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bath towel and lightly rubbed it over her skin, finishing by squeezing the water out of her braid and unplaiting it so her hair could dry.
    He swept a couple of damp strands off her face. “You have beautiful hair. It’s just one of the things I love about you.”
    Joy spread through her at his words, but he kissed her before she could speak. Then he quickly toweled himself off and, telling her to wait in the steam-filled bathroom so she wouldn’t get chilled, walked into his bedroom. In a minute, he returned, wearing a pair of gray Ohio State University sweatpants and carrying her pink terrycloth robe.
    Cara gaped at her favorite bathrobe. “I thought I’d lost it.”
    He grinned a little sheepishly. “When you were packing to leave, I hid it so I’d have something to remember you by—something that smelled like you.” He helped her into the robe, pressing a kiss to her temple. “C’mon. Let’s get something to eat before you faint from exhaustion.”
    She poked him in the chest. “I’m not the only one with wobbly legs.”
    In retaliation, he tickled her ribs, spurring her to stumble giggling into the bedroom. They mock-wrestled, laughing like kids, until he tumbled her onto the bed.
    When he had her pinned down with his body, his expression sobered. “I’ve missed you so much, Cara.”
    Her heart ached at the pain she’d caused them both. “I’m so sorry I didn’t trust in us enough to share my fantasies with you. I may have been the one who walked out, but I never stopped loving you.”
    He dropped his forehead to hers. “I love you with all of my heart. I want to wake up with you every morning and explore your erotic dreams every night. Will you give us a second chance?”
    Tears, happy ones, welled in her eyes, a few sliding onto the pillow. “Yes. Yes, please.”
    Ron kissed the moisture from the corners of her eyes. “Does that mean you’ll move back in? Right away?”
    She nodded, so elated she couldn’t speak.
    A yipping bark sounded from the next room, and they both laughed. Charlie was apparently awake and wanting attention.
    Cara stroked Ron’s chin, his five o’clock shadow feeling bad-boy sexy against her fingertips. “Can we keep Charlie permanently?”
    “Hmmmm.” He made a pretense of giving the idea some deep consideration, his beloved features set in serious lines. “That depends on whose job it is to use the pooper-scooper.”
     
     
    Epilogue
    Six o’clock on a June Friday, Ron closed the garage door and carried the heavy bag from Forbidden Pleasures into his house. Cara’s shelter van was parked in the driveway, so he knew she was already there. Having her and Charlie with him had transformed this place into a real home. It’d been a month since she’d moved back in and put her condo on the market. She was as committed as he was to making this relationship work.
    He set the bag on his oak table, walked to the closed sliding glass door, and looked into the fenced-in back yard. Cara was tossing a felt ball for the crestie, who valiantly chased after it. As he watched, the dog snapped up the ball but managed to do a semi-somersault before he could come to a stop. Ron laughed aloud.
    Charlie cocked his head at the sound, then ran barking to the glass door. Cara gave him a welcoming smile that made his heart swell. God, he loved them both.
    Ron slid open the glass door and picked up a wiggling Charlie. The dog licked his chin, tiny tail flicking against Ron’s wrist. Then Cara joined them, closing the door against the early summer heat.
    “Well, Charlie, your master is finally home,” she said.
    He set the crestie on the floor and tossed him a treat. The dog caught it, then dropped the nugget to sniff it for a moment, before crunching it in his sharp little teeth.
    Ron gathered Cara close. “That’s ‘lord and master’ to you,” he joked as he brushed his lips over that spot near her ear that always made her squirm. She didn’t disappoint him. “I bought us some