Sophia sat down next to him. "I'm kind of in love with him."

Dave sighed. "I know," he said. "But I'm starting to be pretty certain that he's not in love with you. He could be, but he just won't let himself."

"You always know just what to say to cheer me up," Sophia said.

He laughed, but his smile faded as he met and held her gaze. "No more pain," he told her. "Promise me, Sophia."

"I promise," she said, "that I'll talk to you about it first."

Dave nodded. "Fair enough."

"As long as we're in the no-pain department," Sophia told him, "I had another call from my aunt. My father's been moved into a nursing home. He's doing much better and...I've decided not to visit him. Not on this trip. I just can't. I know you disapprove, but..." She shook her head.

"I don't," Dave said. "I'll support any decision you make, a hundred percent. I just don't want you to regret a missed opportunity." He stood up. "You look exhausted." Kissed her on the top of the head. "Call me if you need anything." Opened the door. "Try to get some sleep. Whoa."

"Hey." It was Decker, standing there, about to knock. He'd actually come to see her.

"Come on in," Dave said.

"No," she heard Deck say. "If she's going to bed..."

"She hasn't yet," Dave said.

"I just wanted to make sure she was okay," Decker said. He leaned in. Waved at her. "Hey. Just checking in."

"I'm okay," Sophia said, wrapping the blanket more tightly around her as a wave of cold air swept into the room.

"Come in," Dave said. "Please. Just because I was leaving, doesn't mean-"

"It's good if she sleeps," Decker said. "I'll check in later. Don't leave the door open."

Dave looked at her in exasperation as Deck pulled him outside and closed the door behind them both.

Frustration mingled with relief. It was odd, actually, how relieved she was that Deck hadn't come in. If he had, it would have been the perfect opportunity to lay a little honesty out in front of him. I'm still a little chilled and I think I might've pulled a muscle when I tried to push Danny out of the water and despite the months of separation, I think of you constantly and I'm pretty convinced that I'm in love with you.

In her fantasies, he would look at her the same way he'd looked at her this afternoon in the smokehouse, and he'd tell her he loved her, too. She'd fall into his arms and...

After kissing Danny, she was no longer quite as concerned that physical intimacy would make her run, sweating and shaking, to hide in the bathroom.

No, now it was Decker she pictured on his knees in front of the toilet, sickened by the sight of her scars.

Sophia climbed into bed and pulled the covers around her, switching off the light. But as soon as the room was dark, her phone rang.

She reached for it, picked it up. "Hello?"

"Jesus." It was Dave. "That's all," he said. "Just...Jesus."

She laughed.

"I am so sorry," he said.

"It's okay. Really."

"I thought you might appreciate knowing that I managed not to kick him down the stairs, despite desperately wanting to."

Sophia laughed again. "I really love you, you know."

"Yeah," Dave said. "I know."

"So what's your biggest fantasy?" Izzy asked.

That was easy. "Well, I just told you that when I was little my favorite movie was The Little Mermaid," Tracy told him. "So..."

"So...being abducted by a giant sea witch and having your voice stolen makes you hot?"

She laughed. "Being swept off my feet by a handsome prince, thank you very much."

Tracy had been on edge as they'd left the bar, Izzy's hand warm against her back as he'd helped her navigate the potholes and broken tarmac of the parking lot. She'd definitely begun feeling the alcohol.

But as he'd helped her into the SUV, even as he handed her the packs of condoms he'd gotten from the machine in the men's room, he'd suggested that they gas up first.

At first she'd gotten even more nervous at the delay, her stomach churning with anxiety and too much tequila.

But as they drove through the darkness, Izzy had kept up a constant stream of conversation: favorite books, favorite movies, favorite parts of Manhattan. Eventually she'd started to relax. They had so much in common, not the least being that they were dog people. They'd actually both had golden labs, growing up. His was named Dyno-mite, hers Nathaniel.

Lyle was allergic.

"Ah," Izzy said now. "Someday my prince will come, love at first sight-am I right? You're a traditionalist, heavy on the romance-and maybe the high drama, too?"

She didn't understand.

"Casablanca," he said. "Thumbs-up or thumbs-down?"

"I've never seen it," she admitted. "Not the whole thing."

"Wow. Okay. How about...Moulin Rouge," Izzy said. "Shakespeare in Love, The Last of the Mohicans?" He glanced at her. "Stay alive, whatever you do..."

Tracy nodded. His Daniel Day-Lewis imitation was rather good, right down to the super-intense eyes. "Big favorites. All of them."

"Good," Izzy said. "Okay. Give me a second, I can do this..." He was silent for another moment, but then he said, "You know, you remind me of her. Of Ariel." He glanced at her, and in the light from the dashboard, his smile was warm and charmingly crooked. "It's your eyes."

"Really?"

When Izzy smiled, his face was transformed from merely dangerously attractive, with all its planes and hard edges and angles, to extremely handsome. His eyes crinkled at the edges, sparking and dancing with that offbeat, devilish amusement he brought to everything he did or said.

"Absolutely," he told her. "Big and blue and..." He glanced at her again, and this time, it was the tenderness she saw on his face that took her breath away. "Just a little bit sad." He pulled his gaze back to the road, a muscle jumping in the side of his jaw. "God, I could fall for you so easily."

Tracy sat up, her heart in her throat. "You could?"

The smile he sent her now was forced. "I don't know if I can do this, Trace." It wasn't until he put the car into park that she realized he'd pulled into some kind of rest area. It was little more than a patch of dirt alongside the state road, as completely deserted as everything else out here. She caught a glimpse of empty picnic tables before he killed the headlights and turned on the overhead.

It was glaringly bright, as if he didn't trust himself to sit with her in the dark.

"I'm afraid," he whispered, his eyes tormented as he turned in his seat, toward her, "that if we make love...my fate will be sealed." He touched her, though, his hand warm against her cheek. "But if you don't kiss me right now, I may not survive."

It was unreal-as if he'd somehow changed, again, into someone else. Someone gallant and romantic and...perfect.

Tracy kissed him. How could she not?

It was like a kiss from a movie about star-crossed lovers, starving for one another's touch. This was incredible-she'd never been kissed with such passion before. Not by Lyle, not by anyone.

She hadn't expected it to be like this, to actually want to be with another man. Whenever she'd thought about paying Lyle back, she'd imagined it would happen fast. With her closing her eyes and turning her head away.

And faking it.

But when Izzy finally pulled back, she was breathing hard, her heart pounding.

He held on to the steering wheel with both hands. "This is going to kill me," he gasped. "Having you like this, then letting you go..."

"Maybe we should stop." The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but oh, dear God help her, she was praying he wouldn't let her shut this down.

"No," he said-thank God. His voice was rough, his eyes those of a man possessed. It was the way Lyle had once looked at her. As if she were everything-and then some. "I want you too badly. I need you-God, I need you so much, Tracy. Just...I'm going to have to live on my memories of this one night. Only one night-in a lousy car." He kissed her again. "I wish I could make love to you in a bed-no, on a bed covered in rose petals. I wish I could see you lying there, the most beautiful woman in the world-all mine, even if just for one too-short night."

He'd unzipped her sweatshirt, and she helped him peel it down her arms, helped him pull off the T-shirt she wore as a pajama top.

"Whoa," he breathed, because she was naked beneath it. "Hello, hot mama-I mean, oh, my darling, you're so beautiful, it takes my breath away."

The look in his eyes was pure worship and heat. But he didn't reach for her. He just sat back and looked, as if in his mind she were on that romantic petal-strewn bed.

Except she had on plaid pajama pants. She kicked off her sneakers and skimmed her pjs down her legs. And there she was. Completely naked, even though the car was lit up like a fishbowl in the darkness.

"I know it's not the same as being in a bed," she started.

"So not caring," he said, and reached for her.

To her surprise, he was gentle, almost unbearably so. As he skimmed his hands across her bare skin, she had to close her eyes. And then, yes, he was kissing her, licking, touching and tasting, his lips and mouth soft, in such contrast with the scratchiness from his chin against her throat, her breasts, lower.... Except there wasn't enough room, despite the fact that he'd somehow reached around her and completely reclined her seat. The car horn went off, a sharp blast as he bumped it, and he lifted his head, laughing into her eyes. "Whoops. Sorry."

He still had most of his clothes on-he'd only managed to shed his jacket, and she touched his belt buckle. But he shifted back, out of reach. "What, don't you like surprises?" he teased.

Tracy laughed, smiling back at him. "What, do you want me to beg or something?"

"Yeah, actually, that would work well for me," he said, his fingers exploring between her legs, finding her hot and slick with desire. "Ah, Tracy..."

He was being so brave, smiling and laughing, when in truth his heart had to be breaking. She kissed him, long and deep. How could she not?

"Please," she whispered, between kisses. "I'm begging you. Please, baby. I need you inside me. Now."

Somehow, while she was kissing him, he'd maneuvered himself beneath her. Somehow he'd unbuckled his belt and unfastened his pants and covered himself with one of those condoms she'd put in the cup holder.

He lifted her up, way up, his hands on her hips, and she felt him, hard and large, against her.

"Oh, dear God," she said, as he started to fill her, but then he stopped, halfway. She tried to move closer, but his grip on her was unrelenting. She opened her eyes and found him laughing up at her.

"Ooh, the eye contact is nice, but I'm looking for something more," he told her.

"Please," she said. "Please, baby..."

"Please, who?" he asked.

"Izzy," she said, and he smiled.

"Much better," he said, holding her gaze as he lowered her all the way down.

"Izzy," she said again, as he pushed himself impossibly deeply inside of her, as he finally let her move on top of him. "Oh, Izzy..."

"Oh, yeah," he said, his voice hoarse. "Fucking A, you are so incredibly sexy...I mean, I know I can only have you for this one night, my dearest. If only wishes could come true...But I'll remember this...I'll remember you forever-giving yourself so completely to me."

"Izzy..."

He moved with her now, catching her hips to slow her down, pulling her close to capture her mouth with his, even as he murmured, "Oh, yeah. This is amazing."

It was. She was on top and should have been in control, but she wasn't. He dictated the slow slide of their bodies, the tempo of their movement, just how far she could go, holding her back unless she breathed his name.

He still had his sweater on, and his scarf, too, but when she tugged at them, trying to get to his bare skin beneath, he gently pulled her hands away. "No, no, no," he said, "that's part of my fantasy."

Tracy didn't understand. His fantasy? But she stopped wondering as he pushed himself all the way inside of her, as she cried out, and he laughed up at her.

He was finally letting her move without any restrictions, and so she did as he gazed at her, his eyes half-closed, his pleasure clearly etched on his face. "Damn, you are beautiful. And I am going to remember tonight forever. That part wasn't just bullshit."

Bullshit?

But he was looking at her with such hunger. "Kiss me."

She met him halfway, and, almost as if they'd planned it in advance, they both hesitated. It was only for a second or two, with their lips a whisper apart. But Tracy opened her eyes to find Izzy's eyes open, too.

He smiled-she may have smiled back. But then he kissed her, and she kissed him, and the world exploded in a barrage of amazing sensations. His sweater-clad arms wrapped tightly around her bare back. The rasp of his chin against hers. His tongue in her mouth, her fingers in his hair, her knee against the hard plastic of the seat belt lock, the overhead light so bright that the windows revealed only pitch-black, their bodies straining to get closer, even closer.

Izzy made a sound low in his throat, and she felt him tighten beneath her through the powerful waves of her own release.

How could this feel so good, so right, so...

Perfect.

And still he kissed her.

But sweetly now, as if he were kissing her good-bye.

And Tracy burst into tears.