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Connor smiled up at her from beneath a tousle of wet, blond hair.
    “Okey-dokey.” Kara grabbed the can of generic shaving cream she kept just for this purpose and shook it. “What do you want this time?”
    “A bunny rabbit.”
    “One bunny rabbit coming right up.” She drew a circle on the tile wall with shaving cream and made a little triangle nose and two big eyes. Then she shook the can again and added long whiskers and two big, floppy ears. It wasn’t Monet, but it would do.
    Connor giggled and stood up, sloshing a wave of water over the edge of the tub and into Kara’s lap. She never escaped bath time without getting soaked.
    Connor was smearing the shaving cream across the tile when the phone rang. Kara didn’t want to leave Connor alone in the tub, nor did she particularly want to talk to anyone, so she let the call ring through to the answering machine. Connor had completely smudged her rabbit and transferred most of the shaving cream onto his belly by the time the machine picked up.
    Kara scooped up a bit of the cream with her finger and dotted it on her chin. “Do you like Mommy’s beard?”
    Connor reached out, brushed it from her chin, and placed it on his own, a mischievous smile on his face.
    “You stole my beard!”
    It was then she heard the voice. Her heart stopped. She had expected it to be a telemarketer.

    “Hi, Kara, it’s Reece—Reece Sheridan. I was just calling to see—”
    Kara couldn’t hear because Connor was laughing and chattering about her beard. She stood and listened. Was he asking her out? After everything she’d said to him?
    “I thought you might enjoy it. If you’re interested, give me a call.”
    She made a mad dash for the kitchen and grabbed the phone just as he finished leaving his number. “Hello?”
    “Kara?”
    Kara tried to act like her stomach hadn’t just tied itself in knots. “Senator Sheridan?”
    “Call me Reece, please. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
    “I’m just giving Connor a bath.”
    “Should I call back later?”
    Kara glanced down the hall toward the bathroom, where Connor was humming to himself. He was old enough to be left alone for a short time. “No, I can take a few minutes.”
    “How are you?”
    “Oh, I’m . . .” What should she say? That she was mortified? That she couldn’t believe he was calling? That she’d thought about him constantly since Friday? “I’m fine. And you?”
    “I’m doing well, thanks. Still at the Capitol.”
    “Late night?”
    “Yeah. I’m introducing my last bill for the session tomorrow.” He paused. “I was wondering if you’d let me take you to dinner—perhaps a trip up to Boulder?”
    “Uh . . .” A thousand emotions raced through Kara’s head—disbelief, excitement, doubt, fear. “I don’t know.”
    “Is the People’s Republic of Boulder too granola for you?”
    Kara laughed in spite of herself. “No, I like Boulder. It’s just . . .”
    “Just what?”

    “Well, I’m a journalist, and you’re a senator.” Way to state the obvious, McMillan.
    “I’ll try not to hold it against either of us.”
    Fragmented thoughts chased one another through Kara’s mind. There were lots of reasons she should say no, good reasons, reasons that made sense both personally and professionally. “Really, we . . . I shouldn’t.”
    “Was it something I said?”
    The self-deprecating tone of his voice and the ridiculousness of his words made her smile. He was letting her off the hook. “No, it was something I said. I can’t imagine why you’d ever want to talk to me again. I called your sister a bimbo. I’m sorry.”
    “Make it up to me by having dinner with me.”
    “I think that’s a bad idea.”
    “Why, Kara?” This time his voice was sincere.
    Because I find you irresistibly sexy. Because you make me feel things I haven’t felt for a very long time . Because I’m afraid what will happen if I start to care about a man like you .
    Was Holly right about her?
    I