Outside the air was warm, but the breeze coming off the lake made it comfortable. Steele made his way down the darkened path towards the water without any real destination in mind. The atmosphere in the bedroom had been far too charged with tension and things unsaid for him to remain. Laura had made it clear that the conversation between them was over and further attempts to discuss things would be futile.

He sighed, as he felt his heartbeat start to slow down and his thoughts return to a more PG rating. He had let things go way too far and so he knew he had to shoulder some of the blame. He never should have kissed her, nor given in to the kiss given her emotional state. He didn't think he would have had the presence of mind to stop until he had heard her say his name.

Remington.

Not his real name of course – neither of them knew that, but as close as they could get, and as intimate as they had ever gotten.

In all the time they had known each other, Steele didn't think he had ever heard her refer to him as Remington. In jest, perhaps but otherwise Mr. Steele. Always Mr. Steele.

He had no idea what it meant, if anything but he did know that the Laura he had been kissing was going through too much for him to press their physical relationship any further. He wanted her too much to take that risk. The last thing he ever wanted was for her to see their lovemaking as a regret.

So he stopped. It took every ounce of willpower, but he had done it.

And now she hated him for it. He couldn't get the look on her face out of his mind. Would he ever be able to break through her walls?

"Lover's quarrel?"

He turned, surprised anybody had managed to sneak up behind without him hearing. It was Yvonne Carson.

"Mrs. Carson," he said, slipping mentally back into his 'Douglas Quintain' persona. "Just thought I would get some fresh air."

"Call me Yvonne, please." She said, with that knowing smile ever present on her lips. "Sounds like you don't want to talk about it."

"Nothing to talk about," he said with a light shrug.

"I don't believe you," she replied. "You have the look of a man relegated to the couch."

"Perhaps," he conceded. "But we will figure it out. We always do."

"Sometimes it helps to share," she offered, giving him a sidelong glance. "Unless sharing is the problem."

"It's definitely not something we expected to encounter," he said honestly. Eager to switch the focus from himself, he turned his attention to her. "Tell me, how do you handle it? The jealousy, I mean? Does it really not bother you?"

"Can I tell you a secret, Mr. Quintain?" Yvonne took his silence as assent and leaned forward, all pretense and sexuality absent from her body language. "I look forward to this retreat. It gives me a break."

"How's that?" His curiosity now went beyond that of the case itself.

"I love my husband," she said. "I do. But sometimes I don't know if he really knows me. I have worked so hard to cultivate the image of the woman he wants me to be – sexy, exciting, free spirited. Sometimes it takes a toll. Instead of dressing up every night in naughty lingerie, I want to wear sweatpants and eat pizza, you know? He loves the fact that his wife was in an 'adult' film, but the woman in the film is a character. Sometimes I am not sure my husband knows the difference."

"And this retreat allows you to…"

"Lend him out," she said with a chuckle. "It gives me a break, and he gets to be known as the husband with the wife who lets him have 'other experiences'. It's a win-win."

"But doesn't that mean you have to uh…" Steele trailed off, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say without sounding crude.

"Participate?" She finished for him, shaking her head. "Not so far. We have been coming here for five years now. Each time I have been paired off with a different men and I always develop a headache, stomach bug or some other reason that I need to just go to bed early. Given my status as an adult film star, none of them want to admit nothing happened so they keep up the pretense for me, and I get a night off. It might come back to bite me at some point, but it has worked so far. All the men brag about having spent the night with Yvonne Carson."

"A clever deception," Steele said, admiration in his voice. "How can you be sure I am going to keep it a secret?"

"Because I have a feeling that you know the importance of a secret, Mr. Quintain." She touched his arm softly as a gesture of companionship. "Plus, I thought maybe you might want a partner who wouldn't pressure you to do anything you weren't willing to. I get the feeling that unlike most men you only have your eye on one woman."

"Very astute," he replied with a sigh. "I'm not sure why we are here to be honest."

"Sometimes just realizing that is the first step," she said gently. "You do what works for you. Intimacy is not a one size fits all. Remember that."