He took both her hands and pressed them against his chest. “Vanessa. Why do you feel guilty?”
“I swore you to secrecy about you and me—and then I told Charity that you and I will be seeing each other this summer. Callie knows, too.”
“Wait. You’re saying we don’t have to be a secret, after all?”
Before he even had a chance to feel happy about that, she shook her head. “I’m saying I told them because they’d already pretty much figured out what was going on. Then I made them both promise to keep the information to themselves.”
He tried to look on the bright side. At least he didn’t have to be a secret to every single soul in Bronco—though really, he didn’t get her continued insistence that no one could know. It made no sense that a strong, smart woman like her couldn’t simply tell her family to back off.
But he wanted her. A lot. He’d spent all of last winter and right on through spring missing her. Something about her really got to him. She made him want to try again. And after the complete disappointment of his marriage to Maybelle, he’d had his doubts that he’d ever want to try again.
He took her hand. “Come on. Let’s get the goodies from your car and I’ll put the steaks on.”
She pulled him back. “What’s your hurry?” Her lush mouth was right there, tempting him.
What could he do but take it? He covered those soft lips with his and drank in her sweet, pleasured sigh.
Really, he could stand here on the front step kissing her forever.
But he made himself pull away. “Wine,” he reminded her. “And those brownie things. We need to get those. I have to feed you.”
She went up on tiptoe and stole another quick kiss. “You seem so determined.”
“I am. You’ll need your energy for the night to come.”
Chapter Eight
Van found being with Jameson downright addictive. He said he felt the same.
They easily fell into a rhythm of spending their evenings together. That first night, Monday, she did pretty well. She climbed from his bed at two on Tuesday morning and went home to Callie’s. But Tuesday night, she slept straight through until seven thirty Wednesday morning and ended up scrambling to get back to the apartment, shower and change and not end up late for Young Adventurers.
Tuesday night, she went against her own rules, taking toiletries and a change of clothes to Jameson’s with her. “Just in case,” she explained when she walked in his door.
He grabbed her hand, led her down the short hall to his room, and into the walk-in closet, where he’d cleared off hanger space and emptied three drawers. “Bring more stuff. Bring all your stuff. I have plenty of room.”
She hung the clothes she’d brought on the empty rod and shook her head. “That’s a slippery slope.”
He hooked a big arm around her waist and pulled her close. After a long, steamy kiss, he nuzzled the side of her neck and argued, “When it comes to you, slippery slopes are my favorite kind. I told you. I want your nights. I wantallthe nights. All summer long.” He kissed her again.
They didn’t leave the closet for another hour. He had two condoms in his pocket, and to her that seemed altogether too convenient—not that she complained while he had his hands on her.
After the second go-round, when the two of them were lying on the floor of the closet on a makeshift bed of his coats, with a rolled-up pair of overalls for a pillow, she asked him about that. “Did you plan to have your way with me in this closet?”
He gave her a slow, shameless grin. “Yes, I did. In this closet—and anywhere else we happen to be. I’m not fussy. You, me and proper protection. The way I see it, that’s a recipe for lasting happiness.”
Before dinner, he took her out to see his prize breeding bulls and explained that he’d developed the Double J’s artificial insemination program. When she wanted to know more, he led her into the office on the lower level of the house, sat her down at the PC there and gave her a virtual tour of DoubleJGenetics.com.
“We train ranchers in artificial insemination,” he explained. “And the Double J provides AI services to breeders who don’t want to perform the process themselves. We also sell semen. Finding the right sire is the key to the long-term health of any herd. And using semen from new bulls on a regular basis means genetic diversity and that helps keep a herd strong.”
The scientist in her found the whole process spellbinding. She asked a lot of questions, each of which he answered patiently, in satisfying detail, finally teasing her, “Only you would find artificial insemination fascinating.”
He started kissing her, which led to a mutually satisfying interval right there on his desk. Both of their stomachs were growling by the time he put the chicken on the grill.
After dinner, they watched a movie and then went to bed about eleven—but not to sleep. One time was never enough for either of them. And two just seemed like another reason to make love again.
Thursday morning, she was really glad she’d brought a change of clothes. She showered at Jameson’s. He jumped in with her, and not really to get clean. When she finally got dressed and ready to go, it was a little after eight. She drove too fast to Happy Hearts, watching for state troopers. Her luck held. She didn’t get a ticket, and she made it to Happy Hearts on time.
When she got back to the apartment that afternoon, she found Callie making herself a sandwich in the kitchen.
