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much more than a casual encounter.
    Ryan smoothed the crease from between her eyebrows. “You’re thinking too hard again. No pressure. No expectations. Just one night, okay?”
    He was too tempting. She nodded. “All right. One night.”
    “Also you should let me build those shelves for you. I’m good at carpentry and I’d do it for the cost of supplies. But you can pay me for the work if it makes you feel better.”
    “I do need shelves,” she admitted.
    And even though she could already feel “one night” turning into something more, Camilla rose, took his hand and led him to her bedroom.
     
    Chapter Five
    Many hours later, sometime close to morning, the fresh sheets she’d put on the bed half straggled from the mattress onto the floor. The scent of sex and sweat permeated the sheets like some erotic fabric softener. Camilla’s body felt as weak and pliant as putty as she draped over Ryan’s lazy form and drew her finger in concentric circles around his left nipple.
    “What does your tat mean?” She moved her finger to the blue-black symbols adorning his forearm.
    “I’ve actually forgotten. The girl I got it with told me the significance, but I was suffering the hangover from hell and really don’t remember. Something about peace or love.”
    He lifted his arm and studied the marking. “Believe it or not, I’m not a tattoo kind of guy. Never saw the point in it. But I was seriously wasted that night. This was after Natalie, when I was in my ‘fuck out the pain’ mode.”
    “Isn’t that one of the stages of grief?”
    He chuckled and the warm sound percolated through his body and into hers.
    “I’d spent my early twenties being the perfect boyfriend, loyal and attentive, so I decided it was time to make up for those lost years by banging as many girls as I could. But after about a year of marathon sex, I was a physical wreck from the drugs and drinking and as torn up inside as if Natalie had just left. I’d only delayed getting over her.”
    Camilla nodded. Was he trying to give her a message about tonight or merely sharing his experience?
    “I straightened up, decided what I really wanted to do with my life, and started back to school. I’ve dated a few women this past year, but nothing serious.”
    “Sounds like you packed a lot of living into a very short time.” She considered her vastly different experience.
    “Indulging your vices and actually living your life aren’t the same thing.” He lightly kneaded her rear. “Anyway, I thought you might want to know more about me. That I did those things, but I’m not that guy any more.”
    It doesn’t matter. We’re only having this one night. Nothing is going to come of this. She kept the dismissive thought to herself. “Thank you for telling me.”
    “What about you?” he asked. “What do you plan to do now?”
    “I suppose keep on teaching like always. I have to earn a living.”
    “But what about traveling? Earlier you suggested you’d put some plans on hold.”
    Camilla thought of the tickets to England she’d purchased just before Sam had gone in for his first series of tests.
    “I’ve been through a lot of changes this past year. I don’t know if it’s the right time to go abroad.” She paused then added, “Or to start a new relationship.” Better to get it out in the open. Maybe Ryan didn’t want her to cling to him.
    He paused. “So this is only going to be a one night thing?”
    Her head still lay on his chest. She listened to his heart beating and felt awful. “I think it’s best. I’ve never really lived on my own. I went from my parents’ home to having collage roommates to marrying Sam. It’s time I learned how to be alone.”
    He remained silent a few seconds more. “Okay. I can understand that. I’m sorry though. I feel like we could really have something. I know it sounds crazy after only knowing each other a day, but sometimes a person enters your life, unexpectedly, and everything just clicks.