"Twenty questions, huh?"

"Yes, I'll answer them all."

"OK, first, why didn't you change your cell number after you left the Hawks?"

"I had a few...far-flung...contacts who only knew that number, and I knew it would take time to track then all down and give them my new contact information. For some of them, that meant waiting for them to check in."

"Why didn't you block my number?"

"I thought if I blocked your number it might make you go into pit bull mode and you'd track me down."

"Huh, me track you down. That's a funny one." She mulled that over. "OK, then, why didn't you just send me a text telling me you didn't want me to contact you again?"

"I didn't think it would make a difference to you. I thought you would still go after me for answers."

"Well, couldn't you have written a text saying 'thank you for your friendship, but I'm the type of person who likes to make a clean break, so I don't want to continue being in contact with you.'"

"Wouldn't have been true."

"Weren't you angry about Matt?"

"Yes and no. I knew you came close to getting engaged to him before and that your first loyalty was with him. I also knew you didn't give up on people. I knew I had jumped the timeline by kissing you."

"Jumped the timeline?"

"Even if we were destined to be together, it clearly wasn't then. But then we kissed, and I didn't see how I could live without you."

"Tell me about it. I was terrified."

"Terrified?"

"Every man I'd ever loved had broken my heart, and if I took a chance with you and you hurt me, I knew I'd be done."

"Part of me understood that, but I couldn't help but be frustrated."

"So how did you feel when you heard about me and Matt breaking up?"

"I felt really sorry for you, and disgusted at Donnally."

"He did the honorable thing. We both agreed on it."

"Dani, he wasn't going to be able to give you up entirely."

"He wouldn't have cheated on Noelle. I'm sure of it. We discussed it - not the possibility of him cheating with me, but how we believed in fidelity."

"Dani, he was sounding you out."

"Really?"

"Really. Do you remember that night when I came over to your house with the Crabchek information and Matt was there?"

"Yes, that was an awkward moment, to say the least."

"Do you happen to remember that I congratulated him about having a baby?"

"Yes, that was very nice and gracious. Am I supposed to be applauding you for your wonderful manners?"

"No. I noticed that afterwards, he looked ashamed and a little bit guilty. He still had feelings for you, and I could just tell that he wasn't strong enough to fight them forever."

She was silent. "You know, you're probably right. God, I dodged a bullet. "Speaking of fighting them feelings forever, did you really think you'd never see me again?"

"I tried not to think about it. It was too painful."

She gasped. "Oh my God, Jeannette was right."

"What?"

"Nothing. She thought I'd broken your heart and seeing me was too much for you to bear. Her language, by the way, not mine."

"Well, dramatic or not, she was pretty close to the truth."

She laughed to herself. "She also thought we'd end up having hate sex."

"I considered it."

Her eyes widened, but then she looked at him coyly. "So did I."

"It wouldn't have worked."

"Yeah, it would probably have turned into love sex and then we'd have ruined everything."

He said fondly, "That is the most ridiculous-sounding, yet completely true, thing that I have ever heard."

She said, "A lot of the wisest things in life are."