*Hunter* Why can't it be you? What prompted her to ask such an absurd question? I have only myself to blame for tonight's debacle. Meeting her in the garden had been a mistake. A colossal mistake. Five minutes after sending the message, I knew it, and yet I couldn't resist making the rendezvous. Since learning that Somerdale had kissed her, I've thought of nothing but her lips and what it would be like to press mine against them. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I was so young when I married Jessamine, so untried, so naively unaware. I had been determined not to offend her with a man's lustful cravings. Oh, our lovemaking was passionate, to be sure. I adored and desired her. But with Faye, it was something else, something more. She responded with the same fervor

