"His name was supposed to be Oscar-that's what the kids decided But the day we got him I spilled a whole box of Cheerios on the floor, and before I could get the broom he'd sucked them all up." She paused a moment and put her hands on her hips, laughing. "I remember we joked that we should go ahead and sell the vacuum, and Kurt…" Charlotte stopped in midsentence. She looked at Joe and shook her head, all the happiness already gone from her face. She folded the grocery sacks and stuck them in the pantry with grim competence. The dance was over, apparently.

She must have loved Kurt Tasker something fierce.

"You're a good mom, Charlotte."

She braced her hands on the kitchen sink, her back toward him. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe it would be easier for him to talk to her if they weren't looking at each other.

"I'm so very sorry that your husband died. I've heard wonderful things about him, and I'm sorry for your family's loss."

She said nothing, but he watched her lower her chin toward her ehest. She locked her elbows as if to keep from falling. -

"Charlotte, I know what it's like to lose someone you love. I'm right next door if you need me."

He watched her shift her weight to one leg and wanted desperately to touch her, drowning in the confusing mess of his own emotions. What did he just offer this woman? And was it something he could even give her? Did that make him a liar? A player? Was this really only about sex?

She stayed silent and kept her back to him. Joe let his eyes travel from her slender shoulders, down her straight back, to that luscious little behind of hers and to those smooth, pale legs that ended in a pair of simple soccer-mom sandals.

Last night, he'd watched this soccer mom catch fire at her own hand. He saw her peach skin incandescent against the stark white sheet. He saw such female magnificence in such a small package that it made him insane, crazy with desire.

Sure it was about sex, But it was also about her. It was about this sweet, funny, good woman who stood just an arm's length away, a woman with so much to give and no man to give it to. They both knew she was supposed to be giving it to him.

At that moment, a plan coalesced in Joe's mind. He would tell her he wanted her. That he planned to stay.He wanted to get to knowher kids. Then he'd walk her through this, step-by.-step, if he had to. But it was definitely time to get this party started.

"Say something, Charlotte. I can't see you and I can't tell if you're crying or what."

She laughed a little and turned her head so that she was looking over her shoulder. Her eyes were red and her cheeks blotchy, but she looked prettier than ever to him.

"The girl you met that day-that wasn't the real me."

She faced away again and continued.

"I was on my way to pick up Kurt from the airport. I knew he was going to propose to me. I planned to say yes."

Joe watched her pull in a huge breath and steady herself to continue. He took two steps closer to her, in case she collapsed.

"I don't know how to say this except to just blurt it out, so here goes. Yes, you were my first, Joe, and the only other man in my whole life except Kurt. I think I panicked that day." She slipped down onto her elbows and rested her forehead in her hands.

Joe stepped closer.

"I knew that Kurt was very shy about sex, but despite thatf I would be faithful to my husband. And I remember driving along and thinking, This is my last chance to see what I'll be missing. And whaddya know?" Charlotte shook her head back and forth in her hands and laughed. "Joe Mills appears! Right on my bumper!"

Joe averted his eyes from the sweet little bumper now directly in his line of vision. Charlotte laughed again, raised her head, and stared out the kitchen window.

She sighed. "Kurt and I came from very religious families, and sex was never discussed except in the context of sin, you know, something to resist, rise above, then perform as your wifely duty. Anyway, it was really important to Kurt that I was a virgin, so I let him assume that I continued to be one, even after that day with you."

Charlotte spun around to face him, her eyes widening in surprise at how close he was. "I lied to him, Joe. It was a secret I kept from him our whole marriage. But that wasn't even the worst part."

Joe waited in silence, not sure if it was his turn to talk yet.

"The worst part is I never once regretted what you and I did. I kept thinking that at least I knew-I knew what it was like to have incredible sex. I knew what it felt like to be with a man who wasn't shy didn't hold back." Charlotte paused and looked thoughtfully at Joe. "You showed me what was possible. You made me feel the way I always suspected I could feel."

He waited, and her silence gave him the go-ahead to ask. "And what way is that?"

Charlotte gazed up at him with those luscious gray eyes, then served up a smile that would have incinerated a weaker man.

"For the first and only time in my life, I felt like a sex goddess."

It was time to rock-'n'-roll.

Joe stepped forward. He pressed his body against hers and backed her into the dishwasher. She let out a little gasp. He cupped a hand behind her head and looked down into her upturned face.

"I'm staying."

Her eyes flew wide: "What?"'

"You're not getting away this time."

"Joe-"

"Listen up, Charlotte. I've decided to stay. I let you go once. I won't do it again. I want you, so you'd better get used to it."

He could feel her heart pound through her ribs, skin, muscle, and both of their shirts. She was breathing fast, too.

"Get used to what, exactly?" she whispered.

Joe yanked her head forward and slammed his mouth down on hers. Charlotte was his. She had always been his. And if he needed any further proof, it was right there in the way she threw herself into the kiss.

Instantly she was hotter than hell and out of control. Zero to ninety in three seconds, that was the Charlotte he remembered, and God, she made him such a happy man.

She was grabbing his shoulders and clawing at him, pulling him closer. Then she ran the instep of her sandaled foot up and down his leg while she opened her mouth to his hungry attack. Then she dropped a hand to his ass and squeezed.

Joe picked her up and spun her around and plopped her right down on the chopping block so he could thoroughly ravage her. With his mouth hermetically sealed over her own, he pushed his hands inside her T-shirt and ran his palms over the hot, soft flesh of her abdomen, back, and sides. He insinuated himself between her spread legs. Her silky little bra offered little resistance when he reached through the bottom to touch her nipples.

He pinched.

She moaned.

He kissed her harder.

She squeezed his hips with her thighs.

He cupped the weight of her breasts;

She ran her hands down his back and tipped her head to the side to grant him complete access.

Then she said something Joe couldn't quite understand.

"Umm nmmm uh ssssltch." was what it sounded like, though he couldn't be sure, because Charlotte hadn't stopped kissing him. He tried to pull away so she could speak, but she grabbed him by the shoulders and continued to kiss.

"Umm nmmm uh sssltch!" she said again, only louder this time.

Joe managed to pry his lips from hers and push her away. Her eyes were half-closed and her face was flushed and her lips swollen.

"Say again?"

"I am not a slut I just thought I'd better let you know."

Joe didn't laugh. It took everything in him, but he managed not to laugh. It was a damn good thing, too, because Charlotte was dead serious.

Her body hummed with fear and exhilaration as she accepted die news that Joe Mills-everything dangerous and exciting and wild she'd ever known-was staying!