“I see right through you, Dr. Boudreaux.”
Her blue eyes sparkled, and she leaned up to nuzzle his cheek. “Don’t go telling anybody else,” she whispered.
“I’ll keep your secret,” he whispered back, “but it might cost you.”
She wasn’t an easy woman by any stretch of the imagination, but she washiswoman. She’d keep him on his toes. She’d pull crazy shit. She’d probably frustrate the hell out of him some days.
But this woman had more love hidden in that big ol’ heart of hers than the world would ever know.
And when she shifted on the couch to straddle him, that beautiful smile glowing, her eyes full of mischief, her fingers igniting a trail of anticipation across his skin, he knew he was the luckiest man in the world to have all of her love.
EPILOGUE
Three months later…
If Kaci hadto be running late to meet the high school student group she was mentoring for summer semester, at least she had a good excuse. “My shoe!” she called to Lance. “I can’t find my danged shoe.”
He hopped around the bed, tugging his jeans back up. “Did it go in the bathroom?”
“Looked there.”
“The closet?”
“Sugar, thinkharder.”
He barked out a laugh. “This shoe?”
Sure enough, there was her sandal sitting right on top of that danged stuffed Alabamaelephant he kept on his dresser just to torment her.
Or maybe in retribution for her putting Rebel, the Ole Miss black bear, on her dresser.
Her Lance was a mighty fine sport, all things considered. “Hand it over. I gotta get going.”
“Nope. You know the rules. If Big Al has it, he gets to keep it. Unless…”
“I think I just paid that debt, thank you very much.” They’d had a houseguest the past few days—one of Lance’s old college buddies was moving to town, and he’d crashed with them while he was house-hunting—and between the boys sitting out back catching up late into the night and Kaci’s schedule at James Robert with the summer semester starting this week, she and Lance hadn’t had much opportunity to talk.
Or kiss.
Or make love.
Until about an hour or so ago.
And now Kaci was late to meet her group. “Can I pay you back later?”
Lance plucked the shoe off his elephant’s trunk. “Promise?”
“You know I can’t tell you no for anything.” She’d even let him put a diamond ring on her finger a few weeks back. Dang man had used her fears against her and proposed on the airplane ride to Sweden.
Not that she could’ve told him no for anything, even if they’d been safely on the ground.
Plus, he’d let her touch his catapult.
This man was her everything.
Tara was afraid they were moving too fast, but Kaci’s heart knew what it wanted, and Lance knew what he was getting himself into.
She’d never known anyone who loved herso much just for being her.
