I wasn’t sure how Van did it, how he made me feel all the things he was saying or how his tenor and words twisted my core with memories.

“Following through on this marriage,” he went on, “will allow both of us to explore the more intimate part of our relationship, at the same time watch the Butlers fall, and save Wade Pharmaceutical.”

I couldn’t concentrate on my attraction to Van or my desire to explore an intimate world with him. If I did, I blurred the line between personal interest and business. I tried to deliberate on the details of Van’s plan. “Is that who you are, Donovan Sherman, and what you do—you save companies?”

“No, it’s not who I am. I do the opposite.”

“Why do you care about Wade?”

“I don’t.”

“What do you care about,” I asked, “or is there a who?”

“There’s not a who. I told you, I’ve never proposed.”

I shook my head. “I don’t believe you. Everyone has a who.”

“You can learn my past as you write my story.”

I held tightly to the ribbon and crossed my arms over my breasts. “I’ve been a pawn in the McGrath-Butler connection for too long. And that makes me leery. This whole recent chain of events seems calculated.”

Van stepped closer, cupped my chin, and lifted my eyes to his. The power I’d felt the first time we touched, sitting before the blazing fire, came back with a vengeance, sending small detonations throughout my circulation.

I was undeniably attracted to this man in a way that was new to me.

“The recent chain of events does seem unbelievable,” Van agreed. “I’ll give you that, but calculated, no. The last thing I planned on doing the other night was to find a beautiful, half-frozen woman in a snowstorm.” He reached out to my cheek. “Or for the two of us to—”

I interrupted, “I don’t regret the sex. You said I would. I don’t. Regardless of my better-thought-out answer to your proposal, I’m not sorry for one minute about what we did. I told you then I had no expectations and laid no claims to you or to a future.” As Van began to speak, I placed a finger on his full lips. “That night helped me more than you’ll ever know. Being with you gave me a glimpse into what’s beyond the constraints I’ve allowed to be placed on my life. That night with you, I broke free, and even in a snowstorm, I proved to myself that I was capable of surviving beyond the road map that had been drawn for me. Sex was another barrier that I broke that night.”