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  The blow actually stung. Apparently, she hadn’t lost any of her strength during this ordeal. “Hey, I thought you were supposed to be weak,” Taylor protested. “That hurt.”

  She grinned. God, but it felt good to be back. Good to banter with him. To think of him as her soul mate. Her friend as well as her lover. “Must be my superwoman strength returning.”

  He didn’t return her banter. Instead he looked at Gayle for a long moment, searching her face, still worried about what he might find there. But his Gayle was back. The old Gayle. The one he’d pledged before God and a handful of people to always remain faithful to.

  “So, you remember?” he finally said.

  She beamed at him, so very relieved to finally be out of the fog. To be able to look at Taylor and remember him beyond the moment she’d opened her eyes on the deck of the boat. “I remember.”

  “Everything?” he prodded carefully.

  She placed her hand in the middle of his chest, delighting in the soft, rhythmic sound his heart was making. His heart belonged to her more than her own did.

  She raised her hand as if she was taking a pledge. “Every last sexy bit,” she swore. She dropped her hand to her lap as she continued. “Right down to the fact that I married a really terrific guy who sticks by me no matter how loopy I get.”

  He didn’t want to waste time talking about himself. That only embarrassed him. He was far more interested in securing a promise from her.

  “No more secrets?”

  “No more secrets, Taylor,” she said seriously. “That goes for you, too, you know.”

  “I know.” It hit him that he had come perilously close to losing her, not just once but twice. And the first way would have left him alone with so many questions.

  She could almost feel him thinking. Could almost feel his eyes as they glided along her skin. “What?”

  Instead of answering immediately, he surprised her by kissing her forehead. Leaning back, Taylor pulled her onto his lap and laced his fingers together around her shoulders. “I love you.”

  He didn’t say that often. Actually, he hardly ever said it at all. She’d heard the words from him perhaps two, maybe three times in all the time they’d been together, while she said it so often, she’d lost count.

  It made his declaration very, very special.

  “I love you, too, Taylor.”

  Taylor shifted her weight, then slipped his hands beneath her legs and back and rose with her in his arms. Feeling almost giddy, Gayle wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Let the games begin,” she laughed.

  “No, no games,” he told her.

  She sobered. Had she misinterpreted the signs again? “You’re not just going to put me to bed, are you?”

  His mouth formed a hint of a smile. “That’s part of the plan.”

  Something about the way he said it caused her to silence the protest on her lips. Feeling heartened, yet without anything tangible to hang it on, she asked, “What’s the other part?”

  “I thought maybe we could get started making a baby,” he told her lightly.

  A baby. He was serious. She could see it in his eyes. She felt like cheering. And then she remembered. “But I’m back on the pill.” And lightning just didn’t strike twice in the same place.

  He nodded, taking it in stride. “You can stop as of tomorrow,” he told her as he began to walk with her toward the stairs. A teasing note entered his voice. “Just think of tonight as a dress rehearsal.”

  “Dress rehearsal?” she repeated, looking at him uncertainly.

  “Clothing optional,” he corrected. Taylor paused to brush his lips against hers just before he took the first step up.

  She grinned as she looked up into his eyes. “My favorite condition.”

  When Taylor kissed his wife, it was a long time before he took the next step.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7047-7

  HUSBANDS AND OTHER STRANGERS

  Copyright © 2006 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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  *Unflashed series