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"Thanks."
    "Expecting me?" Rick asked.
    "Not really. I thought you'd wake up and think twice about what you're doing here."
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    "I did."
    "And?"
    "I came down here to see you."
    "No, you came to annoy me," she insisted. "If I'd asked you to go away with me, you would have turned me down flat, trumping up some excuse or another. Face it, Flannery, you came because 1 told you not to."
    "No, I came in spite of that," he corrected. "You should know by now that I'm not that easy to shake."
    "Neither is a stalker. It's not a recommendation."
    He looked momentarily nonplussed. "Please tell me you don't think that's what I'm doing," he said.
    She sighed. "No, of course not." After all, who would be obsessed with her? Men were infatuated with her. Then they weren't. That was the cycle she expected. She met Rick's gaze. "But I honestly don't get why you came all this way when I'd made it clear on the phone that I didn't want you to. Is it some sort of macho pride thing?"
    "Do we have to discuss this right here on the front porch?" Rick asked.
    "It's not as if there are a lot of passersby to overhear," she told him.
    He held up the bag. "But I brought lattes and freshly baked bear claws. I thought we could sit down and have a civilized chat."
    "You really just want to talk?" she asked skeptically. That would be a first. They'd done precious little talking, at least not about anything meaningful, during their whirlwind romance.
    "For now," he admitted with one of the lopsided grins that never failed to charm her.
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    Maggie debated with herself, then stepped past him. "We'll go out back. It's pleasant down by the water this time of day. That's where I always have my morning coffee."
    His grin spread, and there was no mistaking the smug ego behind it.
    "What?" she demanded, determinedly leading the way to the backyard swing.. .and at least the illusion of safety.
    "Still scared that if you let me inside, you won't want me to leave?" Rick asked.
    She returned his gaze. "Yes," she admitted candidly.
    He nodded. "The truth at last."
    "You only recognize it as truth because it flatters you."
    "None of this is about ego, Maggie."
    "Then what is it about?" she asked, as she sat on the double swing and curled one leg under her, leaving plenty of room for Rick beside her. The sun glistened on the Chesapeake Bay, which was already alive with watermen pulling in crab pots and reeling in rockfish. There was a tangy scent of salt in the air, mingling with the sweet fragrance of her grandmother's roses, now back in bloom after years of neglect.
    "It's about meeting someone who fascinates me and wanting to spend more time with her," he said simply. "I thought we'd gotten my motives out of the way a couple of weeks ago. I was candid with you from that first night."
    All Maggie remembered from that night was the unexpected shock of Rick's mouth on hers, the unexpected surge of need that had swept over her when he'd touched her. If they'd talked at all, it had gotten lost in a haze of heat and passion.
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    "So you explained the rules and gave yourself an out, in case I got any ideas," she surmised. "Bully for you."
    "It wasn't an out," he corrected. "I was being honest."
    "And then you disappeared," she reminded him, thinking about how much it had hurt when the phone hadn't rung and how furious she'd been with herself that she'd cared. He'd told her exactly who he was. She hadn't wanted to believe it.
    He stared at her, obviously stunned. "Disappeared? 1 didn't go anywhere."
    "I didn't mean it literally. You stopped calling."
    "Is that what has you all worked up?" he asked incredulously. "I didn't call for a few days, so you think I went off with some other woman?"
    Maggie ignored the indignation in his voice. She leveled a look straight into his eyes. The truth would be there, if not in his words. "Did you?"
    "No, dammit! I spent six solid days and nights in my studio, finishing up photo shoots and working in the