"They used to stone women for doing what you did."
Fluffing the sofa pillows, she sprang erect. "What we did, Mr. Tyler. You were in that bed too."
"I remember," he said tightly. "I'm willing to take my share of the responsibility for what happened. You're not."
Placing her hands on her hips, she confronted him belligerently. "What would you suggest I do? Go through the city passing out rocks to everyone? Or start wearing a red letter A on my chest? In some cultures, they behead adulterers. Do you think justice would be served then? If so, are you willing to place your head on the same chopping block? Because it sure as hell was on the same pillow."
That reminder abruptly ended the shouting match. She turned her back on him.
&nb
sp; "I had a lapse of judgment and made a mistake," she said. "Believe me, my conscience has been punishing me ever since."
He moved in behind her and spoke her name, his voice soft and consoling now. Taking her by the shoulders, he turned her around to face him and tilted her head up with a finger beneath her chin.
"I don't want to punish you. Whether you believe it or not, I blame myself a whole lot more than I blame you. I could confess ten sins to every one of yours, I'm sure. Adultery has never been one of them before, but…" As their gazes moved together and locked, his voice dwindled to nothingness.
"Never?" she said hoarsely.
"Never."
"If you had known I was married…"
He pondered his answer for several seconds before saying, "I'm not sure it would have mattered."
Then, not only did their stares merge, but their recollections as well. Each remembered the smell and touch and taste of the other. Each had actively participated in what happened in that motel-room bed. Each had to accept his share of the blame, take responsibility for it.
"I have to vouch for you," she whispered, "I really don't have a choice, do I?"
"Yes, you do," he replied, surprising her. "I won't force you to, Devon."
"But if I don't, it'll mean so much more hardship on you and your family. I can't let that happen. Ever since you told me yesterday about the fire, I've known I would eventually have to come forward as your alibi. It's the right thing to do." She gave a wistful little smile. "I guess I was hoping for a miracle that would make it unnecessary."
He touched the corner of her smile with his fingertip. "Your husband will never have to know. We'll keep your identity a secret. I haven't been officially charged. I'm just a prime suspect. Once you've told them that I was with you from dusk to dawn that night, I'll be cleared, and you'll be free to go. It'll never become a matter of public record."
Situations of this magnitude were rarely resolved that easily, she knew. Still, she didn't want to throw a cloak of pessimism over his expectations. "I'll take tomorrow off and come to Milton Point. I want to get it over with as soon as possible."
"I would appreciate that too," he said. "The sooner I'm off the hook, the better."
His mouth split into the same sort of grin he'd first given her from the end of her booth in the bar. It made him dashingly, piratically handsome.
Since the night she had spent with him, she had asked herself a million times how she could have done such a foolhardy thing. The more time she spent with him, the more reasonable the explanations became. What woman, no matter how level-headed and self-reliant, could resist that smile? Even though she was still suffering the consequences of submitting to it, she felt her body once again growing warm and fluid as a result of it. "Where should I go when I get to Milton Point?" she asked, forcing herself to think pragmatically.
"Why don't you come to the house around noon? I'll call Pat and have him bring out the investigators to take your deposition or whatever they need."
"Who's Pat?"
"The sheriff, Pat Bush. You met him, remember? It's a good thing, too, because he can positively identify you as the woman I picked up in the place."
"You didn't exactly pick me up."
"Figure of speech. No call to get riled."
"Well, I am riled. I've agreed to do what you want, so please leave now." She marched to the front door and pulled it open.
"Don't you need directions to my house?"
"I'll look up the address in the phone book."