Carly had almost forgotten how charming Hank could be on a dance floor with music thrumming to titillate her senses. During his favorite ballads, he sang along, his voice so honey-rich and deep it seemed to move clear through her. She loved being held close in his strong arms-feeling the heat of him all around her. She enjoyed his large hand at her waist or back as they swayed with the music. Slow melodies, fast beats. She loved it all.

As the hour grew late, she found herself wishing she could capture the evening in a bubble and make it last forever-that she could do as Hank had once advised and grab hold of the magic with both fists.

"Penny for them," he whispered, his blue eyes delving into hers.

"What makes you think I'd ever sell out so cheap?"

"A nickel, then. Why so solemn? You must be thinking some pretty heavy thoughts."

She was thinking dangerous thoughts-things she didn't dare share with him. Over the last few days, she'd let down her guard, and the unthinkable had happened. She'd fallen wildly in love with him.

"I'm just tired."

He spun her in a slow circle. "Well, we can't have that, little mama. Let's call it an evening and get you home to bed."

When the music ended, he paid their tab, draped her sweater over her shoulders, and led her from the building. A cool night wind blew in off the lake, the air carrying with it the scent of water and pine. As they passed under a pine with low-hanging bows, Carly tugged on his hand to make him stop.

Just this once, she wanted to share a passionate kiss in the moonlight-and she wanted to see the handsome man who kissed her.

"What?" he asked.

The request was there, hovering on her tongue. Would you kiss me, Hank? Just this once? A deep, passionate, mind-boggling kiss. Think of it as one for the road. Only when she looked up at him, she knew it could never end with only a kiss. She wanted so much more, needed so much more-and if she opened that door, she might never be able to close it.

So instead of asking him to kiss her, she said, "Listen. Isn't that a beautiful sound?"

He cocked his head. "The night wind, whispering in the trees," he said, his firm lips shimmering in the moonlight. "I've always loved it."

She nodded, staring hungrily at his mouth, remembering the feelings he'd evoked within her the last time they kissed.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said with a sigh. She tipped her head back to gaze at the sky. "Uh-oh. I hope it's not going to rain. No stars."

Hank joined her in perusing the zenith of dark blue above them. The heavens were filled with brilliant stars. Carly just couldn't see them. "Just a little cloud coverage," he lied. "It'll pass over."

"Oh, I hope so. Today was so much fun. If it rains, it'll spoil everything."

"No rain, I promise." He drew her back into a walk. "Come on, pretty lady. It's time to get you to bed. Tomorrow will be a busy day."

He felt her hesitate as they left the asphalt and ventured onto uneven ground. Because they'd been dancing only minutes before, he didn't hesitate to slip an arm around her waist. "Careful through here. The ground's pretty rocky."

She leaned more of her weight against him. In the moonlight, Hank could see her staring intently ahead, her eyes wide. He knew she could see very little in the darkness. Tomorrow the sun would bathe the world with light again, and she'd be able to see once more. Perhaps not clearly, but she'd still be able to see. Soon, though -far too soon-not even the sunlight would help.

Once at the chalet, Carly stood at the center of the small living room, looking at him with questions in her eyes. If she'd been any other woman, Hank might have hoped she was issuing a silent invitation.

"What?" he asked.

She hugged her waist, smiled faintly, and shook her head. "Nothing."

She was so damned beautiful. Dressed in jeans and a simple white blouse, with her hair tousled from the night wind, she was, hands down, the prettiest thing he'd ever clapped eyes on.

"Can I tell you something?" he asked.

Her cheek dimpled in a smile. "That depends. If it's bad, I don't want to hear it. Why ruin a perfect day?"

He laughed and bent his head. When he looked up again, she was watching him expectantly. "You're beautiful. No lie, darlin', just fact."

She rolled her eyes and blushed.

"No, seriously." Hank slowly closed the distance between them. "You have to know I'm not just saying it." He caught her chin on the crook of his finger and lifted her face. "No hokey pick-up lines. We've got an agreement. I won't break it. I just need for you to know. You're so beautiful."Her eyes went bright with tears. "Thank you. You're not bad, either."He'd received more flattering assessments, but none of those counted now. All that mattered was what she thought. "Thank you," he said huskily.

She trailed her gaze over his face. "I'm no expert, mind you. But you're thehandsomest man I've ever seen."He laughed. He couldn't stop himself. "And how many have you seen?""Not many compared to most women. I am an expert on auras, though.""On what?" "Auras." Her mouth curved into an impish smile. "It's the essence of a person. It creates a field around you.""Really?" Normally, Hank might have discounted that as malarkey, but Carly had been blind all her life. It was entirely possible that she'd sharply honed all her othersenses to make up for her lack of sight. "What's my aura like?"She cupped a hand to his cheek. "Kind. Warm. I felt safe with you that very first night. Even while we were dancing, you put off really nice signals.""Did I, now?"She nodded. Then, lightly trailing her fingertips over his mouth, she whispered, "You still do."Hank stood there, trying to decipher the meaning behind that, as she left the room.He stared after her, a part of him convinced she had just given him the proverbial green light, another part wondering if he had lost his mind. If she'd meant it thatway, she wouldn't have skedaddled so fast.He headed upstairs, stripping off his shirt as he went. Nice signals. What the hell did that mean? Carly listened to Hank go up the stairs. Then she quickly slipped on her nightgown and dove under the covers. The chalet was equipped with several beds. He'd given her the downstairs bedroom, which sported only one, a king-sized monstrosity that made her feel horribly small and alone, like a postage stamp stuck on one corner of a business envelope. She stretched out a hand to skim the sheet beside her, acutely aware of how cold the linen felt. Spending so much time with Hank had weakened her resolve. She wished he were there beside her-that she could smell his cologne and the musky masculine scent that clung to his skin, that she could feel his warmth all around her again.

Those thoughts made her wonder if she'd gone over the edge. No, she decided. She was completely sane- maybe saner than she'd ever been in her life. Her turn. Finally, at long last, she'd found an honest-to-goodness prince, and, like a blithering fool, she was passing on the opportunity to be with him. Now or never, a taunting little voice whispered in her mind. When you first make love, wouldn't it be nice to still be able to see while you're doing it?

Why, she wondered, did there have to be a future in it? Grab hold of the magic, Hank had told her. Well, it didn't get any more magical than this. Why was she holding back? Over the last few days, he had been trying almost frantically to fill her head with memories, but he was neglecting to give her the most wondrous memory of all.

What if she never found Mr. Right in the city? What if the next surgical procedure didn't work, and no man ever looked twice at her again because she was blind? When she faced permanent blindness again, she wanted to have at least a few memories to take with her into old age, namely how it felt to lie in a man's arms and experience ecstasy.

Was that so wrong? For this period of time, they were married. She didn't even have to worry about getting pregnant. Why not fling her arms wide and experience it all? If both she and Hank went into it knowing that they'd eventually dissolve the marriage, how could it hurt for them to make the most of this time?

Carly flung away the covers, slipped from the bed, and then stood there in the dark, shivering. Coward. What could he say but no? She marched from the bedroom. At the bottom of the stairs, she hesitated, assailed once more with doubts. But then she found her courage, closed her eyes so she wouldn't stumble, and marched up to the second floor.

Almost sound asleep, Hank heard something and rolled onto his side to peer through the moonlit gloom. Carly stood in the center of the upstairs sleeping area, a large room with sloped ceilings and twin-sized beds lining the walls. Her fists were knotted at her sides. Her small chin was thrust out, as if she were ready to do battle."Hank?"He blinked to clear the sleep from his eyes. "Yo?"She whirled to face him, one hand clamped over the center of her chest. "Oh! There you are. You startled me out of ten years' growth."

He sat up, thinking she might be sick and thanking God he'd kept his boxers on. "Isyour stomach upset, sweetheart?""No. I feel perfectly fine. I just can't sleep."He rubbed a hand over his face. Warm milk. That might make her drowsy. "Let's go downstairs," he said, slurring his words slightly. "I'll fix you something.""I don't want you to fix me anything.""Oh." He blinked to see her more clearly. "What do you want, then?""Sex."Hank didn't have any of that in the fridge. "Will you settle for chocolate milk?"

"What?"

"I didn't get any-" He almost said "sex" before his brain finally kicked into gear. He blinked again and stared at her. He was dreaming, he decided. A shy, wary, inexperienced female like Carly didn't invade a man's bedroom, demanding sex. It was like- well, one of those things that just didn't happen. He cleared his throat, scratched his temple. "What did you say?"

"Which time?"

"What was it you said you wanted?" he clarified.

"Sex."

He nodded. Okay. He tugged on his earlobe, wondering if he'd gotten water in his ears when he showered that morning. "Would you say that again?"

She made a slight sound of frustration, whirled, and marched toward the stairs.

"Never mind. Bad idea. I don't know what I was thinking."

She stopped to firmly grasp the handrail before beginning the descent. Hank sat there, staring stupidly after her. Had she said sex? He tried to think of other words that came close. Mex, Tex, hex, specks. None of those made sense. Shit. She had said sex.

He was out of the bed and halfway down the stairs before he realized he was wearing only boxers. Back up the stairs. Where the hell were his pants? He tripped over his boots. Found his shirt. Damn. His hand finally landed on denim. He stuck one foot down a leg, then hopped around, stabbing with his unencumbered foot to find the other hole. To hell with it. He started down the stairs with his jeans only half on.

"Carly? Honey?"

Sex. She'd said she wanted sex. Lord, help me. He finally got his foot stuffed in the pant leg, then nearly did somersaults down the rest of the stairs. In the nick of time, he caught hold of the railing to balance himself until he got his jeans jerked on. He finished fastening them as he completed the descent. His balls and his boxers were bunched into a throbbing knot at one side of his fly.

When he reached her room, he stopped to jiggle one leg and jerk at his trousers. "Carly?" .

"Just go away."

Not in this lifetime. Hank pushed open the door. She lay huddled under the covers. He cautiously entered the room. "I'm sorry. I can't think real straight when I first wake up." Sex. No mistake. She'd definitely said sex. She didn't move, didn't look at him. He inched closer. "Carly?"

"What?" Her brow pleated in a frown, then she sat up, clutching the covers to her chest.

"Did you say what I think you said?" he asked.

Her eyes were huge, luminous spheres in the shaft of moonlight coming through the window. "What if I did?"

Brace yourself, Bridget. Hank rubbed a hand over his face again, trying to choose his words carefully, which was no easy task when his brains felt like half-cooked scrambled eggs. "I, um-I'd say sure." He cringed. "I mean-well, yeah."

"That's it? 'Well, yeah'?"

He sat on the edge of her bed. Took a deep breath. His heart was still tapping out a sharp tattoo against his ribs from his close call with death on the stairs. "Can we back up and start over?"

"I'd rather not. It wasn't one of my better moments."

Hank felt like laughing. "It wasn't one of my better moments, either."

She combed trembling fingers through her hair. Then she sighed, and her shoulders slumped. "I don't know what I was thinking. I was just-you know-considering the possibilities, and the next thing I knew, I was upstairs."

"What possibilities, exactly?"

"You and me. We've had so much fun over the last few days. It seems such a waste not to fully enjoy this time we have together."

On a scale of one to ten, it was clear off the chart as far as sinful wastes went. She was so damned beautiful his teeth ached.

"Nothing permanent, of course," she quickly added. "We'll still be only friends. No muddying it all up with emotional stuff. Just-well-you know-sex."

Now that he understood exactly what she wanted, his heart sank. Somehow, with no emotional stuff to muddy it up, the offer didn't match very well with the lady making it. Carly wasn't a no-strings lady. She never had been. He wasn't making that mistake again.

"That's all you want?" he asked softly. "Just sex?"

She nodded. "I'd like it to be romantic, of course. Can you make it romantic?"

The very fact that she wanted it to be romantic told him more than she could possibly know. Studying her oval face, searching her beautiful eyes, Hank knew in that moment that he wasn't the only one who'd fallen in love. She never would have made this proposition, otherwise.

Oh, how he wanted to take her up on it. Instead he pushed to his feet, determined to do it right this time-or not at all. "I'm sorry. If all you want is a convenient body, go find one in town."

She flashed him an incredulous look. "What?"

"You heard me. I'm in love with you. Done deal, no turning back. If we take this relationship to a new level of intimacy, I'll just dig myself a deeper hole, and it'll break my heart when you leave me."

"Oh, Hank," she whispered. "Oh, God."

"Sorry. I know falling in love wasn't part of our bargain, but my heart didn't agree to the terms. I'd dearly love to join you in that bed." He shoved his hands in his hip pockets to keep from touching her. "If you were offering me more-a shot at having a life with you-I'd jump at the chance. But that isn't in your game plan, is it?"

"No," she admitted faintly. "We could never make it work."

"In your opinion. I think you're wrong. If two people love each other, they can make almost anything work."

"It's a nice thought, but practically speaking, it's not very realistic in our situation."

He gazed sadly down at her for a long moment and then turned to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to my room." He paused in the doorway to look at her. He'd been brutally honest, except on one small point. His heart was already breaking. "I've said my piece. I'm an all-or-nothing deal."

When he turned to leave again, she cried, "Wait!"

He shoved his hands back in his pockets and pivoted to face her. "What more is there to say? We're poles apart on this. You're bent on going our separate ways. I want us to stay together forever. You see nothing but potential problems. I see nothing but solutions. I don't think we can meet halfway."

"I'll eventually go permanently blind." She lifted her hands. "When I do, have you any idea how much it would cost just to make the immediate area around the cabin safe for me? That isn't to mention that I'd be stranded out there on the ranch, unable to catch a bus to town, unable to go to work. The entire situation would be impossible."

"Difficult, not impossible," he corrected. "I could make it work if you'd give me half a chance. Transportation sure as hell wouldn't be a problem. If I couldn't drive you into town, we've always got hired hands available."

"I'd be dependent upon you or them for everything. Can you imagine how I'd feel, living that way?"

"In the city, you'd depend on a bus driver. What's the difference?" Hank leaned against the doorframe. "You don't like to depend on anyone, do you?"

"You make it sound like a crime."

"No, more a fixation, I think. You've struggled all your life to be totally self-sufficient. Now I'm asking you to enter into a situation where complete independence may be impossible."

"No maybe to it. I couldn't even go grocery shopping by myself."

"Is going by yourself that important to you?" He arched an eyebrow. "A lot of married people go shopping together."

"That's only one example. Don't twist everything around, trying to make me out to be the bad guy. I'm doing you a big favor. If we stayed together, I'd be an anchor around your neck after I went blind-a constant responsibility."

"A very sweet anchor," he replied, "and a responsibility I'd thank God for every day of my life."

"You say that now, but you'd come to resent me in time. It would cost you thousands upon thousands of dollars to make that ranch safe for a blind woman."

"We could improvise and make do until your surgery next summer. After that, if all goes well, we'll have years to save for all the necessary improvements."

"And if everything doesn't go well? What then?"

"If all doesn't go well, then we'll manage somehow," he assured her. "I'll take out a loan if I have to. Whatever it takes. I love you. I want you in my life."