I placed the grocery bag on the counter, set down my purse, then glanced around the airy living room of the cabin. It was early Friday evening—the first night of a lover’s weekend I’d planned down to the last detail.

The view through the large picture window was of the small lake, the water shining without a single ripple to mar the mirror-like surface. A lone figure walked along the bank, hands thrust deep into pockets, while the rising wind tore at her pale hair.

I swallowed hard and hesitated. Did she want company? Did she need more time to think about us, about whether we still “worked”?

That’s what this weekend was all about. A last chance to renew our connection. Or maybe this was goodbye. I could no longer read from her expression what went on inside her head.

I wiped my hands along the sides of my thighs and pushed open the glass door that led down steps to the path winding to the narrow beach.

Kari didn’t look my way as I approached. Her arms wrapped around her middle as she stared at the water. “No problem getting away?”

“No. I had the days.”

“Good. Have you unpacked?” At last, she glanced my way. Something in her eyes gave me hope. For the first time in a long time, she met my gaze and really looked at me.

I smiled. “Not yet. But would you like a glass of wine before we get settled?”

“That and a fire. It’s colder than I thought it would be.” She stepped closer. Her arm settled at my waist and she leaned in to hug me from the side.

Kari was the kind to kiss friends on the lips or offer a tight hug, so I couldn’t rely on the gesture to mean anything. I draped an arm around her waist, and we walked slowly back to the cabin.

Inside, the fire took me only minutes. I placed several logs and kindling in the grate and as soon as the crackling fire built, the air inside the cabin lost its crisp edge. I pulled my sweater over my head, and dressed only in a tank and my jeans, I sat cross-legged on the hearth rug.

A glass dangled in front of me. “Thanks,” I murmured. “I was supposed to get that. Sorry.”

She sat beside me. “This was a good idea. This weekend.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t know what else to say, hoping she’d let me know what had been on her mind. We’d been so busy working, too tired and stretched to hook up, that we’d drifted apart. I didn’t like feeling as though I was in this alone—the only one worried that our relationship was on its last legs.

Friends had introduced us, knowing that both Kari and I had dated women before and knowing my preference for waif-like blondes. We shared a lot of the same interests, were close to the same age. I’d ended a long relationship and hadn’t really wanted to fall directly into another, but I did want companionship.

We’d landed in bed together that same night, the attraction so hot and fast that it took my breath away. She was like that. A bolt of lightning not easily captured. Even from the start, I began preparing myself for it to end.

I must have stared at the fire too long. A kiss landed on my shoulder. A hand slipped beneath the hem of my tank and glided upward to cup a breast. Kari moved closer and her body snuggled against my back.

Again, that urgent desperation to connect filled me. I leaned away and drew the shirt over my head, then leaned back again, letting the fire warm my front, her supple body heat my back. I reached behind me and sank my fingers in her silky hair, waiting.

Lips trailed along my neck. “Wanna fuck?”