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grew the longer I denied it?
    Until I felt trapped by both.
    I had so many opportunities to do the right thing.
    I should have called Todd when I first found out I was carrying his child. I could have told him when Jace was born. I did this to myself.
    “Thank you, Charles, but this is something I have to do on my own.” She cleared her throat. “You’ve done more than enough for me already. Sarah’s lucky to have a brother like you.” When he didn’t comment, she continued. “I’m sorry. It’s late and I’m tired. Thanks again for calling.”
    She went to hang up, but he said, “Melani e . . . ”
    She put the phone back to her ear. “Yes?”
    After a long pause, he said, “Good night.”
    She let out a shaky sigh. “Good night.” She hung up and tucked the phone beneath her pillow. It would have been so easy to agree to meet Charles. And would it have been wrong? Since the moment Jace was born, Melanie had put aside what she wanted for what he needed.
    She didn’t regret a moment of it, but stepping outside of that life to go to New York made her realize how profoundly lonely she had become. It had been almost six years since sh e’d kissed a man. Todd hadn’t been her first, but h e’d been her last.
    Did Charles want more than dinner?
    Melanie allowed herself to imagine what it would be like if he did. Did he have a sense of humor beneath his serious exterior? How did he feel about children? What would a first kiss be like with a powerful man like Charles? Would he hold her as he did in the airport and gently explore her lips, or would he take her mouth with a boldness that would leave her shaking in her cowboy boots?
    She closed her eyes and pulled the blankets up around her.
    It doesn’t matter because I’m never going to find out.
    Frustrated, Charles threw his tuxedo jacket on the back of a chair as he walked through his apartment. He wasn’t a vain man, but he also wasn’t used to being brushed off by a woman. Especially not by one he wanted.
    And that was the heart of the problem—when he spoke to her, nothing mattered except his need to see her again. Distracted, he uncharacteristically dropped his clothing as he walked. He had someone who came during the day a couple of times each week to tidy his apartment, but there wasn’t much for her to do. He was at work most of the day, returning home to sleep. Occasionally June would have his housekeeper leave him something to eat, but typically his refrigerator was as empty as his apartment. Like his living room furniture, his house staff was mostly an unused luxury.
    Charles wasn’t a man who fumbled over his words or wavered in the face of a decision. Or he hadn’t been, before Melanie. She had him all tangled up and confused.
    He wanted to save her.
    Claim her.
    He met beautiful women all the time, but they didn’t send his thoughts scattering and his blood rushing wildly downward with just one soulful look.
    Only one woman had the power to do that.
    Melanie, with her hair wild and free, as natural as the skin she didn’t hide beneath a mask of makeup. He wanted to discover how much of her was tan and taste all the places the sun hadn’t kissed.
    Walking naked into the bathroom, Charles turned on the shower. He told himself to forget her. H e’d be better off calling any one of the women h e’d been with over the past few years, but he couldn’t remember why any of them had appealed to him.
    Melanie was a fascinating mixture of grit and vulnerability. His first impression of her had been of a passionate, strong woman who feared nothing and needed no one. However, the woman h e’d picked up at the airport earlier had looked lost and alone.
    He should have pressed her to explain why sh e’d come to New York.
    He didn’t like not knowing what was upsetting her.
    Liked even less that he couldn’t put her out of his mind.
    He called his sister. “Sarah, it’s Charles.”
    “Charlie,” Sarah said with happy surprise. “I’m so