Page 18 of Pure Temptation in Cowboy Boots

“We’re going to be on a dirt road in a minute,” he said. “I’ll try not to jolt you too much. Once we’ve gone a ways, you can probably sit up again.”

“Where are we going?”

“A little road I found a couple of years ago. It goes out to the edge of a plateau where you have a nice view of Anvil Peak. Hold on. Here comes the turnoff.” He touched his booted foot to the brake, causing the denim to ripple again.

Watching Mac drive from this vantage point was quite an erotic experience, Tess decided.

He turned the wheel with one hand and reached over with the other to grip her shoulder as the truck bumped down off the pavement and onto the dirt. His hand was warm and sure as he held her steady. There was nothing seductive in his touch, and yet her heartbeat began to thunder in her ears and her whole body reacted to that point of contact. When he took his hand away, she wanted to have it back. Maybe his embrace wouldn’t feel as awkward to her as she’d feared.

“Okay, I think you can sit up now. Nobody ever comes out here.”

“Except you. You seem pretty familiar with the place.” She crawled up to the seat and straightened her dress.

“I’ve been here a few times.”

“Making out?”

“Now don’t start asking me questions like that, Tess. You’re going to spoil the mood for sure.”

“Making out,” she concluded.

He sighed and switched on the headlights.

“Well, I’m not dumb, you know. I understand the reason guys search for lonely roads.” She looked around. Sure enough, there were no signs of civilization, just a road stretching to a point in the distance where the scrub-covered ground dropped away. Across the green swath of the river valley, Anvil Peak was silhouetted against a brick-red sky. To the right of that, the smokestack of the Arivaca Copper Mine sent a gentle plume into the air. “This is very pretty.”

“I think so.”

“So who did you bring out here?”

“Tess!”

“You pestered me about movie stars.”

“And I shouldn’t have. When two people are together, they should be concentrating on each other.”

“Unless they want to explore the fantasy angle.”

“Could we forget the fantasy angle? For all you know, being out here with you is my fantasy!”

She caught her breath and stared at him. “Is it?”

“No. Or at least I don’t think so. I don’t know what made me say that. Forget it.”

But of course she couldn’t forget it. And she remembered a dream she’d had about five years ago, one she’d put out of her mind as being silly. “Have you ever dreamed about me?”

“Of course I’ve dreamed about you. We see each other all the time. I dream about all the people in my life. Everybody does that.”

“No, I mean, have you ever dreamed of me in a sexual way?”

He hesitated. “Yes. Once.”

“So have I. About you.”

He kept his attention on the dirt road. “That’s probably normal.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t. What did you dream?”

“I...I can’t remember.”