"Now you have it," she said quietly.
"Yeah." Faintly embarrassed, he looked down at her. "I never told anyone that."
"Then neither will I." She lifted a hand, touched his cheek. "Whatever your reasons, you're doing something important. This house has been neglected too long."
"Were you frightened, staying here through the night?"
"No. Not of the house."
His brow lifted. "Of me?"
"Yes. I'm frightened of you."
The humor faded from his eyes. "I was rough with you," he said carefully.
"I don't mean that." She turned away. Out of habit, she set a kettle on the stove, flicked on the burner. "I've never been the way I was last night, with anyone. So out of control. So... needy. I'm a little surprised when I think back and... Well." She let out a shaky breath, searched out a filter for the drip cone.
"Surprised? Or sorry?"
"Not sorry, Rafe." Making the effort, she turned back and met his eyes. "No, not sorry at all. Uneasy, because I know now exactly what you can do to me. I knew making love with you would be exciting. I didn't know it would be so shattering. Nothing about you is tidy or predictable. The way I like things to be."
"I want you now. That should be predictable."
"My heart jumps," she managed. "Literally, when you say things like that. But I do need things to be tidy." Opening the can of coffee, she deliberately measured out scoops. "I imagine your men will be coming along in an hour or so. This probably isn't the best time to talk this out.''
"Nobody's coming today. There's better than two feet of snow out there, on top of what we already had."
"Oh." Her hand faltered, spilling ground coffee on the stove.
"We're snowbound for a while, darling. You can talk all you want."
"Well." After clearing her throat, she faced him again. "I just think it's best if we both understood things."
"What things?"
"Things." She bit the word off, furious at herself for hesitating. "Things that we didn't quite finish outlining last night. That what we're having is a mutual satisfying and physical affair, no strings, no entanglements, no..."
"Complications?"
"Yes." Relieved, she nodded. "Exactly."
Surprised to find himself annoyed with her cool-headed description—one that should have mirrored his own wishes—he scratched his head. "That's tidy enough. But if that means you're planning on seeing somebody else, it'll get messy when I break him in half."
"Oh, of all the ridiculous—"
"And cut off his—"
"Stop that." She blew out a heated breath. "I have no intention of seeing someone else while we're involved, but if I—"
"Smarter to stop there," he said quietly. "Let's just say we have a mutually satisfying and exclusive physical relationship. That suit you?"
Calmer, she turned back to pour boiling water through the filter. "Yes, I can agree to that."
"You're a piece of work, Regan. You want the contract in triplicate?"
"I only want to make sure we expect the same things." She concentrated hard on covering the grounds with water, on being sure not to pour too much water, or too little. "We haven't taken time to really get to know each other. Now we're lovers. I don't want you to think I'm looking for any more than that."
"And if I'm looking for more?"