Diane handed over her five ride tickets and stepped into the carriage. She tightened her seatbelt and held on for the ride of her life. She silently prayed the ride would be mellower than before, that the ups and downs wouldn�t be as severe on her roller coaster this time.

Diane looked up at Harry and said, �Take off your coat. Stay a while.�

Harry smiled. His perfect teeth actually added light to the room, and Diane smiled for the first time since he had arrived. Harry hung his overcoat on Diane�s new coat rack. He was wearing a soft, red flannel shirt and Levi�s that had been worn till they were soft and light blue. They sat down on the couch in front of the fire. Diane sipped her tea and offered some to Harry. He took a sip from her mug, enjoying the peppermint herbal tea she had chosen. Diane didn�t wait long. As soon as he put the mug down on the table, she pulled him close to her and started kissing him again.

Flannel did something for her. She unbuttoned him, staring at his face to make sure he still welcomed her attentions. His face was part hunger, part affection. The mixture of emotions was intoxicating to her. When she had his shirt open, she put her face on his chest and ran her hands around to his muscular back. She loved the way he smelled: clean, masculine, and with just a hint of cedar and something else, a very subtle whiff of sandalwood. She figured the cedar was from his closet, transferred to his skin from his clothing. The rest was pure pheromones, and she was carried away by her natural response to him.

Diane sat up and pulled herself back from his embrace to look into his eyes again. He watched her face, looking for any sign that she might be changing her mind. She saw the concern on his face, and smiled. �Harry, when I said �Damn you� earlier?� Harry nodded. �What I really meant was,� she took a deep breath, �I meant, I love you, too. And that scares the hell out of me.�

�It scares me, too. I�m afraid I�ll push you away. That�s all I know how to do.�

�What do we do with that?�

�I don�t know. Play it by ear?�

�Thank you for not having a ready-made answer for that.�

�You�re welcome. Thanks for the tea and the fire.�