"I have a confession to make."

Peter stopped making love to me and looked at me, a question in his eyes.

"I'm in love with you." I said.

I felt his hand tighten and loosen. "Love?"

"Yeah, Peter. I can't hide it from you anymore. I want to be with you."

He pulled back from me and nervously ran his hand through his hair.

"How do you feel about that?" I continued.

"What about Barbra?"

"I could ask you the same question. What about Anne?"

He sighed. "Our relationship isn't very good. It never has been. She's so aggressive. I'm more comfortable with the slow and the steady. Like us."

I smiled. "Me, too." I reached out to stroke his chest.

"You guys are going to get married soon. What are you going to do about that?"

"Barbra is a very, very jealous person."

"I know," he laughed. "I know."

"I think it would be problematic if she and I were to break things off at this time. Especially if we start something afterwards."

"Oh, god, no!" he said, in a burst of energy. "She'd kill us both. She's too irrational."

I leaned forward and kissed him. "Answer a little question for me."

"Sure."

"Do you like Mocha Daze?"

"Yeah. Since the fire thing didn't work out like we'd planned, I've grown kind of fond of it."

I put a finger to his lips. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Here's my plan."

The scheme I related was simple. I was going to marry Barbra and get her to sign over Mocha Daze.

Then I'd figure out some way to get her to divorce me, knowing all along that it'd never even get that far.

The "accident" would make sure of that.