Heart pounding, breathing choppy, she slapped the condom against his chest. “Want you,” she whispered. “Inside me. Now.”

The few seconds it took him to free his erection and roll on the protection nearly sent her over the edge. The instant he finished, she took him into her body with a heart-stopping, breath-stealing downward glide that perfectly matched his upward thrust.

The ride was wild and fast and hard. Her orgasm crashed over her, pulling her under, dragging a ragged cry from her lips that echoed Daniel’s harsh groan.

With pleasurable aftershocks still rippling through her, she dragged open her heavy eyelids. At some point one of them must have tossed Daniel’s glasses aside. A thrill of feminine satisfaction trilled through her at his glazed expression and flushed skin. His dark hair was rumpled from her frantic hands and a lock fell across his forehead. Reaching out, she gently brushed back the silky strands with fingers that weren’t quite steady. When her gaze again found his, she discovered him watching her through very serious eyes.

For several long, intense seconds they simply stared at each other, and to Carlie’s horror she felt moisture pushing behind her eyeballs. The urge to say something overwhelmed her, but anything breezy or lighthearted was beyond her. And she had to forcibly press her lips together to contain the completely unacceptable words that trembled there, aching to be said.

Please don’t leave.

Something of her distress must have shown on her face because he frowned. “You okay?” he asked, his fingers drifting over her cheek.

No, damn it, she wasn’t. She felt…ambushed. Hijacked. And it was all his fault. Him and his gorgeous dimples and sexy smile and the way he made her feel…and all the wonderful stuff that made him Daniel.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

One corner of his mouth pulled up. “I’d like it noted in the record that even though it nearly killed me, I had every intention of honoring your request and waiting until we were in the house before pouncing on you. As it was, I did manage not to take off your dress.” He ran his hands over her bare butt. “Yet.”

She gave a solemn nod. “It shall be duly noted.”

He leaned back against the head rest and studied her for several heartbeats, then said softly, “You’re beautiful.”

Her heart tripped over itself. “Says the nearsighted guy who isn’t wearing his glasses.”

“That’s not what I meant, although you are undeniably gorgeous. Anybody can be beautiful on the outside. You’re beautiful on the inside.”

Damn it, that moisture was pushing at her eyeballs again. “Thank you. So are you.”

“These past two weeks have been…great.”

“Really great,” she agreed in a rush, relieved to say it out loud. “I’m…I’m going to miss you.”

He didn’t say anything right away, just looked at her with an indecipherable expression that rushed embarrassed heat right up to her hairline. Why, oh, why had she blurted that out?

“I’m going to miss you, too, Carlie. Very much.” He hesitated, then said, “I wish I didn’t have to leave so soon.”

His words tossed another brick on the heavy weight already pressing against her heart. “Me, too. But you do. Have to. Leave.” She’d tried to sound light and breezy, but failed miserably.

“Yes, I do.”

She cleared her throat and tried again for light and breezy. “And we both knew that.” Another failure.

“Right. It just seems like the two weeks have gone by so fast.”

“In a heartbeat,” she agreed softly.

He looked troubled, confused, and for a brief instant an insane flicker of something hopeful flared in her. But then his expression cleared. “Why don’t we go inside and see what we can come up with for our last night together?” he suggested.

His words extinguished the ridiculous, fragile flame of hope and she forced herself to nod. “What do you have in mind?”

His lips quirked upward and his dimples flashed, but the smile didn’t seem to reach his eyes. “I’m thinking you. Me. Chocolate. Naked. And not necessarily in that order. For starters.”

“Sounds…great.” Except for the fact that when the him, her, chocolate, naked thing was finished, she knew there’d be no more Daniel.

9

AT NOON ON the day after Valentine’s Day-five hours after she’d awakened to find herself alone-Carlie sat on her sofa and listlessly clicked the remote, watching talk shows and game shows flash by. Dressed in her rattiest, faded sweatpants, thickest wool socks and a faded green sweatshirt that warned Give Me the Damn Chocolate and No One Gets Hurt, she felt as frumpy and dumpy as she looked. Her normally bright den seemed dismal and dark from the lack of sunlight, the gray, overcast sky outside perfectly matching her mood.

Good grief, had only five hours passed since she’d awakened alone? It felt more like five years. She’d been crushed to find him already gone, but her common sense told it was for the best. He’d saved her the embarrassment of what undoubtedly would have turned into a messy, tearful goodbye on her part.

She’d spent the first two hours clutching the pillow that still bore traces of Daniel’s clean scent, re-reading the one-line note he’d left on the pillowcase. Thanks for a beautiful night. And it had, indeed, been beautiful. She’d tortured herself reliving the magic while tears had tracked silently down her cheeks. Their frantic mating in the car. Their leisurely lovemaking in the shower with warm water cascading over them. Then Daniel carrying her to bed and making tender, exquisite love to her that said “goodbye” more clearly than any words. Falling asleep nestled in his strong arms.

Then she’d spent the last three hours here on the couch, sipping coffee that had long turned cold, and further tortured herself by replaying in her head the highlights of the entire past two weeks. More tears had soaked her cheeks, and all she had to show for the time was a stuffy nose, a wad of used-up tissues and a nagging headache. Even P.B. and J. had eventually tired of listening to her sniffles and were now sleeping on their favorite blanket in the corner.

With a sigh she turned off the TV and forced herself finally to admit the reason for her abject misery, because there could only be one explanation for why her heart felt as if it had been surgically removed.

She’d fallen in love.

“Argh!” Closing her eyes, she thumped her head against the back of the sofa. Fabulous, Carlie. If falling in love at the wrong time with the wrong guy were an Olympic event, she’d win the freakin’ gold medal. Her only hope was that this bout of love would fade quickly. Maybe it hadn’t had time to really grab hold of her and, like a bad cold, she could shake it loose with some TLC. Like a hot bath and a piece of chocolate.

Oh, yeah-that would help her get over him. Not. An image of them together in the bathtub materialized in her mind’s eye, and she groaned. And probably for the next fifty years or so she’d think of Daniel whenever she ate chocolate. Okay, so maybe her TLC would have to be something more along the lines of a glass of orange juice and a vitamin pill.

Heaving a sigh, she rose and shuffled toward the bathroom, determined to splash some cold water on her face and get her butt in gear. She had a chapter to read before her class tonight. And having class tonight was good. Nothing like a couple of intense hours of organic chemistry to take her mind off Daniel and her battered heart. She’d concentrate on school and forget all about him. Yes, that was an excellent plan.

Walking into the bathroom, she slapped on the light and grimaced when the bright glare hit her in the eye. Then she looked in the mirror. And recoiled in horror.

Gack! She looked like something that the puppies wouldn’t even want to bury in the back yard. Her hair was a rat’s nest of frizz that stuck up from her head at all angles. Her eyes were swollen and sported half moons of mascara beneath them. Blotchy skin, pale, tear-stained cheeks, red nose-yikes. She was eyeballing her lipstick on the counter, tempted to write out of order across the mirror, when the doorbell rang. The puppies began furiously barking, and she heard the skidding sounds of them hitting the wood floor as they raced toward the front door.

“Easy, guys,” she said, entering the small foyer. As was her habit, she looked out one of the slender windows flanking the door. And froze. For about three seconds. Then she yanked open the door and stared at Daniel in stunned amazement.

While the puppies offered their ecstatic tail-wagging, tongue-lolling, yip-yapping greeting, she managed to say, “Hi.”

“Hi.” He pushed up his glasses then blinked. “Were you watching a scary movie?”

“Scary movie?”

“You sort of have that ‘hair standing up on end’ look.” His gaze flicked over her ratty sweats and he smiled. “You look-”

“Don’t say it-”

“-Amazing.”

Before she could tell him she was very well aware that she looked like Godzilla’s ugly sister, he stepped over the threshold, adroitly maneuvered around the prancing puppies, pulled her into his arms and laid a kiss on her that left her reeling as if she’d been clocked upside the head with a brick.

“Amazing,” he repeated, nipping kisses along her jawline.

“Your glasses must be fogged over,” she felt compelled to point out, clinging to his shoulders so she didn’t slither to the floor.

“No. They must have been before, but not now. Everything’s perfectly clear now.”

She leaned back in the circle of his arms. “What are you doing here?” She’d been a whole three minutes into her plan to forget all about him. How was she supposed to forget him if he kept coming back?

For an answer, he closed the door, clasped her hand, then led her into the den. The puppies clamored after them, then gamboled off to the kitchen, no doubt to raid their kibble bowl.