I should have known better. One minute, he’s apologizing for treating me like a child, and in the next breath, he’s doing it all over again.

He turned his back while I dragged myself gracelessly from the water and stood dripping on the concrete. I pulled off the tangled, clinging silk of my robe and wrapped the huge towel around me, tucking the edge in over my breasts. It was large and bulky, and made me feel foolishly small. I turned and stomped off toward the cottage without waiting. But he caught up to me in a few short strides. I felt myself heating up again inside. So much for my cooling skinny dip.

I reached the door before he did and pulled hard to open the screen. We’d walked the entire way in silence, and I expected him to just turn and leave. But he reached for the doorknob, and strode in ahead of me like he owned the place. I exhaled, forcing patience that I didn’t feel, and closed the door behind us. After all, he did fucking own the place…

“Do you need anything?” he asked, looking around at the comfortable furnishings and my messy work table. “No one’s been living here since you left…”

I raised my brows. “It was perfect when I arrived. Neat as a pin. You must have had it cleaned…”

“I cleaned it myself,” he replied. “You’re not the only one around here who knows how to be hands-on.”

He was close, closer even than he needed to be in the small room. I could smell a touch of aftershave and the clean male scent of him I remembered so well. I was suddenly very aware of being naked and still damp under my towel. I headed away from him, toward the refrigerator and felt my thighs too slippery wet against each other…

“I can offer you…,” I stopped short, looking in at empty shelves. “I’m out of beer, I’m afraid. I got so busy with work, I guess it’s been a few days since I’ve been out for groceries.”

He came into the kitchen and stood next to me again, and the tension was almost unbearable. I wanted him to touch me, to hold me. I wanted to shake him until he stripped me back to naked and gave me the one thing I’d wanted through all the lonely years in college. I wanted him to take away the yearning in my heart and the building heat in my core. It felt like I was waiting for a storm to finally break…

I opened the freezer door and let a cloud of white, cold air rush out over us both. I wanted to drop my damp and heavy towel on the floor and let the cold shock me back to my senses.

“These are all I have to offer,” I said, grabbing an icy handful of frozen fruit pops. “I’ve got to get to the market tomorrow,” I stumbled over the words. “They’re cold, at least.” I watched his jaw tighten…

I turned back to face him and my breath caught in my chest. His lips were moist… parted. His breath was so close I could feel it on my hair. He was hot, standing so close to me. Hotter than I could bear in this unbearable weather. But I took a step even closer anyway… drawn in by the sharp and dangerous promise in his eyes.

* * *

“Thanks… no,” he said, taking a step back without his eyes leaving my face. The distance allowed me a single deep breath, but I could still feel my throbbing pulse and the growing, eager slickness between my legs. He watched me steadily, but he took another step back. Whatever I was feeling for him, it was painfully clear he didn’t feel the same.

“I’m going to just go…,” I gestured toward the bedroom door and he nodded. He stood where he was, watching as I closed the door behind me. I let my towel drop, kicked it away in frustration and dug out a clean pair of shorts and a black tank top. I dragged a quick comb through my hair and put on a swipe of lip gloss. Not that it mattered much.

Every girlfriend I’d had in college had lost her virginity by her sophomore year. We’d sat long into the night, for hours, as they’d poured out every juicy detail. And they’d teased me without mercy.

I’d had dates almost every weekend, and I’d made a lot of good and lasting friendships. Once I’d even come close, with my roommate’s brother. We’d all had a little too much to drink and it had felt so good when he’d taken my breasts out of my bra, one by one and kissed them all over. But I’d pulled myself back together pretty quickly when I’d opened my eyes. His bright blond head had been nestled in my cleavage, and the sight of it had sobered me fast. It hadn’t been right. He hadn’t been Joe. And it hadn’t happened for me that night… Or any other night since.

I’d had enough X-rated advice from my friends over the years to open a sex shop, but not much good it had done me. I’d saved myself, for my whole life, wanting no one but my Joe. He, on the other hand, was on the other side of the door, had seen me bare naked, and still wouldn’t touch me. Overheated, I opened the door to find him calmly looking over a stack of papers on my desk.

“This is good,” he said, holding up a framed copy of our mission statement. “Damned good, Maggie.” He smiled, and I felt myself go all hot and slick. Again.

I crossed the room and opened the freezer, pulling out a pop and peeling the white paper off. I stuck it in my mouth and sat down on the sofa, tucking a leg underneath me. I saw his eyes touch my leg and then shift slowly, almost reluctantly up to my face. I twisted the cold ice in my mouth and gave him a quizzical look.

“Of course, it’s good,” I answered coolly. “I have good sense and good people around me. My nurse, Jackie, has a business degree as well as her RN. She’s in her forties and has a fucking lot of experience under her belt.”

“I respect what you’re doing, Maggie. Hell… I remember back when I’d just graduated… All I needed was a camera in my hands, and I felt like there was nothing I couldn’t achieve.

“I once had the kind of drive you do now.” His eyes rested again on my mouth and I saw him lick his lips. He moved closer and looked down at me. Something in his face that held me captive… an intensity that turned his eyes a more brilliant shade of blue… He reached out and touched a strand of my hair and something deep inside me shuddered. I’d known him all my life, but he was suddenly different… Everything was different…

“Having you home again…,” he said, in a voice so deep I could feel it in my core. “You’ve reminded me of something I’d almost forgotten. What it feels like… to have passion in your life. What’s it’s like, to take a chance… for something you want more than anything…”

He reached down and took my chin in his hand, lifting me to my feet. I licked the sticky cherry sweetness from my bottom lip and stared up at him, holding my breath.