Harry finally left Madelyn's place around one o'clock. He had lined the shovels up on her deck so they were ready in case more of the white stuff fell. He wondered about her all alone in that house and the fact that she didn't have help with things like shoveling or hauling wood for her fire. Mentally, he scolded himself for his sexist line of thought. She was an independent woman and certainly capable of taking care of herself. He needed to get a grip.

They had gone in to warm up and dry out after playing in the snow. Harry kicked up the fire in the living room and they sat nearby sipping cocoa with those tiny marshmallows his mother had used when he was small. He should have left earlier, but neither seemed to want to end whatever this was they were sharing. She let him have her phone number. He entered it in his contact list as 'Professor M.' Harry wasn't sure what she would think of that title, but he rather liked it. Eventually, he kissed her thoroughly while standing in front of the door he had entered the previous night, and said goodbye, before bounding down the way to the SUV.

The sun was nearly blinding in the southern sky as he maneuvered the vehicle down the winding mountain road. Thankfully, the route had been plowed. Harry pulled the visor down, glad to have found his sunglasses in his jacket pocket. His body felt good, alive. He was listening to The Stones, 'Tattoo You' album at full volume, while his head was swimming with thoughts of the past 16 hours. Thoughts of her. How she had come for him, come over his tongue, come around his cock. The way she looked when she climaxed. He wanted that image burned into his mind so he would never forget the way she arched, her eyes lost focus, her nipples constricted, and her lips parted as she panted in ecstasy. He was hard in his jeans just thinking about her. Fucking hell, the woman brought out something primitive in him; he hadn't been able to get enough of her. Part of him had relished in the sweet moments with her, but his darker side had also been piqued. When they were in the shower and he had seen the marks that he had left on her body, it awakened something visceral. She had bewitched him and he didn't want to break the spell. What he wanted, was more.

The center of town was quiet for a Saturday afternoon. Most people were probably still tucked in at home, digging out after the storm. Harry pulled into one of the parking spots in the alley that was reserved for the restaurant. He jogged through the back entrance, dumping the hot food bags as he scanned the kitchen for Murphy. The smell of garlic, onion, and spices was powerful and Harry's belly rumbled. Giant pots of sauce were simmering on the industrial gas ranges. He grabbed a bowl of sauce and a thick slice of crusty bread that was on the counter. As he pushed through the swinging doors into the main dining room, he spotted Murphy sitting at the counter on a tall stool. The long counter curved around the giant stone pizza oven. Customers could sit there and watch their orders become an edible reality. Harry slid his food onto the surface and plopped down onto the next stool.

"Hey, Harry, you hungry, man?" Harry nodded as he dipped bread into his bowl of sauce and moaned as he chewed. "Looks like your appetite is good. What happened to you last night? I thought you might swing back by after your last delivery and have a beer."

Murphy was a good guy and Harry had a lot of respect for him. He was in his mid-fifties, with salt and pepper hair and an infectious rumble of a laugh. He kept himself in good shape, joking that he had to in order to keep up with his wife, Becca. He claimed to have left the west coast and followed Becca to the mountains because he would have died of a broken heart if she had left him behind. Anyone who knew the couple believed him. His wife was a vivacious spitfire. She had a halo of golden curls that she tended to wear in a low ponytail and crystal blue eyes that rivaled the sky on a cloudless day in June. She had worked as a waitress for Murphy in his small, successful diner at the northern end of L.A., in The Valley. He had fallen in love with Becca and eventually convinced her to move out of the small apartment she shared with two other girls and into his place. One day she decided she was finished with the city, and the people and the traffic. Becca told Murphy she was headed north and she hoped he would join her. Either way, she was going. It took him about ten minutes to decide that she was worth more than anything he had in L.A. He sold the diner and most of his possessions. They loaded into her old Volvo and never looked back.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't make it back into town, Murph. Something came up."

Murphy clapped him on the shoulder, "You know it's fine, Harry. I knew that delivery up the mountain was the last one of the night and you'd already finished up the paperwork I needed. No worries." Harry gave a nod and continued to replenish the calories he'd worked off. "Did everything go okay? No problems getting up that road or back down last night. Becca was worried about you driving down with the storm."

Harry wiped his mouth and slid off the stool to head around to the other side of the counter. He used the spigot on the fountain to fill a water glass, taking a long swig.

"Um, I didn't actually drive down last night."

"Dude, what the fuck? Did you get stuck, did you sleep in the SUV, why didn't you call? I could have gotten you a tow." Murphy was clearly running the wrong scenario through his head.

"Murphy, relax. It's all good. I, uh, spent the night with someone." He wasn't sure exactly how much he wanted to reveal about his encounter with Madelyn just yet.

"Who the hell did you spend the night with? You don't have any friends living up there, do you? I mean, no offense or anything, but that's a pretty swanky area, not exactly where a lot of grad students hang out."

Harry was running his hands through his long hair, ruffling it through his fingers then flipping it back. Murphy was acting like a damn mother hen.

"Jesus, Murph! I spent the night with Madelyn Conroy. She was my last delivery." He chugged the rest of his water and leaned against the counter across from his friend and employer.

The other man's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean you 'spent the night'? We're talking about the lady professor, right? The pretty one with the dark hair, kind of petite, doesn't look old enough to teach elementary kids, let alone university students? That Madelyn Conroy?" The gears in his brain were all turning.

"Yes, that Madelyn Conroy. And I plan to see her again. Is that going to be a problem?" Why was Murphy being so ridiculous? Harry hadn't expected such an odd reaction.

"Harry, you know me, I'm a love and let love kind of guy. I don't have a problem with the two of you hooking up at all. But you might have a problem if her ex-husband gets wind of the fact that you're messing around with her."

"Alright, first of all, we didn't just 'hook up'. Okay, maybe at first, but it's more than that. She's more than that. Murphy, something about her is different. Last night, this morning... I don't know if I can explain it, I just felt real with her; it was like something inside of me was unleashed. We were uninhibited, talking about academics, music, and walking about in the buff as if we had been together for years. Madelyn isn't like any other woman I've been with. She's comfortable with herself and confident; she wears it like a damn aphrodisiac. I don't know what you think her ex's problem is; my understanding is that he left her, but it doesn't matter. I am going to see her again." Harry released a huge breath.

"Look," Murphy began, "it sounds more serious than a booty call, I can respect that, H. But I've dealt with Jack, her ex-husband. He is not a good person. Becca and I looked into opening Etta's in one of the properties he was developing. Madelyn attended a meeting we had with him about potential marketing strategies we might use if we agreed to go forward with the deal. The man is a brute. She offered a suggestion that he wasn't keen on and when she argued, he grabbed her arm and yanked her so hard she fell into him. He pulled her out of the room and when he returned, he said she had decided to call it a day and had gone home. Becca and I both had a bad feeling about the guy. We begged off and never did any further business with him or his real estate development company." The older man stopped to take a couple of cleansing breaths before continuing. "Becca called her after that meeting to make certain she was unharmed. Madelyn assured her that she was fine. I saw in the local paper that their divorce finalized not long after. But listen to me, Harry, that man has a violent streak and I have heard from other people that he views her with a very sore eye. You need to be careful."

Harry had listened patiently to everything Murphy had spilled out. His pulse was hammering and his breathing had accelerated. He wasn't afraid of this Jack character, he was furious! Nothing Murphy said was going to warn him off. His instinct was to get back in the SUV and drive straight up that mountain to protect her. Fuck her ex-husband and the horse he rode in on!