Saturday afternoon, the taxi dropped Don and Charlotte back at their house. The Craftsman house and warm spring breeze felt good when Charlotte stepped out of the car. The long claw foot tub was calling her name. After their flight had been delayed two hours taking off from Denver due to a snow squall that was passing through, all she wanted to do was take a long hot soak before she had to jump back into her life. The week had been so relaxing. No client emergencies and no phone calls from Meghan or Colby or David saying that they needed Don. It was what she had wished for, a full week with the man of her dreams and nothing to do except what they wanted and on their schedule. It had been more than she could have ever dreamed.

"Hey, Babe," Don stuck his head into the bathroom a half hour after they arrived home, "I just got off the phone with my Dad. He's got steaks for the barbeque and he'd like the pleasure of our company." He knelt down and kissed her. "Are you feeling up to it?"

"I guess I could begin to share you again."

"You don't have to. I could call him back and tell him that we're jetlagged. It wouldn't exactly be a lie." He grinned and kissed her again.

"Knowing your father, that would just mean that he would relocate the party over here." She pulled the stopper out of the drain with her toe. "No, I'll rinse off and then we can go share the good news."

As he water drained, her beautiful feminine form became visible and he lightly caressed her damp skin. "God, you are so beautiful."

His hand drifted down her side, gliding over her hip, then her thigh. The feel of his skin against hers, combined with the look of lust in his clear brown eyes, was sending her over the edge and he was barely touching her. Sitting up, she kissed him with a hunger, a fire, which she had only come to know over the past week. Their time spent together alone in the mountains had awoken something in her that she didn't even know existed. It was more than an attraction, it was more than love, it was a connection, it was almost a magnetic draw that she had never felt before coursing through her body. "What time is your father expecting us?"

"We can be late."

"OK." She pulled his t-shirt over his head and he fumbled with his jeans before joining her in the tub.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, her long nimble fingers lacing in his hair, pulling him closer. Her slick curvaceous body pressed against him, fitting against him, and her never ending legs parted, hanging over the side of the tub, inviting him to take her. Sliding into her depths, he heard her moan, and he kissed her with all the passion he had in him. Being with her, being alone with her, no cell service, no interruptions, had caused him to re-evaluate his priorities, and when he had, he found a need for her, a hunger that couldn't be explained or denied. He began to place her ahead of everything and everyone else and it felt good.

They moved together, creating a perfect rhythm, until she felt her body tightening, her breath coming in short bursts. She'd reached the edge of the cliff and was happily jumping into the abyss of pleasure. Her jaw clenched after she called out for him and the world went black.

The sensation of her contracting and shuddering around him was too great and he grunted as he plunged himself deep into her one last time before his body erupted in several pleasurable spasms. Attempting not to collapse against her as he caught his breath, he braced himself on the edge of the tub, kissing her before pulling away. "I'm going to grab a shower in the other bathroom and then I think we better go." He grinned and kissed her one last time.

"It's about time you two showed up." Alan looked up from his place in front of the grill and hid a smile when he watched his eldest son and his girlfriend walk outside. "We've been dying to hear about Colorado."

Don smirked. "It was really good. We caught a Rockies game and an Avalanche game, went hiking a few days, but we just generally relaxed after our first night there." Charlotte laughed. "Do you want to tell them or should I?"

"They are your family, Baby. Why don't you tell them?"

"I don't know. You tell the story a lot better."

"Someone just tell us what happened." Alan looked at them with a mixture of concern and annoyance.

Don laughed. "Dad, Charlie, I asked Charlotte to marry me."

"And I said yes." Charlotte laughed as the look of shock came over her future in-laws.

Amita was the first one to break the silence. "Congratulations! That's fantastic." She hugged both Charlotte and Don.

"Sister-in-law," Charlie mused over the title for a minute. "Yeah, I could get used to that." He smiled and hugged his friend. "Welcome to the family, Charlie."

"That's great. Congratulations!" Alan finally snapped back to life. "I'm finally going to have a daughter-in-law and, possibly, grandchildren."

"Alan," she hugged him.

"Dad," he corrected.

"Dad," she smiled and took his hands, "can I please have your promise that the grandchildren speech will come after the wedding? It's going to be stressful enough to keep up my practice, not worry about Don, and plan a wedding. I promise that you and I will sit down after the reception and you can tell me exactly how many grandkids you would like me to provide for you to spoil. OK?"

"OK." He kissed her cheek. "Where's the ring?"

"I don't need an engagement ring, just a wedding ring."

"Wait here. Don't move. Charlie," Alan turned to his youngest son, "make sure they don't move. I will be right back." He disappeared back into the house.

"What was that all about?" Don shook his head and laughed as he walked over to the grill and began seasoning the steaks.

"Wish I knew." Charlie answered and joined him.

"When did Don pop the question?" Amita asked.

"Last Friday night." Charlotte smiled and sat down. "We were relaxing by the fire in the master suite when he simply looked me in the eye and asked me to marry him."

"Just like that? Not down on one knee?"

"No, he did it his way and I don't need all that romantic staging. He spoke from the heart and that's what made it for me."

"Well, this time he's going to get down on one knee like a real gentleman, like his father taught him." Alan came back out of the house holding a black velvet ring case. "Donny, come here." Handing the case to his son, he placed his hand on his shoulder. "This was your mother's. I want you to give it to Charlotte."

"Alan, I can't accept that. That ring has sentimental value far beyond what even I know. Please, you keep it." Charlotte looked at him shocked.

"No, I want my son's fiancée to wear it and so would my wife. Go ahead, Don."

"Dad," Don came out of his daze, "are you sure?"

"It worked for your mother and I, it will work for you and Charlotte."

He watched from his Suburban as Special Agent Don Eppes proposed with his dead mother's ring and fought a wave of nausea. How could an intelligent woman like Dr. Charlotte Stegmann be so dumb as to get involved with a guy like Don Eppes? He never would have taken her for the sappy romantic type, but there she was accepting a marriage proposal from Don who was down on one knee. How could she have accepted? Don wasn't the right man for her. Don was married to his job and would never give her the status she deserved. He thought about calling her, about telling her what he thought about her new marital status, but when she kissed Eppes, he felt ill again. That was it. He'd seen enough. Putting the SUV into gear, he drove off. A phone call wasn't going to stop that. More drastic measures had to be taken. It was bad enough he'd listened to them at her house in Colorado for the past week. That was actually strangely pleasurable, causing him to take matters into his own hands back at his hotel, but he couldn't stand to watch her throw her life away with a guy like Don Eppes.

Don heard the car peeling out, but thought nothing of it. Probably just a kid joyriding, he thought to himself, and that was all he wanted to think. He was enjoying having Charlotte in his arms and not worrying about his cell phone ringing.