“It’s Colt, isn’t it?” Denyse asks. Her lips twist as though his name has left a sour taste in her mouth.

“Yes.”

“I wish he’d paid you this much attention when you were married—for all of two months.”

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“No, sis. I think you’re looking for the same thing all women are looking for. Prince Charming. Trust me, I understand. I’ve kissed plenty of frogs. And I’ve learned this: If the grass looks greener on the other side, you can bet the water bill is higher.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means there’s a cost associated with every decision we make.”

“Says the woman who brought a complete stranger home from a foreign country.”

“Fine.” She swats the air. “Go ahead and call Colt. Open up that can of worms you should have left buried years ago.”

“I owe it to myself to explore the options.”

“Hmm. Let’s see. To be hurt or not to be hurt. Helluva list of options.”

I flip my laptop shut, wishing I could turn off my sister’s ranting for an hour. “He seems different this time.”

“He’s older and desperate.”

“I’d hardly call Colt Emerson desperate. He has a lifestyle most would envy.”

“Yeah, but you have the one thing he doesn’t.”

“A vagina?”

Denyse rolls her eyes. “A solid reputation. Of course, he’s going to pull out all the stops to get a mom for Cee. But we do agree on one thing. You should call him one last time. Give him a piece of your mind and set him straight so he won’t come barking up your emotionally scarred tree again.”

As I walk through the apartment searching for my cell phone, Denyse dogs my heels. I stop to retrieve my purse and she almost crashes into me. “Um, don’t you have somewhere to be?” I ask.

“Nope.”

“What about your Italian Stallion?”

“He’s probably asleep by now. That’s what all this does to him.” She makes a circling motion with her palm in front of her crotch.

“Ugh. Spare me the details.” I thrust a finger toward my mouth, pretending I’m about to vomit.

“In the meantime, you have my undivided attention, little sister.”

Despite my earlier bravado at the café, my fingers tremble as I dial Colt’s number. I turn my back to Denyse, not wanting her to hear the conversation. Instead, I focus on the Native American design weaved into the area rug on the living room floor. I count the circles in the pretty pattern.

Colt finally answers when I reach the sixth circle. “Shayla?”

The way he says my name makes my heart race. His voice jumps an octave, like he’s filled with hope. He’s been waiting on my call. Now the shoe was on the other foot. Volts of power headier than any ego trip I’ve ever experienced surge through me. “Yes, it’s me.”

“Baby, I apologize for my asinine behavior. It seems I just can’t get things right when it comes to you.”

He’d called me baby! I mentally grab onto that word and hold it close like a life preserver in the sea of emotions tossing me around. I listen, fearful that I might say something I’ll regret.

“The day I met you,” he continues, “I wondered where you’d been my entire life. Some people don’t believe in love at first sight, but I do. I never stopped loving you, Shayla. Seeing you again brought back memories of how good we were together. Nine years ago, I walked away from the best thing that ever happened to me—you. I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

I pace the small living room, mindful of Denyse still hovering nearby. She’s making frantic arm movements and mouthing advice to me. I try my best to ignore her air-traffic-controller antics. Normally, I pride myself on multi-tasking, but I can’t concentrate on her and my ex-husband at the same time.

“What do you want from me, Colt?”

“I want your hand in marriage. I want you to trust me to be your husband again. Like I said, I’ll take care of all of your needs. All of them.”

I don’t miss his suggestive tone in those three little words. I ignore the rabble of butterflies fluttering in my stomach, and focus instead, on the accusation Denyse made earlier. “Are you so desperate to find a mother for that girl?”

“I’m desperate to do the right thing. To be a better man. I think this is a good start.”

“What about your family? How are they going to feel about your blast from the past coming back?”

“I’m my own man, no longer some easily misled college kid. Besides, it’s not about them. It’s about us, like I said.”

I think about Ruger and Wesson. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to wipe those smug looks off their faces when they found out that me and Colt were back together. I drum my fingers against my chin as I mull over the possibilities. There are some benefits to accepting this proposal. I could get a decent night’s sleep without hearing Pedro and Denyse’s incessant lovemaking. I could pay off my shitload of student loans. Well, Colt could pay them. After all, he’d offered to take care of my expenses. It would be a business deal.

It’s not that simple, and you know it.

Marriage is a commitment. A life-altering event. God knows, it had changed mine. Colt had left a mark that could never be erased, and pain that had taken years to heal.

“I miss you, Shayla.” His deep voice chisels at what little resolve I have left. “I miss you so much I can’t think straight. You know you want this, too. I see the way you look at me. There was a time we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I want that for us again.”

Which is exactly why I shouldn’t do it. I can’t afford to form another fervid attachment to him and have my heart crushed and ground up and spit out. I have to set limits with him this time. I have to call the shots. I’m smarter and wiser this time around. I can handle a second marriage with Colt.

No sooner than I’ve formed the thought, do the words slip from my lips. “I’ll do it. But you’ll play by my rules. This will be a marriage of convenience. No fringe benefits. No touching. No fucking.”

“Um, okay…if that’s what you want.”

“I do. And I have some bills I need paid.”

“Sure.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Denyse shake her head. I’m sure I sound like a gold-digging bitch to her. Colt owes me for all the pain and suffering he’s caused. If I’m going to do this, I have to protect my heart.

Feeling like a specimen in my sister’s petri dish, I rush toward the half-bath and slam the door behind me. Grateful for the privacy, I hit Colt with my final condition. “Afterward, we’ll get another annulment. I’ll stick around long enough to make sure you can legally adopt this kid. Then I’m gone.”

There’s a long pause on the line until he responds. “Another annulment?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t think we can make a go of it this time?”

“You said you’d give me what I want, Colt. This is what I want.”

“Okay. It should take no more than six months to finalize everything.”

“Fine.”

“I’m headed back to L.A. on the first flight out tomorrow. Can you join me?”

I stare at my face in the mirror. The woman gazing back with the perfectly-groomed eyebrows and slick ponytail looks calm compared to the tempest of emotions swirling inside me. Heart racing. Temples pounding. Stomach flipping. I’ve set the rules, and now Colt has accepted the challenge. This is really happening! “What time?”

“Be ready at six a.m. I’ll send a car for you.”

“All right.”

“Thank you, Shayla. I promise, you won’t regret your decision.”

“For your sake, you’d better be right.”