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going to tell him at all.
    Kris knew it as well as she knew that she was going downstairs to meet him in a matter of minutes. It wasn’t within the boundaries of her willpower to confess now. She had made countless mistakes, and she had paid dearly. There had to be a limit to the sacrifices demanded by the past.
    On Saturday she would leave Denver, and her life would continue on in its steady, contented routine. Tucker would return to his medical practice, and in a few weeks he’d forget about her—as he’d done before. What possible harm could come from a brief vacation romance?
    Slowly her gaze turned to the stark white pillow contrasted with the bright spread.
    Tomorrow or the next day she would share that bed with Tucker.
    She knew and accepted her inevitable desire with a confused sense of wonder. But was she really prepared for the consequences this time? Physically, yes. There would be no chance of another unplanned pregnancy. But in other ways was she prepared for the regrets she would undoubtedly harbor when Saturday arrived?
    Kris moved to lift the pillow and nestle it back in place. She had no way of knowing the answer. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know. For now she was aware only that Tucker was waiting for her and she felt wondrously, magically alive.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Tucker glanced at his watch, looked around the hotel lobby, and then glanced again at the face on his wrist. Almost time. Any second now he would see Kristina walking toward him. He wished she would hurry. He couldn’t remember ever being so anxious to be with a woman. It was the air of mystery about her, he decided. That and the fact that she had known him before.
    The reasoning brought frown lines to his forehead, and he wished for a drink to dull the analytical turn of his thoughts. Was he really intrigued by Kristina? Or was it more his own frustration with life in general that created this restless longing within him?
    What did it matter?
    He didn’t want to examine his motivation. He didn’t care why he wanted to be with her. He knew only that he did. The next two days held tantalizing promise, and he’d be damned if he’d spend them dissecting his every thought.
    All right, she was a link—if only a small one —to a simpler time in his life, a time when adding an M.D. to his name was the singular focus of his existence. If her appeal was rooted in his craving for that simpler time, well, she’d be gone in two days, and maybe a little of his frustrated confusion would vanish with her.
    If she was merely a pleasing combination of feminine charms…? Well, two days should be more than enough to sate his infatuation.
    He’d never considered himself a completely self-sufficient man. His energetic, supportive family had reared him with a healthy appreciation for the importance of loving, give-and-take relationships, but all his close relatives were now miles and years removed from his everyday life. He had a large circle of acquaintances, a few really close friends, and he had his career. Over the years he’d had a couple of serious love interests. He’d even been engaged once, but when he’d realized how little it bothered him to leave her in the mornings, how much in fact he looked forward to getting to the hospital, he’d ended the relationship.
    There had been no one special since, and he hadn’t felt particularly dissatisfied. His life was a busy routine of interwoven schedules, and his medical practice provided enough challenge and purpose to carry him for years to come.
    Or at least it had.
    Sudden anger filtered through him, and he began to drum his fingers on the arm of the chair. What an injustice that he, who had wanted, planned, scraped, and sacrificed to become a doctor, could see it all slipping from his grasp for no better reason than to feed the ambition of a man like Abernathy.
    Tucker pulled his impotent rage into a tight fist. Abernathy would no doubt be governor one day, but there would be no