At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to spend a week naked with him, preferably in some tropical location, but that wasn’t her reality. “I have to. I have responsibilities.” Mandy averted her eyes before she was tempted to give in to his obvious desires.

“OK.” But regret tinted his voice as he stepped into his jeans.

Mandy scrambled into her clothes. They gathered the fishing gear and hauled it back to the car. She closed the hatch. Danny’s hands grabbed her hips. He spun her around and pinned her to the rear of the car. “How about a little something for the road?”

But Danny didn’t do anything in a small way. He kissed her until she was breathless. When he raised his head, he gazed down at her with more than sexual desire in his eyes.

Mandy’s heart skipped. A pang of fear shut down her internal happy dance. Would Danny still look at her that way if he knew about her and Nathan? How naive she’d been, how she’d let him play her. She pulled away. The passion and pleasure of the afternoon faded away. Instead, guilt and dread vied for space in her chest. The resulting shoving match brought those cold bubbles of panic welling back into her throat, like giddiness’s nauseating cousin.

So much for recharging.

She gently pushed him away. His brows knitted, but he moved back without comment. The sun dimmed, and a breeze ruffled Mandy’s hair. She glanced up. Clouds blotted out the warm rays.

Her time with Danny was as short-lived as the day’s warmth. He might understand why she’d slept with Nathan. After all, the man hadn’t been a crazy killer at the time. But Danny would never forgive her for lying about the affair.

No. What happened on the riverbank could never be repeated. As much as the thought of never being with him again made her shrink inside, it simply wasn’t fair. Mandy covered her sadness with movement. Tugging her oversize sweater back over her torso, she climbed behind the wheel and started the car.

Danny was right. It had been beautiful—too beautiful to soil with dishonesty.

“How far are we from where that angler and his son disappeared?” Danny shut the passenger door.

“A few miles.”

“Is the river deeper or swifter there?”

“Not really. It’s closer to Lake Walker and a bit wider, but the current is about the same. Why?”

“Because I don’t see how two people could fall in and just disappear.”

“The water’s very cold,” Mandy said without conviction. “It doesn’t take long for the body to shut down.”

Danny didn’t look any more convinced than she was. “Wouldn’t the body get caught on rocks or something?”

“Maybe.” She glanced back at the river, swirling past boulders that, yes, should snag two bodies floating downriver. “Stranger things have happened out here.”