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She’d stared at her ceiling for hours last night trying to define what she wanted. Wild, uninhibited sex. And orgasms. So many she’d lose count.
But then she’d mentally drafted her rule book. If she wanted to safeguard her heart, rule number one was no one who planned to deploy again. She couldn’t return to the endless days and months spent waiting. She couldn’t follow her cousin’s lead, tumble into a soldier’s bed without thinking about the morning after.
“If only it was that easy,” Amy muttered, shaking her head.
“If what was easy?”
Amy turned to find Mark standing beside her dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved flannel thrown over a blue T-shirt and cowboy boots. Looking at him, feeling his commanding presence, she flushed with the memory of their kiss. Her nipples formed tight peaks beneath her shirt, reminding her that she wanted to feel his hands on her body. She wanted to break the rules she’d crafted last night—or find a loophole.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “How’s the fence?”
“We had a few snafus, but it’s all in place now.” Mark nodded toward Gabe. “His shirt got caught.”
“Or he wanted to hightail it out of here with my cousin,” Amy said drily.
“Or that.” Mark picked a bottle of water off the table. The remaining Benton brothers joined them.
“What’s next?” T.J. asked.
Amy surveyed the tables and chairs, the speakers on their stands, the strands of Christmas lights she’d run around the tent’s perimeter with her cousin’s help. “I think we’re done until morning.”
“Yeah?” Luke said.
“You guys did a great job,” she said sincerely. “Thank you for sacrificing your leave to help me pull this event together and get the kennel set up.”
“You ever need anything, we’re here,” Luke promised. “I speak for all of us. Jeremy, too. If he’d been able to get away, he would have.”
Amy smiled. “Thank you.”
“You up for pizza in town, Ames?” T.J. asked.
She shook her head. “Not tonight. I need to write up some remarks for tomorrow.”
Luke nodded. “See you back here in the morning.”
The brothers wandered off, heading toward their family home. Barking sounded from inside the kennel.
“That’s my cue,” she said, turning to the building. “Dinnertime. Meet you back at the house?”
“Yes,” Mark said. “But first, I need to swing by The Last Stop Diner. I’ll pick somethi
ng up for you.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
He reached for her hand, drawing her close. “Yes. I do. I’ll need to borrow your truck to make the trip. Think of dinner as my way of saying thank you.”
“I can think of a few other ways,” she said, knowing she didn’t want food. She wanted a taste of the man standing in front of her. She wished she could brush aside her fears of the morning after.
Heat flared in his brown eyes. “When I get back, I want to hear your ways. Every detail.”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He released her and walked away.
Amy closed her eyes. “Oh, God, what am I doing?”
* * *
