was like she knew what I was thinking, what I was feeling. She looked like she could feel it too. I wanted her to. I wanted her to feel the same way I did.

I wanted her to feel amazing, to feel that electricity that scorched me clean.

When she reached for me and guided my lips back to meet hers, I knew she did.