"Oh! No-but thanks. Got to get back to the office. Do you think you could give Justin a lift to the scout meeting?"

"Of course," Charlotte said. Like tonight should be any different.

When LoriSuer was safely on her way and the lasagna was in the oven, Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest and frowned in Bonnie's direction. "Do you think she's right about the guy next door?"

"No way," Bonnie replied, slowly shaking her head. "LoriSue's on the prowl, honey, and when a woman's on the prowl, she can convince herself that the FedEx guy is a man in uniform. I know. I've been there."

Charlotte laughed and set the oven timer. "You're a riot, Bon."

"I speak only the truth. I once was sure that Ned was the spitting image of Robert Redford."

Charlotte spun around, her eyes quite wide. "Whoa. When was that?"

"When I was on the prowl. You see what I'm saying?"

***

He probably shouldn't drink beer in the middle of the day, because that's when he would start to feel a little sorry for himself. That's when he'd start to think of Charlotte Tasker.

He'd wanted that woman for years. And he was certain that if things had been different-if his situation and hers had been different-they could have been happy together.

Jimmy Bettmyer sat at a table at the Creekside Inn and savored his Budweiser, thinking about the conversation they'd had yesterday in the school parking lot. Charlotte was a fighter, that was for sure, but he figured all the stubborn resistance would make the eventual surrender that much sweeter.

And she was going to give it up sooner or later. He knew it. A babe like her couldn't survive without a man. He could see it in her eyes.

Jimmy looked around the bar and counted four women he'd slept with. Then he counted the total number of women in the place and realized he'd nailed about a fourth of the females present. Not a bad handicap.