"Well, it is and it isn't."

He laughed. "Just ask me, Meg. I can't say yes until you do." He hoped his opening would sway her.

He heard her drawing in a breath before saying, "A friend of mine is going on a blind date, up in Newark, and I want to be there too-just in case."

"You don't think too highly of her blind date," he said, "do you?"

There was another pause before Meg said, "I really don't know him."

"So he's a friend of one of her friends then?"

"Not exactly."

She sounded as if there were more to the story that she should be telling him, so he asked, "What aren't you telling me, Meg?"

"OK, the truth is that she met him online-"

Dan worked hard to keep a lid on his temper, still his voice sounded gruff to his own ears when he bit out, "You have to be kidding me! Doesn't she understand how risky that is? Haven't you two paid attention to anything in the news lately?" He couldn't believe they would be that naive.

"Look, Dan. I didn't call for a lecture. I called for your help. If you don't want to, fine. I'll ask someone else."

"Wait, Meg." He didn't want her to ask anyone else. That she'd asked him over any of the other people she knew in town was a surprise. "I'll help you, but I am wondering: why me?"

"At the moment," she drawled, "I have no idea."

He chuckled. "OK, before I kind of lost it just now, why me?" He couldn't say why he needed to know, but he knew deep down that it was important to have her confide in him.

"Can't I tell you later?" She sounded like she was in a hurry.

"Are you late for work?"

She hesitated again and he knew that she just didn't want to tell him... yet.

"You can tell me on the way to Newark. What time do you need me to pick you up?" He heard her audible sigh of relief and grinned.

"Can we leave right after practice?"

"I'm calling practice early today. I don't want the guys to overdo it. We have a big game tomorrow."

"Great, so should I walk to your house?"

He laughed. She was something else. "No. I'll pick you up. Oh and, Meg?"

"Yes?"

"Does Honey B. know what you're up to?"

"How do you know-" She mumbled something beneath her breath that sounded suspiciously like one of his favorite curse words. "You guessed, didn't you?"

He swallowed the laughter filling him. "Yes. I'm sorry, but I don't like being blindsided."

"Neither do I."

He knew she was talking about the other day. "Look Meg, I've done some thinking and I want to talk about the other night."

"If you're going to reiterate what has already been said, don't bother."

"No," he rushed out. "In fact, I think that maybe it wasn't adrenaline pumping through my veins at all... I've never felt like this before, Meg. It happened so fast."

"I know," she sighed. "I keep wondering if I dreamed it all."

He tightened his grip on the phone and told her what thought kept him up most of the night. "I think we need to take it slower but definitely get back to where we were the other night." He prayed she'd give him the chance. "Don't give me your answer right now," he rasped. "Just promise me you'll think about it."

"Since you're coming with me tonight," she told him, "I'll think about it."

He struggled to push the emotions struggling to the surface back where he could control them. "Thanks."

"Hey, Dan?"

"Yeah?"

"Wear a nice shirt."

"Man, I thought you were going to tell me I had to wear a tie."

She laughed, a full rich sound that wrapped itself around his healing heart. "Not this time, but maybe tomorrow night."

"You need me to go out with you again?"

Her sigh was deep. "Look, it's part of what I need to talk to you about on the way to Newark. Can it wait until then?"

A glance at the kitchen clock told him they'd both be late if he didn't hang up the phone. "All right, you can fill me in-but you will tell me everything, right?"

"Maybe."

They were both laughing when they disconnected. "God I hope she gives me the chance to get back to where we were the other night."

You're the one who put the brakes on, his conscience screamed. "Yeah," he grumbled unplugging his coffeemaker. "But I know now that was a stupid thing to do."

Go figure.

"What do you mean she's got an out-of-town date tonight?"

The sheriff didn't mince words and Dan had to respect the guy for his calm when he could see from the way the other man's jaw tightened and the tick that started beneath the sheriff's left eye that he was anything but. "Meg called and asked me to go with her to Newark, that a friend of hers had a blind date and Meg was uneasy about it."

"Did she say it was Honey B.?"

"No, I guessed that it was."

"And she didn't deny it?" The man's big hands were curling into fists.

Dan wondered, If the sheriff ever let his temper loose would the other guy survive? "No, she seemed relieved that I guessed. You're not going to like who she's going with."

"Sam Reynolds?" the sheriff asked.

"Uh, no," Dan told him. "It's-"

"Gary Jones?"

"No-I don't know his name. She met him online."

Mitch's hands uncurled and slapped against the desk as he shot to his feet. "Son of a bitch! I didn't think she'd really go through with it."

Dan's suspicions were confirmed. The sheriff had feelings for Honey B. Because of the mistake he'd made with Meg, he had to ask, "Does she know how you feel about her?"

Mitch glared at him before rocking back on his heels. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"She might not be headed for trouble right now if she knew you were interested in her."

"She knows."

"Does she?" Dan wondered because the man avoided eye contact with him.

The sheriff finally sighed and grumbled, "She should."

"I'm taking Meg tonight, but she said something about tomorrow too."

"Damn it. She's going out tomorrow too?"

Dan sensed the other man needed to be reassured. "I think so," he said slowly. "I'll find out and keep you posted."

"You've got my private number?"

"Uh, no."

The sheriff gave Dan the number and waited for him to input the digits into his contacts. "You'll call me if things get out of hand?"

"Just as soon as I sort them out and make sure that Honey B. is out of trouble." He held out his hand and the other man took it, a look of gratitude mixing with the uncertainty he was trying to hide from Dan.

"I'm counting on you."

"I won't let you down."

Fifteen minutes later he pulled into the driveway to Meg's apartment and felt a rush of hopeful anticipation skidding through his veins. He wasn't going to mess this up-if he had to slow down because he'd made a mistake and needed to make it up to Meg, he would, but otherwise, he was going to lock lips with the delectable pixie-sized woman again. She'd offered him a second chance and he was taking it. He'd been thinking of sampling her sweet-tart flavor ever since their phone conversation this morning.

Knocking on the downstairs door, he waited for her to answer. When she didn't, he walked in and called out, "Meg, are you ready?"

"Almost, come on up."

He grinned and thought, That way lay dragons, but he figured he could keep a lid on his libido for tonight. "I stopped off at the sheriff's office."

Her frown was fierce. "Why?"

"I, uh..." He lost his train of thought when he saw the hunter-green formfitting dress she was wearing. "You look beautiful."

She put her hands on her hips and he nearly swallowed his tongue, but she got his attention when she said, "Don't change the subject, Dan."

He grinned down at her. God, she was something when she was annoyed. Her eyes sparkled, like they were lit from within, and her sassy mouth tempted the hell out of him. She appeared to be waiting for him to reply, so he told her what was on his mind. "I thought he should know. He's stuck on Honey B., Meg."

"Maybe, but you should have asked me first." She must have realized how she sounded because she added, "Besides, you only just moved here and don't understand their situation."

"I understand plenty. Did you know that he has feelings for Honey B.?"

Meg's face had an expression of pain that she struggled to hide. Dan wanted to get to the bottom of that and more. She caught his interest when she said, "He's had a lot of years to do something about those feelings but hasn't. How long would you have Honey B. wait?"

What could he say now that wouldn't have her jumping down his throat? That was definitely not the mood he wanted her in tonight. He shrugged and changed the subject. "Can we leave now?"

She shook her head at him. "Fine, but next time, ask me before you go talking to the sheriff about my friend. You could have upset the plans we've set in motion."

He felt like laughing but knew it would be a big mistake. So he agreed with her. "Yes, ma'am." As he followed her down the stairs, he asked, "So how long should it take to get there?"

"Forty-five minutes or so. Depends on traffic and how fast you drive."

He held the passenger door open and waited for her to get inside. "Then let's get this show on the road. Are we following her?"

Meg waited until he'd gotten in the driver's side before answering, "I think that's the best idea. I told her we'd meet her out on County Road 16. That way we might get out of town without everyone knowing something's up."

She seemed edgy, so he reassured her, "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that her date goes off without a hitch. If there's trouble, I'm there." He told her, "So try to relax."

She smiled at him. "I'll try. Let's go see if she's waiting for us."

Honey B.'s car was sitting on the shoulder a few miles away. Dan slowed down and waited for her to pull in front of them. She waved in her rearview mirror and Meg finally relaxed beside him.

"I know this might seem a little crazy to you, but a person can only wait so long before they begin to wonder if what happened was all in their mind and the feelings tangling inside of them won't ever be returned."

He kept his eyes on the road and the car in front of him, struggling to keep the unease sprinting through him from showing. "Thinking about the other night is too distracting. Can we talk about it later?" He saw her turn to face him in his peripheral vision. "Right now what's important is keeping your friend safe, and keeping the man who spent the night outside of her house in his truck up to speed on what's happening."

"The sheriff told you about that?"

"He's got bone-deep feelings for her, Meg."

The road ahead wound past farmland that rolled gently on past them. Every so often there was a perpendicular line of trees separating the land, but his favorite were the ponds dotting the landscape, some of them surrounded by trees-like an oasis amid the tilled soil. This wasn't like the farmland he'd driven by on his way through Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. It was much flatter there. "Are these farms owned by different people?"

Meg looked out the window. "The Edwards family owns the next couple hundred acres," she told him.

"But what about the lines of trees separating the fields?"