He didn’t know how encouraging, she thought ruefully. There were times, like tonight, when she didn’t care about motivation and long-term compatibility. There were times when she simply wanted to enjoy the moment. She’d worked hard all her life, but now her leg was broken, and she was forced to alter her lifestyle for a while. Maybe she should make the most of it… just for a day or two.

His voice was soft. It whispered through her hair when he spoke. “Now that you’ve decided not to hit me with a crutch, are there any other aggressive tendencies we could explore?”

“Mmmm. I think I’d rather make love to you. Very slowly. Very thoroughly,” she said.

It was what he wanted, too. Very slowly. Very thoroughly. That was the way he kissed her, and that was the way he continued to kiss her while his hand moved just as slowly and just as thoroughly. They’d begun playfully and progressed with gentle expertise, but there was none of that left now.

She looked at him with half-closed eyes and smiled as her pulse rate began to slow. “This is obscene.”

“I’m never getting rid of this couch. I might have it bronzed… eventually.” He put his hand to his heart. “Maybe I should take out more medical insurance.”

“It was good, huh?”

He reached for the box of crayons, took the red, and drew a small line on her cast.

When Kate awoke in Dave’s bed on Saturday morning the lines tallied up to fourteen. Dave took a green crayon from the nightstand, smiled in happy exhaustion, and crosshatched number fifteen.

“This is a big day,” he said, yawning. “Mom’s coming today.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yup. It’s Saturday.”

She sat up in bed. “What happened to Thursday and Friday?”

“Thursday we had an Uncle Scrooge festival and spent the day in bed, reading comic books. And Friday we spent the day in bed seeing how many marks we could make on your cast.” He lay spread-eagle under the down quilt. His hair was mussed, and he had a three-day-old beard. “I think I lost five pounds. I need a day off.”

“You didn’t sound like that an hour ago.”

“I wanted to go down in a blaze of glory.”

“You succeeded.”

He rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Do you think your parents would notice if I didn’t shave?”

“Mmmm. I’ve been meaning to speak to you about that beard. I’ve got beard rash in a bunch of very tender places. I can’t imagine what it’s going to feel like when I try to put clothes on.”

“You weren’t complaining about it an hour ago.”

“It’s hard to think straight when you’re filling me with your glory.” She swung her cast over the side of the bed. “Saturday! I haven’t practiced in three days. How could this have happened?”