"I said I'd think about it."

"You can do it without him," Rod encouraged, making her love him even more.

"I wish I could, but I don't think I can hold onto it much longer. I haven't made a profit in almost a year."

"Didn't you say you were doing good the first year?"

Had she told him that? She couldn't remember, but every time she was near him focusing on anything except him was impossible. "I was until a chain salon opened up a few blocks away from mine."

"Well, from now on, you've got all my business. n.o.body cuts my hair except Bethany Briggs."

Though $10.95 a month wouldn't get her salon out of the red, it was the better of the two offers she'd gotten.

For this weekend, nothing would matter. She'd put her professional problems to the side and simply enjoy paradise with her man.

"I hope you don't mind I brought Cam along," Rod said, setting their luggage on the floor inside the cabin.

Bethany shook her head. "I was going to suggest it." Leaning down near Cameron, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She was the first woman his sister's dog had liked in two years.

When she stood up, looking around the cabin as she did, she removed her coat. Under it, she wore this dress. . .crochet, he thought, that wasn't meant to be, but was, s.e.xy. The liner beneath the crochet was just a slip with spaghetti straps. The collar and sleeves were all ruffled and. . . G.o.d, he wanted her.

His body had spent the night aching for more, so his first glimpse of her that morning had started the motor running. He'd taken any opportunity to touch her, which hadn't gone unnoticed by her otherwise silent brother. The gentle giant hadn't spoken even when Rod talked to him. Nods, head shakes, vague noises were all he'd gotten, but he didn't care. He'd just been killing time until Bethany was ready to embark on their three hour journey up north to Phillips.

The driving made him wish he'd given a little more consideration to location, because all he took into account was that Phillips was one of the few places in Wisconsin he hadn't been. He didn't think while making plans that a three hour drive when he could make love to her sooner if they just went to his house would drive him crazy.

"This is nice. A fireplace," she said, turning her head to smile at him.

That was when he recognized it. Though she'd been a little shy today, her glances in his direction had been frequent and intense. He understood now.

Sweet, demure Bethany wanted him. She invited him to make a move on her with every look.

"I better get the groceries in." The words came through clenched teeth, and she looked at him strangely.

"Oh. Do you need help?"

Shaking his head positively, he went out and got all four of the bags at once. If she'd come along to help, he wasn't sure he could control himself enough not to take her on the hood of his car.

When he went inside, Bethany was leaning into the small refrigerator to adjust the temperature. Rod almost dropped everything then and there. The nylons she wore were nude, but they caught the light, making her ankles, calves, and the back of her thighs look like spun silk. Her skirt was a loose hem, a.s.suring him that if she bent over just a little more. . .

Setting the bags down without regard for the contents, he walked around the table just as she straightened and turned toward him.

Her surprise was quickly replaced with acknowledgment and acceptance. She reached for him, welcoming his kiss and the hands he slid up under her dress with a sigh. Opening his eyes, he saw the deep flush in her cheeks.

At the same time he reached for the b.u.t.tons at the back of her dress, she started pushing at his leather jacket. Together they rid him of it, and then her hands were on him. Nothing could feel better than her eager, untutored touch.

After a minute, he carried her to the carpet in front of the fireplace and laid her inside his leather jacket. She smiled when he joined her.

"What?"

Shaking her head, she said in a drunk voice, "It's not fine. It's wonderful. It's perfect."

She lay there, looking so soft, messed up, so content, his insides tangled and knotted. They were alone, in love, and this was forever.

Leaning down, he took her mouth in a caress that reaffirmed the words: "I'm never gonna let you go, sweetness."

Moonlight streamed through the windows, and Bethany finally heeded its call. Slipping out from the warmth of the comforter and Rod's body, she searched for her underwear to no avail.

Putting on a fresh pair of panties from her untouched suitcase, she went to unpack the groceries. She understood now why Rod had insisted on buying more snacks than food. Had it not been for the Twinkies and potato chips, they would have starved today.

Cameron must have been summoned by the moon too because he came out of the bedroom, where he'd been sleeping at the end of the bed, and rubbed his head against her leg.

For the first few hours at the cabin, she'd been embarra.s.sed about the dog seeing her naked and seeing them make love, especially when he'd come to stand over them and stare. Rod had called him a voyeur and a.s.sured her that Cameron didn't know she was naked, just thought she had on a different outfit.

She opened a can of the dog food they'd stocked for him, hoping to make up for the snacks Rod had fed him earlier.

The cabin was a little cold, despite the warmth coming from the fireplace.

Instead of turning it up higher, she lifted Rod's leather jacket from the floor, surprised by how heavy it was, and eased it on. Engulfed in the scent, she went to the wide, padded seat below the bay windows overlooking the lake.

A part of her still couldn't believe she was here. Randy had been right, when she told him that morning she was going away with Rod: It wasn't like her.

It wasn't like her to be doing the things she'd done countless times today with a man she wasn't married to. A man who, at the very least, hadn't said he loved her. She'd kept her own declaration of love inside this time because she didn't want anything out of guilt, l.u.s.t or obligation.

Her guilt had already begun, in moments that didn't include lovemaking. She couldn't refuse Rod, and that was wrong. Even if he told her outright that it was only an affair, she couldn't deny him. She loved him, wanted to be with him without wasting a minute, and she'd do anything to make this permanent.

Of course there'd been that initial doubt. After he'd left last night, she wondered if he'd gotten what he wanted and so it was over. But he'd wanted her today. He'd been the one to reach for her each time. It thrilled her that he couldn't seem to get enough of her.

The way he treated her made her love him more. Not once had it ever been strictly physical. The softness in his eyes every time he looked at her, the things he said, the way he always had to touch her somehow. . .he seemed to want to know everything there was to know about her and was just as willing to share his life with her. Nothing was too personal. Nothing should be too personal between two people who'd indulged in such intimate acts. If he hadn't been so open, she would have known it was just an affair to him. Now. . .now she had hope of a commitment.

Wrapping her arms around her herself, she burrowed deeper into the leather jacket. The night was beautiful. Bethany couldn't remember ever being up this late, but she'd missed something. The sky was like twinkling diamonds on black velvet. A few minutes later, the twinkling diamonds fell toward the earth.

Snow! It was the first snow, an early one, and she saw it as it happened instead of the morning after. Bethany was so excited, she wanted to go wake Rod up so he could share it with her.

From the bedroom, she heard the creak of the floor boards, and seconds later, Rod appeared wrapped in the comforter as if she'd summoned him telepathically.

"It's snowing," she told him, a little breathlessly. As much as she liked how he looked in public, she loved this man more. Messed up, boyish and achingly s.e.xy.

"Really?" He walked over to the window, and she knew he wore nothing beneath the blanket. It was no wonder he never wore a shirt. He was thoroughly comfortable wearing nothing at all.

"Were you ever a centerfold?" she asked without thinking, then added to herself like some of the models he'd dated.

Rod turned his head and looked at her with sleepy eyes. "I thought about it, back when money was an incentive. But I didn't want this body to become common."

The way he walked in the blanket was adorable--like it was one of those skinny, long dresses. He sat in back of her, opening the blanket to surround her with as it as well as with his body. She loved cuddling with Rod. Though she'd always imagined it, the real thing was better. He fit her in a way that was exclusive. No one else could ever do.

"When we go back Sunday night. . ." he murmured, his head on her shoulder, turned toward her. "I want you to move in with me."

His desire was something that would have confirmed their commitment in her eyes if she hadn't already realized Rod had a pattern with other women. A rush into a s.e.xual relationship, then the move-in with him, and finally, a week or two later it was over. She didn't want this. She wanted to be with him all the time, especially at night and in the morning, but she didn't want to be a pattern and a statistic in his life.

"Will you, sweetness?" he urged after several minutes of silence.

"I. . .I don't know." What she didn't know was how she could ever say no to him.

"I want you as close to me as I can get you. I won't interfere with your career. I promise. I just want you to come home to me every night."

Oh gosh, she wanted that too.

"I can't sleep without you anymore, Bethany. I woke up, and you weren't there. It was cold and dark and lonely."

She turned toward him, unable to tolerate the thought that he'd felt that way. She never wanted to feel those things again herself, and wouldn't allow him to if she had any say in it. "I'll move in with you."

If she was a pattern, then she'd be the one that broke the mold. She'd treat him so well, he'd never be able to live without her again.

The first thing Bethany did when she got back to Stevens Point Sunday evening was to have Rod drop her off at home so she could tell Randy.

Even before she revealed her decision, she knew her brother was uncomfortable about the entire situation, when, out of politeness, he asked how things had gone. His question was even more uncomfortable for Bethany, because he knew as well as she did that she and Rod hadn't gone for the sightseeing. The isolation she felt from her brother saddened her. But even if she someday was ashamed of her actions too, she couldn't change anything.

She told Randy as quickly as she could that she was moving out and in with Rod, too afraid to look at him for his reaction. The minutes of silence crawled by until she wanted to scream or burst into tears.

"This isn't like you, Bethie," he said quietly.

Despite realizing that it wasn't so much that Randy was disappointed in her, she went into her bedroom to pack for the night with tears falling from her eyes. He just didn't trust Rod's intentions, based on his reputation. He thought it inevitable she'd be hurt and she should be more cautious for that probability. She could do that, she would, but the love in her heart was more powerful than the doubts in her head.

She chose an outfit for work the next day, got her hurt under control, then went back out. Rod would be here to pick her up soon. He'd gone to get them something for dinner.

"When will you be giving up the apartment?" Randy asked.

It shamed Bethany to admit she'd unconsciously planned the rest of her life practically without him. Everything had been about Rod lately, and when she'd agreed to move in with him tomorrow she hadn't thought of her brother. "I'm moving in with Rod tomorrow," she said with a locked throat.

After pausing for endless seconds, Randy nodded, then forced a smile. "You should probably give me your phone number and address."

That threw Bethany for a loop, because, while she knew where Rod lived, she didn't know the exact address or the phone number. . .and she'd made love with him, not knowing those basics.

From outside, a car horn went off. Rod's signal that he was back. "I better go. I'll call you tonight with the address and telephone number."

Randy got up, and though she felt unworthy, she accepted his hug.

Gosh, she hoped things worked out. Otherwise she'd have to live with her brother wherever he went and never be able to look him in the eye again.

She went down to Rod, and he gave her a set of house keys. Though she'd a.s.sumed she'd be uncomfortable in his home, as she was last time, she wasn't because his loving attention to her made that impossible. He gave her everything she needed, most of the time without her saying a word. Actually, the only time she spoke up was when they went up to bed, to the bedroom he'd shared with Nicole Martini. She didn't even want to enter it, and she admitted to him the truth.

They ended up in the bedroom with nothing except empty s.p.a.ce, sleeping on a pile of blankets on the floor. Rod told her he'd get the room professionally decorated for them, but she liked the idea of decorating it herself. They decided to get some catalogs the next day and pick everything out together.

Bethany fell asleep in Rod's arms, too happy to feel any shame, regret or doubts.

The next morning, they rose together bright and early, showered together, then he took her to breakfast. He was in an uncontrolled mood of excitement she attributed to their new living arrangement.

While she was at work, he'd pack up all her things at the apartment. Since it'd come furnished, everything would be light. He wouldn't need anyone to help him. She gave him the key to the apartment, to be left for Randy to return to the superintendent.

It was still early when they got to her salon, and though she had work to do before her employees arrived, she relented when Rod begged to come in with her for just a few minutes.

Taking the key from her, Rod unlocked the door as Bethany reminded herself that today she had to make a decision concerning the investor.

Stepping inside, Bethany was sure she was in the wrong shop, even turning to look at the window that heralded her name. Thoughts went through her head at the speed of light in her attempt to understand what had happened. The only explanation that fit was the investor had misinterpreted her uncertainty as a go-ahead.

"Well, what do you think?" Rod asked behind her.

"I didn't say yes to the investor! I didn't even sign anything. He can't move in and do--"

"He didn't, sweetness."

Bethany turned to him, more confused than ever. If the investor hadn't done all this remodeling, then who. . .?

Staring at him in disbelief, she tried to find words but her embarra.s.sment and anger were too great. How could he do this to her? A sapphire bracelet was one thing. But this. . . "I can't. . . You have to put it back the way it was. I could never afford this."

This consisted of the remodeling of the other side of the building she'd wanted to expand into, to look like the three work stations she'd been using.

There were seven stations now. The reception desk was larger, her retail metal shelving had been replaced with wood shelves built onto the wall. Her little laundry room had tripled in size, and the dimensions of her office seemed to have altered too.

Rod moved over to her and put his arms around her instantly stiff body.

"You don't have to afford it. It's all yours. They did a good job, didn't they?

For the rush I put on them."

He glanced around proudly, lingering on the area where the black and white checkered floor had ended before. There was no evidence that a dividing line had ever existed now.

"I had Travis put ads in the papers, so you can hire more stylists, and there's gonna be some coupons that are a little cheaper than the chain down the street. They'll be out of business in a month, I bet."

Rod looked so happy, so satisfied, it made her want to cry. "I can't afford any of that. I can't pay more employees. I can barely pay the two I have. I know you meant well, but I can't afford expansion."

"You can afford everything. I put some money in the salon account. You can tell the investor to take that long walk off a short pier now."

Tears of humiliation crept into her eyes, and she had to turn away from him. "How much money?"

"It doesn't matter. It should be enough for you to make this place into what you want it to be." A note of doubt had crept into his voice. "Isn't this what you wanted?"