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The doorbell rang just after breakfast.

"I'll get it," Anna called from the front hallway. She went to the door and looked outside, but as she half expected no one was there. With a frown she leaned down and picked the bouquet off the front stoop. A dozen red roses. Again. She shook her head in annoyance as the chilly fall air swirled around her and ducked gratefully back into the warmth of the house.

"What is it?" Robert asked from behind her.

Anna blew out a sigh as she turned around with the flowers in her hand. "Another bouquet from Duke."

"Damn it!" Robert swore. "That's every day this week! I've about had it with this guy – "

"Robert!" Anna laid a tempering hand on his arm. "It's ok. Don't worry about it."

"You already told him you've made your choice. What else does he want?"

She strode into the kitchen and slid the bunch of flowers into the trash. "Duke was never good at taking 'no' for an answer."

"Well, he's gonna have to take it," Robert growled from over her shoulder. "I'm not putting up with this much longer. It's time he acted like an adult and left us alone."

She turned and nodded. "I know. I feel the same way."

He ducked his head to gaze at her sidelong. "Do you?"

"Yes, of course!" Anna replied, stung by the hint of skepticism in his eyes. She quickly moved to close the distance between them. "How can you even ask that?" she questioned, not bothering to try and hide the hurt she felt at his sudden doubt of her intentions.

"I'm sorry." He shook his head, exhaling softly. "It's just that this –" he waved a hand to encompass the two of them – "is taking a little getting used to, and having constant reminders from him isn't helping."

"No, I know, you're right. I don't want to go on like this. It isn't fair to any of us."

He regarded her solemnly. "You want me to talk to the guy?"

"No!" Anna reached out to lay a hand on his chest. "No. I'll speak to him."

"You're sure?"

She nodded. "Yes. I owe him that. Besides," she flashed him an impish smile, "I have no intention of having to go get you from the emergency room again."

He gave her a mock glare. "Very funny." Then more soberly he added, "Seriously, though – we can go together."

"No, it's only fair to him that I do it. I'll go see him now." She closed her eyes for a moment, acutely aware of how difficult the conversation was going to be. But if it brought her closer to being with Robert… "I want to get this over with."

"You won't be long?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Good," he said, reaching out to catch her around the waist and draw her tight against his side.

Anna stifled a gasp as her body reacted instantly to the warmth of his lean frame pressed against hers. She felt heat rising in her cheeks and then world seemed to fade slightly at the edges as he brought his mouth down to hers, capturing her lips in a searing, burning kiss that set every cell in her body alight and sent a shock of desire straight through her body, leaving her breathless with longing.

Then as abruptly as he had pulled her to him he let her go. Anna felt her legs wobbling beneath her and had to brace herself with one hand on his arm to catch her balance. His expression as he looked down at her was soft but amused and from the mischievous gleam in his eyes she could tell he knew exactly what effect he was having on her. "See you soon, then," he said, his voice low and filled with promise.

Anna nodded as she tried unobtrusively to catch her breath. "See you soon."

Twenty minutes later Anna entered the club and swept her gaze around the nearly empty room. There was no sign of the man she had come to see. Her eyes landed on Angel standing in his usual place behind the bar.

"Oh, hi, Anna," he greeted her amiably. "Nice to see you."

"Hi, Angel." Anna nodded towards the elevator that led up to Duke's office. "Is he in?"

Angel nodded. "He sure is." He reached for the house phone. "I'll tell him you're on the way up."

"Thanks." Taking a deep breath to gather her courage, Anna pressed the elevator call button.

A moment later she stepped out into Duke's spacious office.

He stood in front of his desk, his back stiff and straight. "Well, I didn't expect to see you here," he said without preamble. His voice to Anna's ears sounded distant, strained. "Not after what I saw the other night."

Anna frowned as remorse filled her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out that way."

His eyes flashed. "What did you mean?"

She could hear the lacerating hurt in his voice and took a step towards him. "I was planning to come and tell you myself," she replied softly.

He shook his head. "This isn't the end, Anna. I don't accept that. We can still have everything we ever wanted."

"No, I'm sorry." Anna ran her tongue across her lips, gathering her courage once more before meeting his eyes. "It's over," she told him firmly.

"No!" His denial was instant, vehement. "It's not over. I refuse to accept that. You can't leave me, woman!" he said angrily. "You made a commitment to me."

She nodded. "I know. But it was – "

"A mistake?" Duke cut in, challenging.

"No!" Anna replied in swift denial. "Not that."

"Dammit, Anna!" he exploded. "You can't do this to me – to us! You know how much I love you. I thought you loved me the same way."

"I did – I do," she protested. "I just –" she faltered for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing, "I just love someone else more."

"Robert." Duke dropped the word like a stone into the silence.

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"I knew it!" he said savagely. "I knew he was trying to take you away from me."

Anna shook her head. "No, he wasn't," she said, coming to Robert's defense as immediately and instinctively as she had the previous night. She wrapped her arms around her midriff, hugging herself as she tried to find the words to explain. "I just – " she searched her mind and then sighed, defeated, "it's complicated."

Duke exhaled. "No, it isn't complicated. It's very simple: I love you and you love me. And I won't let Robert or anyone else get in the way of that."

Anna stared at him, his solid frame rigid, unbending. "If you do really love me –" she stopped, and then started again, suddenly genuinely uncertain of his answer, "Don't you want me to be happy?"

"Of course!" he exploded. "But we were happy! I was happy and I know you were too!" Swiftly he closed the distance between them and reached out to grip her arms tightly. "And we can be again. We'll get married and everything will be all right, I promise you," he vowed, assurance and conviction threading like steel through his voice.

"No, I can't – I'm not going to marry you," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Anna –"

"No, please don't," she cut in with a sigh, weary of arguing to no purpose. Arguing as if he'd never understood her at all. She stared up into his dark eyes. "If you ever loved me –"

Wounded to the core he shouted, "If I ever loved you!?"

"Then you'll let me go, and be happy."

"With Robert."

"Yes."

"Robert, Robert, Robert. It's always been him, hasn't it?"

Anna closed her eyes. She hated this. Duke was so gentle and sweet and caring and kind, and he loved her so desperately. It seemed so unfair to him that before she met him she'd already fallen in love with a man to whom no one else could ever possibly compare.

Yet she owed him the truth. She ducked her head and looked away, not wanting to see the hurt in his eyes when she spoke the words. "Yes, it always has. He was my first love. I thought I had gotten over him, those years when he was with Holly. But I guess I never really have."

"And what about what we had?" he demanded. "Was that all a lie?"

"No!" she denied with quick vehemence. "It wasn't. I did love you – I do. That's not a lie. I just –" She broke off, and then began again, "After Robert went to Australia I really did try to move on. I met you – and it was the best thing that had happened to me in years. I did fall in love with you, heaven knows I did – but in the end…" her voice trailed off in a sigh. "I guess I could never completely let Robert go. And now that we know it wasn't me who broke up our marriage, we…we have another chance."

He stared at her long and hard. "So you're saying that's the end for us now, is it?"

She nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't be. Because this isn't over yet."

Anna took a firm step backward, breaking his grip on her arms. "It is over, Duke. I mean it," she said in a tone that left no room for compromise. She drew her coat around her and reached out to press the elevator call button. "I – I think it's better if we don't see each other again." Her heart clenched as the realization struck her that an important chapter in her life was about to close forever. "I'm sorry."

He reached for her again, his eyes agonized. "Anna, don't do this," he pleaded.

The elevator doors opened before her. She stepped inside and her chin rose as she turned to look at him one last time. "Goodbye, Duke."

He came out of the kitchen with a silent step behind her as she locked the front door, tossed her purse on the side table and shrugged her coat off onto the sofa.

He could see from the tautness of her frame and the slight slump of her beautiful shoulders that she was down, even despondent. He shook his head, knowing that Lavery wouldn't have made things easy for her. Not that he could really blame the man. But he could never bear to see Anna hurting.

Coming up behind her he gently wrapped his arms around her waist, his chin tucking into her shoulder as he pulled her back against his chest, offering her his silent support. "All right?" he asked quietly.

Anna sighed, allowing the comforting warmth of his body against hers and the palpable concern in his voice to soothe her, to release some of the tension that had lain coiled within her since she'd left the house. Robert was always a balm to her psyche. She felt him exhale against her hair, his warm breath stirring the fine hairs at the nape of her neck, and suppressed a shudder. "I'll be fine."

"You're sure?"

She nodded, and then turned her head to catch his eyes with hers. "No regrets, Robert," she whispered. "None."

"Good," he murmured, tightening his arms around her waist and gently nuzzling her neck with his lips before pressing a soft kiss to the top of her spine that sent a tremor all the way down to her toes.

"Mmmm," Anna hummed as her eyes drifted closed. She could spend eternity like this, losing herself in the sensation of his lips warm on her skin, of his lean, strong body tight against hers. No other man affected her this way – not even Duke.

The kisses were coming faster now, wet and open-mouthed, and she felt her body temperature rising as her head dropped back and her pulse began to accelerate. Her brain felt foggy with longing and need and the overwhelming thought of just how long it had been since he had touched her like this. And when he did, it was as if the entire world faded away...

But just as all conscious thought was about to abandon her, she remembered. Her eyes snapped open. "Robert…"

"Mmm?"

"We…we need to go."

"Go where?" he replied absently, engrossed in placing another set of tiny kisses along the smooth skin of her shoulder.

"The office," she breathed even as her entire body continued to resonate with desire. "We promised…Mrs. Montgomery…we'd meet her this morning…at ten."

"I have a better idea. Let's play hooky." His response was so prompt and heartfelt that Anna found herself nearly succumbing. The idea was more tempting than she was willing to admit. Yet at the same time…

She shook her head and made herself lean away from his lips and the heat of his embrace. "We can't. Felicia is away this week so there won't be anyone there to take her statement. And I'm convinced she's the key to solving the case. So that means we need to get going –" she managed to extract one arm from his grasp and glanced at her watch. "Now."

Robert reluctantly loosened his hold on her waist. "Slave driver," he grumbled.

Anna turned in his arms and leaned up on her toes to nibble gently at his earlobe. "I promise I'll make it up to you later," she purred.

Robert gazed down at her, taking in the happiness on her face and the warmth of joy in her eyes as they sparkled into his. Letting the image burn into his memory, indelible. "You better."